Paris

I can't believe I am already back on U.S. soil. That was one of the fastest five days of my life. Here are a couple links to some albums I have posted on Facebook:

• (Don't) Forget Paris I
• (Don't) Forget Paris II

While on my flights back to the States, I wrote in a journal to document all the stories and activities from Paris. My hand was pretty cramped by the time I finished.

I'm planning on turning the journal into a mini scrap book, with tickets, postcards, metro cards, etc. from the trip. Speaking of metro, Paris has the biggest metro rail system I have ever seen. It was quite overwhelming and it wasn't until about the third day when it all began to click together.

My favorite memories of Paris:

• The ballet at the Opera House on night one. I didn't need to know the language to interpret dancing. It was beautiful and I can't believe that my first professional ballet experience was in Paris!
  
• The meal at Le Basilic, a restaurant in Montmarte, on night one. Mmm. The meal consisted of rabbit pate with fresh bread as an appetizer, mouth-watering steak and potatoes for the entree, and rich chocolate mousse for dessert. All for 25 euros! Can't forget that kir and red wine either.
  
• The Fat Tire Bike Tour on night three. We rode throughout the city from 6:30 to 11:30, while stopping frequently to learn about various places. There were big names, such as the Louvre and Notre Dame, but there were smaller stops. One of those stops included the best ice cream stand in the world!! My chocolate ice cream was so creamy and fresh. During the latter part of the tour, we parked and locked our bikes and went on a ferry ride down the Siene River, while sipping on red wine. Fabulous!
• Club Plaza on night two and into morning three! It was a night/morning of fun memories with Drew and that cutie Frenchman whose name I never caught...
• The crepe I ate on night three. Mmm. Nutella chocolate, coconut, Grand Marnier, and cinnamon. A recipe for deliciousness.
• Lunch at the falafel place on my "bonus day" aka day five. The falafels were delicious and so was the eye candy there.
• Dinner with Drew, Marie, and Mickael on night five. Friends and food are always a great combination!
  

Though there are many other memories, those are some of my favorites. My regret was not having the time to go to Versailles. Guess I'll have to go back! ;)

Bonjour!

Tomorrow is the day! I have taken off work even though my plane doesn't leave until 5:30 pm. There are still some bags to be packed and laundry to do. Uncertain of how my internet accessibility will be, I will be taking a journal and pen to capture my memories. When I get a chance, I'll transfer the events to my blog and link pictures to share.

Drew has created a pretty full itinerary for Marie's and my visit. I land at 10:30 in the AM and go until well past midnight on the very first day. We have plans to see a ballet the first night, so I hope I don't get too sleepy from the jet lag! How embarrassing it would be to fall asleep at a French ballet. Lord, give me strength! Apparently, we weren't able to get seats all together, so the four of us will be scattered throughout the opera house. I hope the people I sit near speak English. I can't imagine they'd be too impressed with the French I do know- my numbers 1-10. haha!

Can you imagine... I look to my left and a beautiful French man starts chatting me up. Lost in his face, it doesn't matter that I don't know the language, his words wouldn't register anyway. He waits for me to respond to something he asked. I blink. Twice. I smile big, swallow hard and start counting aloud... I make it to ten. He's clearly confused. I smile again and finish, "Merci."

haha! Let's hope I don't have to do that.

The opera is the only event we have set in stone. There are other activities, but they are more flexible in nature. I am looking forward to European dining. I hope it's warm enough to sit outside at a cafe, drink some wine, eat some bread and cheese (or crepes!), and just watch. Well... and smell, listen, and taste too. Paris... here I come!

Photo Tag (A Tribute to Lindsey and Bryan)

Here are the rules:

1. Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on the computer
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder
3. Explain the picture
4. Tag 4 people to do the same
5. No cheating (cropping, editing, etc)

So, I was a bit behind in reading Lindsey and Bryan's blog, but noticed that I was given a shout out and tagged in her posts back in January. So, here we go...

Admittedly, this pic was a bit painful to see, but I'm such a professional I will still play. ::Putting on my professional cap:: This was taken in the fall of 2007. My ex, Mike, was in town and we went down to the DC waterfront for dinner. Thankfully it was cool enough outside that the Potomac wasn't wreaking as it sometimes does in the summer. On our walk by the water, we came across a restaurant with an outdoor bar and patio. The restaurant had strings of lights that surrounded it and the lights danced off the water to the music that was playing across the loudspeakers.

As we stepped onto the patio, we looked to our right and saw this huge wooden frog. I joked that I was going to kiss it and find my prince. So, Mike took my pic kissing the frog. The frog remained in its wooden state after I blew my kiss at it.

Guess I should have planted one directly on it.

Regarding the fourth rule (tagging people)- I don't know four people to tag who follow my blog and blog themselves. So... it's up to you (my three readers). If you want to do this game, you can. If not, you don't have to and can just take this "free bee" as another way to learn about me.

::Taking off my professional cap:: I think I may erase that picture folder now.

March Madness

It's hard to believe that we are in the second week of March. Time is a flyin'.

We've had a couple changes in the house. Aaron and Carlos have moved and we've two new roomies: welcome Will and Milton! The house has been a bit chaotic with the transitions. Boxes still sit everywhere. Poor Charlotte doesn't know what to think. It's amazing how attuned animals are to changes. She doesn't eat the same and tends to be more reclusive when big changes are happening in the house.

This weekend's weather was a welcomed breath of fresh air after nearly seven inches of snow last week. Spring arrived in DC! I opened all the windows (well, the ones I could) and cleaned the house on Saturday. I also checked out NCC's Saturday evening service at our local coffee shop. It was quite packed and I was impressed and touched by the service. Later, Mal and Dave dropped in after checking out the Air Force memorial. We spent most of Saturday night together. Sunday was spent in the warm weather with a trip to the zoo and eating dinner outside. It was fabulous.

This week should prove to be an exciting one since I leave to visit Drew in France on Thursday! My bags aren't yet packed, but I'm still just as ready. I'm in need of a vacation and one in Europe will do just fine! Marie is flying there on Wednesday so she will beat me by a day. I'll return next Tuesday, so unfortunately my trip isn't that long. I'll take what I can get though.

Paris... here I come!