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This morning I woke up excited as a kid on Christmas day to see Nigel :D I met him down at the train station with my Dad & he actually managed to hug me so hard that he picked me up off the ground, even though he had his giant pack on his pack! Well…actually his pack is nowhere near as giant as mine…but he's a boy! He doesn't need as many outfit options! And he's only traveling for 5 weeks, not 5 months…that's my excuse & I'm sticking to it! Hehe
Anyway, we hit the ground running & he made it through the whole day like a trooper despite having only had about 3 (probably broken & terribly uncomfortable) hours sleep on the plane the night before. We met up with my cousin Clare & her husband Michael at La Duree, which is one of my FAVOURITE restaurants in Paris, in the very fancy arrondisement near the Notre Dame for pastries & coffee (they are over here to begin a tour of Europe & our paths all just happened to cross over in Paris on this one day, which was very good luck indeed!) Well, Clare & Michael opted for what was probably the safer option of hot chocolate, given that French coffee can be a bit hit & miss…I drank about half of mine & felt like I was buzzing! The hot chocolate actually turned out to be pretty much a pot of melted chocolate - yum! Clare & I both had the framboise (raspberry) tart, made with raspberries that looked like they'd been picked that morning (& probably had), Nigel had a strawberry millefieulle with custardy creamy stuff, & Michael had a pastry that was pretty much just chocolate on top of chocolate on top of more chocolate. It was a whole world of om nom nom goodness!
After our gastronomical enlightenment at La Duree, we walked them over to the Notre Dame, where we said our farewells, & then we joined Dad down at the restaurant on the barge that Esther & I had been to last time we were in Paris for lunch. It was the restaurant where we had seen the big bear dog that belonged to one of the waiters, so as per my description, when Dad got there he asked if this was the restaurant with the "tres grand chien". The waiter thought this was a little strange, but confirmed that yes, there was a very big dog here :P We had a lovely lunch looking out over the river to the Notre Dame, & then went for a long wander up the Champs Elysees to look for a jacket to replace the one I lost only a few weeks into my trip. Not wanting to torture the boys too much I made a quick trip into Zara (heaven!) & picked up pretty much the first one I saw, which actually turned out to be a very good purchase indeed! We also searched in vain for a backpack to replace my broken one, but it turns out the Champs Elysees is too chic to sell anything other than ridiculously expensive handbags!
In the late afternoon we saw Dad off at the metro station as he headed back to London for another working week & Nigel and I went for a drink at a local bar just down the road from our hostel. Relaxing with a gin fizz (a rather lemony twist on a gin & tonic) we watched the locals wandering down the street & talked and talked and talked and talked…until we both realized we were about to fall asleep at about 5:00PM (OK, he was jetlagged…but I'm pretty sure I had sympathy jetlag!) and decided to get some dinner and go home. We bought a freshly baked baguette, some strawberries, & some bocconcini & tomatoes, and went back & had a picnic at our hostel :) We were well & truly asleep by the time the sun went down, but like I said, I think he managed pretty well to last the whole day…tomorrow…Disneyland!!! :D
- comments
Ma Gasp! Not the poet coat?!?!
Dad Yes, the coat is "tres chic". Papa XO
Mutti Glad to see that your appetite is still in good shape!--- and you seem to have passed it on to Clare & Michael!! Knowing how much Clare likes raspberries and Michael like chocolate, I'm not surprised at their selections. Continue enjoying a wonderful trip. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx