It's not about me today....

In honor of Earth day, i promise to....



*unplug my tanning bed for the day







*not waste energy by not cooking dinner....again







* i will cancel the cleaning ladies for today, i can probably clean the toilets myself....







*i will not run the bubbles when i take a jacuzzi tub tonight.....







*i will have my children wear the same clothes that they did yesterday.....{saving some more water}







*i will wear the same clothes as well.....







*my hubby just said he won't come home tonight.....{that should save something????}







*i won't go thru the drive-thru starbucks today, i will get my arse out of the car and walk myself in....







*instead of buying flowers, i will pick them out of my neighbors yard.....







*i won't waste more water by running my dishwasher again....i will just wash the dishes by hand...





what will you do today???


xo

Giveaway......

I'm busy writing the next installment of Girls in Paris for you....

i'm knee keep in photo editing and for some reason...

my mind keeps wandering back to Macrons and Jean-Pierre.

I also put my freshly laundered pants on this morning and for

some reason....i think they shrunk.

Damn you baguette's and cheese!

{note to self: must get manicure!}

So.....i thought we could have some fun.

It's a .....

Name the trip contest!

The finalist will receive this Eiffel Tower necklace with a sparrow on the chain.

The name of this necklace is called: Fly me to Paris;-)

Winner will also recieve the pretty french ring above...

{hand not included..}

Also included in the package is this card pack called

Adventures on Foot : Paris.

It comes with everything you need to know

about walking the city of Paris.

Each card has a detailed map on one side and must have information

on the back.

Even if you are not heading to Paris anytime soon...

it's a fun read.

I picked up a bunch of French soap at a market outside of St. Remy.

I'll bundle a few up for you ...

you decide whether to use them or look at them;-)

Last but not least....

I've been getting lots of emails on what camera

and what photo editing software i use.

I have a Canon 50d.

I also use Photoshop CS3.

I love the actions by Florabella.

Winner will also get one set of actions for Photoshop

from Florabella.

And if you want....

only if you want....

I will include a signed photo of

Jean-Pierre.

The rules:

One entry per person.

Use your creativity to come up with a name that best represents my trip to France...

or don't...it's up to you.

Or just comment.....those of you that are not up for the task;-)

Blog or tweet about this...and I will throw your name in for a separate package that

includes the french ring and a walk in Paris pack.

Contest ends 4/23.{midnight}

If you haven't read the first two stories yet...scroll down and read.

May the best title win!

{ or may the best comment win }

{comments closed}

Girls in Paris...deux.

I don't really remember what time we actually went to bed that first night....

because Jet lag never hit. I was told horror stories about jet lag...but in reality

i think that we were just so excited that first day to be in Paris...

it never hit.

After our most wonderful dinner of Pigeon...escargot and

lots of French wine...

and i mean enough wine that we when we crawled into bed at

around 1.....that we started laughing.

It might have been the shooting shell that started it...

i don't really remember....

but what i do know is that someone might have peed her pants

from laughing so hard.

Seriously....we have 9 children between the 3 of us girls.

One of us is bound to have a loose bladder.

Anyhoo.....

we woke up on day two with a bit of an overcast sky...

with our eye's a bit swollen from the night before.

There was no sleeping in though....

Good Morning Paris!

After a lovely breakfast of Chocolate croissants with our coffee..

we hit the streets.

We hadn't gotten very far when Simone and I turned around because

Kim wasn't with us.

She was a few blocks behind....limping.

She had some really cute black ballet flats on that had decided to give her blisters.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before...

but i don't do so well with the whole blood and hanging skin thing.

I realize i USED to work in the nursing field...

but what you don't know is that i was constantly being fired.

It's not my fault i vomited all over an oozing arm.

I actually tried to pay someone to have my babies for me...

but no one offered.

Luckily for that epidural....i think my ob gave it to me a week ahead

of time....

it sure helped.

Sheesh!

Where did my mind go...

how did Kim's oozing blisters get me on a rampage about birthing babies?

