Drinking on terraces, a national sport?

Palais de Tokyo right before dusk . . . meeting some friends for drinks in the courtyard while watching skateboarders do tricks in front of grattifi covered marble walls- you tend to forget you're actually in a museum when you are here...

Parisians do love their terrace drinking and this one has got to be one of the biggest and best I've been to yet.  Here's to a few more days of drinking on lovely terraces with my beautiful friends here in Paris!

xx

Trains, planes and automobiles

I'm finally on my way back to Paris and boy what a journey it has been!  I can't tell you how happy I am to be heading back tonight for my final few days in what I can now easily say is one of my favorite cities in the world.  I can't believe I'm leaving it and I know I will be back faster than you can say Paris, je t'aime...but for now New York calls and I am happy to answer.

I'll fill you in on my grand adventure shortly (when I'm not stuck in an airport with an about to be dead battery).  For now let me just tell you that the 3 hour delay I am facing at the Nice airport is only the cherry on top of the icing on top of a lovely cake of travel delays and mishaps from the past week and a half.  I'm not even taking the subway when I get back to Williamsburg (well...)

xx

Paris is burning

Right before I left for Barcelona we were having incredibly hot summer weather in Paris.  Around 33 degrees Celsius (which I'm told is around 90 degrees Fahrenheit).  With temperatures like that and no air conditioning in most places, you really feel the heat and every little task becomes harder and harder to do as it drains you of all your energy.  It's been brutal to say the least, but I've managed to find ways to cope.

On one of the very hot days I visited the (finally!) re-opened Catacombs.  This was a great escape from the heat because it is located underground and stays very cool year round.  The ossuary is a hike from most other sites and once you are there you have to walk down a very, very long and dizzying spiral staircase.  The good news is that once you get to the bottom temperatures have already dropped by at least 10 degrees and you are free to spend some quality time in the dark with a lot of creepy bones!

At times, I felt like I was on the set of an Indiana Jones movie.  Its just so unreal to fathom all these bones (piles and piles of them) once belonged to people, many of which were originally buried in cemeteries.  I wasn't necessarily scared while down there alone, but it was surreal and a bit creepy if you actually thought about the circumstances of your surroundings.  Nevertheless, it was a very interesting site and I'm glad I had the chance to check it out on such a steamy day!

A more classic Parisian ritual for cooling off is lazing in a public park, preferably one with a big fountain.  While Gabby was in town we stopped by the fountain at Luxembourg Gardens and the other day I had a much needed rest at the Tuileries.  I'm starting to think we need more fountains in New York!

I heard about the heatwave in New York . . . hope you are all staying cool and drinking lots of cold alcoholic beverages-errr I mean water!

xx

Even Parisian cemeteries are romantic

The other day, while Gabby was in town, we stopped by one of the biggest and most eerily beautiful cemeteries I've ever been to- Père Lachaise.  I'm fortunate enough to live really close by, which makes smaller visits more convenient.  The shear size of the place is completely overwhelming and picking up a map at one of the entrances is a must.

It took me until Gabby's visit to realize that I had never talked about the cemetery before and I have some lovely pictures I wanted to share with you.

 

The decaying, gothic-like burial chambers covering the rolling hills inside the cemetery and all of the famous residents (Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Henry Chopin, Sandra Bernhardt, Victor Hugo and the list could go on for days...) help to make it one of the most visited and well known cemeteries in the world.  There are over 300,000 buried here and the grounds also house a chapel and crematorium.  It is a pretty incredible place.

xx

I don't share desserts, but I'll share Paris

Paris is a great city to wander around and get lost in . . . with the right person.  While Gabby was in town I did my best not to steer us in the wrong direction (which is very difficult sometimes) since we were doing so much walking to begin with.  We really got to explore a lot of the city together.  Spending time in the Left Bank: lazying in Luxembourg Gardens, champagne on the terrace at Les Deux Magots, macaroons from Pierre Hermes and of course some World Cup football games.  We also visited Pere Lachaise cemetery up in the 20th arrondissement and Canal Saint-Martin in the 10th.  We had a picnic on the Seine one night and shopped les Puces de Saint-Ouen (the famous Parisian flea market).  In the Marais we shopped and spent some time in the Place des Vosges then ate "the best Falafal in the world!" from the famed L'As du Fallafe- delicious!

We even got to experience two different seasons!  It was around 50 degrees and rainy the first weekend we were in Paris together and more than 80 degrees and sunny by the time we returned from Amsterdam.  Paris really comes alive in the Summer though, so it was great that she got to experience that before she left.  It was truly a wonderful time!

I'm not quite sure if I changed her mind about Paris, but I did my damnedest to show her how amazing the city can be and I think a bit of it rubbed off on her.  Paris is magical and I think it may have ruined me for other cities...

xx

The Black Lion

Paris may be the city of romance, but I received my first marriage proposal in Amsterdam...
Please meet The Black Lion!

This African tribal dancer from Senegal (he even has business cards and a portfolio of performance pictures that he showed us) was one of the vendors at the Waterlooplein flea market.  I stopped by his stall to look at the African textiles and the next thing a know he's telling Gabby and I how much he would like a woman like me, that we look good next to one another and basically that he would be a great arm charm for me...Well, then things got even more interesting as he told me "back home in Africa you have a fat wife she sleeps outside, but you, I would come and scoop you up and carry you back home."   Oh really?!?

I'll take that as a complement and the first marriage proposal I have gotten was kindly declined.


xx

Friendly observations

I have an extra special treat for you today!  Gabby, who was just here visiting, has been kind enough to write a couple of guest posts about her experience.  It's always nice to get another person's perspective on things and sharing trips with a friend is a great way to see the world through someone else's eyes.

Ok, take it away Gabby!

10 Observations:

1) Renting a phone- after converting to a blackberry a little over a year ago you realize how hard it is to text on an old school phone.
2) French people do really smell bad - experienced that first hand on my 9 hour flight over.
3) I realized that I had the largest girls in Paris. Did not realize that all French girls were flat-chested.  (Ed note: not ALL French girls)
4) Renting bikes looks fun until you're the dipshit that runs into a parked car (Ed note: secret's out!)
5) If you think 3 Eiffel Tower key chains for 1 Euro is a good deal, you're wrong, you can get 5 for 1, but then you realize WTF am I gonna do with 5 Eiffel Tower key chains.
6) If you are going to over pack, at least over pack for all kinds of weather.  It could be freezing cold one day and hot as hell the next day.  (Ed note: she's right, we went from low 50s to high 80s in less than a week)
7) Save your money on the brownies!
8) If you plan on going to an erotic show make sure your traveling with someone who is into the same kind of kinky stuff you are ; )
9) If you think the boy siting near you on the bridge is upset over a girl making out with some other guy, you could be right, but don't be surprised if he turns to the guy next to him and starts making out with him.
10) 1 week in Europe is never enough time to spend with your friend drinking wine, eating 2-3 desserts a day and walking till your feet feel like they are about to fall off.

Thanks for everything Holz!

Wow... a bunch of those are seriously funny and possibly inside jokes, but I'm sure you get the picture.  I am so glad to hear Gabby had a good time!!!!

xx