Snow Day Par-Tay!!!!

It snowed!  Really, I'm not kidding......we finally have snow! And. lots. of. it.  We measured in at 6.5 inches here and it's really beautiful.  Dennis made oatmeal this morning...just seemed like a snow day kind of breakfast, and it was delicious!  Then we watched a movie, but we were restless and really just wanted to get out of the house and see "the town".

Shugs wasn't too sure if she wanted to go out or not....

At first, she just wanted to watch....then she decided to just go out on the porch...

Then she figured that it couldn't be all that bad if Daddy was out in it....

That lasted less than a minute.....

Later we looked out the front door and guess who we saw?  The mailman!!!!  So, it is true...."neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail".....

Well, Dennis figured if the mailman could deliver the mail, we could go for a little drive....AND he wanted oysters!!!  What??  There's a fridge full of food (well, everything EXCEPT oysters) and you want oysters?  So, off we went.....

...to Farm Fresh!  I was pretty sure I'd seen fresh oysters there the day before.

There were a few cars in the parking lot, but not so many people inside.....

We found the oysters, a lemon and beer, then decided to take them over to the "other Dennis's" house.....Dennis West.

....we called, got an okay.....grabbed our oysters and beer....

....and off we went!  Once we drove up, it was pretty apparent that we weren't the only ones who had this thought!

It was quite a lively group and we really had a great time!  We cooked/ate/enjoyed the oysters....

....watched basketball and some golf.....

......the guys played darts......

...while the ladies did what they do best....chat!!!....

Stevie West made a beer run!!!

There was great music by DJ Dennis.....and a bit of dancing!!!

And one of the neighbors pulled kids up and down the street behind his John Deere tractor....looked like sooo much fun!

It was just a great day spent with great people......

....and a good time was had by all!!!  See you guys soon!  Maybe tomorrow!  Hmmmm.....how about pizza....from scratch!

UPDATE to Paris Day Two - Part Two

Somehow I forgot to add a significant "happening" that occurred on the morning of Day Two.  When we left the apartment that morning, Dennis had his new international cell phone on his hip.....later that morning, he realized it wasn't on his hip!!!  Uh oh!

By then we were already out and about, so he spent the rest of the day's travels wondering if he had actually lost it, or he had put it down after our morning adventure through the neighborhood.

That evening when we got back to the apartment, it wasn't there.  We emailed Jessica, Melinda's daughter, back in the US and asked her to call Dennis' cell phone.  Since we couldn't make calls outside of Paris from the apartment phone, this was our only hope.  Also, Jessica speaks fluent French, so she was our best and only hope!

We received an email not long after that saying that someone did, in fact, answer the phone and he gave her his phone number.  We called him and he said he was at the same address as us!  Turns out it was the owner of the hair salon in front of our building! 

Dennis and Melinda went to pick up the phone and gave him a nice little reward.....nice guy!!!  Anyway, I just had to add that, because it didn't stop there.....more to come on Day Three's post!

By the way, thanks again, Jess!!!

Day Two - Part Two

Once we were off of the Batobus, we decided to walk down the streets and just explore a bit.  Just walking the streets of Paris is an adventure!

I'm telling you, it's impossible to resist the brightly colored awnings on the streets of Paris....beneath each one is a window full of the most amazing.....

.....unbelievable......

incredible.....

TREATS!!!  This particular place was also a cafe and we decided to take a little break to try their Crocque-Monsieur. 

The daughter of a very dear friend, Kelly, had asked me to please try this sandwich while in Paris and to report back to her what I thought.  It is basically a grilled cheese sandwich with a cheese sauce on the top.....but there isn't anything "basic" about the taste of this sandwich, so I can't leave with that description.  The bread....oh my....is more dense than our sandwich bread and very buttery.  Two bread slices are buttered and filled with ham and cheese, most often Gruyere, Emmental or other Swiss-type cheese.  It is then grilled, then topped with a Bechamel sauce and more cheese, then browned under the broiler.  It's one sandwich that you must eat with a fork!  We all agreed that it was awesome!

