THE WILLARDS TAKE PARIS, PART TROIS!

(Is she smiling, or frowning? I wish I could have gotten closer for you, but I am telling you now that you should be VERY impressed that I got this photo at all--the crowds were horrific, so this was taken by reaching my arms up waaay over my head, going heavy on the zoom, saying a prayer to Nikon and snapping away!)

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Today I was 23 minutes into my hellish 45 eliptical workout when (horrors!) I realized that I hadn't finished up my very famous THE WILLARDS TAKE PARIS series--so sorry to leave you hanging like that!

I've been a bit hyper-manic lately. Springtime does that to me.

 So much to do!

May is going to be busy, busy, busy:

Little Miss Thing will be coming home for summer, mid-month.

We have an Open House tenatively scheduled for Memorial Day weekend, which will hopefully result in an offer on our home (please oh please!).

LMT's and my summer job as the official gardeners to the STARS (for the business my husband runs) starts up again in a few weeks. Which involves a ton of work, but is so much fun I can't stand it.

I know there's more on that list. I just can't remember right now--heck, I can't even remember what I had for lunch, not 2 hours ago.....

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There is a lovely blog here on "Cyberspace", you know, the "World Wide Web" (I say that just to irritate my kid) that I stalk on a regular basis, and it's named The Cottage Nest. A darling, darling spot in the Universe. You can get there by clicking HERE. The blogstress, whose name is Jen, is traveling to Paris to celebrate HER anniversary soon, and asked me to give her a few pointers for a smooth trip.

That just cracked me up. Because "smooth" travel is SO not what I'm known for!

Well Jen, we were only there for 8 days, but we did in fact have a pretty smooth trip this time (well, except for the crappy weather towards the end, but hey, waddya gonna do?), probably thanks to some wonderful advice given to us by friends and family. Here's what worked for us:

***Learn the very most basic French. Oui. Non. Merci. Bonjour. Bonsoir. Au Revoir. Parlez Vous Anglais?

***In most restaurants, in my limited experience, the toilettes are located in the basement.

***When entering a business, ALWAYS say Bonjour or Bonsoir. It shows respect and courtesy, and is expected.

***Our daughter taught us this one: when sitting down at a cafe, always ask for a caraffe of water (Un caraffe de eau), which is free. Otherwise, you will end up paying a bundle for bottled.

***Gratuity is always included at restaurants (and taxis, I do believe)--LOVE THIS!

***Do not drink or eat on the Metro--a major faux paus, I'm told (no wonder I got such dirty looks with my Starbucks!)

***On the street, do not attempt to smile at or say "hey" or make eye contact with the locals--I guess this is VERY typical American behavior, and they will think you are a big old geek. (I had a very hard time with this one!)

***On your first day or two in Paris, take one of those touristy double-decker bus tours (you can pick it up at Notre Dame)....these are really the best way to get a good, overall view of the city, and you can jump on and off whenever you want to, all day long. Well worth the money!

***The boat tours on the Seine are also a very convenient and inexpensive way to get around the city.

Hope those few tips help you, Jen!

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As I mentioned before, the last few days of our trip were chilly and rainy (totally brought the wrong clothes!), but before the rains really started, we took the Metro to the Montmartre neighborhood. Which is the hilliest area of Paris, complete with incredible views of the whole city............check out the "funicular" that takes lazy-butt girls like me up to the top of the hill.............

And here's what is at the top...the famous Sacre Coeur cathedral.........

Amazing city views.......



The lovely streets of Montmartre..........

The Moulin Rouge!.......................

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Of course, we could not leave Paris without visiting some of the museums. Our daughter is so fortunate: included in her tuition is FREE admissions to all of the museums in Paris! One day, she took us to the Musee D'Orsay, which is housed in a grand old train station. I don't have any photos inside this museum, as they weren't allowed, but OH the joy of standing mere inches from Van Gogh's self-portrait! From Monet's Water Lily Pond!

Words cannot express how very VAST and overwhelming the Louvre Museum was...we picked a rotten day to go, as it was rainy outside and every single tourist in Paris had the same idea, but oh well. Here are some shots from when we were waiting in line to get inside...truly breathtaking!............

The famed I.M. Pei pyramids, up close.....

Endless hallways of art, jam-PACKED with art lovers!.............

Here's a little friend of mine, named Venus. Venus De Milo, to be exact....

Egyptian antiquities, galore...........

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OOPS!

Hey Jen! There are a few things I forgot to mention earlier......

***Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, in France drives teensy-tiny cars, because gas is seriously about $10 a gallon there. So if you rent one, find the smallest car you can, like one of these.........(I am not kidding when I tell you that we did not see ONE SUV over there, not even one!)............

***Another great way to get around is to "Velibe"-it. Velibes are bicycles that you can find to rent for the day on the streets, and they are cute as can be! Just watch out for those crazy cab drivers!

