Yumminess

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food" - George Bernard Shaw

I had forgotten about this pastry shop... I had forgotten about the yumminess that I drooled over one afternoon in Gertrude Stein's neighborhood of Paris. The smells were so inviting outside the door of the shop that I dared not venture in... I would have been more than tempted. I would have been convinced. But I did take some pictures. And this is one of those pastries, a work of art really, much too good looking to eat. But so so so so drool worthy.

Photos

"You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it." -Author Unknown

I'm not a great photographer... I don't have any training... I attempted a class last year and never could make it because of work. So I dropped out. I like taking pictures and I need to spend more time doing it, learning what my camera can do, learning how to get the image I want. But here's some of the ones I managed to take in PARIS!. And a link to more on my flickr page.

One of the many bridges across the Seine with the Effiel Tower in the background:

The Arch de Triumph...

Standing under the Effiel Tower.

Updating the List

"We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment." - Hilaire Belloc


I had great intentions of posting my travel experiences as soon as I returned stateside but everything seemed to get in the way: job, life and sleep. So it'll be slow going but eventually I'll hit on everything I did in PARIS!


But first, let's update the list:

1. Visit the world's only pub inside a tree (South Africa)
2. Giolitti - one of the oldest, family owned gelaterias in Rome (Italy)
3. 'Fly' through the rainforest (Costa Rica)
4. Stay in the Ice Hotel (Norway)
5. Stay on a working Dude Ranch (USA)
6. Go on an African Safari (Kenya)
7. Visit the Outback (Australia)
8. Hike the Cinque Terre (Italy)
9. Go dogsledding (Sweden)
10. Ice skate in Rockefeller Center (USA)
11. Walk the Great Wall (China)
12. Eat Sushi (Japan)
13. Deliver postcards from the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)
14. Ski the Swiss Alps (Switzerland)
15. Christmas at the Biltmore (USA)
16. Camp at the Darvaza Gas Crater (Turkmenistan)
17. Visit the other Georgia (Georgia)
18. Drink wine in Bordeaux (France)
19. Dive off the Great Barrier Reef (Australia)
20. Watch the Changing of the Guards (England)
21. See the Running of the Bulls (Spain)
22. Sail the Strait of Gilbraltar (Spain/Morocco)
23. Ride a Camel (Egypt)
24. Ride the Orient Express (Eastern Europe)
25. Celebrate Oktoberfest (Germany)
26. Celebrate Carnival (Brazil)
27. See elephants paint (Thailand)
28. Tour the sewers (France)
29. Learn Spanish (Spain)
30. Walk Abbey Road (England)
31. Hike Brooks Range (USA)
32. Celebrate Easter in St. Peter's (Italy)
33. Ride the Mowcow to St. Petersburg wide gauge railroad (Russia)
34. See the Gigantic Carved Heads of Easter Island (Polyunesia)
35. Play blackjack in Monte Carlo (Monaco)
36. Float down the Amazon (South America)
37. Celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Dublin (Ireland)
38. Trek through Karakoram (Western Europe/Eastern Asia)
39. Snowmobile (Finland)
40. Sit on the lawn at Wimbledon (England)
41. Walk the fabled Bund in Shanghai (China)
42. Cooking Classes in Paris (France)
43. Shop the market at Ougadougou (Burkina Faso)
44. Watch the sun set over Machu Picchu (Peru)
45. Take surfing lessons (Australia)
46. Take the chunnel from London to Paris (England)
47. East street food in Bangkok (Thailand)
48. Ride the train down the Malaysian pennisula from Bangleole to Kuala Lumpur (Asia)
49. Journey along the Silk Road (China)
50. See the Acropolis of Athens in the moonlight (Greece)
51. Tour the ruins of the "rose-red city" (Jordan)
52. Ride the Chihuahua-Pacifico Railroad (Mexico)
53. Swim with the dolphins (New Zealand)
54. Spend Bastille Day in Paris (France)
55. See Stonehenge (England)
56. Attend a Venice Biennale Art Exhibit (Italy)
57. Fish for wild trout (Scotland)
58. Shop the yearly sale at Harrod's department sale (England)
59. Sail into the harbor of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
60. Stand at the Wailing Wall (Jerusalem)
61. Visit Peace City in Hiroshima (Japan)
62. Visit the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (Russia)
63. See the Royal Jewels (England)
64. Walk Milford Track (New Zealand)
65. See the Sydney Opera House (Australia)
66. Taste vintage port (Portugal)
67. See Angel Falls (Venezuala)
68. Snorkel Bora Bora (Polynesia)
69. Walk the Hall of Mirrors (Paris)
70. Climb the Harbor Bridge (Australia)
71. Tour the Kremlin (Russia)
72. See the Viking ruins & runes (Greenland)
73. Watch the sunset from Capitoline Hill (Italy)
74. Visit the Valley of the Kings (Egypt)
75. Ride through the Panama Cannal (Panama)
76. See the remains of the Berlin Wall (Germany)
77. See the Rosetta Stone (England)
78. Stan among the Tulips (Holland)
79. See the fountains of Vill d'Este (Italy)
80. Ride the double-decker buses around London (England)
81. Hike the Grand Canyon (USA)
82. Visit Lake Baikal (Russia)
83. Visit the Turtle Sanctuary (Seychelle-Africa)
84. See the David (Italy)
85. Tour Jane Austen's country (England)
86. See the Flamingos at the Lake Ngorongoro Crater (Tanzania)
87. Float the Sepik River (Papua New Guinea)
88. See the Hieroglyphic Stairway in Copan (Honduras)
89. See foot on the Ho Chi Minh Trail (Vietnam)
90. Drive on the Autobahn (Germany)
91. See the Danube (Czech Republic)
92. See the great Sphinx (Egypt)
93. Visit the Blue Mosque (Turkey)
94. See the Paelolithic art in the Caves of Altamira (Spain)
95. Eat Limburger cheese in Limburg (Belgium)
96. Stand on the grounds of the first Olympics (Greece)
97. Tour the Baja (Mexico)
98. Take a class at Oxrford (England)
99. Stand at the beaches of Normandy (France)
100. Drink a Manhattan in Manhattan (USA)
101. Swim with the whale sharks on Isla Holbox (Mexico)
102. Experience Vaughan Town (Spain)