Back out on the streets.....more brightly canopied shops!!!

Each "neighborhood" has it's own

similar row of shops....from the left, the Poissonnerie (seafood), Boucherie (meats), Volaille (poultry), Charcuterie (pork, deli meats), Fromager (cheese), Vins (wine) and, not shown, the Boulangerie (breads) and Patisserie (pastries).  There is also at least one produce market, too!  And don't forget the grocery stores, which are smaller than what we have here, in most cases.  I just can't imagine being able to walk out my front door every day to the freshest meats, vegetables, cheese and baked goods!

And every now and then......

....there's a McDonalds!!!  I think I might visit a McDonald's here if we had these neat little areas to sit with our meal, watch the world go by and enjoy a little WiFi.  No, we didn't stop in here....but we did have a taste of French McDonald's food....more on that later.

After quite a bit more walking, we ended up in this great little cafe for a little dinner.....

No, I have no idea what it was called.....or exactly where it was.  I guess this is what happens when you're walking the streets of Paris and you see a cute little bistro, stop in for a bit of wine (because it's cheaper than water) or hot chocolate (with brandy, of course!).  But I will tell you that this was one of our best meals.

Melinda and I had the Moule, which is mussels cooked in a wine, garlic, shallots and butter sauce.  That pot was FULL and they were delicious!  (Note:  recipe coming soon to a cooking blog near you!)

Brad had the French Onion Soup, which was one of the better ones we tasted while there (I think we tried it 3 diffrent times/3 different places).

But the best thing ordered at that table was the dish Dennis had.  It was smoked herring, which I'm not fond of.....but it had this incredible potato salad in the middle....and I had a tough time keeping my fork off of his plate.  It wasn't like anything I'd ever had!  I will try to duplicate this recipe....and I will share.

By this time, it was dark and we headed back toward the Batobus for the rest of the tour of the Seine.....but not before stopping into this elegant vin shop for a bottle of wine for the ride.  I took pics of the inside, but....hey, blame it on the wine...that we'd already had!

This is a real Christmas tree!  They have them everywhere in every color....and they're flocked!  They are gorgeous.....

I know.....but it's still a cool picture, don't you think!

Anyway, when we got back down to the loading point for the boat, it was pouring down rain again....and there was only ONE more boat for the night.  So, we boarded....but not before getting a picture of Notre Dame at night....

....and our last stop was right back where we started....we grabbed our bottle of wine....

and got off the boat to enjoy the views of the Eiffel at night.....so gorgeous!

There are fabulous pictures of all of Paris' sights all over the internet....and I think I saw most of them before we went, but none can really give you the full spectacle unless you are standing right there.

We headed inland toward the Metro so we could get a view of the tower once the new LED light show went off....tried to get a movie of it, but....oh well....more wine, please!

Wine = creative picture?  Ummm...maybe not!

Anway...here she is lit up....again, nothing compared to what it looks like in action!

After watching the show, we started back in the direction of our neighborhood via the Metro....and saw more of those little flocked trees!

Once we got to the Metro, we decided the Melinda and Brad had to see Pigalle.....so, we headed back to the spicier side of town.  There is more to that area than sex shops and the like....there are lots of little bistros, cafes and sidewalk eateries.....we stopped at this one for crepes...

While munching on the crepes, we walked down some side streets....uhhh, a little scary at first.  We also took a step into the Musee de Erotisme (Erotic Museum), but since it was late (sounds good, right?) we didn't go in for the full tour.......but it was different!

As we did the first night, we passed this shop....

....and Melinda starts talking to the two guys out front!  It cost 20 euros (about $30+) per person to go inside. ( Conversation out front:  "You want to do what?  Uhhh.......what happened to that white bag with the wine in it?  It's gone?  Not happenin'! ") Soooo....she's trying to talk the guy into letting all four of us in for 20 euros!  Thank God he didn't fall for it, although after reading the reviews (Click here) I'm really thanking him.  I can just imagine how this blog would be reading right now if we had gotten in!  Would I have gone?  Probably....just so I could blog about it....not that I would have.

