THE FRENCH DO IT RIGHT!

There are some things that the French just get right (and the Parisians in particular!).
We think we are so smart to have the "local" food movement...The Parisian way of shopping is awesome (and the original "local" way of doing things)...I love the whole concept that each little neighborhood has it's own cheese shop, it's own fruit market, it's own charcuterie, it's own pharmacy (more on that later!), and most of all it's own boulangerie and patisserie!  Any by "neighborhood" ... it is really like a 3 block area!  I love seeing the locals (mostly women) shopping daily for the freshest and the best, and supporting their local family owned businesses.  When we were in our closest fruit market (which was not much bigger than most Amreican's walk in closets!) the venders knew the families shopping, chatted daily with the women and their children -  both sides valued the relationships.  I love the way these little markets work ...the fruits and veggies are arranged like artwork, but you don't just grab a basket of strawberries or a bunch of bananas yourself...you first say "bounjour madame" (or "monsieur") when you enter, then you ask for your items one by one and they select the basket of strawberries and ask if you want the slightly green banana or the one with freckles!   If you ask for 5 small potatoes, they will pick on up at a time and turn it over  and check that it is perfect before puting it in the bag, then they will select the next.  It is so clear that they value their product and they value the customer and take great pride in providing the best!  (After all, you could just walk 2 or 3 more blocks and find another produce market that might have better potatos!)
Another thing the French do well is Pharmacies!  Their pharmacies (always marked with a big green cross out front) are amazing!  They bear no resemblence to what we think of as a pharmacy (Longs, CVS, Rite-Aid?!).  We went into a pharmacy a few days ago to get some Advil, deodorant, toothpaste and eyedrops (Visine or something for Gary's dry itchy eyes).  The problem with flying with only  carry-on baggage is that you are so limited by the TSA regulations regarding liquids...so we needed 
to replenish our supplies!  We found the deodorant (Bioderm brand?!).  It is roll-on...the wettest deodorant you ever saw!  You may not perspire when you use it, but your armpits will be wet all day none the less!  Plus the stuff cost 19.5€ (that is $25.76!!!!)  My son Matthew loves to tease me about 
the smelly French...perhaps it is the cost of lousy wet deodorant that is at the root of the problem!  Ok...so the deodorant is no good, but the pharmacies are fantastic!  Ask for eyedrops, and they ask if you have red eyes, itchy eyes, allergies...what exactly are you trying to fix?!  Then they disappear into the back room and bring out just the right kind.  Ask for Advil and they have a few questions for you!  They will ask who they are for, and then tell you just how many to take and how often.  It is all so personal and seems so caring...unlike the teenagers working at Longs!  (sorry Bryan and Jayson...I know you took your jobs at Longs VERY seriously when you were in high school!). I have heard it said that if a French person has an ailment they go first to see their pharmacist.  If the pharmacist can't cure them, they will refer them to a doctor!!  The French pharmacist is the first line of defense...doctors come second! So one side of the pharmacy has the health aids and the other side is more "beauty" oriented. In fact I have a list of beauty items that "all" French women use that are available at the pharmacie...hope I have room in my suitcase for some of the French beauty secrets!  (no deodorant though.)
I also love the way the French love their dogs!  Big or small, they are sitting patiently with their masters at cafes, riding the Metro, at the produce market, sitting in the sun in the park...or just out for a walk.  Each one made me miss my girls...although the French dogs are much more polite than my wild girls!
And the children...oh la la!  The cutest in the world! (at least the best dressed!). Really, when I saw a little girl about 5 years old wearing a perfectly tied scarf and little hat I about died!  So many customers at Eileen Fisher are worried about wearing a scarf correctly...and here was a 5 year old French child wearing her scarf with panache!  Seriously, everyone was wearing a scarf...male, female, child!
The Metro is another of my  favorite thing about Paris!  I love the sensibility of it...one ticket get you ANYWHERE...no matter how many transfers!  It is laid out so well, that you can get anywhere, and most addresses (of restaurant or stores) indicate what is the nearest Metro stop. I really think this is the ultimate public transportation!  There is frequently someone playing the accordion or saxophone in the tunnels of the Metro so there is live music wafting through the subterranean tunnels of the Metro...kind of romantic in a weird way!
Gary loves the way the French voices are so melodic...he doesn't understand the language, but he says he could listen to French  conversations all day!  He loves the sing-song nature of the language, and the expressive faces that go along along with the "melody".  Their interactions are passionate and full of life.
So although we did a lot of "touristy"" things in Paris, like visiting the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, St. Chapelle and the Arc de Triomphe along with the Louvre and Musee D'Orsay...the things I have enjoyed the most are just "being" in Paris with the locals.  Nothing makes me happier than sitting in a cafe watching the locals interact (and trying to interact with them myself), shopping at the local shops...just pretending that I am Parisian too!!

