we really wanted to attend a show of “les ballet russes” at the Opera Garnier, but tickets had been sold out for months. so we took our chances, arrived two hours early and got in line with other hopefuls for last minute tickets. it was really cold, and we were finally allowed inside after one read more
we couldn’t wait to try the food from the christmas markets, and so we decided to make a meal out of it. we went to the market between the trocadero and eiffel tower. first course, french onion soup, and a sausage sandwich. then we tried a foie gras and duck breast sandwich, which was dee-licious. read more
a few scenes from random spots around paris. found a space invader by the canal de st. martin. bonus! view of st. eustache church with les halles in the foreground. fontaine des innocents. ile st. louis. ile de la cite and ile st. louis. jardin des plantes. cimetiere montparnasse.
at night the champs elysees is busy with people and bright with christmas lights all the way down to the arc de triomphe. more window shopping… at LV. another christmas market down both sides of the street. we tried the vin rouge chaud and hot chocolate. french candyman.
we took advantage of the reduced entry ticket after 6pm on wednesdays, and went to the louvre in the evening after joe finished work. it was actually a great time to visit; we could enjoy the beautiful lights outside the building, and there were fewer crowds. with three hours to spend at the museum, we read more
i love exploring a city by walking; that way you can find more unexpected things and take a detour whenever you want. while going down the “Grand Boulevards”, i found les passages couverts …indoor shopping arcades built in the 19th century. there were a variety of shops like specialty cookies and candies, furniture, arts and read more
so here we are, in paris! joe will be doing some research work at the louvre, which is an exciting opportunity for him, and of course great for me! we’re looking forward to re-visiting some of our favorite sites, and doing things we didn’t have time to do last time we were in paris for read more
okay… one more post on our new york trip! we definitely had our share of good eats. here’s a bit more in addition to food i’ve already blogged about. shortly after arriving, pam introduced us to yogurt… and we had our first red mango. our first day was especially memorable since we had two dinners. read more
we had such a great time in new york! pam was an amazing hostess, and we were glad to be able to see a bit of her life in nyc. eventhough we feel like we saw a lot, there was still so much left to do… hopefully we’ll have a chance to return one day. read more
on our last day in new york city, we returned to some neighborhoods like soho and did a bit more (window) shopping. look carefully, the building on the left is actually a trompe l’oeil. the flatiron building is on the right. for lunch, we treated ourselves to “mesa grill” near the flatiron district, one of read more