So, back to the Metro and the ride home....next stop, Metro Notre Dame de Lorette....home!

Paris - Day Two - Part One

We were up and ready to go on Day Two of our trip.  I was most excited to just get out into our neighborhood to see what happens in the early morning.  I'd heard/read stories of how busy the streets are in the morning, especially the vendors stocking up for another day of business!

So, we headed over to see just what "our" charcoutierie (the butcher, remember?) was up to!  We were just in time to see the day's delivery!

They were in such great moods and just loved that we were interested in what they were doing!

He even stopped to pose and I didn't have to ask!

I had NO idea that all of the beautiful meats in those cases were all carefully trimmed and prepped for their own cases.  Our "meat cases" pale in comparison to these.....

It was somewhere about here where I started understanding that everything in Paris has an artistic flair......even the meat case.  Check out these gorgeous tenderloins....oh, how I wanted to taste one of these.....

....but on that particular morning, I was happy to just look at these escargot (read: snails!) in the case.  I really had no desire to try them (although we did...but that's another day).

For the moment, I just wanted to soak in how incredible it was to see so many gorgeous foods in the cases.....

But enough of that.....it was time to grab some pastries to have with our coffees/tea and then "hit the road" for another day of Parisian sights!

Oh, how I'd love to start every day off with a plate of these!

When we got back to the apartment, Melinda was up and ready to roll!!!!

Yes, that's the window in the living room in our apartment....it looks out over the courtyard.  It's so PARIS!!

So, we hit the Metro and off to the Eiffel Tower we went!  This was our first real view of it.....I just had to take the picture, even though I knew there were better ones to come!

Up close and personal......she's just gorgeous!

Up closer?  Wow!

And closer?  Oh dear!

Ready for a few stats?  The Eiffel was built for the centennial celebration of the French Revolution in 1887.  It was completed in 1889.  It took 2.5 million rivets (yes, rivets), 18,038 pieces of iron (excluding the rivets) and 40 tons of paint to construct....by 300 iron workers....and over 2 years to construct!  It is now a French icon.....and it's gorgeous!

Because the New Year holiday is the largest celebration of the year for the French, Paris was packed!!!  There were unbelievable lines everywhere for every thing!  We decided to forgo going up in order to be able to see other sights.....that and we just couldn't justify spending 4 hours in line in the freezing cold.  THAT and it is definitely another excuse (read: reason) to come back!

We ventured over to the other side of the Eiffel, along the Seine....

The views down the river are beautiful....

Oh look....it's a boat!  Oh wait, it's a restaurant....with heaters....and wine....and toilettes (at 75 cents per person).  We decided to take a little break to warm up (inside and out)....

We also decided to get tickets for the Batobus, which is a boat ride down the Seine where you can get off and on as much as you like....

A little wine and bread and we were off!

The views were awesome.....

....and the bridges were....ummmm.....yep, I'm speechless!  Imagine that!

Check out the boats!!!  We don't have anything like these in our harbors!

And like I said....everything is Paris has a "flair".....check out the front of this boat!

Here are a few pics of our trip along the river Seine....

"Picnik Show"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

And then we rounded the corner....and we found ourselves back at the Notre Dame!  Truly, you cannot get enough of her!

So, we decided to get off at this stop and hit the streets!

Next up.....street walking....and lots of delectibles!!!!

Paris - Evening One - Hitting the Streets!

I have no idea where that burst of energy came from, but neither of us was ready to retire, so Dennis and I hit the streets.  At first, our thoughts were to just check out the surrounding neighborhood.  We headed down the street....

...alot of the streets had these lights strung above them...it was really pretty.  Especially once we looked back and realized how far uphill we had gone!

All of the shops were now closed, but we did find the vin (wine) shop,

and the prices seemed to be very reasonable!  Champagne was a bit expensive.....go figure!

Anyway, we kept walking and finally we came to a four lane street with a rather large median in the middle....to the right, not much.  To the left.....

We were in Pigalle!!!!  Pigalle is the old "red light district" of Paris...even though it is known as the "seedy" part of town, in recent years it has become a more trendy spot to visit, although it's still a bit risque' (French word?  You bet!) 

