PARIS PARIS PARIS!

Paris was....

walking, biking, talking, stopping at cafes for cafe creme et croissants, taking pictures, laughing, admiring fashion, doubting fashion, chocolats et fromage, fountains and architecture...

I didn't go inside of any museums, I didn't go up the eiffel tower, and I didn't search for anything from the DaVinci code and I didn't see the Mona Lisa! But I loved Paris and I thoroughly enjoyed everything I saw and did.  The beauty of the city for me was not to see the museums and be claustrophobic with the millions of other tourists, but to bike and walk and talk and laugh all around town and gaze at all the crazy architecture and eat anything and everything that appealed to me!  I was in the "eat" mode of "eat, pray, love."

 THat's why this farmers market was so appealing! Fresh food in the middle of the city!

 I LOVE CHEESE!! I could not get enough of it.  My best meal was when Steph and I bought a bunch of cheeses and baguette and had a mini feast!

 While walking across one of the many bridges over the Seine, we noticed all these locks...

 I guess this is how people leave their mark on Paris.

 Statues, statues, statues everywhere.  I am blown away by the carvings and statues and architecture everywhere you look.

 Especially with the lion lady.  She looks fierce! 

 And the colours!! Fall was in the air!

 And we were mellow, we took our time, and enjoyed moments.

 Flowers everywhere.  no wonder people are so inspired in Paris, the architecture, the colours, and the parks are all so amazing!!

 Fall and flowers.

 Street vendors.

 Guardians.

 Grafitti, walk dont walk.

 ha!

 I was imagining what the horses would be saying at this moment...

BBBBBLLLLLARRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHWEWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLUU.

 Getting into fountain mode...

 Walking, seeing a cute cafe, stopping for a coffee, maybe a croissant?

 Reflecting.

 Chantal and Ariane walking in the park in the midst of my favourite season!

 I like her spot.

 And I like falling leaves rustling in the air.

 This is my dad's kind of Cafe au Lait!! AMAZING.

 We stopped by the Louvre...

 and JUMPED!

 From both sides!

B

 Aurevoir Louvre...maybe one day I will know enough about art to go inside and appreciate everything.

 But for now, I'll just admire the dudes on horses who look as though they are thinking "i'm chillin on my horse with my sweet helmet...."

 AND FINALLY.

HIGHLIGHT of the trip was taking the Velib Bikes and riding up and down the Seine, in and out of neighbourhoods, through parks and through town.  Such a great way to see the city.

THanks again to the girls for letting my tag along!! 

During the season I don't usually get four days in a row completely off, so I jumped at the opportunity and am so happy that I got to explore such a cool city with friends!  I'm back in Solden and on snow tomorrow!!! 

PS we saw Karl Lagerfeld and his entourage... Apparently it was fashion week?? haha.

CHAMPAGNE!

Wow! 4 days flew by!!! And I have about a MILLION photos, BUT here are some from the two days I spent in Champagne!!  I met up with Stephanie, Ariane and Chantal (who all happened to be in France the same days as I was) and we had a great time!!!

We arrived in Reims on Thursday and spent two days driving around the vineyards, taking pictures, drinking coffee and eating croissants!!  It was amazing, so beautiful and so relaxing.  We also did two Champagne "house" tours, one of Veuve Clicquot and one of Moet et Chandon.   They were both interesting and it was cool to see the Champagne caves.  

Anyway, here are some pics from the first two days!

Such a beautiful area!

The vineyards... mostly pinot noir and chardonnay.

We drove "la route touristique du champagne"

I picked some grapes (they actually tasted really good!!)

And a sweet hair flip...

yummy

Rolling hills and perfectly manicured vineyards! A sight worth seeing.

beautiful.

There was a lot of "consulting of the guide-book" going on, since we were all complete tourists! Here are the girls checking out the facts on a pretty, flowery street.

I thought this was cool!

The leaves are changing here too!! Doesn't compare to the Quebec fall colours, but still impressive nonetheless.

...and some sweet forested roads too... and steph's sweet jumping!

AND some amazing FOOD! delicious french food was a theme for this trip!! Enjoying a little snack with steph!

Steph and I found a little trail in the woods and went for a mini hike/adventure.... Steph really connected with nature...

The villages in Champagne were filled with flowers! So pretty!!

more gorgeous flowers and a sweet tractor sign!

I thought these vines were cool.

Tasty!!!

Each vineyard was labelled in this way...

Here's the one for Veuve Clicquot!

This is a statue of Dom Perignon, at the Moet et Chandon "house"....

We toured their caves, and I left my mark in the dust!

 A "special" hundred year old Dom Perignon.... or something like that!

 What the caves look like.

And random windows that I thought were cool!

 Some other random pics from here and there in Champagne!

It was really cool and obviously quite beautiful! Thanks to Steph, Ariane and Chantal for letting me tag along!