Saturday 29 August 2009

A great evening out with friends in Paris

Tonight I had a wonderful evening and meal out with Barbara and her husband Didier. We took a stroll over to Rue Cler, which is a great place to be in the evenings. The street is packed out, and the atmosphere is so great. Didier chose a lovely restaurant on Rue De Grenelle, called 7eme Sud..it was so tasty.

After dinner. we walked up towards the Eiffel Tower saw it light up, it only lasts for about 5 minute or so, it is one site I will never tire of seeing.

Picture taken from the internet


We took a slow walk back, passed Ecole Militaire , and home again. How different it all looks at night, it is wonderful and to walk around different streets. You see and look at things differently. I have walked passed this building so many times this week, but only from one side!

A big thank you to Barbara and Didier for a wonderful evening. I really enjoyed myself and I hope you did too!

How annoying .....

I have had to change the way I get my comments, due to a very unsavoury Japanese website that keeps commenting..but strangely only comments on the Botanic garden post.
I have asked them NOT to comment anymore, as it is very annoying!!

Can they understand English or not....I know one thing I do NOT understand Japanese!!!!!
I hope this works, so sorry to all my regularly commentors.

Thursday 27 August 2009

Paris is Wonderful.....

I am having so much fun.....and tonight I went for dinner in Rue Cler, not far from my apartment... I had dinner in Tribeca....now i have read some reviews but I would not take any notice of them. The local French people were out in the hundreds..( maybe less) and they were queuing for this place,...so I joined and got my table for one ( how sad) ..they put me right inside ..thought I might of got table outside...but I am glad I didn't because there was a lovely couple next to me ..and we chatted for ages , well I say we chatted, she can speak english but is Romanian, and he is French and can speak only a tiny bit of English..so it was fun..and guess what, she has my blog address!! And we might be meeting up before I leave.

I ordered a salad with chicken, it was the biggest salad I have seen and it was delicious. I wanted to take a photo, but thought best not ..I would of been the centre of attention..!!

I made my way home, and thought , why not stop off for a Verre de Vin rouge, in the little restaurant/bar next to my apartment. They are really lovely in there..one man can speak English and the other none..but it is great. And tonight we had a long chat about Formula 1....and it turns out that they are huge fans, and one had a old Williams Lanyard...they are true fans!!

So a good night was had!!

Wednesday 26 August 2009

Paris and Friends...

I am having such a fantastic time, I am dashing off all over this wonderful city..The Metro is my second home :-)...and I have met someone great people and my french is coming on gradually, and if I get stuck they know I am trying and they nearly always help.....except for the ONE STROPPY lady working behind an information/ticket booth at one of the Metros.....the less said the better, forget her, remember all the other fabulous french people, who have helped me, along the way.


Today I met my friends again...Leesa, Barbara and Dawn, we had lunch at Aimees teashop ..L'Oisive...oh it was great, the salads are fantastic....(sorry no photos yet)...and then tonight we are meeting down at the Seine and having a picnic..!!
Thank you for being patient ..you will see my photos, soon I hope.

Thank you also to my commenters, Old and New :-). ..

I was going to try and edit and post some photos today, but unfortunately I have mislaid my Camera download lead, now it is in this apartment somewhere...but where???

Sunday 23 August 2009

Walking in Paris......

Yesterday I decided to go for a walk, from the Ecole de Militaire up passed Les Invalides...over to Concorde and Jardin des Tuileries.. everywhere was packed out, and it was quite hot, people lying about under the trees or where they could get shade.

I was actually making my way to WH Smiths on Rue de Rivoli, to see if I could catch Kim B there, also to have a look at the display in the window of the book Handmade in Paris by Pia. Her display was still standing , it looked great.

I met up with Kim, she was working,but we managed to have a small chat, which was lovely....had a look round and bought a few books. After this I thought I would try to find a very small bar/cafe, that Caroline and I went to once!!

All I could remember that it was in a street coming off Rue de Rivioli...I kept walking , and walking...and hey I found it, and the owner was sitting outside having a break....I just said Bonjour and he said How are you!! He remembered me, which was lovely. He used to work in The Randolph in Oxford. He introduced me to his friend Carol and we had a great chat. He was very pleased that I came back, I was in the area, so I thought if I can find it, that would be great!! I cannot find him on google but I do have his cafe address back at home.