I remembered that the Moulin Rouge wasn't a long way from our apartment, and was in this direction, so I figured it was up ahead....and it was!  BUT, there was lots more to see along the way.....

Follies Pigalle is a former cabaret, but is now a very trendy nightclub.  We kept on walking....

Yep....that says what you think it says!  It's a little bit of everything inside that place.....I guess you could call it a "sex mall"!  Hey, they have their own Facebook page...don't bother, it's in French.

So.....we kept walking.....

Stopping for a "photo op" at this place, we were approached by a couple of men who had been standing at the front door....they offered Dennis a "deal" to go inside...even said I could come along!  Ummmm.....no, thanks.  We kept walking....

......it appears that word is part of a universal language!  Look closer at the smaller sign!

Believe it or not, we were still not tired....so we kept walking....

Finally....there she was....

She looked just like I thought she would....the Moulin Rouge!!!

OK....now we're tired!  Hey look.....there's the Metro!

Goodnight!

Oh wait...one more thing, just in case you decide to visit this area of Paris.  Although we felt completely safe in this area, and there are lots of other cafes and shops, you may want to check out these reviews before checking out the interior of some of these shops.  We got lucky....but more on that later......

Paris - The First Supper!

At this point, we've been awake for around 30 hours....we've seen alot within the first 10 hours of arriving in France and now it's time to head back to our "home away from home" and check out the neighborhood for something to eat!

First stop......the Shopi...

This was the little grocery store that was directly across the street from our apartment.  They had pretty much anything you needed, including liquor, wine, produce, meats, etc..  BUT, if you really wanted the French experience AND the freshest and bestest in produce, meats, cheese, and baked goods....you just walked THROUGH the Shopi out onto the next street....and VOILA!!! 

There you found two charcouteries (butchers)

, 2 boulangeries (bakeries)

, a patisserie (pastry shop)

, a fromagerie (cheese shop)

 a poissoniere (seafood shop),

and the produce shop (ohmigosh!)

If you know me at all, you know that I had to pinch myself to make sure I hadn't died and gone to heaven!!!  It was everything I dreamed it would be and more.....food at it's finest....entrepreneurs (ha...French word!) that specialized in one particular aspect of the food group and ensured it was its best.  When you walked into their shops, you could see the pride in their faces....they knew you were going to love what they had to offer....and they were right!  Even the sight of what they had to offer was incredible!

OK....back to earth!  We were hungry and it was late....we stopped first at the butcher and bought 4 chicken breasts (Melinda wanted to make her chicken cutlets)....then Dennis I went to the other butcher and found a huge oven (sorry...too excited to take a pic) full of freshly rotisseried chickens!  Score!  Remember....it was getting late!

We all finally agreed to the rotisserie chicken and Melin and I went off to the produce shop to get an accompaniment....salad!

We also scored some fresh brie and freshly baked baguettes to snack on while dinner was being prepared (although how long does it take to prep a rotisserie chicken!?).....heaven on earth....but only in France!

Once we'd tasted the cheese and bread, I thought there might be a possibility that we'd be eating the chicken and salad the next night.  But I guess our weariness from the trip had summoned an appetite....Melinda set the table...

and we all sat down to a delicious dinner.....our first in Paris!

After dinner the guys sat down with all of the Paris "guides and maps" we had accumulated to figure out their next plan of "attack on Paris"

while Melinda and I cleaned up from dinner and prepared our dessert......from the patisserie!!!

None of us could decide exactly what we wanted from the incredible selection at the pastry shop, so we got just a few things to taste.....from the top left, coconut pie, a mini Bouche de Noel and an apple tarte tatin with raisins.

The Bouche de Noel confirmed for me that mine was just tooooo dry and I paid very close attention to the texture and taste.....next year's Bouche de Noel will definitely taste different than this year's.

The coconut pie was incredible....I've tasted several coconut pies in my lifetime, but this was so different.  The French desserts aren't as sweet as the American desserts....you really tasted the custard and the coconut.  It was so silky and delicious.