OUR APARTMENT

Can I mention just one more time how much I love Paris...and I think the love is mutual!  How else can I interpret the way my "cafe creme" was served this morning?!  We ordered the 2 coffees and 1 croissant (poor gluten Free Gary...I feel so guilty eating them in front of him...but not quite guilty enough to NOT eat them in front of him!)  Anyway, my coffee had a nice little heart in the foam on the top - and this is not one of those "fancy-schmantzy" coffee places that practices making hearts and other designs intentionally in the foam...Gary's was just plain, and mine clearly had a message for me - it was saying "Paris loves Kathy right back!"

 I thought it might be fun to show you what our apartment looks like.  I wish I had thought to take pictures BEFORE we exploded all over the apartment!

This is looking from our bedroom back toward the entryway.

And this is looking out the huge 4 meter high windows out onto the courtyard.

This is the bedroom complete with super comfy European king size bed which is more like a queen...maybe a little bigger.

This is standing in the entryway looking toward the bedroom...aren't those windows awesome?!  I wish I played the piano...it has headphones tht plug into it so you can play and not drive your neighbors crazy...all the sound can be fed through the headphones and none comes out of the actual piano!  (or you can play it the regular way of course.

This is the courtyard and you can see Gary walking toward the front door that opens onto rue Saints Peres.  Our apartment is on the 2nd floor  (3rd floor if you are counting American-style)  above the cars on the left side of the photo.

And Gary is now at the front door lookiing back at me.  It is the super typical Parisian door that you open one side if you are just walking in, but if you need to drive your car in to park, you open both doors.  It is so great because the courtyard is so nice and quiet.  The place has a very modern bathroom with a shower, and a super cute and effficient kitchen complete with a small little washier/dryer combo.  It looks like a small front loader washer, but the clothes just stay in and then you change the settings and it proceeds to dry the clothes...and it is so much quieter than either my washer or dryer at home...I love this machine! 

And I love Paris...and Paris loves me back!

THE IMPRESSIONISTS part 2

I love the d'Orsay...partly for the beautiful artwork and partly for the architecture.  The building was originally a train station and the space is just spectacular inside...big and open with awesome HUGE clocks at each end and huge barrel shaped glass ceiling...it is really a work of art in itself.  Plus it is located right across the street from the Seine...location, location, location!

As you can't take any photos of the artwork,  I only got these clock photos!  Oh wait, there is one more photo of Adrienne and me resting after covering  3 floor of Inpressionist art work:

This was the most amazing piece of furniture I ever sat  on!  Russ and Gary had to literally pull us out of thise huge comfy leather "nest" we were in!  All that museum work certainly meant we deserved another cafe visit, right?  This time we had "coca light" (diet coke) served with 2 ice cubes each!   Sufficiently refreshed, we parted ways and made our separate ways home.  We only had a 2 block walk, R & A had another experience that involved closed RER train stations and some Metro mix ups...I think they could have actually walked home faster than the public transit!  We were all so tired (jet lag...how long can I keep blaming that!?) that we all took naps and actually woke up feeling so much better...ready to take on the world (or at least dinner together!). While we drank wine and ate cheese in our apartment, we waited from the Belmont group as to the dinner plan.  Russ texted us that he had made reservations for 10 of us at Boui, Boui up in their neighborhood.  This is a good point to introduce the full cast of characters.  

 First up is Dani and Nash...the whole reason we are here!  Next Friday they will be getting married at  "the chateau"!

 This is Rob and Allison...they are Dani and Nash's best friends!

 This is Brittney (youngest of the lovely Belmont girls) and Will, her boyfriend.

 Russ and Adrienne...proud parents of the the bride...and our dear old friends.  I think I better be careful when I say "old" friends...Adrienne's birthday is June 7!  I honestly mean "long-time" friends!