Well, I do believe I've shared the best of our travel photos...hope you've enjoyed your little virtual trip to Paris with me!

I'll be back soon with some wonderful new recipes to try!

XXX000

Leslie

THE WILLARDS TAKE PARIS, PART DEUX: THE EIFFEL TOWER, PARISIAN CAFES AND VERSAILLES!

Well now, guess I can check THIS one off of my bucket list, now can't I? Seeing the real Eiffel Tower, that is. Except I'd already been to the Eiffel tower, the REAL REAL one, just last spring, right?.............

Wait, wait...which came first, the faux Eiffel tower in Las Vegas, Nevada, or the faux version, in Paris, France???? Because I took both of these photos, and now I'm kinda confused..........

Bucket List? Check, check, check!

Oh my goody goody gumdrops I love my life sometimes!

Here's what you get when you ask a complete stranger (I secretly suspect she was sort of drunk) to take the Willard family's Christmas card photo....this photo seriously gives me vertigo! And just look at Wink's face! I don't think I'll be using this one, come Christmas, 2012...............

Here's what the underbelly of Le Tour Eiffel looks like, just in case you've never seen it from this perspective....BTW Wink wanted to take me to the top, via elevator, and propose to me, all over again,  just like Tom Cruise did with Katie Holmes when he oh-so-famously/romantically proposed to her a few years back, but the line was 3 hours long....SO not worth our precious time, we collectively decided............

Okay so that's enough of THAT tourist trap...now onto the MAGNIFIQUE street cafes of Paris, for which I have a huge crush! LOVE just sitting outside under wonderful space heaters, just watching the world go by. I've always dreamed of such places.......The first two, in one of our two favorite neighborhoods (the other being The Marais), St. Germaine.....



And here's where stuff gets funny: We've all heard about the notorious rudeness of French waiters....well, this guy just LOVED Little Miss Thing...even kindly paused to pose with her..........Hmmmm.....I wonder if he's single?..........

How cute is this?..............Je T'aime France!.........



Wink, ever the American, chooses beer--Me, bring on the French Chablis!......

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On our third day in France, we took the train out to see the Palace at Versailles........I think I must have said something stupid (or embarrassing) on our 30 minute train ride out into the French countryside...what do you think?

The Palace at Versailles....there are just no words. So over the top...so much gilt and gold and glamour and glitz (and the gardens! my favorite part!)...so I'm just going to let the photos do (most of) the talking...........

Here's what happens when we try to catch a jump-shot, mid-air..........just ends up looking silly!.............Cuz that's how we silly Willards ROLL, baby!..........

This is all REAL gold--I swear on a stack!..............

(We interrupt this regularly scheduled programming to introduce the Princess of Versailles, Le Petite Mademoiselle Thing! Isn't she lover-ly?...........)

And the  King (we were promptly kicked off property, shortly after this photo was taken at the cheesy Versailles gift-shoppe).........



The Hall of Mirrors, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed--which I do believe ended World War II (or was it WW1?)............

And now to the gardens..........truly mind-bendingly beautiful!.......Check out the tulips...

Here we fooled Abbie into thinking she was kissing the actual BLARNEY STONE--I love tricking our gullible American youth!........



The "backside" of Versailles....

LMT thoughtfully picked us up a picnic lunch of fresh fruits, cheeses and baguettes at her local Farmer's Market, which we thoroughly enjoyed, lakeside...........

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Here's to 25 MORE years of happily wedded bliss...LOVE you MORE, Wink Willard!.......

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See you soon for Part 3 of our fantastic Parisian adventure--including the Gardens of Luxembourg, the Montmartre neighborhood and, of course, the Loerve for a little bit o' Mona L.!!!!

XXX

OOO

Leslie

THE WILLARDS TAKE FRANCE, PART 1......OUR HOTEL, THE SEINE AND THE FOOD!

(Wink seriously believed that he was King of Versailles for the day)

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So we're back from our 8-day jaunt across the pond. From that City of Light, Paris, France......

 Laundry--done.

House--tidied.

Jet lag--mostly gone. 

428 photos downloaded and sorted--check, check, check!!

I hereby promise to try my best not to bore you with our vacation photos. I mean, let's be honest here: does ANYBODY really enjoy scrolling through Aunt Phyllis's 10,945  pictures from her Florida Spring break?

I didn't think so....

So I'm going to share with you JUST the photos I think are the best of the best, the creme de la creme.

Just so you know, Paris was FREAKING AWESOME AMAZING, especially for somebody like me, who views things with asthetic and foodie eyeballs. My mouth was literally hanging open in awe the entire trip...sounds pretty, no? Good thing I had Wink and our very own Little Miss Thing (whose French, by the way, is so fluent that even the locals couldn't tell she was a U.S. citizen), to wipe the drool off of my chin every 2.5 minutes or so......