I was there at least an hour, in that time also, a lady and her daughter from Bucharest came and sat next to me..we chatted for ages, and she now has my blog address, interesting if anyone comments here. I was right opposite a metro, so I caught it home.. .made it back and then went out for dinner just around the corner.... I don't mind doing some things on my own, but having dinner out is not one of them...I would like someone to share my day with.

I have lots of photos, having problems saving them on my note book.

Saturday 22 August 2009

Holiday Time ........

as found me taking a trip over to France. In fact Paris...woohoo...I have been given the great opportunity to look after a friends apartment and their cats!! I had hoped that my friend Caroline could of come with me again..but it was not too be.

I have been here two days with my friends, to get used to it all, and the cats, and find my way round the area...and now they are off on their holidays, so it is just me and the lovely little cats..!!


I met up Leesa and Alex (her husband) last night, it was a fun night.. !! Met another blogger, Animesh too!..We had a little get together, it was brilliant! I am meeting up with the rest of my friends over the next week, which will be great.


So Lets say this is one of my greatest achievements....Never for one moment did I ever think I would be in Paris on my own, making my way around..today I went to the market for my fruits et légumes..oh it was fun!


Sorry no photos at the moment, hopefully will have some up soon, otherwise you will have to wait until I return...!



Photo taken from the Internet.

Tuesday 18 August 2009

The Postcards just keeping coming.....

it is fantastic. And they came together, this morning!!


Big Thank you to Britt-Arnild from Norway and Leesa from Paris, who was in the States.


The card above was sent by the lovely Britt-Arnild...who has a wonderful blog called Britt-Arnilds House in the Woods.. This lovely little card was bought at the St Olav Festival in Trondheim, where she lives. The drawing was done my a young boy who loves drawing and sells his cards at the festival. I think it is wonderful.. She asked if anyone would like one, I left a comment with Britt-Arnild and my name got drawn...

You also might like to have a look at Britt-Arnilds other blogs too!! She has a NEW ONE... Trondheim through all seasons. It is a great blog, with wonderful photos, of her town! Go on over and take a look.

And Thank you to my friend Leesa from News in France, so great of her to think of me whilst on vacation in America, she was zipping all over the place too!


Leesa has only been back a few days, when she gets over her jet lag she will be back to blogging, and I hope with lots of photos...Do take a look, she is brilliant!!

Monday 17 August 2009

A wonderful present …………

was given to me today, by one of my best friends who lives near me.

Gillie and her family, and her twin sister Sarah (best friend too) and family have just  been to France for their holidays in La Clusaz,  at Gillies holiday chalet, and I missed them both.  Gillie knew I was going to Paris and surprise surprise……..

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a beautiful clock, so I can remind myself of Paris, everyday……

Gillie also gave me another clock a few months ago, ….she couldn’t find the right place to put it, and thought I would like it……. Can you see where this one comes from….Italy…..Firenze ..

CIMG2825 Like it…I love it…so I now have French clock in my Kitchen and Italian clock in my conservatory….and can swap them over ..when I like.!!

I am very lucky to have friends like Sarah and Gillie..who have been here for me since I moved to this area.  Sarah is the lovely lady who owns the ceramic shop I go to..I hope I find my motivation to paint again……They live next door to each other..which is great for me, normally get to see them both together..

A Super Fish Supper……

 

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Friday 14 August 2009

Two wonderful Awards.....

were given to me a while ago, so I feel a bit bad that is has taken me this long to put them on my blog....I really do appreciate them and so happy that you love my blog!!
The first award was given to me by a great lady Scintilla..whose blog is Bell'Avventura....she lives in Luxembourg and goes down to Positano for all of the summer . Her blog is a mixture of stories, and they are all wonderful..and if you want to know about Positano, then this is one for you!! On second thoughts, never mind if you want to know or not, go on visit her blog , its fab!!


My other lovely award was given to me by the wonderful Laura from Ciao Amalfi...as the blog title suggests ..yes it is all about the Amalfi Coast, which is beautiful and certainly a place on my list to visit.!! Laura has fabulous photos and such great stories..it is a brilliant read!