*Completed items in Italics*

So I added 2 more items while simultaneously checking 2 off the list. I've got a feeling that's the way it'll go for awhile since there is so much I want to do in this world and I keep discovering more places to go, see, and experience. Such is life!

After being in Paris, submersed in the language and feeling so lost, I'm wanting to add a language immersion program so I'm researching those and I'll add that to the list eventually.

In Less than Two Weeks...

"If pleasures are greatest in anticipation, just remember that this is also true of troubles." - Elbert Hubbard



I can't wait for my facebook status to be "Je suis a Paris!" Less than two weeks for me to be in the City of Light... walking the streets that inspired the lives of Hemingway, Picasso, Child, Dali, Stavinsky, and so many more. I have lists of places to see and the planning is overwhelming... I have only SEVEN DAYS in a city with museums that can take months to see everything. It's a little much and I'm so concerned I'm not going to be able to see it all.

Reality Check: I will NOT be able to see it all. This I know for sure. So I've got to quit freaking out about what I'm going to miss and enjoy my time there. And while I don't plan to sleep, I also plan to return, to see it all again and experience Paris (with the rest of France) at a slower pace. So this trip will be about some of the must sees: Effiel Tower, Versailles, Mona Lisa, etc. And the food... Have I mentioned how excited I am to eat the food? I've gone on a Paris diet... not going out with friends to save money for eating in Paris... why should I eat a processed hamburger when I'll be able to eat Parisan cuisine!?!? And the wine? My taste buds start to do a happy dance in my mouth when I think about it. I have decided, if the opportunity presents itself, I will try escargot... It just seems appropriate, don't you think?

Following my desire to be more adventurous and experience more of life, trying this delicacy in a new country for the first time seems like a step in the right direction. So we'll see. It's not a goal but an opportunity. Haven't added it to the bucket list yet but am looking to include it on this trip.

Speaking of the List, what's there that I need to make sure I cover on this trip?

#29 Tour the Sewers

#70 Walk the Hall of Mirrors

and possibily...

#43 Cooking Classes in Paris

although, when I wrote that, I was thinking more along the lines of a 6 week intensive class, not an afternoon session but I won't turn my nose up at that either.

I've just finished "My Life in France" by Julia Child - she mentions attending afternoon lectures at Le Cordon Bleu open to the public for a small fee. I wonder if they are still a part of the school? If so, I'll definitely want to drop in... again, not good enough for a check on the list but still an experience not to be missed.

Ooh la la... Lookie here. (This is why I love the interwebs... an idea pops into my head and I can research it right away).

Culinary Demonstrations DAILY in Paris. With TASTINGS. I am in heaven. Also, options to tour the Parisian markets (something Julia did often in her training) to see how to properly pick produce, then followed by a cooking demonstration. Or a food & wine course, how to pair with foods, tastings included. I may stay at Le Cordon Bleu the whole time. Oh dear, Jennie may hate me by the end of the trip because of my obsession with Julia and cooking and Paris and food but I'm about to pop with excitement! ("French people eat French food every day!" - Julia Child).

