Kevin's Visit

Kevin's in town! Well.......he was anyways. During his trip to London to attend a graduation, Kevin was nice enough to take the train over the Paris to visit me! Although he was only here for a little more then a day......it was quite packed!

First we visited the Sacre Coeur. I know......I take every tourist over there. But I think it has a magnificient view of the city, so it's definitely worth the trip over. After, we took the train to visit the Notre Dame. We got lunch around the area and ate delicious gelato. And of course, we went in the cathedral.

Inside the Notre Dame

From there, we took the train back toward the apartment and walked to the Arc de Triomphe. We stopped in several car showrooms on the way ^_~ After grabbing a coffee and resting our feet a little, we made our way over to Trocadero and the Eiffel Tower. Of course, we have to go up the tower for an impressive panoramic view of the city. It was close to sunset time, so the colors were beautiful as well.

Trocadero from the Eiffel Tower

 After a long day of walking and visiting sites, we worked up quite an appetite. Luckily, Germain helped us book a restaurant before hand so we got a good deal on dinner. They even served us a small amuse-bouche!

Tomato Soup

White Fish Carpaccio

Lamb with smoked salmon and tapenade crepes

Raspberry Tart

 The next day (today) we only had a couple hours before Kevin had to catch his train back to London. We decided to visit the Chinatown of Paris. With the intent of getting dim sum, Kevin found a place online with decent reviews. However, we didn't stay for a full meal at the restaurant because even though they were open to customers, the chefs were on break and eating for 45 minutes of our stay. So we left and ate somewhere else!

Kevin eating the only dimsum we got

It was packed 24 hours, but it is always nice to have visitors. He even left me a little cake as an early birthday present! Hope he enjoyed his stay!

Yum!

Week in Cannes

I just returned to Paris today after spending a little over a week in Cannes. During my stay there, there was a heat wave in France so the whole country had record lows. Luckily I was in Cannes and not Paris. Can you imagine the packed metros in that weather?! Also, we got to enjoy a little bit of air conditioning in the apartment we stayed in. That is a luxury in France.

View from the apartment

And of course we had to go see our tree. Not sure if it grew very much, but it had 3 little olives!

Maybe it grew a little?

One of the main event for this week was the wedding of a friend of Germain. They were friends from college. The wedding took place in Aix-en Provence, which is about a hour/an hour and a half from Cannes. They had the wedding ceremony at the town church and the reception in their parents' garden.

Church of Puyricard

Germain with the house in the back

Me in theyard

Before I left Cannes, Germain took me to one of the local markets. He knows how much I like just looking at the fresh fruits and vegetables. They're all from local farmers. However, they were unusually expensive because it's tourist season right now =P

So many tomatoes!

Fresh fruits

So many Olives!

Fresh herbs and peppers

Different types of mushrooms

Back in France

After a 9 hour flight from Miami to Paris, followed by a 5 hour train ride from Paris to Cannes, I am staying put.....for the next week at least.

Coming back to France I was greeted by some lovely treats and trinkets left for my by my sister. Amongst them, of course, are chocolates from her travels.

During her visit to Brugge, she bought me some chocolate and boy are they good! They should be since Brugge is known for their chocolate!

Look they didn't melt!

There's a heat wave in France right now. It's so hot! I miss a/c. Luckily the apartment has an a/c unit in the living room. However the bedroom still gets really warm at nights. After walking about downtown this morning, we wanted a light and cool lunch followed by a cool dessert!

Tomato and mozerella and prosciutto

Tiny ice cream cones!

Vacation isn't over yet! Stay tune for more of my summer adventures!

Farewell Miami

....for now at least. I am flying back to France today and won't be able to see this view again for at least a couple of months.

A month passed very fast. Luckily I still have a handful of vacation when I get back to France. This trip to the states we traveled to South California, to Key Largo and of course, spent an bunch of time in Miami. I got to see my parents and family that I don't often, friends in Miami....as well as a friend who came in town from another state. I ate a bunch of stuff and got a bit of a tan during my stay.

Until next time Miami....

Wish me a safe flight!