This might take awhile...and this whole post shall be broken down into 2 or 3 parts, so that you won't want to go and shoot yourself in the head from sitting still for so long. Go ahead, grab that cup of coffee (or shot of Jager) now, because here we go!........................

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First up, our hotel. Absolute perfection. Well, absolute FRENCHIE perfection--the rooms would be considered small by American standards. Our daughter picked this place out for us because of it's central location on the Isle St. Louis, which is an actual island in the middle of the Seine River..............our hotel is named after the island.....(or, is the island named after the hotel?)......

Our cute hotelier, Phillippe, greeted us each day in the lobby...

The cellar dining room where we ate a few breakfasts....so cozy!...

Our wonderful 3rd floor room...check out the exposed original beams from the early 1800's!.......I want these in MY home!......

A few funky things...check out the hairdryer in the bathroom (it actually worked better than you'd think!) and the large room key that had to be turned in every time you left the room. Then, when you returned, you needed to pick the key up again at the front desk and insert it into this port as you enter your hotel room so that the electricity would turn on! Genius!.....



GORGEOUS shower and tile floors throughout....

Needless to say, after flying an 8 hour red-eye flight over, we NEEDED that shower, plus a nap.

But first things first...seeing Little Miss Thing! This photo was taken on a bridge over the Seine right after we met up, and I am here to tell you that I was so very out of it that I could have been in South Dakota, for all that I knew! Please note the yellow scarf I quickly wrapped around my pitiful self before leaving the room, in an desperate attempt to look "fresh" after not sleeping for 30 plus hours...............

Here's the famed Notre Dame Cathedral, which was mere steps from our hotel....

Seriously scary Gargoyles.....



View from the front of the Cathedral....absolutely breathtaking!.....



Here's something really ROMANTIQUE for you....on a couple of the bridges over the Seine, there is a tradition where lovers place LOCKS on the bridge, write each other's names upon the lock, then throw the key into the river, thereby insuring lifelong fidelity and bliss...you BETCHA we did this before we left Paris. Heck, it IS our 25th anniversary year!..........

Isn't that so sweet?

That first day was also the Marathon Du Paris AND a massive political rally for the French Presidential race...you should have heard the roar of the crowds! Here's a bit of the marathon we viewed from up above. I absolutely felt no shame in watching people run 26.2 miles while I happily ate Nutella Crepes from up above.....

SPEAKING of Nutella crepes...just so you know, Nutella Crepes, which are made right on the streets of Paris, are about the bestest, bestest thing you're ever going to eat...to this I swear. Again, no shame.....look at the bliss on LMT's face!.....

Since this is primarily a food blog, thought I'd share a few snaps of the gorgeous, gorgeous foods available on every single block of Paris. First and foremost, the BREAD....it is not a stereotype that the Frenchies adore their bread. Good thing I'm not gluten intolerant in any way.....

Then there's the Coffee Crema...had to have at least 2 of these each and every morning...

(By the way...Parisian culture prefers that you sit down in a cafe and drink your coffee--there is a noticeable lack of coffee-to-go shops. Thank GOODNESS, says this proud caffeine-addicted-American girl, for a Starbucks located within walking distance from our hotel!)

When we were planning our trip, we had at least 72 trillion friends tell us that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should we miss the famed Berthillon, located a block away from us on Isle St. Louis, for their ice cream. And even though the weather was not in any way summer-like, we had to see what the hype was all about....Well, consider me a believer. Because their Salted Caramel ice cream was pretty much insane, and so was their chocolate ice cream..........

Amazing pastries, EVerywhere....

These French Macaroons come in the most glorious colors and flavors, and can be found in every Patisserie.........

(so sorry about the window glare....most shopkeepers don't like photos taken inside)

Last but not least, I would be remiss if I didn't share Wink's favorite moment of the ENTIRE trip....his own personal Nirvana...a giant pan of hot grilling sausages!...........

That's it for today! Please come back now, ya hear, for some REAL sightseeing.....Bus tour, Boat tour, the Champs Elysee, Eiffel Tower, Moulin Rouge and oh so much more!

So very glad to be home, but oh how we can't wait to return to you someday, beautiful France!

XXX000

Leslie

TODAY I'M SO THANKFUL FOR......

***The two books I read on my tablet during our flights...first, Paris, My Sweet (the author escapes me right now)...which really helped us direct our tastebuds to all the best places, AND Bossy Pants by Tina Fey....I laughed so hard that my seatmate on the plane home thought I was sobbing! Probably the funniest book I've ever read...

***The fact that after 8 days of eating and drinking whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, I actually LOST 3 pounds! Now I REALLY love France!

***That our daughter was so very helpful in all of the restaurants we went to, never complaining about translating each and every menu item for her old mom and dad! We love you, LMT!