Tea with Friends and More Doors

Last year I made a new friend here in Paris, a person we hired to help the program, and I met her for tea at L'Heure Gourmande on a rainy afternoon. The tea was lovely, though not anything particularly inspiring. It was, however, a nice tearoom. Located in an alley off of a main street in St. Germain, it felt tucked away, with tables under low ceilings and populated mostly with locals rather than ever-present travelers (such as myself). I'll go again for the atmosphere, unless I can find a place with similar privacy and better tea...

While waiting for my friend, I saw a Frenchman walk by wearing a beret. I have never seen a non-tour guide wearing an actual beret, but he wore it as if it were the most natural thing in the world. If only I had captured it on film!

Paris has been typically moody as far as the weather goes. It fluctuates almost daily between raining all day at 57 degrees and being sunny and beautiful at 80. It means I have to be very certain to get in a run on the sunny days for fear of running into another rainy one, but I feel much better about working all the time in my room when it's rainy outside. So bring on the rain!

On a pleasant day I took a student to Pere LaChaise, the massive cemetery in Paris. Click here for my post the last time I went. Whereas the last time I visited I felt frantic, unable to see everything I wanted to see, this time I was relaxed--soothed by the serenity of the place and breathing in the beauty of a gorgeous day of a wonderful life. We just wandered and took a million photos. This time, I found Chopin. We also found a long wall that was lined with memorials for those who died in wars, plane crashes, and concentration camps. There was at least one memorial for each concentration camp, a memorial of remembrance, sculptures, all lining the wall of the Federalists. This wall is famous for being the site of a massacre of Federalists in a war long ago in French history (sorry...I'm scant on the details).

A slideshow of photos (click to see them bigger):

Long Runs, Churches, and Mussels

I've been staying in most of the time working, but I have taken breaks every other day for long runs around the Luxembourg Gardens. After getting used to the broken sidewalks of Atlanta on my runs, the park is heavenly. I'd never watched for exercisers before in Paris, but lots of people have the same idea. You see marathoners and housewives and dads with jogging strollers. The loop that circles the park is about a mile and a half, so it's perfect for doing long runs without feeling like you're running a thousand circles. I am able to watch kids play soccer, old men play bocce ball, groups doing tai chi, setup for the outdoor opera, bands playing, and, of course, French lovers making out on benches. I end up not even noticing how long I've been running.

I took a student out to see some churches the other day to help her get started seeing the city. I'm only really willing to do this for the free things for now. I have a couple of friends coming through Paris while I'm here, and I want to save the big ticket items for them. But we went to St-Germain-des-Pres, which is such a beautiful old church. I love the memorials for those of the parish who have died in wars. We also wandered through the antiques market and visited Ste.-Sulpice. I'm always amazed at how bright this church is. Click the links to see the posts from the last time I visited these churches.

That night I went out to have moules (mussels) with T. We went to La Moule en Folie, which had the most delicious mussels! It's almost all they serve, but with a variety of different sauces. I had the house specialty, which were mussels in a garlic, basil, ham, and white wine sauce. And frites of course. Yum. The dessert was even fantastic! It was a chocolate truffle, but not a truffle. More like a fondant. Covered in creme anglaise. It was extremely rich but oh so delicious. It was well worth the walk to this place.

Je reviens

I'm back in Paris again for my third summer as a travel agent/computer lab assistant/camp counselor. I do so love this city. I was/am not looking forward to the trip in the same way I usually am. I adore Europe, Paris, baguettes, and even the French, but I have some pretty severe school deadlines and financial restrictions that will limit the fun aspects of this trip. However, I'll keep blogging the things that I do and see. Perhaps this year there will be more observations and less business in the blog.

I arrived on Saturday in good shape but very sleepy. (I was not, by the way, impressed with Two Lovers on the plane ride over. It was fine, but forgettable.) My room is small but much nicer than last year. I traded last year's view of the Eiffel tower for a shower in my room. I'll accept the trade. On Sunday I welcomed students, found a grocery, and worked. In the evening we took the students to the Saveur de Savoie on rue Mouffetard. It was a classic French place with specialties from the southern France area near Geneva. Of course, I had the fondue. It was fine, though nothing special. But la formule was very affordable and the food better than that price usually affords in Paris. So I recommend it for a forgettable but edible meal at a good price.

The Trustafarians of Colorado

I went to Colorado last week for a work-related trip but managed to have a fantastic time in the midst of all the work. Our friend S lives in Boulder, and A lives in Denver, and I managed to visit extensively with both. I arrived in Denver with a plane full of people wearing Keens and steel water bottles, so I was already looking forward to an environment of recycling and nourishing food, though I was certainly hoping for some grit and dirt as well. Luckily, I was hanging out with these friends, the perfect ones to provide that other side for which I was looking, without delving too far into any underbellies.

We started my trip with dinner and the first round of the Western finals of the NBA playoffs in Denver at the Tavern Uptown. It was a pleasant bar of dark wood and many televisions with a nice menu of many kinds of bar food. I'm generally wary of a menu that includes burritos, sandwiches, pastas, pizzas...but the meals we had were yummy. And though the Nuggets lost that one, it was fun to be in a bar full of fans at the time. And good company makes all the difference, of course.