And this photo I just love...look at how Russ is looking at Dani...how sweet is that!?

Ok...ready for a group shot from our dinner at Boui, Boui?  At this restaurant the waitresss spoke basically no english, so I had to read the menue to the group...I think there might be a photo of that too!

 Food was delicious (as was the wine) and the restaurant was fun.  When we were done eating we wanted to keep the fun going, so we wandered until we could find a bar that could accomodate all 10 of us.  Eventually we did find one and we took over the entire upsstairs...cocktails were amazing; I think all of the ladies had one kind of a champagne cocktail or another...each more delicious than the nest!  And the glasses were the most amazing,longest stemmed champagne flutes I have ever seen.  I'm just sorry I didn't get a photo of the glass-ware...guess I was too busy enjoying my scrumptous cocktail!

At his point we decided it was time for us to part with the youngsters and head home...boarded the Metro and were home in bed at 1:30!

THE IMPRESSIONISTS MAKE AN IMPRESSION ON US!

That's breakfast...berries & yogurt!  (Gary ate a few before I took the picture - really, the box looked like art work, it was so neatly arranged).  And how cute is that little jar of yogurt (whole milk delivered straight from the farm the previous day!)  It was enough to get our motors going so we could head up the street to the closest cafe (our apartment does not have a coffee pot...which is ok because it is so much more fun to go out and order "deux cafe creme" and stand at the bar with the locals!).  Once fueled with caffeine we were ready to tackle our problems...our ATM card didn't seem to work, Gary's MasterCard was not working, and my phone was not able to make calls out...the kind of problems that could ruin a vacation!  We headed over to the Apple store to get the phone issue fixed first...it seemed like the easiest one to tackle first, as I was sure I had just messed up some setting.  I had heard the Apple store was located under the Louvre (about a 10 minute walk)  We got there before they opened up, so we found a cafe in this under-ground mall.  Gary tried the credit card one more time and voila...it worked fine.!  Then we decided to really push our luck and try the ATM card...miracle of  miracles, it also worked!  I guess the first 2 times we had tried to use those cards, we were just a persnickety machines!  Yeah...2 problems solved, one more to go.  Back to the Apple store (which was now open) and the adorable young man told me that Verizon is very spotty in France and a new sim card would solve my problem.  Sadly, they do not sell sim cards there so he directed us to the Orange store (no joke...Apple, Orange!?)  This involved a metro ride up to the Arc de Triomphe.  Upon emerging from the Metro, we realized we were right in front of a poor imitation of a McDonalds that we had eaten at in 2000 when our boys were dying for some "American" food on our family trip.  The place is called BurgerQuick!  And if you ever had a drink at our house in the past 13 years and drank out a South Park drinking glass, it was a freebie they were giving away at BurgerQuick in 2000 - those glasses are family heirlooms!

This is the infamous BurgerQuick...and this picture is for Bryan, Jayson & Matthew who will be glad to know that BurgerQuick is still in business!  (We did not stop into see if they are still giving away
 South Park glassware...sorry boys!)

Directly across the street was the Orange store, which, as it turned out, was all out of sim cards for iPhone5s..."a strike" we were told.  We left, not sure WHO was on strike: the manufacaturer, the drivers, the sales associates...bottom line was no sim card.  I was still receiving text messages, and by this point Russ and Adrienne said they were ready to met up with us.  We had decided to hit the Musee d'Orsay, which houses some fantastic Impresssionist artwork.  Gary and I really enjoyed this museum last time we were here, so we certainly wanted to make a point to visit it again.  We met  Russ and Adrienne just as the weather got super hot and muggy...perhaps we should have lunch and some iced tea before tackling the Impressionists!  We had actually read good reviews of the museum restaurant so we decided to take a chance.  Boy were we glad we did!  The restaurant was spectacular...we felt asthough we were dining at Versailles,and could hardly take our eyes off the ceiling:

THE LONGEST DAY!

I'm writing this in Paris...I THINK it is Thursday morning!  Was it really 2 days ago that we left California?!  We got up Tuesday at 4:30am (part excitement...part a plan to ward off jet lag!)  We ran around doing all those last minute things like finishing packing and emptying the fridge.  The plan was to meet at Russ & Adrienne's home at 11:30am, but at 10am I got an email from United Airlines saying our flight would be "delayed until 5pm due to a late-arriving aircraft"...but they wanted us to be at SFO at our scheduled departure time of 2:45pm!  WHAT...this was not in my plan!?  Oh well...anxious to get our trip started, we headed over to Russ and Adrienne's as planned...and this is what met us there!

