France is in Our Sights for a Vacation and I Couldn’t Be More Thrilled.
A Year Away Gives Us Time to Do the Research. To Save. To Plan.
And to Get Very, Very Excited.
The Timing Seems Right for France….
High School French Lessons. Check.
High School Humanities Reading on WWI, All Quiet on the Western Front. Check.
A Love of the American Girl Doll, Grace and Her Patisserie. Double Check.
A Great Interest and Hours of Historical Reading on the History of WWII and its Battlefields.
And My Continued Fascination with French Food.
French Fashion.
And French Black and White Design.
Having the Tiny French Café on the Next Corner Helps Too.
Today I Have a Lunch Partner. My Cousin is in Town. We Arrive at the Café as the Doors Open.
We Chat with the Chef/Owner of Le Troquet.
As He Speaks of France, His Eyes Sparkle and His Whole Being Becomes Animated.
He So Loves France and It Made Me Feel A Little Sad That He Was Here and Not There.
I Know The Feeling.
It’s How I Feel About Brooklyn and the Sea. There Are Times When I Actually Feel An Ache for Home.
I Miss the Ocean. The Smells of Salt Air. The Sounds of Seagulls. And Fresh Seafood.
I Try to Make Here Home. It is Home for Mr. Doodle and Our Girls…But Not Always for Me.
I Know That Longing For Home. And I Feel It So Strongly in the Chef’s Heart.
We Talk of Wonderful Places to Visit in France. The Usual and Not So Usual Haunts.
Whether to Take Trains or Rent a Car. Or Do a Little of Both.
Should We Stay Only in Paris or Travel to the Countryside.
The Palace of Versailles is a Definite. Normandy is Important Too.
We Chat and Laugh With Our Travel Guide Before He Is Whisked Away to the Kitchen.
To Create Masterful French Dishes.
The Menu is a Delight.
Spinach Crepe. Presented Like a Painting. Almost Too Perfect to Touch.
The Vegetables and Rice are Worth a Second Look…Beautiful, Right?!
Spinach Asparagus Quiche.
The Vegetables Here are Worth a Third Look. 🙂
Time for Dessert. Oh Yes We Are Having Dessert!
Profiterolles – Puff Pastries with Vanilla Ice Cream and a Dash of Cream.
Pastry so Light and Fluffy. Ice Cream so Smooth and Rich.
Too Bad the Girls are at School…They’d Love, Love, Love These.
The French Café in the Middle of Downtown Albuquerque.
Almost Like Coming Home. Magic.
Embracing the Growers’ Market
Beautiful pictures. Isn’t it lovely when so much care was taken on plating the food. They do say we eat with our EYES first.
So, So True, Dee. Glad you could “join” me. 🙂
How lovely to meet you Jeanne! It has been a pleasure to read through your post and enjoy a little French romance today even though it was to be found in Albuquerque! Tous c’est tres bon!
Hi Christine – So glad to meet you as well…You are so right…we all need a little French romance anywhere and everywhere. Enjoy your day. 🙂
You’re getting there – good topic and good writing- love you Missy
Love you too.
You do realize that I’m on Weight Watchers and looking at those food pics are making me hungry! I have till after Thanksgiving to keep a strict diet because we are returning to Paris that weekend. It’ll be my 15th visit to the City of Lights.We will only be there for 4 days but it’s cool. Our plans other than being with Bonaparte’s family are to just be a couple of flaneurs. Paris is great for that. I’m at a point where I like to wander and see where Paris will take me. It’s funny. Like you, I miss living in a certain place. For me that place is Manhattan. I’ll never get used to the suburbs. And even though I grew up on Long Island, we were a block away from the bay–so the shore was always close by. I think that’s why I love our visits to France so much. We have the city of Paris then we fly down to Nice to enjoy the beach. You are going to have a great vacation!!!!!
Sorry about the Food Photos…the food is excellent but very rich…a little too rich for lunchtime…but fun nonetheless. 4 days in Paris sounds fabulous. Not rich fancy food for you Miss!
I spent a few hours in Paris. Yes, just a few hours. Did a transatlantic cruise with my mom a few years back, and we had a six hour excursion to Paris, but that included the bus ride from the ship and back. I vowed to get back some day with hubby. LOVE IT. 🙂
A few hours in Paris…that’s a whirlwind for sure. Making Memories that’s what counts! 🙂
A trip to France, how wonderful! My girls went to Paris and they loved everything about it, the people, the food, the charming cafes. I can see that you have many ideas on what you want to do and see. That’s nice that you had a visit with your cousin, and you probably talked all about your trip. I wish you a grand one!
Thank you for following us, Jeanne. I appreciate it so much.
~Sheri
Lovely to meet you Sheri. Thanks for stopping by. France is a year away for us…there will be lots more discussions before we go…but I’d like to wander a bit too and see what we can see…if you know what I mean. Sometimes too planned takes all the zing out of an adventure. I’m so glad I found your blog – it’s lovely.
I hope you enjoy planning your trip. I have never had much luck in Paris. Personally I much prefer Lyon, but maybe that’s because it’s close to home! There are so many wonderful places to visit though – how do you choose?!
Hi Alison – Thanks for stopping by…Paris seemed like the likely first stop because it (I think) is easiest to get flights to…still in the very beginning planning stages. How to choose and touch on all the varied interests of this family…a challenge to be sure…but a fun challenge!