My apologies.

Anyhoo....

Simone and i looked at each other...then with each of us supporting Kim...

we accompanied her into a pharmacie.

French pharmacies are not like walking into a Walgreen's or Cvs...

no...

the pharmacies are like walking into an Origins shop.

French lotions and creams...beauty supplies...

and all manned by a good looking French pharmacist.

Kim bought the French band aids...

and tried to get Franc {the pharmacist}

to assist her in putting them on.

Franc did not end up helping Kim put her band aids on....

not even batting her big ole eyelashes helped.

{i think it's because he was hoping i would ask for his help}

Once we got the blistering oozing mess taken care of...

we headed to the Metro station.

This is the part where i really fell in love with Simone.

{i'm a total advocate of having a second wife....just saying}

Simone knows how to read the metro maps.

we don't.

we would still be at the airport trying to figure things out.

We decided to head to the Sacre-Cour which is on the north side of Paris...

not because we really wanted to see the most gorgeous church

perched on a hill...

or see the historic architecture....

or attend the mass that was being held when we arrived.

No

We were going because we had seen someones photo on Etsy..

of the Eiffel Tour from a distance..and knew from looking

at a map that it had to have been taken

from Sacre-Cour.

Note: We have no plans in copying the girl who took this photo...

nor do we have any intention in selling the so called photo if we achieved

the same look.

I state this because once we got to the top of Sacre-Cour...

we realized that we were mistaken.

The French government started building this church in 1873 as a symbol of the return

of self-confidence after the devastating years of the Commune and Franco-Prussian war.

{just a bit of history being thrown out to you}

So...

If you are afraid of heights....then feel free to scroll down a ways.

Kim and i had to climb 300 teeeny...tiiiny steps that wrapped around

and around...in and out of dark halls to get to the top of Sacre-Cour.

Simone decided to wait at the bottom.

Simone was smart.

Simone also met a nice French man while we were sweating our tushes off

climbing the 300 steps to the top.

Obviously...climbing all these steps and almost vomiting because of the fear

of heights didn't appeal to Simone.

Meeting a French man did though.

Even though we were sweating....

and out of breath...

with the thought of vomiting...

oh..

and deathly afraid we might fall off the small ledges..

we made it.

Gorgeous.

I introduce you to my French lover....

Le Tour Eiffel

I believe i might have had some perfume in my bag...

and spritzed it on for this monumental occasion.

I even asked Kim if she would kiss me.....

just for the sheer purpose of being a romantic...

and seeing the power that the Eiffel had over me.

Kim said...NO...

then she walked away.

I really don't remember how much time we spent at the top...

not just because we were taking in the views....

or that i could literally stare at the Eiffel all day long...

no...

it was because we had to climb all the way down.

300 stairs narrow little stairs down.

I know for a fact that we lost about 5 pounds on that climb...

and as soon as we reached the bottom

i announced it was time for some wine.

Since it was only 11 am...the girls didn't think drinking wine sounded like such

a good idea.

Whatever.

So we settled on walking around Montmartre.

It was gorgeous...beautiful...charming.

Full of artists selling their wares.

Signs everywhere stating NO PHOTOS from the artists.

Kim tried to sneak one.....

and was reprimanded immediately and had to delete the photo.

Obviously...no art was purchased from him.

We had our first crepe from a vendor.....

then miandered around the cobbled streets.

There was always somewhere charming to stop and get our Cafe creme.

After our perusing in and out of little streets..we came upon

a sidewalk full of discarded treasures.

We encountered Fabien and his team hauling the contents of

an abanded cellar to the street.

Old French doors....

beautiful paned windows....

stacks of vintage literature.

All being tossed out for garbage.

It was so hard for us to watch this......

knowing all we could do is stand and watch.

This is where we really wished we had purchases a box that we could

ship some of these things back to the states with us.

Oh well....

and i swear i saw the some of the same doors at the brocante we went

to in the south of France!

