kimistry

Archive for the ‘France 2012’ Category

Flower market near Notre-Dame

I have certainly been thinking of my mom with all the great flowers markets around here. Mom, you would have taken thousands of pictures of flowers alone! = ) The flowers are stunning! The pictures that I took really do not do them justice. Here are a few…

Flowers at market

At flower market near Notre-Dame

Lunch- Risotto & Prawns--soooo good!

Dessert - Berries & Meringue

I have to put in some more food pictures. The food and desserts have just been so delicious that I have to include them frequently. I know people in the restaurants think I am strange taking pictures of my food but…as you see, it doesn’t deter me! = )

Pizza with arugula, sun-dried tomato...

Galeries Lafayette- shopping for everything here!

I went to this place called Galeries Lafayette, which is this awesome shopping mall that is located fairly close to my apartment. It is unbelievable inside and I have the pictures to prove it. Take a look…

Rooftop view from Galeries Lafayette

Stained glass ceiling Galeries Lafayette

Christine- arrival in Paris via Metro

My friend, Christine, has been here visiting for a bit but flew back to the US today. We had so much fun and covered some miles (walking) in Paris! We visited some interesting places, ate great food and laughed a lot! What this means for me is that I have to get re-focused now after having some playtime. I have several projects and classes that are needing my attention. I plan to get up early in the mornings and put in 5-7 hours of work…then go play for the afternoon into the evening, come back and work a few more hours. That is the plan. I will let you know how it works! : )

Christine riding the escalator in the Pompidou Center

Au revoir, Christine

Beautiful day at Notre-Dame

I decided to add a few more pictures since I took so many!!!!

A view from the top - Notre-Dame

Inside the Notre-Dame -spiral staircase

Side view of Notre-Dame

After a great breakfast at Angelina restaurant, we eventually made our way to Notre- Dame. We bought passes that were supposed to eliminate all the waiting in line
but we still waited over an hour today to get into the building. So we waited in line for 70 minutes and then we got to climb 400 stairs up to see the great view and….yep….400 stairs back down!!! All I can say is that it is a good thing that I have been climbing up and down four flights of stairs everyday for 3 weeks now! The views were well worth it. Notre-Dame was a project that started in 1163 and took almost 200 years to complete! Wow!!

Front view- Notre-Dame

View of the Tour Eiffel from Notre-Dame with gargoyle

The BEST hot chocolate ever at Angelina restaurant....the fresh grapefruit juice was awesome too!

Today we decided to go see Notre Dame. It was actually a sunny beautiful day for much of the day! Hooray for that!! We started the day by going to this place for breakfast that is fairly close to the apartment called Angelina. It is known worldwide for a couple of menu items, one of them being the hot chocolate. It truly was the BEST hot chocolate that I have ever had in my life! They have amazing pastries and it is located in a beautiful historic building. The restaurant has been around since 1903.

Angelina restaurant on Rue Rivoli in Paris

Breakfast! = )

I have so many things to write about and show pictures of that this really could be a full-time job right now. I have taken more picture than I know what to do with or could ever remember where I shot the picture…oh well! I will have some great memories through the pictures!

= )

My friend, Christine, leaves on Wednesday morning. It has been so much fun having her here to visit, but I am sure her husband will be happy to have here return home. We have covered a lot of territory in Paris by many modes of transportation. The primary mode has been on foot and my feet show it. I have never had continuous blisters on my feet like I do now. Don’t worry…I thought about posting pictures, but I will spare everyone that visual image. You can thank me later : )  We have also been on the Metro, the RER (another type of train), numerous buses and a boat! We have debated about renting bikes but I am afraid that could be dangerous around here….at least for moi!

Christine & Kim in front of the Louvre

Dinner last night. German restaurant...really!!!

I know! I know! I am behind in updating this and I am hearing about it!! You people are sure demanding! = ) It is actually fun to know that people are reading this and following along on the adventure! I am going to try to be a bit better about the updates. I said I would try…no promises!

We have had some really great and varied food choices in Paris, so I am going to start off with pictures of various lunches and dinners for you to view. As you can imagine in a place of millions of people the food options are so diverse and abundant that it is difficult to choose. There have been a few times that we have had no idea what type of restaurant we are going into to have dinner but do it anyhow. That has actually been a lot of fun and has turned out quite well! One evening we were looking for a restaurant only to find that it was closed. Instead we ducked into a restaurant that looked interesting. To our surprise, the food was influenced by Madagascar. It was very tasty. Then last night we were headed toward the apartment but only made it a block because it was pouring rain. We ended up at a restaurant that served more German types of food…it is always a food adventure here!!

A type of fondue that is inspired by northern French regions- there were little grills built into the table where you cooked your food....very interesting!

Gazpacho & Salad w/ Cheese Tartine : )

Lemon hummus, avocado, white bean & tomato tartine....yum!!

Inside the Pyramid at the Musee du Louvre

It was supposed to be raining again today so we planned the day around it. We decided that we would visit two more  museums today. The Musee du Louvre was first on the agenda. You could truly spend weeks in this museum. There were so many people around that it was difficult to get to some things like the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. We did manage to see them but the Mona Lisa was from a distance. The crowds were just too much for that one! There are also signs all over the Louvre warning about pick-pockets : / Oops…be careful here! The outside of the Musee du Louvre is very beautiful and the inside is…well…it is just unbelievable!!! You could get lost and never be found in here! I know it will shock you to have me admit that I took way too many pictures in here…I have become my mother!! = ) So here are a few of my favorites from the museum…

"Venus de Milo" - Aphrodite

Painting in the Musee du Louvre--a favorite for moi!

Great sculpture in the Musee du Louvre

Staircase in the Louvre