Noel on the Champs!

Last night was the Parisian Christmas-y night I've been waiting for! The whole day was actually quite magnifique because it was sunny and nice! Despite the freezing wind!

I left early in the afternnon to do some wandering! Wandered around Rue Mouffetard - one of the oldest and cutest streets in Paris! They were having a fresh market which was simply incroyable! Wandered over to the ile st. louis, one of my favorite part of Paris, where I found some tres adorable things for Noel presents in the coolest little shops!

I also wandered over to the St. Merri catherdrale and Place Igor Stravinsky because I have to write my final paper for Art History on the comparison of the modern architecture of Paris "living' right next to the old, gothic architecture. That's what I should be doing right now! But blogging is much more fun. So volia! Maybe I will just print out some posts and hand them instead!

I eventually wandered back to Hotel de Ville (ice rink still in process of going up - WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG!) and home! Where I proceeded to spill an entire thing of tomato soup ALL over our cuisine! As sad as it was it also kind of funny. I definitley destroyed a hand towel or too mopping it up - since we have been out of paper towels for about a month now! And I keep forgetting to buy more while I am at the grocery store stocking on up Merlot, Chardonnay, and this delcious sparkling cider from Normandie that I found! c'est la vie parisienne!

After the soup-catastrophy, Caroline et moi left to go to the Place des Vosges and go into the Maison de Victor Hugo. We were both tres decu, because it was tres lame. We basically had hoped it would more like le maison des Miserables and it was not. So, I checked it off my list, and put a sad face next to it for decu!

The rest of the night I was very far from being decu though! We continued onto "Merci" this boutique department store on Boulverard Beaumarchais that is so chic and so adorable! They had the cutest mini-people clothes that I wanted to buy for Ollie and Nina - but I couldn't because the mini-people clothes were more expensive than big-people clothes! Encore....C'est la vie parsienne!



Merci has super cute "used book cafe" that is in a room surrounded by bookshelves full of old books you buy! Everyone there was truly Parisien (us included) and we sat there sipping wine and parlering!



Apres, we went to place de la concorde to ride the giant wheel! I cannot even tell you how AMAZING the site of the place de la concorde is right now! I also could not photograph it - because my camera broke yesterday. I can't really talk about because I am so upset. So from now on all photos are curteosy of Caroline.

The view from the Ferris Wheel nearly made me cry. Caroline kept making fun of me for being over-enthusastic, and overly obbsessed with Eiffel Tower - but I can't help it! It's who I am. Over-enthusastic and obbessed.



It was GORGEOUS to see the entire, sparkling, twinkle-lit Champs, lined with Christmas shops and the arc de triomphe at the top and the obelsik at the end! The Eiffel Tower, just to the left - huge, beautiful, amazing as always! On the other side, the jardin, pyramid, and the Lovure! I don't talk about how beautiful the Louvre is enough! I could see the golden statues on top of Opera Garnier, the pillars of the Eglise Madeleine, and of course - the ghostly white Sacre Couer perched on top of Montmarte! Only 2 more weeks of seeing these things...can you understand why I almost cried now?

We browsed the market stalls next, and stopped for a delicious raclette sandwhich! That's those giant wheels of cheese that just sit under a heat lamp, and then they take a baguette and put it under while they scrape the hot, gooey cheese into it. Yeah - I KNOW! Good thing we walked around ALL day and night yesterday!

Then, I bought myself an early Christmas present! I had to! Something I can have everyday and look at and remember Paris bv. Something that is tres moi. Something I had made for me by the kindest little French woman!





"Blonde Parisienne" on the front, and the dates I lived in Paris on the back! And its pink!
I spent the rest of the night taking turns between admiring it and the Eiffel tower as we walked down the Rue de Montaigne! (Lined with huge, red-lit trees!)

I am going to wear it everyday of my life. Everyday until the day when my first blonde daughter leaves to spend her semester abroad in Paris - at which point I will give it to her. (God - PLEASE let me have little girls. Unless they are as cute as Oliver. Then 1 boy is okay)

We went to a bar for a bit - where I was disappointed that they did not have champagne by the glass to celebrate the birth of my braclet. So I had to settle for a Kir cassis instead.

The only thing that put a damper on my night was knowing that today marks 2 weeks until I leave. 2 WEEKS. How did this go so fast? How am I already leaving so soon! How am I going to live without the tour! I keep having dreams about being back in New York - crying. I'm not even joking un peu!

On the brightside - a lot of wonderful, Parisian chirstmasy things start this week! The marche noel in St. Germain, the christmas music concerts in Notre Dame, hopefully the skating rink! So I can really live my last 2 weeks amazingly. It's most definitley crepe-eating crunch time!