Une Soiree Chez Nous

Last night we had our first soiree at our apartement! We had some friends from AUP over for margaritas, chips, and guacamole! Mmm! Maddy, who is studying her French here to attend le cordon bleu, made the guacamole and it was delicious! She also taught me a wonderful trick about preserving it so it won't go brown - you keep the seeds in! It is amazing, it stays perfectly fresh and green for hours! Maddy worked at a professional bakery, so she is very experienced in desserts! We have decided to take a "French pastry tour" and try all the pasteries of Paris. The only condition is that we must run to each patisserie, and run back, to avoid gaining 100 pounds by the end of the tour. Bon idee!

We went to a few neighborhood places afterwards, and then ended up at "MyBerry" - which is French Pinkberry! There is a faux Pinkberry in Paris, right next door to our apartment! I didn't get any last night, so I cannot say yet if it is the same, but it looked wonderful! For a Pinkberry obsessee (moi) it is nice to know I don't have wait 4 months!

Yesterday was the first warm and sunny day all week! So of course - we had a pique-nique! We were contemplating all our various pique-niqueing options, and decided on the Champs de Mars because we both missed the Eiffel Tower. I need to see it on a daily basis, it is like a drug. I need my dose of the tour to make it through the day. I made us what I am calling "salade de thon francais." French tuna salad! I bought some tuna at the grocery store, came home and added some fresh cumcumber and carrots that I chopped up, EVOO (as Rachel Ray would say), and salt and pepper. I despise mayo, so I created my own - mayoless version, that was really delicious and healthy! We packed that up with clementines, almonds, and a baguette and 30 minutes later we were laying on the Champs de Mars, enjoying! We stayed there all day, journaling, reading, listening to French music, and napping. Magnifique! I eventually got up, and rode a velib home, passing la musee de la mode on the way home, which is gorgeous! Sadly, the fashion musuem is closed until 2010, so I will never get to see what would probably be my favorite musuem in Paris! I guess I will just have to come back in 2010 to see it......c'est dommage!

I also saw another thing on my bike ride that was dommage! A pink and white, vintage looking Vespa! I felt the cold stab of jealously for the very first time. It should be mine! It has "Blonde Parisienne" written all over it! While I do love riding a bike everywhere, riding a Vespa everywhere would be so much more fun! I have decided that when I move back to Paris after graduation to open my Bakery, I will have a pink Vespa just like it. I wonder if I could get cupcake upholstery....?