We spent the afternoon at the magnificent Musée d’Orsay! We cycled there on Vélib’ bikes which was a wonderful way to give our feet a rest after the morning of walking and shopping through the markets on rue Cler and boulevard de Grenelle. It was quick, affordable and fun! The line up at the musée was a bit intimidating at first but it moved swiftly and was quite worthwhile. Not only is the building delightful to explore but the art is a treat with all those talent French painters and sculptors like Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Degas, Maillol, Rodin, Pompon, Claudel… Ah! What a delight to see so many of the works I studies there in front of me in one place. We also explored the Art Nouveau area, took pictures of the clocks and had a dessert and hot beverage in the 1900 restaurant of the old Orsay hotel. With gilded gold leaf carved wall trim, large mirrors and tall windows, a stunning painted ceiling and some magnificent chandeliers, the place was luminous and uplifting to repose in. We did not leave the musée till closing time. We then attempted to find a tourist information spot but both we located were closed. Instead we got to enjoy the view of the exterior of the Palais Garnier, the national Opera house of Paris. Another incredible building with gilded gold statues. We hope to go back and take a tour of the inside. After this we found another bike and after a few switches found our way back to the flat for a dinner of cheese (purchased that morning) and bread. We had hoped to pop out again in the evening but a heavy rain arrived and washed away the plans. So we stayed in, put our feet up and started planning our adventure options for tomorrow. Looks like we’ve got sunny and rainy weather covered! Goodnight!
Posted 7 hours, 13 minutes ago at 7:34 pm. 1 comment
Our cute teeny tiny studio flat has all we need. It is walking distance to lots of neat Bistros, Cafés, Food shops and sights. After we got settled in, we strolled along boulevard de Grenelle to check out the local “Metroprix” where we discovered we can buy anything we might need for the flat. We then took avenue de la Motte-Piquet to the école militaire, Champs de Mars, Wall for Peace and Eiffel Tower. It was sunny and beautiful and then the rain began… quite innocently and softly at first but then at a good pace once back near our apartment but this did not deter us. We took pictures and found Boules players and players of another sport that looked a lot like horseshoes but with metal disks. It was played with a beer in hand and at quite a risk to those players at the other end who watched very close to the goal post … and at risk of getting hit by these heavy metal disks. To my delight, further along I found a beautiful rose bush with many coloured roses all growing on the same bush. It was amazing and something you would imagine but not believe could be true. We walked under the Eiffel Tower and admired the long line ups and then crossed the river Seine via the Pont d’Iéna. We followed the avenue de New York to the next bridge: “Pont de Bir-Hakeim” then back down to homebase. On the way we crossed the path of two couples having their wedding pictures taken. Here they are, on the same day as our own Wedding Day one year ago. Did I mention that our seats on the plane were in aisle 19? I love the way we run across signs that nod back to our own wedding day, it is as if the universe was saying: “Hey…See we celebrate you too.” So nice!
Just before getting back to the apartment, we popped into Poilâne, a baker Chris had read about during his bread making studies. There we picked up a quarter of one of their famous 4lbs sourdough loaves, some “Punitions” (cookies) and a treat for tomorrow’s breakfast. Once back at the flat we got our first amazing taste of Poilâne’s flavourful sourdough loaf and to indulge in a punition or 2. Before our hunger got the better of us, we popped back out to grab a generous bite to eat nearby on Boulevard du Grenelle at the charming Bistro Dupleix. Then we headed back to the Metroprix to pick up a few basics for our flat. I think we are ready to take on another new day tomorrow! So nice to have a cozy space to curl up into for the night. Sleep tight everyone! We’ll write again tomorrow.
Posted 1 day, 8 hours ago at 6:13 pm. Add a comment
It was a full day of travel to get to Paris. Started out with a drive from Frances’ parents to the train station, followed by a comfortable train ride to the Dorval, and a shuttle to Trudeau Airport. We checked our luggage and avoided the usual St. Hubert chicken and went with some Burger King to eat instead.
Since we arrived pretty early we played with our cameras in the terminal, taking the required touristy photos with a grizzly bear and moose both dressed up as Mounties and toured through the always interesting duty free and Red Canoe stores.
The flight was relatively quick, only a brief delay to wait for a last minute replacement Steward (?) and with about 2 hours left in the flight, we heard a page over the public address asking for: “any doctor on board the flight?”. It was hard to tell what was happening but eventually the stewards were helped by two men, one who stayed with the ill person until we landed. Blood pressure was checked several times and eventually a blood sugar reading was taken. The person was met by paramedics as soon as we landed and he seemed to be doing much better by that time.
On European soil, we landed in CDG and were bussed to terminal 3 and queued to briefly meet the French boarder patrol long enough for him to look at our photos, find a page and stamp our passports. No questions asked. After a refreshing walk to terminal 2, Frances found a train booth to get us tickets to get into town where we transferred to the Metro. The M6 took us to our stop which included several blocks on some elevated tracks. This gave us a beautiful first impression of the urban architecture of the city of Paris.
A short walk from the Metro exit had us safely into our rented flat.
That is all for now, I’m pretty tired from all the excitement and lack of sleep, but I will post a few pics when I am a little more rested.
Chris
Posted 1 day, 11 hours ago at 3:03 pm. Add a comment
Ever since i’ve known Frances she has talked about going to Paris. Today we embark on our journey to the city of lights.
I wonder what we will get up to?
Posted 2 days, 15 hours ago at 11:16 am. 4 comments
We’re off on another trip soon! We hope to take you with us when we go. This time it’s Paris in the springtime for our honeymoon. Stay tuned!
Posted 1 week, 1 day ago at 1:46 am. Add a comment
Well it’s about time I got back into blogging. I hope I can last longer than a few weeks this time.
Things seem to have settled and life is more stable. The past 12 months have been a whirlwind of excitement and stress. The two w’s, working and wedding are attributed to lack of blog posts. The wedding took place in May and went really well, and work seems to be going a lot more smoothly now that I have a years worth of experience.
Hope anyone looking at this decides to come back and find regular posts about food, movies, television or my attempts at humor.
Enjoy,
Chris
Posted 10 months, 4 weeks ago at 12:55 am. Add a comment
Yes… As you can see we’ve been a bit quiet on here. We’ve been adjusting to Chris’ new full time job at the hospital and we’ve also been getting ready for our wedding in New York City! Woo-hoo! So forgive our silence. The big day is fast approaching.
Posted 1 year, 1 month ago at 11:02 pm. Add a comment
Hurray! We finally have a creation from the garden… Rosemary Basil Artichoke Focaccia! Thanks to our friend Amy who shared with us her yummy focaccia recipe! I took it and had great fun adapting it. Using corn and whole spelt flour, onions, garlic, artichoke, parmesan cheese along with fresh basil and rosemary from the garden! I’m so happy to have such a tasty result. Here are some mouthwatering pictures for you …
Posted 1 year, 9 months ago at 6:14 am. Add a comment
Our gardening trial continues, it’s been a little over 3 weeks.
Since we started we have added a few more veggies: cabbage and butternut squash to be exact.
We also pocked up a composter for next year.
The veggies we originally planted are doing well. Some of the tomato plants are really taking off as are the onions that frances bought for .25 cents.
Hungry squirrels have set us back as they ate the green peppers that were getting bigger. The green beans have not sprouted and may never.
Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 8:27 am. Add a comment