And so I dream, 11 days to go...

A Selfish Plea to the Universe

"There's no disaster that can't become a blessing, and no blessing that can't become a disaster." - Richard Bach

Dear Universe,

I'm a logical person and a practical person... I deal with life and death every day in my profession so I try to keep my personal drama in perspective. I try not to get too worked up over the little things and take joy in the calamities (!what a great word!) of life, laughing it off and retelling my misfortunes for the pleasure of others.

However, if my FIRST EVER TRIP TO PARIS! is disruppted by the volcano in Iceland I might cry. For seven days and seven nights. Cry until my tear ducts dry up and I can't cry any more. This would be a travesty in it's own right since I am a champion crier... who cries at all and anything... those GE mom commercials during the Olympics? I cried. Running over an already dead squirrel Sunday morning, I cried. When I'm laughing, I usually laugh until I cry. The world needs my tears... I make it ok for others to cry so the ash from the volcano MUST NOT interfer with my first ever trip to PARIS!

I have waited 31 looooooooooooooooong years for this trip (alright, maybe more like 25 years) and a natural disaster is not going to interfer with my plans. I will not allow it. So let's see what we can do about cleaning up the air so my flight to CDG has no problems. Now, once I'm there... all bets are off... strand me in Europe with no flight home for as long as necessary... you won't hear a peep from me.

But let me get there first, okay? Okay. Glad we got that sorted out...

Sincerely,
Your Loving Citizen Lindsey

aka IfNothingElse

PARIS! photo blog

Look at what I just found...

http://www.parisdailyphoto.com/

What to See...

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

So I've got my Lonely Planet guidebook, emails with recommendations, movies to watch, books to read and blogs with tips. All for my trip to PARIS! (that's how I refer to it in my head & I actually get to visualize my excitement on here, so bare with me). I've printed the map of the metro, figured out what I want to see in the Louvre, and planned a day trip to Versailles. I'm so ready to go.

What's so funny is everyone whom I've told I'm going to Paris says the people are horribly rude. Which is the standard stereotype for French people. Especially to Americans. Interested to see if it's true - haven't read of that but been told it. I've traveled before and was attacked by a drunk Englishman in a vineyard in New Zealand about our former president. So hopefully I'll be able to hold my own. Especially in a country with a foreign language. At least if they're insulting me, I won't be able to understand them - I guess that's a positive thing. Althought I actually would love to learn French (just have this tiny problem with hearing sounds, it doesn't happen for me).

So I've got restaurants to try, especially the crepe stand across from Notre Dame (if it's still there and as good as it was in 2003), which I hope can find. And I've been told the view from the Effiel Tower is not to be missed - great - I have a thing about heights. I can deal if I have to but I'd rather not. But I've got a feeling this is one I can't miss out on so I'll be dealing with my racing pulse while I force myself to focus on the beauty of the view instead of how much the fall would hurt.

But I digress.

So 27 days until I go to PARIS!

The Adventure Begins...

"America is my country and Paris is my hometown." - Gertrude Stein

I am going to Paris... In exactly 35 days, I will be flying from NYC to PARIS. For seven days, my childhood bestie and I will walk around, see the sights, visit museums, drink French wine and eat French food! And I'm so excited I can't think about anything else! I heard on the news that the Euro was down today and all I could think was that hopefully it will stay that way for the next month.

While it's outside of my desire to do a RTW trip and will definitely set back my savings for that trip as I completely depleted my travel account to pay for the trip, I'm rationalizing my choice with the money is being used for travel and I can't keep waiting for "some day". So, a week in Paris as my first European adventure will have to do. No compliants here.

While I've never been anywhere in Europe and I want to see it all, biting off Paris is an ambitious endeavor for someone who only speaks English and sometimes I don't do that well. Jennie, my traveling buddy, knows "some" French but I'll admit, after reading everything is in French, I'm a little intimidated. But at the same time, people are rude to me here so they can be rude there and I'll still BE IN PARIS!!!

After reading NomadicMatt's post about the Sewers of Paris, I've always thought that would be a very cool adventure. So I'm requesting that be on the itinerary. As well as the Catacombs. Plus the Louvre, Effiel Tower, Notre Dame, Monmarte, Jardin de Luxemburg, Moulin Rouge...

I could go on forever.

Now comes the fun part, reading Paris books and watching French movies and planning for French fun!

I'm just so excited. I can't stand it. Now to figure out how much spending money I'll need.