French

Paris 2011

8/27/2011 01:27:00 AM

Place de Vosges

And now we start the posts about our trip to Paris!  I was there for 5 days last week, staying with my good friend Clarice who now lives there.  Those of you who know me well will know that I used to really dislike Paris, after a pretty terrible trip back in 2004.  (You'll notice that my 2006 trip to Europe did not include Paris).  But now that a friend of mine has moved there, I had to take the opportunity of us being in Germany to go and visit!  How tight would it be to travel halfway around the world and not make an effort to meet up with your friends!?


I'm happy to say that Sandra and I had a brilliant time and totally loved it!  Yay!  Rather than trying to cram in all the famous sites, (strenuous and exhausting - no thanks), we mainly just hung out, caught up, and enjoyed the city.  We ate and cooked and walked and shopped and ate some more!  We had no firm plans apart from visiting some famous pâtisseries, and seeing the Notre Dame and the Catacombs.  My main desires were to avoid crowded touristy, pickpockety-hell holes, and to eat some good food!

Jardin de Plantes
We were also really fortunate to have a passionate Francophile (and Francophone!) local to guide us around and to be generally awesome - so a big thank-you to Clarice!!


Visiting in August was actually quite a good move for a couple of reluctant visitors to Paris: quite a few shops and restaurants were shut for the annual vacances, which meant it was generally less crowded than normal, and it also fueled my desire to return one day to visit the places that were closed.  I've (obviously) got quite a few blog posts planned, and for now would like to share with you some impressions from the trip!

This is the gorgeous interior of Galeries Lafayette.  I loved shopping here, especially the breathtaking food hall!
Galeries Lafayette
Here's the Pierre Herme stand in Galeries Lafayette!  Mmm... macarons.

Spices and teas in Lafayette Gourmet...

Breakfast from the famous Le Boulanger de Monge, enjoyed at home with an espresso!  We bought a baguette, a cinnamon escargot and a pain au chocolat.  Delicious.

Hehe, I love the way Chinese food is translated into French to make it more accessible to the locals! Ravioli Pékinois, anybody?  (That's a plain ol' dumpling).  How abut a brochette de poulet (chicken satay)?  This pic was taken at a random shop on the Rue Mouffetard.

Gorgeous figs and berries!  I generally found fresh fruits and veggies to be more expensive than here in Germany, but they were equally lovely.  I ate more than my fair share of figs on the trip!

These bizarre sexy anthropomorphic Orangina ads were everywhere as well!  Below we have a sexy giraffe...

... and a busty zebra, sporting a rather fetching pink mankini!  I didn't quite get the point of these ads, but hey, Orangina is super-popular, so I guess they're working!

And with that image, I shall end this post!  Looking forward to sharing more Parisian foodie adventures!

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5 comments

  1. Look forward to seeing more Paris posts! Like you, I had a particularly bad exp in Paris a few years ago, but thankfully salvaged it with a good exp a few years later. Am getting quite excited about the prospects of visiting again, with those places you've highlighted in mind too :D

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  2. Hi Janine,

    Thanks for your comment! :) Glad to hear you managed to salvage your experience too! Yay!

    xox Sarah

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  3. All sounds blissful, glad you're able to enjoy Paris your way. Well done on finding all that amazing food, and I'm very intrigued by that fish-shaped mould!

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  4. Glad you had a good time in Paris!

    Those Orangina ads really freak me out. There es a commercial out with those weird animals too.

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  5. those orangina ads are so creepy! I would love to go back to Paris soon - maybe in the Spring for walks and pastries in the sun...

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