Paris

Bonjour tout le monde! I have returned from Paris. WOW - crazy trip! We flew overnight on Thursday night (got some sleep thanks to some pills) had a full day Friday, Saturday & Sunday, then got back on a plane Monday around noon, and I was back at my desk on Tuesday!

We did A TON of walking -- and we covered a lot of the city. It was great. I had been one time before about 10 years ago, but only for a day or so, and I saw the Louvre, Napoleon's Tomb, the Arc, and the Eiffel Tower.

This time - we really wanted to explore the different parts of the city, and maybe see a few tourist sites. We definitely did, but we also spent a lot of time in St. Germain des Pres, the Marais, Montmartre, etc. I LOVED hanging out in the neighborhoods -- St Germain & the Marais were my favorite. 

We did A TON of cafes -- basically every breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner involved sitting in an outdoor cafe taking in the scenery - PERFECTION.

So -- that leads to eating. I've gotta admit - it was a bit hard. I didn't want to go out of my way to find gluten free, I'd much rather have no plan and just eat wherever. Yeah - unfortunately, that doesn't always work out. I think I lost about 4 pounds between all the walking, not eating a few meals, and just not being that hungry due to jet-lag.

As you see from the pic above -- I found my french macaron's in the Marais at an adorable little store. 

Probably my next favorite thing ever --- eating cheese, olives and marshmallows, and drinking wine at a cafe. See here:

UGHH -- that cheese was INCREDIBLE. There are bits of fig on top. And a salad just dressed in fantastic balsamic vinegar and olive oil. We drank a fabulous Cote du Rhone, and they had a little tin of marshmallows on the table that were SO GOOD. I almost ate the whole thing myself. Sadly, I had a pack of gluten free crackers in my suitcase that I forgot about, so I just ate the cheese on it's own.

Every day - I carried around a little ziplock bag of cereal --- which I snacked out of the two mornings I didn't get an omelette.... I just drank my cafe creme, fresh squeezed jus d'orange, and snacked from my purse! I also carried around a little candy bar or two, trail mix, and some crackers. I was glad I brought so much, because I ate most of it.

One night, we stopped outside at this fabulous place we were told to visit called Les Deux Magots (in St. Germain) and had a fantastic cheese place, some delicious Sancerre, AND -- I got my Pierre Herme Macaron!!! IT WAS SO GOOD:

It was rose-petal flavored and absolutely the most amazing thing ever. It was filled with whipped fresh creme and raspberries. Ughh... I'm drooling.  Also - sorry about the pics. They are all whacky colored - I refused to use my flash and draw attention to myself, and we were sitting directly under a heating lamp that was causing the color to look neon.

Sadly, one day I got sick -- and I'm pretty sure I ate something I shouldn't have, but I'm not sure what. It didn't help that I was a tad hungover from over indulging in the Bordeaux, and I was pretty off due to the jet lag -- but I had to visit quite a few french bathrooms that day (sorry tmi)... 

Overall though, it was a FANTASTIC trip - we had such a great time and Paris was gorgeous. I would love to go back and have a little more time, and skip all tourist attractions and just enjoy the city a bit more... Then maybe I could figure out some more food to eat (although, did I mention the Steak Tartare?!  YUM -- it was on every menu there, and I happen to love this dish, but it's not for everyone -- raw steak! -- but it was fantastic, I only had it one night, so delicious)... although I was completely content just snacking on my snacks and taking in the sights!