 We laughed so hard in that limo ride, just talking about the early days of our friendship, that Gary  cried 3 times!  By the time we got to the airport, the flight was delayed until 6:10 pm...oh no!  We got to know every inch of the International Terminal in the 6 hours we had to kill!  Oh...did I mention ?that we this whole time, not only did we have our carry on baggage...we also had THE WEDDING  DRESS to hand carry to France!  This was such a heavy responsibility that it took four of us to properly guard and transport it!  The flight was uneventful...just long (11 hours). Of course Gary did manage to spill a glass of water, a glass of wine, and a packet of sugar during the dinner service!  I think next time, I will NOT sit next to him...it's too dangerous!  We all dozed a little during the flight...but not enough to prevent us from feeling like zombies when we arrived in Paris.  Russ and Adrienne took a car to their apartment as they had many large suitcases (& of course the wedding dress!). Gary and I opted to take the RER train and then transfer to the Metro and walk to our apartment.  This all went fairly smoothly, but when we surfaced from the Metro we were in desperate need of some caffeinated refreshment, so sat at the first cafe (Les Deux Magots) we saw for some "cafe glacé".  It really did save us and gave us the strength to walk the last few blocks to our apartment.  Unfortunately I got turned around, and off we marched in the wrong direction!   Ooops!  As I stood there looking at my map, trying to get my bearings, a lovely, impeccably dressed, elderly French woman asked (in French) if we were lost!?  Her husband came to our aid, and I had to jump right in and and use all the knowledge from those years studying French in school! (my teacher, Mme. Bardot would be so proud!). It  worked though, and the old gent complimented me on my French!  They were totally charming and told us (in French!) how they had been to San Francisco and rode the cable cars and drove down Lombard Street!!  His pantomime of driving down the crooked street was adorable...I wanted to adopt him!  With his directions, we were at our apartment in no time!  The apartment  is great...spacious, modern bathroom, high ceilings, and quiet since it faces an interior courtyard...and came with a bottle of wine on the table just waiting for us!  we couldn't have been happier to finally be "home".
We went out to explore our neighborhood...we are at 8 rue des Saints Peres in the 7th arrondissement...lots of antique stores and art galleries around us...but with a little deeper exploration we found a produce market, a cheese shop, and a little meat market and came home fully stocked with gorgeous strawberries, raspberries, potatoes, onions, eggs, ham, yogurt and some compte, gorgonzola and brie!  We were set for breakfast and afternoon snacks.  It was fun to practice my french...and I felt very successful!  Back at home we busted out the cheese, opened the wine...and toasted to our first night in Paris!  After a while we wandered around the corner to Bistrot du Paris and had a charming waiter, Jean, who took us under his wing and told us all about his trip to California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico.  When I complimented him on his English, he said "When I was young I was a very naughty boy...and my principal was also my english teacher...do you see why my English is so good?  I spent a lot of time in the principal's office!"  We had a nice meal, wandered over to a small cafe facing the Louvre and had sorbet and decaf and marvelled at how light it still was at 10pm...street lights didn't come on until 10pm!  We had a nice chat with some Aussies that sat next to us. We were exhausted and headed home.  After this long day, bed never felt so good!  We both slept very soundly until about 5:30am (time change/jet lag?!)  Sweet dreams...we are in Paris!

TIME TO PACK!

I have a confession to make...I am a list maker!  I love stickey notes and I like pencils for writing my lists because erasing is SO much neater than crossing out!  Well, for weeks I have been writing lists for things to pack in my suitcase, things to pack in my tote bag, things to do at home before we leave, things to remind Gary to pack, and things to tell Bryan and Matthew about feeding the dogs...I need a list to keep track of all my other lists!  Anyway, today was the day to stop writing lists, and start packing!

As most of you know, I am a huge believer in packing wisely and travelling light!  Gary and I both plan to travel with a small "wheelie" suitcase, and one tote-bag/messenger bag each for our 2 week trip to France...should be a piece of cake!  We were able to do it for 3 weeks in Italy a few years ago, so this trip should really be a cinch.

