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.

funny things for my nephews

Hello to my nephews! Here are some more funny things from my travels.

This bike was on the streets of Paris neat the Jardin De Luxembourg.  They say people here are obsessed with the garden. Scooters and bikes are everywhere here too as well as in other parts of Europe.  As we saw in Rome and around Italy the scooters and small cars are needed as many of the roads are very narrow through the cities and villages. My larger car got stuck once in a rock wall lined hilltop street in a little village in Vence, France. I couldn't make the turn and got stuck as I was also poorly skilled at driving a car with a stick shift on a steep hill.  My tears turned to laughter once I finally got myself unstuck and found my way to the final destination for the day.

another little car for my nephews

Cooking up a little something in Paris- Macarons and a walk in the rain.

Weather report for the next 10 days - rain-.  Dang it.  Ive been walking in it and strolling and enjoying myself between rain drops and sun bursts.  Today I took a Macaron making class.  fun! My chef teacher was at La Varenne Ecole de cuisine for years ( a school I attended in 1986) and was even there when I was so it was fun sharing stories about chefs past.  I actually found myself strolling around the old neighborhood in the 7th before class.  Small world.  It is feeing much smaller to me now after traveling.

I have to say I cooked at home tonight just too cold to go back out.  I nailed it!  fennel and leek soup,  simple and great.  wild mushrooms with cream and leeks and reduced to a yummy intensity, I just put it on bread.  oh my! So much for a light dinner.  I did follow it up with a green salad... All ingredients from a few local markets that i've been wondering around.

Macaron class at La Cuisine Paris cooking school. http://lacuisineparis.com/content/english-speaking-cooking-classes-in-paris

Classes in english are available, this one was taught by a former La Varenne chef grad and current chef.  Students fromUS, Paris, New Zealand and Australia and Me.

The egg whites after the sugar syrup went in, beautiful white and fluffy.