The next day, after a day full of rockin' productive work, S and I shared margaritas on the roof of Rio Grande in Boulder. From the rooftop one can see the Flatirons in the near distance, and though the clouds hovered above us, it never rained. We engorged ourselves with chips and delicious salsa, and my strawberry margarita was delicious. The regular margarita was beautifully smooth, but the strawberry one had real strawberries! Yummy.

After that, A met us at the Lazy Dog on Pearl Street. Pearl Street is the main thoroughfare of fun in Boulder. In the downtown area it's mostly pedestrian strolling with street artisans, musicians, etc. All kinds of restaurants, bars, and specialty boutiques line the street. We again hit the rooftop for drinks and to watch the Cards-Cubs game. The Lazy Dog is a sports bar, straight-up. We didn't order food, but the bartender was friendly and we had a great time. Love that rooftop fun.

Finally, we had dinner at an Irish bar called Conor O'Neill's (of all things, it's other location is in Ann Arbor, Michigan). It had lots of steps up and steps down to trip over, but it made for an interesting feel of the place. The kind of place that feels like Guinness sent the wood over so it would feel like a proper Irish bar. We ate between the three of us two giant platters of barbeque pork pesto quesadillas. I was entirely skeptical when S suggested this dish, as the combination of barbeque and pesto in a quesadilla sounds terrible. Amazingly, it was delicious. I'm not kidding. Delicious.

Though we'd discussed karaoke, and I'm usually hard-pressed to NOT karaoke, but I was pooped after a long day of work and play, so we hit it.

The next day we had lunch at The Sink, a long-time establishment in Boulder. Robert Redford was once a dishwasher there, and his portrait (caricature?) is painted on the wall. There are many, many things painted on the walls...ceilings... It's a dive that's clearly attempting to be a dive, but the food is much better than a dive's food. For lunch, I had the meatloaf sandwich---the only meatloaf I've had with artichokes and sundried tomatoes in it, which was yummy and very filling. We returned for happy hour and had the--get this--deep friend pickles. I was again surprised to think they were delicious, and I don't care for pickles. Amazing.

We then had chips (fries) and curry while drinking British Ales at the Scotch Corner. I know...should have been Scottish Ales. Do I like beer? I remind you...no. After a rugby game we walked up and down Pearl Street a bit and popped into the Pearl Street Pub & Cellar. We both used the bathroom and decided to skedaddle. We finally landed for dinner at the Walnut Brewery, or something to that effect. They brew their own beers, as you might suspect from the title I gave this place, but the food is surprisingly good. I had the most (positively) interesting macaroni and cheese in my life. A fantastic blend of cheeses and spices. Skip the chicken...it's not necessary. This was stellar mac 'n' cheese, and I pride myself on knowing my way around a mac 'n' cheese.

All in all, it was a great time. I'll be happy to return to Colorado, whenever that time comes. I'm sure it won't be too far in the future.

Dolly and the Titanic

In August D and I spent a week at home in Missouri with our families. For a short trip, we went with his family to Branson, the down-home, country music center in the Ozarks of Missouri. A land of antiques, family fun, country music shows, and tack. If it is one thing, it is tacky and a magnet for those who love tacky.

Luckily, I LOVE tacky. Yes, I hate chain restaurants, but I'll take a tourist trap any day. I'm not one of those travelers who avoids tourist traps simply because they are such. Don't get me wrong---my very best and most memorable experiences as a traveler have been when I was most deeply embedded in the local culture: a wedding in Morrocco, produce shopping in Parisian markets, spice-shopping in Rome, the cow-herding festival outside of Geneva. But I also took the elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower, toured the Globe theatre, and saw Bono's house. Honey, I've seen the corn palace, and loved it, despite my food-aversion to corn. Oh no....I love tacky.

So Branson was great fun. We took a long drive along the strip to check out our options before stopping for a family-competitive game of miniature golf at one of many, many places this was possible. Then we ate lunch at Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill. Oh yes we did. The walls were covered with memorabilia (real or reproduced? unknown. They say real, but who knows?) and we watched old shows while we ate. I had a quite yummy but bad for me spinach artichoke chicken sandwich and an icecream/alcoholic drink despite being in the company of my inlaws. Oh yes. I'm a wild one.

After lunch we walked around the Landing, which is a nice shopping area along Lake Taneycomo that starts at the (what else?) Bass Pro Shop. There are national chains (Kirkland's, Victoria's Secret, Ann Taylor, Yankee Candle, etc.), Missouri-centered shops (Cardinals gear, fishing items, etc.), and boutique-style shops (quilts, crafts, etc.). It's a lovely place to stroll, shop, snack, drink, and listen to street musicians. After this, my SIL and MIL and I went antique/craft shopping without the boys at the Apple Tree Craft and Antique Mall on the Strip. It's a flea-market-style place with booths for people to rent and sell either crafts or antiques. Your money then goes to the individual seller. There's everything from artists, hand-sown garments, antique dolls, holiday crafts, to kitchy collectibles. We spent a long time wandering the aisles, and there was definitely something for everyone. MIL found a painting for her kitchen, SIL found gifts for her parents, and I found the cutest Halloween crafts: old bottles labeled to be items for a witch's brew, such as Newt Eyes and Witch Fingernails. Love it.