With a little planning (and some help from Eileen Fisher!) I think I have mastered the art of packing lighter and smarter.  There are a few tips I can share:  pack mainly light weight knits (they layer well, don't wrinkle and they stretch for comfort), use scarves to change up your look, and accept that you will only have 3 pairs of shoes max.  If all your pieces are interchangeable, you will have optimum mixing (and avoid looking the same in all your vacation photos!).  I find it really helps to keep the colors pretty neutral (black & grey for me!) and then just stick with one pop color (for this trip my pop color is blue).  And remember...although YOU may be sick of your smaller than usual assortment of clothes and duplicate outfits...the locals where you are traveling will not see you every day - the people you saw yesterday probably won't see you tomorrow! As we will be in an apartment for our first week, we will be able to do laundry easily...but it can be fun to do laundry at a European laundromat and mix with the locals!

So exactly what am I packing?

• 3 pairs of slim pants (black, ash grey, silver grey)
• 3 cardigans (black, grey, blue)
• 1 blue light weight pull-over sweater
• 2 silk shirts (blue & varigated grey)
• 2 longer "underpinning" tops/tunics (black, ash grey)
• 3 organic cotton tank tops (white, 2 shades of grey)
• pj's & undies
• silver ballet flats, black wedge sandals
• 1 light weight rain jacket (black) (I prefer this over an umbrella)
• 5 scarves (various colors...mostly greys and blues with 1 green one thrown in)

(I will be wearing a grey sweater, striped t-shirt,  scarf and black EF slouchy pants with black ballet flats)

Believe it or not, this all fit in my little tiny suitcase, leaving my tote bag to hold my kindle, toiletries,  Clairsonic, make-up, some snacks for the plane, my knitting, various charging devices, and even my purse!  Easy-Peasy!!  I'll even have a little room to bring home some gifts.

The beauty of traveling light like this, is that when we land Wednesday morning, we can easily hop on the RER train from the airport in Paris, transfer to the Metro at Gare du Nord and get off at the St. Germain de Pres station, walk 5 minutes, and be at our apartment fairly quickly......no having to wait and wait in line for a cab, dragging more luggage than we can each comfortably carry. Viva la difference!

WEDDINGS!

Is there anything better than a wedding?!  I love weddings...the first wedding I remember was when I was 5 years old and I was a a flower girl. What made this wedding memorable (other than the fact that it was in the gorgeous Grace Cathedral in San Francisco) was the fact that when I used the restroom, just before walking down the aisle, I dropped my long pink velvet sash into the toilet and it had to be cut off into a stubby incarnation of its former self!  (Oh those were some sad wedding photos!)
But I really do love weddings...first you go through the phase of your own wedding and your peers weddings.  Those are lots of fun because you are young, you are with all your friends, you get to party, there is always the possibility that you will catch the bouquet or garter...I know you all remember those weddings!  But then there is a different type of wedding when you are older...the weddings of the next generation - whether it is your children...or your children's friends.  And those weddings are great for another reason.  It is just so wonderful to see these young adults embarking on the next phase of their lives...all the hopes, the fun, the good times (and a few tears and struggles too) ahead of them.  I think there is just something so hopeful about seeing this next generation starting their lives together.  Somehow it makes me so nostalgic at weddings as I reminisce about that period of time in my own life.  Gary and I have a habit (I don't know when or where it started...it just did!) where we hold hands and give a good squeeze right when the bride and groom say "I do"...I guess it is our little way of renewing our own wedding vows at each wedding we attend.  As we recently celebrated our 33 wedding anniversary, I guess it works!
So how does a post about weddings connect to a post about Paris?  Well, we are  heading to Paris in a few days for the wedding of our god-daughter, Dani, to Nash!  Two of my favorite things; weddings and Paris all in one neat bundle!  Oh...let me add another "favorite thing" into this wonderful cocktail of fun...old friends!  You see, Dani's parents are our dear old friends, Russ and Adrienne (we go back 30+ years)...and we will be flying to Paris together and spending 14 days in France together for the wedding!  I can't think of anything better than being in my favorite city in the world with special people for the wedding of someone very special...it is the perfect trifecta of "wonderful"!
Oh...that couple at the top of the page...they are on their way to Paris in 3 days to squeeze hands and renew their vows!
Je t'aime Paris (and Gary too!)