The Feschets are in town!

The other day, friends of ours came to Paris for a visit. Pierre is french so he was in the country visiting his family and they decided to take their 13 month old daughter for her first visit to Paris. Luckily it was a beautiful day and we were able to spend it acting like tourist.

First we took a nice stroll down the parks on the Champs-Élysées all the way to the Louvre.

The Louvre

Then we hopped onto a metro and made our way to Hotel de Ville to grab lunch. After lunch, we walked to Isle Saint Louis for some yummy Berthillon ice-cream. From there, we approached the Notre Dame from the back.....which I actually think is the more intresting side of the cathedral. 

The Feschets: Pierre, Anna and Chloe

 We rested for a little in the park behind the Notre Dame so little Chloe could eat. I always wanted to stop by that park, but never took the time. It's actually very pretty, and this time of the year, it's full of flowers too!

I'm pretty sure this is a rose, but it looks almost like a peony

Chloe. She's always smiling!

Our final toursitic activity of the day was to take a tour on the Seine by bateau mouche (the boat). It's an open top boat where they play a recording of facts for all the landmarks we passed. It was interesting prespective of the city and it was a lovely day to be outside too.

A rose window of the Notre Dame peeking through the trees

The view of the back of the Notre Dame

The Eiffel Tower

It was tiring, but kind of fun to be a tourist again, especially since we're leaving the city soon. It gave us an opportunity to revisit all the main areas of Paris.

This last week

So this past week we visited the Notre Dame. It's a monument in which we always pass by and have visited several times. However, we rushed to visit the cathedral this time because they were in the process of changing their bells. They had all of their new bells displayed down the center of the aisle. They're huge! And to imagine that they are only held up by pillars of wood. Each bell is named after a saint and creates a different note. It was extremely crowded, but I still managed to catch a couple of pictures....ignore the strangers in the photos =P

Musical bells of the Notre Dame

The underside of a bell (See how big they are compared the that lady's head!)

This one is named St. Denis

There was also mass going on so we saw the first part of the service. It was interesting because the Notre Dame is in possession of 3 relics of Christ that have been passed down through the ages: a nail, a piece of the cross and the crown of thorns. During the beginning of the mass (at least this one) they had all three relics out and people went up to kiss the crown of thorns. We were only on the outskirts of the congregation so I could barely see it....here's a picture.....but it's miniscule.

The nail and the piece of the cross are on stage and the crown in somewhere in the middle of the crowd

This past weekend we went to Cannes to visit Germain's parents. It was a short and busy weekend, but we were able to fit in a good meal! On Saturday night, Germain's parents took us to a restaurant in Mougin to celebrate Germain's very belated birthday.

Seafood bisque in a flaky pastry (Vol-au-vent)

Filet mignon of Porc with a caramelized onion sauce; pumpkin puree, kale chips and sauted cepes wrapped in cabbage

Goat cheese, fig preserves, candied sage leaf and homemade cookie

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate........need I say more?

And surprising so, it was snowing in Cannes. Supposedly it is a rare thing for it to snow big flakes in Cannes....and for the snow to stick. So I wished for snow and I get snow in an unusual way!

It was dark so I could only take a picture of the snow on the leaves.

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!

More Flowers

More pictures of pretty flowers taken by the Notre Dame

So just busy with classes this week, but here are some pictures.

Found this while walking in Le Marias with Germain on Sunday. Hehe. You recognize him right?

I was really early for one of my classes this week so I sat outside (in the cold!) and waited. It's really stuffy indoors. That's a pain about winter. It's really cold outside but really warm inside. Can't wait until this cold is over! But the little park is nice.

The park by one of my classes

The view from the park. It's the Notre Dame!