At least Fabien was nice enough to let us photograph the street treasures...

i even think Kim got a good photo of Fabien and his team for sentimental purposes..

From there we headed past the Louve....

and i waved as we walked by....

then we walked thru Gallaries Lafayette...

{which is the most amazing French department store}

perused thru E. Dehillerin.....

{which if you are like me and LOVE to cook...then this historic quaint kitchen shop is for you}

then stopped for wine and mussles.

A huge vat of mussles.....

and a bottle {or two} of wine.

I believe this is the point where Simone and Kim looked at each other...

then they looked at me....

and stated that...

when in France..do as the French do....

and smoke a French cigie.

I said.....WHOA....

wait a minute....i haven't had a cigarette in at least 13 years.

Isn't smoking bad for you.....

don't you get wrinkles from smoking...

i'm an athlete....i shouldn't be smoking.

Trouble makers i tell you....really bad influences on me.

{now...if these girls start to dispute the story and turn it around by saying

it was me that suggested smoking the French cigie's...then by all means..

please feel free to take sides....}

Alright....

the truth is...

it was me

all me

I held them down and made them buy the French cigies

i was the bad influence.

Shame on me!

It's amazing they are still talking to me...

There is something about a french man....

on his vespa...

reading the paper...

smoking a cigie.

A well dressed man...that is.

While we were walking around.. we passed by this detective agency...

i thought the signs were fabulous.

It was then we started chatting about French lovers.

I don't really know how walking by a detective agency...

talking about French vespa riding men smoking cigies...

could get us on the subject of French lovers....

but it did.

Did you know it's semi normal in France to be happily married...

but to also have a French lover on the side?

Maybe i should call the French president to get the dirt?

Us girls had a pretty open talk at dinner that night....

about our husbands...and lives.

We opened up our hearts and chatted life.

All it took was walking by a detective agency to do that...

amazing.

The following morning we decided...

WE MUST GET SOME MACRONS.

We were given a numerous amount of places recomended by friends of

places to buy our macrons. On the top of the list was Laduree.

We had walked by it the day before...

but we were told that we had to try Pierre Hermes for their macrons.

Pierre was to have had the best macrons in the city.

Well.......

we took a taxi....then walked about 500 blocks to find Pierre Hermes....

only to walk in and i am sure that their macrons were fabulous...

but

the feeling of walking into Lauderee was vastly different.

Laduree

I could say it over and over.

The packaging was gorgeous....

the little pink and green boxes remind me of the little blue box.

{not that i've ever recieved anything in a little blue box...}

I have since dreamt about the salted caramel macrons...

i think we had barely made it out of the shop and down the street before

we had eaten every single one.

Real French macrons from Laduree.

I used to tell my girlfriends that the macrons from Trader Joe's were good.

I even thought i would go to T.J's and fill the famous little pink box with

macrons fro my friends...considering i ate EVERY single macron within minutes..

but ...really....

what kind of friend is that?

{it's not out of the question though...not yet}

I believe i even ordered the macrons myself that day....

"Je Veux un avocat"...

but i guess i ordered wrong....

i ordered a lawyer.

Simone had to step in and help me get the caramel macrons...

because really.....

what good would a lawyer do me.

After we chowed down on our macrons...

we walked by the Arc de Triomphe...

and headed to Champs-Elysees.

The Champs-Elysees is a busy street full of high end shops

and restaurants.

Beautiful...but i prefered the smaller quaint boutiques tucked

in and around the cobblestoned streets.

We walked it though...to say we did.

I believe our feet were going numb at this point...

at least Kim's feet were.

This is really why the French stay so thin...

they really do walk everywhere...

and they smoke.

But they like cheese...

and i like cheese...

so i don't get it.

I walk to the mailbox every day...

i walk from the car to the market.

why am i not skinny?

Maybe i should start smoking those French cigie's again.

{i might not have a husband though....}

We made it back to the hotel and had just put our feet up.

