Toto, we aren't in India anymore- Welcome to Paris! April 2012

I am happy to say that I had a wonderful 5 weeks in India and am now very happily situated in gay Paris! This grand monument is around the corner from the lovely apartment I have rented. Although still camera challenged even my cell is struggling now... Here are a few photos.

Etoille

My lovely place

murphy bed of dreams, actually more comfortable than the beds ive been for the past 3 months

day one !

Eiffel Tower!

After a few retreat processes in India, where incidentally I meditated for hours and days, it became clear to me that instead of doing what I thought I should do, which was travel India- since I was there and who knows if I'll get to come back-I decided to do what I wanted to do which is spend my birthday in Paris! So here I am.  Day one, arrived to my lovely apartment without a hitch.  At the airport I inquired about a shuttle, a very helpful woman assisted me and took the Air France bus to Etoille.  At my stop I walked to the taxi stand and the driver said I was a 5 minute walk and smiled saying welcome to Paris.  I stopped at a paper stand to get a map and the fellow was also very helpful, giving me tips and what to beware of, the gypsies and their children who make an art of pickpocketing  even cell phones are craftily taken right off table tops. But he ensured me Paris is safe other than that and also wished me a great stay and welcome to Paris. I walked a few blocks to the next large street which, as it turns out, was my exact street and about three doors to my apartment.  Fantastic! A great bustling area filled with cafes, and chocolate shops among all of the high end shopping.  As I arrived and keyed in the code to the giant blue doors I walked into a center courtyard/ driveway found my way to the door of the apartment and rang the bell.  Jesse, the greeter met me and assisted me to the 2nd floor and showed me around the apartment and its amenities.  I was in heaven.  I arrived to my dream city and into a great Paris feeing apartment.  I went out for a walk and immediately arrived at Maison Du Chocolat.  The fellows there got a kick out of this hybrid Italian/ French language I seem to be creating.  One was actually Italian and the other French so I did my best to speak to both.  I had lunch at a Brasserie Entrecote and frites- steak and fries and a chocolate and coffee dessert combo called cafe gourmand.  Yum.  Everyone was being so helpful and nice I just love it here.  I walked to the Arc de Triumph and down the Champs Elysee and over to the Eiffel tower and eventually found myself on a boat ride down the Seine.  Walked home and gathered a few cheeses and things for a sweet little dinner at home.  It was 10pm by the time I got back.  It seems that the evening hours are lighter than when I left Italy and certainly India... I continued to celebrate my bday sampling a variety of yummies and chocolates and macaroons I gathered along my walk.  All in all I am loving Paris.  As I am satiated from a degustation at the restaurant Citrus Etoille I am ready for a nap.  My birthday lunch splurge.  Im going to work the birthday angle with myself and repeat this adventure daily.  More to come after napping meditation.

A Little Trip Down Memory Lane. My adventures traveling Italy, Thailand, India, France, Spain, The Mediteranean and Scotland

In 2011 I left on my first major "walkabout".   I traveled to Rome where I studied Italian at the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci Language school.  Here I met people from all around the world.  We dined together, toured and practiced our Italian. (Read more about Rome here). I discovered my fascination with small vehicles and took many photos for my nephews.

I then went to Florence, Italy and found adventures walking in the hills outside of the tourist areas. 

One day, the day after Christmas, while out on a jog/walk (yes, I still did that in those days...) I came upon a man and his dog who were walking along the same path. He spoke almost no English and I fumbled along with the Italian I learned from the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci .  Turns out, I had learned enough to communicate and to carry on a conversation that led to me joining his walk during which I learned about the area, the birds and wildlife, the flowers and plants he used for cooking or medicine and, sadly, that he was out walking for the first time since his wife passed just before Christmas. He told me about her and about his family and how nature brings him back to his center.  Nature was a common language for us that day.  It was magical. (Read more about my time in Florence here.)

Bologna was next. I visiterd a cheese maker and a Balsamic artisan.  Where I was introduced to aged balsamic ov er french vanilla ice cream! Sienna and a few other areas of the region drew me in and meals and sightseeing were fruitful and delightful.

Cheese making- Bologna

Sienna and parts near

 I then went to a cooking school in Soverato, Calabria, Italy, visited Venice in the winter.



I decided to go to India and needed a visa so I flew to Bangkok, Thailand to apply for the visa.  As I awaited the visa,  I visited many sites in the city and visited many of the key cultural and tourist places as well as took a cooking class where we made the most delicious, from scratch, green curry I have ever tasted.  I gorged on mango and sweet rice and got overwhelmed by the scents at the market (dried fish), I even squeezed in time to have a medical health and wellness check up in one of the programs at Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. I then, made my trek to India, the Osho Meditation resort in Pune India, here I went deep into a few different programs and met amazingly interesting people.  One of the best parts of traveling is the people you meet along the way!  After my time in Pune, I decided to go to Paris, even tho my original itinerary was to go through Indonesia and into Australia, then New Zealand.  I had a rather large birthday coming up and I was feeling the love after my deep meditations in India so I decided to go to the city of love Paris! I walked everywhere, determined to feel every part of the city. I rented the most lovely place ate myself around town and met up with a pal from the language school in Rome. I took a class and learned how to make Macaron (my favorite!)





I then rented a car and "did France slowly". I started with a drive to Giverney then headed to the coast Normandy, Brittany across the Dordogne,  including Tremolat, down to Nice and Cannes (just in time for the film festival!) spent time in Vance and many small towns along the way (see my France post here) I ended up back In Paris where I attended a writers retreat for a week then to Provence for another one! Super inspiring. Writing in cafes and hanging out with fellow writers it was a dream. I took the train to southwestern France and visited Sete and other areas such as the Camargue. Then to Barcelona, Spain hopped on a ship and cruised for almost two weeks in the Mediterranean with dear friends and their awesome kids. We met locals and did tours it was hoot!

After this I flew to Scotland to hang out in Edinburgh. All of this time I did a great deal of writing and walking, The city was brimming with activities as it was the time of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This is a must do event for those who are fans of the arts. The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is also on at this time full of events around the Edinburgh Castle, pipers from all over and my favorite part of attending the festival on the grounds is to hear the lone piper as hey plays atop the castle walls.  It is hauntingly beautiful. I so enjoyed this walk about but the time came where it had to end and back to the states I went.  It was an amazing journey and this short synopsis coves the very tip of the iceberg (which I will talk about in another post about the Arctic!)

I was revitalized by this trip into the world.  It was by far one of the best tings I have ever done in my life.  I am actively preparing for another "walkabout" I am deciding the itinerary and time frame of this one which I imagine will involve a shorter run but one never knows in my life.

Travel on,

Pam

Budapest spring bounty

Spring vegies! I just love fresh beautiful vegetables. After a nice trip to my local market these beauties came home with me to be lovingly prepared. I chose to blanch half of them, and enjoy the light lemony vinaigrette, sweet, crunchy, fresh, delicious!

The celery root made a light springy soup, which was enhanced by the blanching, from the assortment of carrots, parsnips, spring onions, white radish and me potatoes. Topped off with a bit of crispy potato. Bread croutons and a drizzle of olive oil. A fresh and delightful rooftop patio meal.