The next morning we all went to the Titanic museum, which is exactly what it sounds like, except it's a museum for both the shipwreck AND the film. I would have liked a little more on the ship, but I guess there's not that much to go over, is there? There are few artifacts from the ship itself, for obvious reasons, though they have several from its sister ship that was apparently very similar in design and execution, though, of course, smaller. There are lots of photos and testimonies and stories, as well as artifacts from the movie, such as costumes and autographed scripts. My favorite section was the one where you could climb a fake bow to feel what the angle of entry must have been like for the frightened passengers and put a finger in water the same temperature it was that night, to feel how very quickly your appendage began to hurt and then go numb. It was something. I wouldn't recommend the museum to everyone, and now that I've done it I wouldn't repeat it, but most of our family enjoyed it, including me.

So we didn't see a show, and we didn't do Silver Dollar City. As my in-laws grew up going there, I'm assured I'll have my chance when we introduce grandkids to the mix. But all in all, my first trip to Branson was great fun and a great time with my family. If you were to go, a weekend is plenty of time to understand the place and have a great time, but there's certainly more to do if you want to stay longer.

Markets in Marrakech

In the morning, we struggled with Moroccan stubbornness and bureaucracy in an attempt to mail ourselves the pottery we had purchased. (Update: one bowl broken, two bowls in tact.) Finally succeeding though paying exorbitant prices, N and Is walked us to the bus station to send us on our way to Marrakech. This time, we took a more reliable bus, which was a relief since we would no longer hand our friends along to help us navigate the unfamiliar waters. Crossing over to Marrakech was hot hot hot, much hotter than our previous long bus ride, since we were spending more time traversing the desert. Whew.

Arriving in Marrakech, we made our exhausting way into the medina, following our hotel manager on foot since there are no cars allowed in the medina/old city/marketplace. I must say that our hotel experience was very frustrating: difficult to find, difficult to communicate, expectations not met on either side, grr. However, it was BEAUTIFUL and very comfortable and very affordable. It's hard to say if I'd recommend it or not, but it certainly was lovely, and I'm not sure another hotel would be easier on American tourists with certain expectations.

We hired a guide through the medina, which was a very smart move. He showed us such beautiful spaces. A great portion of the medina is for workshops, where children and artisans create glasswork, metalwork, pottery, cloth dying, etc. Our guide kept taking us places where shopkeepers could sell us things. It was nice to be able to say we'd already purchased things in Essaouira, so the pressure was off. The sights of the medina were just amazing. Children in the metalwork shops. The vibrant colors of a thousand scarves. Giant jars of olives. Snake charmers in the main square. Orange juice carts with hundreds of fresh oranges to be squeezed. It was really something, I have to say.

It was the last day of our trip. The next day, we flew back to Paris but just stayed at the hotel by the airport to fly back to the US the day after. We were exhausted, but we were happy. We were so, so happy.

Sunset on the wall

Our second day in Essa (we decided to stay there an entire extra day and night, sacrificing time in Marrakech, because we loved it so much and were having such a great time with N and Ism), was mostly spent shopping! We had spent the first day scoping and then returned to do the shopping on the next day. We bought terracotta bowls, three beautiful rugs, silver jewelry, scarves, thuya boxes, and our favorite is a hand carved wooden mask sculpture by a local artist. It's beautiful.

We had kebabs for lunch, and a year of delicious kebabs in Geneva didn't prepare me for this really delicious grilled kebabs. Awesome. We sat with them in the fish market park and coerced a new friend to join us. The outrageous number of stray cats in Morocco made me very sad, and I was happy to share my chicken with this little one. D took like a thousand more reference photos. He clearly has big artistic plans for our trip.

Honestly, it was a day for wandering. There are a million experiences to be found in Essa, and though it doesn't quite feel like "real" Morocco like Casa did--it's more like luxury Morocco--it was so unique and beautiful that we wanted to be a part of all of it. We wandered the medina looking for finds and treasures. Lots of back areas that were mostly residential with beautiful doorways and intimidating walls. N and Ism found a local poet in a funky back room who shared his poetry and ideas at dramatic length.

We arrived back in our room (after landing the mask) and relaxed before heading out again. We went to the walls of the medina, which once protected it from attacks from the sea, and sat to watch the sunset. I think it was the first time D had watched the sun set from beginning to end. Beautiful. After an hour or so of just sitting in peace, we wandered to find delicious dinner. We stumbled onto a marvelous place with very traditional style food. We sat in a plush corner to ourselves with pillows and candles and ate and ate and ate. I highly recommend the place, if I can think of the name.

We were sad for it to be our last night with N and Ism. They were such perfect travel partners. D thinks we should travel with them all over the world. Here's hoping. Thanks, you two.