Au Revoir, Paris...

So, time to say "au revoir" to Paris came too soon...before we knew it, it was time to head back to the States. But, not before I had time to stop by to say hello again to some of my all-time favorite sites in the city...these are the ones that I have seen a million times, will probably see a million times more and it will never be too much.

First on my list, is Sainte-Chapelle, the epitome of high Gothic splendor. The chapel is actually two, with one built directly on top of the other. The lower chapel was for the less-important members of the royal court...while the upper chapel was clearly meant for the crème-de-la-crème! The stained glass is...éclablouissant...a hard-to-translate word that means something along the lines of "it will knock you clear off your feet with its amazingness." I can't think of a word in English that has the same effect, except perhaps the REAL meaning of the word "awesome." Too bad pop culture has corrupted that one.

And, of course, no trip to Paris could be complete without me taking a few shots of the Eiffel Tower. I can't help it. It's an obsession...but I hear acknowledging you have a problem is half the battle.

So, a fond "au revoir, Paris"...see you in the spring :)

Letting the cat out of the bag...

Alright, friends...apologies for having taken so long in writing a new post. I've been waiting for the dust to settle after dropping a pretty major bomb in my personal life. And I'm about to do the same to you all...

So, back to Paris. I believe I left you with my Parisian celebration of Thanksgiving. On to Black Friday...so there was no shopping, no fights in parking lots, no standing in line to spend money at three in the morning, no pushing, no shoving, no consumerism. Instead, we headed out to Chartres, where I lived for a year.

It is a beautiful little town that is completely and totally overshadowed by its magnificent cathedral. When I first moved to France, I rented a room in this charming old house owned by an older couple. The adorable room was up under the eves, with sloping ceilings, a straw-stuffed mattress, and antique furniture. Unfortunately, it was also infested with bedbugs and barely heated, and the kitchen was forbidden to me, so I wound up eating a lot of cold ravioli out of a can. I made an effort to spend as little time there as possible and would wander the cobbled streets of Chartres to kill time between teaching my classes and resigning myself to going "home." When the weather turned rainy, I turned to the cathedral. I would sit inside and take shelter...I'd read or work on lesson plans and it was one of the few places I felt safe and comfortable during my first month living abroad. To say that it is significant spiritual landmark in my life would be an understatement.

And now, Notre Dame de Chartres has taken on a whole new significance since that is where I got engaged!! Damien asked me to marry him in one of my most personally meaningful places and I happily accepted. I'm going to keep a few details to myself for private reminiscences, but needless to say, I am fortunate to be with a very sweet, thoughtful and sensitive man.

We spent the rest of the day wandering Chartres in a happy daze...I was staring at my left hand a lot, so I'm not sure if there were many changes in Chartres since the last time I was there. It still feels like home, though. That I can say for sure.

We headed back to Paris for a champagne toast and celebration at, appropriately enough, the very trendy bar/restaurant at the Hôtel Amour. So that pretty well beats getting 40% off at Kohl's, don't you think? ;)

Paris, J-2

So, what's Thanksgiving without turkey? Well...in Paris, it is a solo scavenger hunt through Montmartre, a chausson aux pommes with fresh coffee, a stroll along a very grey Seine, a bad case of baguette-mouth, and an after-hours trip to the Musée d'Orsay. Not quite the same as eating too much and passing out for a nap, but enjoyable in it's own way.

Walking through Montmartre for the Nth million time on my own was extra-fun since I took along a book of scavenger hunts set in Paris. I followed a set of clues (in French) to observe monuments and special sites to find code words which led me to a secret message at the end. It was a blast! On top of cracking the code, I saw some fresh corners of a neighborhood I thought I knew pretty well and stumbled across the French version of Mood Fabrics (Project Runway fans, you know what I'm talking about!!!). I could have spent all day feeling all the silks, tweeds and jerseys, but I tore myself away...without buying a thing! Anyone who has witnessed my fabric hoarding tendencies will admit that that shows remarkable restraint!

After a lazy afternoon of wandering along the Seine and through the Jardin de Tuileries, we hit the Musée d'Orsay, which happened to be open late on Thursday nights. Even though it was packed, it was great to wander through such an incredible collection of paintings, photos and sculptures. I've only ever been to this museum once in all my trips to Paris, since I'm usually too impatient to wait in the perpetually long lines. Glad I got to see it again after all this time.

A full day on my feet sent me to bed pretty early tonight (just as if I had had that turkey feast after all!), but tomorrow should be an exciting day...off to Chartres for my every-so-often pilgrimage.

L'arrivée

Alright...I owe everyone an apology. Je m'excuse!! I thought that the apartment we rented had wi-fi, but it didn't, so no new posts as I had promised. Désolée! Instead, I think I'll write a retroactive series of posts that follow my trip as I would have done on a daily basis if I had had the means.

Okay...I imagine at this point you've all figured out that I was in Paris for Thanksgiving! Hooray! After an uneventful flight experience on my old friend, Air Canada, we found our home sweet home in Paris, the 18e arrondisement, better known as Montmartre. We rented an adorable apartment in an Art Deco building from a really nice woman I found on the internet. After hiking the hills of Montmartre with our luggage, it was a treat to load them onto an elevator from the 1930's...how cool is that!

Feeling a little low energy after the long flight, but naps being forbidden, we went for a stroll in the one place in Paris with the majority of the residents had even less energy than myself. Père Lachaise Cemetary is wonderfully creepy and the overcast afternoon set the perfect ambiance for some sombre photos. Tons of famous people are resting in Père Lachaise...some of them were even moved there from graves elsewhere in Paris. When the cemetery first opened, it wasn't very fashionable to be buried there, so the powers that be moved a bunch of famous corpses there to entice people to buy plots!

After the sun went down and we got chased from the cemetery by the shadows, we hopped the Métro to somewhere that had the exact opposite energy...the Champs-Élysées. Unbeknownst to us, they were lighting the holiday lights for the first time and the whole street was mobbed! We took refuge under the Arc de Triomphe and then fought the crowds all the way down to Place de la Concorde.

We followed it all up with spaghetti and meatballs made in a microwave and a single hot plate...a lot more complicated than it sounds! Turned out to be very tasty, though, and worth the effort. A tasty red wine that cost only 3 euros (3 euros!!) knocked any last bit of energy out of me and I hit the futon like a rock. Bonne nuit!!

A puzzle

Bonjour everybody! I'm back after a few months grounded in IL for another travel adventure...where am I off to? Well...I'll give you a few clues:

I will need to take this mode of transportation in order to get there...

These two items will factor heavily into my survival...

It's somewhere that has a pretty firm lock on my heart...

Hopefully, I've piqued your interest...if you haven't figured out where I'm going yet, perhaps this final clue will help you...

Yep...she goes to Paris :) More to come...