I have just found a post on Laura's blog that links Scintilla and Laura...Taking the boat to Positano, I think it is so great that they have met....!!
A huge Thank you to my Wonderful Friends
Scintilla and Laura

Now for this I have to name 15 blogs to award, I think this is a bit hard, as I have such a wonderful array of blogs that I read, and on a regular basis..so I am going to take a little bit more time over this, I really don't like this bit, I think I am upsetting my other bloggers!!! Can I not give it to all of them!!

Thursday 13 August 2009

Bike Ride to Blackberries!

This afternoon was a lovely day, so I thought I would go and pick some Blackberries, yes I know I have a little bush, but I don't get many, they get eaten on the way to the car, or getting my bike out of the garage!!

It is a easy bike ride, with proper cycle paths, and I know where there is a massive bush....after this I cycled around the long way home...








This used to be a huge tradition on a weekend, and it was quite exciting until you couldn't find any, or you pricked yourselves on the thorns, or worse still, you got stung by the stingys....No wonder my boys stopped coming with me!!!

Every year I do this, Why do I do it? I don't make Jam and I don't bake..but you can bet the year I stop, someone will say "Have you got any blackberries".

Does anyone else remember doing this as a child. Is it a big tradition in other countries too!

Wednesday 12 August 2009

Somewhere Over the Rainbow......

I was pottering around at the sink this evening round about 7 ish...and directly in front of me was this!!!

Can you see the double rainbow in photo below?




Luckily I had my camera ready, it was gone within 10 minutes...Good job really, my dinner was cooking!!!


Shooting Stars last night and Rainbows today...!!

Saturday 8 August 2009

Fruity Find of the week…….

Today as I was in my local greengrocers , I was just thinking what fruit to buy…..when I saw these…….

 

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Donut, Saturn or Flat Nectarines

I immediately thought of Welshcakes Limoncello from Sicily Scene, as she did a post a few days ago,  Favourite Summer Fruit.

 

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These are the tastiest, sweetest Nectarines I have ever tried…DELICIOUS!!!

Friday 7 August 2009

Viva Las Vegas….

came to me!  

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from my great friend Leesa! 

Leesa lives in Paris with her French husband Alex, and goes out and about all the time, she has wonderful photographs, not just of Paris but of her great trips.

Leesa  is a traveller, she loves it, she is off all over place, you cannot keep up with her..! Obviously at the moment she is over in the states, where she comes from,  ….but keeping track is the problem. so please do call into her wonderful blog, she has had some wonderful trips..Dublin, Hungary, Strasbourg and around France.. 

Leesa is a wonderful tour guide, we would not of seen half of what we did , when my friend and I went over to Paris  in April,  we knew which areas we wanted to go to , but seeing the not so touristy areas was just so brilliant…!!

My postman must be wondering what is going on with all the wonderful postcards and European mail coming to me!! 

A Huge Thank You Leesa !!

Tuesday 4 August 2009

From across the miles…….

Came another wonderful surprise…it was so great to see an envelope from Sicily…it was from my great friend Welshcakes Limoncello..from Sicily Scene..

Inside the envelope were beautiful postcards, One of Sicily and one of Modica, her home town..

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and a photo of herself, Antonio Lonardo , his niece, Melinda Adamo, who illustrated the cover of Il Profumo del Pensiero. This poetry book was written by Antonio, and  Welshcakes (Patrizia) was given the honour of translating it from Italian to English, and what a fantastic job she did.  Please do call in and read  her blog and read all about her  amazing and exciting story. CIMG2740

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Welshcake’s blog is a mixture of wonderful sights around Sicily, fascinating recipes, her friends, their lunches, day to day living, her favourite ice cream shop, Raffaele her wonderful  hairdresser,  ups and downs of Sicilian post offices/ water facilities…and her wonderful dog and best friend Simi!! 

Thank you Welshcakes, it was such a wonderful surprise, it made me so happy :-)

Oh how could I forget the little booklet from the wonderful hairdresser…

Raffaele the hairdresser has been working on his publicity again and has come up with a little booklet telling you about your star sign and how you can improve your life [by visiting the salon!] I think it's a neat idea:

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I found my star sign, but have no clue as what it says..could be very interesting….I worked a bit out, about sentimental and my man, but that was it:-)

Hopefully Welshcakes will tell me!

UPDATE :- From Welshcakes

No confusion on the emotional front. Your man will be there and will support you in your choices. Don't neglect him ... and don't neglect the one on charge of your hairstyling.... "yellow"

A Big Thank you Welshcakes Limoncello!