I think we had only rested for about...

oh...

a minute...

before Kim and I decided we had to head to a cemetary.

We knew of the famous one where Jim Morrison is buried..

but we wanted one a little more simple.

It was 5:30..and we knew the closest cemetary closed at 6.

Crazy...i know....

but Kim and i have a love for old...

a love for beauty.

We walked around and took in the beauty.

It was peaceful.

quiet.

full of history.

life.

There really was life here...

dating back to 1600.

We did make it over to see Le Tour Eiffel in person.

I tried not to kiss it......

or kiss Kim for that matter.

to be continued.....

Girls in Paris....day one.

I arrived in Paris last Wednesday morning only having slept on the flight

for about 3-4 hours. I dragged my tush through customs and wandered around

looking for Air France....since my friend Kim was arriving on that airline.

She stepped thru the door and it was like no time had passed since i had

last seen her in December.

No sooner had we hugged then she grabbed a piece of paper

out of her backpack and made me sign a confidentiality agreement.

yup.

Apparently she thinks i like to write....

and write details.

I signed the form and promised i would not bring up anything that

would implicate her in any way.

I was not going to talk about the bracelet she bought from a man that wouldn't leave her alone.

I would not tell everyone that she smoked her first french cigie.

I would not mention the blisters that encased her feet.

I was not going to talk about the fact that she wore Nike's like a tourist.

Nope.

I would not talk about the boudoir photo shoot that happened.

I definitely would not talk about the escargot shell that she was eating from

went flying across the room of a very nice restaurant.

No...

I would not bring any of that up.

This is the beauty of our friendship...

we're cool like that.

Besties till the end.

I hope you have a friend like that...

Anyhoo.....


we left the airport and hopped on the metro for Paris.


We thought we were so "french" to be able to walk right on over and


hop on the train all by ourselves without asking for help.


I mean really.....


all the tourists were in lines for the taxi or waiting for shuttles.


Not us.


We were taking the metro.


We jumped on...grabbed some seats and off we went.


Now let me just pipe in here for a minute and remind you that i don't speak


French....nor do i understand it.


Oh...i can get by all right...with my few basic words and knowledge..


but it really is quite embarrassing.


Kim is the girl that knows the language and i totally relied on her the entire trip.


She'll thank me later...


really...it was for her own good to travel with a novice...


i mean....


now she can consider herself fluent.


Ahem.


Where was i?


Oh...the metro.


Yes....we were on our way into Paris.


We were chatting along...catching up on old times....


when on the overhead speaker i heard the word...


STRIKE


now being the non french speaking part of the duo...


that is one word ..i believe...is the same in all languages.


STRIKE.


{i would later learn that workers in France strike for everything....}


Our train slowed down...and came to a stop at a station.


At this point....even though we heard the word strike...


we just thought we would let the people getting off here at this station


and carry on.


The weird thing was.....everyone got off but us.


We just sat there...looking at each other.


yup.


ho hum.


But then people started getting back on....


and we wiped our brows ...saying to each other...its fine...


we're off.


The problem was...


the train started heading back toward the airport.


I think this is the point where we looked at each other and were thinking


we should have just taken a taxi.


Like all the other tourists.


Anyway...


we hopped off at the next station...


and decided at that point...


to just take a taxi.

{free tip: there is nothing wrong with taking a taxi}

We made it to our hotel around 2 pm and the hotel was

located in the 5th arrondissment....and our hotel was very nice...

and very modern. We were about 6 blocks from The Pantheon....and walkable

to the 6th Arrondissement which was our favorite area. The 6th had small

shops and cafe's which did not have a tourist feel and felt very quaint.

As soon as we checked in.....

you got it...

we walked outside and on the corner was a darling cafe.

We parked ourselves...

ordered our first taste of Paris.

Luckily Kim loves wine as much as i do.

After our lounging at the cafe...

we started walking.

and walking...

and walking...

