Springtime in Paris
Trip Start
Feb 20, 2007
1
16
24
Trip End
Ongoing
Paris, France
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
How romantic! And freezing cold, it even snowed! Not quite how I imagined our week in Paris, no strolling around in pretty floral dresses, heels and shopping SJP style, instead boots, coats and briskly walking to keep warm. It was wonderful though and a great opportunity to use my French which I really enjoyed despite a few giggles from the Parisians.
Highlights included seeing the Can can at the Moulin Rouge - that was brilliant, hearing an impressive organ recital at Notre Dame, seeing Monet's Waterlilies in their infinity shaped gallery, visiting the famous bookstore Shakespeare and company, full of character, and characters just as in the book I happen to be reading about it, sipping cocktails at the tiny Hemmingway bar at the Ritz (I kept the glass swizzle stick as a souvenir!), and after not doing so in Tripoli, going out wineing, dining and enjoying jazz gigs is always extra special for us.
We stayed in a beautiful apartment in the pretty Marais district and were able to pretend to be real Parisians, inhabiting the local cafes in the mornings, indulging in too many coffees and croissants, watching the world go by and stocking up at the local fromagery for our wine and cheese sessions after a days sightseeing. I'm now reading French Women Don't Get Fat to find out their secret.
I think our favourite night was when we ended up in the little wine bar run by 2 lovely guys on the corner of our street, we ended up chatting with them over several large glasses of red doing a very enthusiastic job as ambassadors for Australian wine, although by that time in the evening we were having trouble remembering the winery names. We swapped email addresses and they kindly emailed some bars and restaurants in Marrakech - our next stop and we are going to email the names of the Australian wines we were raving about! When we remember them.