The apple tarte tatin was also delicious....not my favorite (the Bouche de Noel was), but it was different than an American apple pie....again, not as sweet, so you really taste the main ingredients.

I don't know what "chemical reaction" occurred after that, but the desserts affected us all quite differently....Melinda and Brad found their PJs and started to relax, but Dennis and I felt energized (no, I have NO idea where it came from) and decided to hit the streets.....

Next up....hitting the streets....the risque side of Paris!

Paris - Day One - Part Two!

I left off with our visit to the Notre Dame.  We didn't get to go inside....the lines were very long (about a 2 hour wait), so we decided to just do a walking tour of the area. 

From Notre Dame, we left the Cite' Island, crossed the Seine to the Right Bank and headed for the Musee de Louvre, the most visited museum in the world. 

 Unfortunately, we wouldn't be part of that head count....turns out the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays!  Such is our luck, right?  Well, truthfully, there was no way we'd be able to see all of the 35,000+ objects that are on display, especially on our first day.

It truly is a sight to behold.  Although it does seem a little odd at first to see the very modern Louvre Pyramid sitting square in the middle of architecture with so much history, it is truly spectacular!  It was commissioned by the former French President, Francois Mitterrand.  It was created due to issues with the original entrance to the museum, which could no longer accomodate the massive number of visitors each day.....it is now the main entrance to the museum.  Isn't it beautiful!?

The architecture of the buildings and in the surrounding area are amazing, too!

Once you turn around and face the other direction, you see the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel....not to be confused with the larger Arc de Triomphe. 

They look similar, but the Arc de Triomphe is much, much larger.  The architecture is unbelievable, and it's much more accessible, since you don't have to cross multiple lanes of unbelievably fast moving cars!

Amazing, isn't it?  Everywhere you look in Paris, there is amazing architecture!

From there, we moved on into the Tuilerie Gardens, which cover over 60 acres!  Even though it was winter, it was still beautiful and there were lots of visitors! 

The views are superb from the gardens....most of Paris is so built up, that it's usually only at heights that you can get a great view.

The gardens are filled with ponds, water fountains and lots of sculptures:

Dennis especially liked one of the ponds!

(Roundtrip tickets to Paris, $1600, Cost to use public toilettes, $1.50, Photo Op in Tuilerie Gardens....Priceless!)

 Originally, the gardens were the site of the Tuilerie Palace, which was burned down in 1871.  The fire lasted over 48 hours.  There are efforts now to rebuild the palace in hopes of restoring the "harmony" of the gardens, from the Louvre to the Champs Elysses.

Next up....a more contemporary art display at the edge of the gardens by Louise Bourgeois.....born in France in 1911, she married and moved to New York in the 1930s and is a very well know artist.  We were drawn to the "Welcoming Hands", each one displayed on top of granite stone columns.  I couldn't resist taking pictures of them, but what was most irresistible was putting your own hands in theirs.

"Picnik Show"

Next up....La Grande Roue....the ferris wheel at the end of the gardens, just before the Champs Elysses.  It was built for the millenium celebrations and was only supposed to be there for a year.  The owner refused to remove it, so it was dismantled in 2002, but starting in 2007 it comes back for the end of the year festivities.  I'm so glad we got to see it!

With tired/cold feet, we'd found ourselves at the Champs Elysses. 

 It is 1.25 miles long and is the most expensive strip of real estate in Europe and is one of the most famous streets in the world.  It boasts high end stores such as Louis Vuitton....

...Prada, Hermes and Chanel.  And right in the very center of this beautiful avenue sits the Arc de Triomphe.

Commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon to commemorate his victories, it wasn't completed until 1836 and is engraved with the names of the generals who commanded French troops during Napoleon's regime.

We decided to jump on a bus and ride around the Arc for better views.....I, for one, was not keen on the thought of trying to cross the traffic from the 12 streets that merge into the circle for a close up!

By this time, it was getting late, so we decided to head back to our apartment and check out the neighborhood for a bite to eat! 

Next up.....Paris - Evening One!