Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Adventures in Paris!

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well".
                                                                                                ~Virginia Woolf




Bonjour, mes amis!

     I took Bella to Paris for her birthday/graduation gift and we had a fabulous time. I loved the entire adventure. We enjoyed so many fun things together. We wore lots of fun summer dresses, biked to Monet's former home and garden in Giverny (the photo above of the lovely kitchen was where Monet and his family ate their meals), visited le jardin de tuileries, the Louvre, Champs Elysees, Notre Dame and of course the Eiffel Tower.
 
We ate our way through every step of the trip. There was a Patisserie right down the stairs from the small apartment we rented and would stop daily for either a fresh baked quiche, a baguette or a chocolate éclair.

 Honestly, it was hard to decide what to choose because there were so many amazing options. We never let ourselves feel guilty trying them all because we walked everywhere and well, we were in Paris! Paris reignited my already strong passion for baking because there are so many bakeries with delicious and beautiful treats with careful attention to detail everywhere.

And at the end of the day one of my favorite things to do was head back to our apartment and make dinner for us--it was always something simple yet cooking at 'home' and enjoying our meal on the kitchen table or out on the patio was a nice way to relax after our travels exploring the City of Light.

 In the photo above we simply warmed a baguette with olive oil and rosemary for dipping, tossed a leafy green salad with mozzarella, tomatoes and peppers along with a pasta dish with sharp cheddar and goat cheese. Paris has a wonderfully long twilight and on a few occasions we would sit down to our evening meal at ten pm and it was not yet dark.

Our Paris adventure is something we will remember for a lifetime.