I loved seeing what people were wearing....

so much so...

that i took a ton of photos of fashion...

which i will post soon.

The men had amazing style...

the children darling.

I saw a lot of converse shoes on people...

so no need to fret if you are headed there to visit.

If you are worried about shoes...

just wear some converse.

Women had adorable dresses on...

with converse.

Men had suits....with converse.

This is Jean-Pierre....

and this is exactly how we found him.

Sitting in a window looking absolutely charming.

He was nice enough to let us take a photo of him.

I am a lover of architecture....

and there was nothing better then street after street

of gloriously old buildings and roof lines to photograph.

The first place we found ourselves at was The Pantheon.....

which had our very first view of the Eiffel Tour.

Building of The Pantheon was started in 1764 by architect

Jacques-German Soufflot.

There is not a lot of info in English and none on

it's famous residents are who are buried inside.

{quoted from my french guide book...}

I'm an architecture lover...not a history buff

oops.....

don't know how Jean-Pierre got here again..

but since he's back..

let's just marvel in his fashion sense...shall we.

From the Pantheon we headed over to the 5th....

where we found all sorts of bakeries and cafe's.

We were standing outside one bakery watching

the bread makers making bread when i casually mentioned to kim

that we need to somehow sneak inside and watch.

Kim so graciously agreed...

and she asked one of the bakers taking a smoking break if we could

peek inside.

The baker agreed and at that point we knew we were in Paris.

Standing in a bakers kitchen getting our first private baking class.

After our private tutorial...

he loaded us up with loaves of fresh bread to take with us.

He then offered to show us his apartment on the top of the 15th floor

of the building so we could get some roof line photos.

{ahem...}

okay...so he didn't really do that....but we thought it would have

been nice if he did.

I think maybe if Kim would have batted her eye's at him...

The floral shops were all amazing...

i don't think we passed by one that we didn't snap away at.

{you can even see Kim has her converse on below....

we were so French}

We ended up in front of Notre Dame.

Construction for this gothic style cathedral was started in 1163 and is

the symbolic heart of Paris. Napoleon was crowned here...and

many kings and queens exchanged marriage vows before it's alter.

{just some history being thrown out to you...}

Anyhoo....

as we were sitting outside enjoying the view...

and while kim was nursing a blister on her foot...

a lovely young man came up to Kim to chit chat.

Apparently he wanted to take her on a ride on his vespa.

{this is the part where i'm glad i don't speak a word of french}

It would be one thing if the guy was handsome...

because it would be funny since i'm obviously the tag along at this point

to see the both of us on the back of a vespa.

Kim would have gotten to wrap her arms around him...

and me.....

i would have had to wrap my arms around kim.

So glad the guy was bald and really short.

Kim delicatly declined the offer of a ride on his vespa back to our hotel...

so we decided to get going.

We made it back to the hotel and waited for our friend Simone to show up.
Simone was heading over from London to stay a few nights with us.

Once Simone got to the hotel and hugs were shared...

we headed out to dinner.

We asked our hotel for a recomendation for dinner..

and they told us about Le Coupe Chou.

We had happened to walk by it earlier in the day and had

found it totally charming from the outside.

It was one of our favorite restaraunts that we had tried.

One of the deals that kim and i made...is that we were going

to try new things.

We were so glad we did.

We all started off with escargot.

Now....i love escargot....and really...it's drowned in butter and garlic..

so how can you not love it.

If it weren't for the snail shells...you'd never know.

{this is the point where apparently a scene from the movie Pretty Women

takes place. Like i mentioned before...i won't tell you who did it...

but there was a little incident when a shell went flying across the room}

Luckily...the nice lady who's glass of wine the shell fell into was not upset.

I ordered Pigeon for my entree....

but it wasn't till the next day that i saw how abundent these birds are in the city.

So much so...

that i kept thinking of the song from the movie

Mary Popppins.

"feed the birds....tuppins a bag.....tuppins..tuppins..tuppins a bag...."

to be continued......