Dreaming of France -- First Time

Thank you for joining this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.

Although I can't always be in France, it's a joy for me when someone I love discovers France.
My niece Caroline just finished her sophomore year in college. She took an internship in Germany this summer and has been there for nearly a month. She'd never traveled overseas before and this weekend she visited Paris.

I've never visited the catacombs, but that is exactly where Caroline headed. She's studying forensics in college, so it makes sense that she would want to see all the bones. 

She sent her mother a detailed itinerary of all the things they had seen and visited in Paris, but I didn't need to know the details, I only needed to see the expression on her face to know that she'd fallen in love.
Here's her departing picture from on top of the Arc de Triomphe.

And she wrote, "Merci, Paris, merci." 

I think she'll be back. 

Thanks so much for playing along with Dreaming of France. I really appreciate your participation and I hope you'll leave a comment plus visit each other's blogs.

Dreaming of France -- Goodies

Thank you for joining this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.

As I looked through some pictures we took in France, I came upon this one.

Most people would not have taken a picture of the KitKat bar, but my husband and I did, because it reminded us of a fond memory when we visited France in 1998 with the children, ages 6, 4 and 2. 

We had been traveling around France for a few weeks, along the Atlantic coast, to the Mediterranean and to the Alps. We even ventured over to Salzburg, Austria before returning to EuroDisney. That's what they called it then before it became Disneyland Paris. 

Finally, we arrived in Paris on a Sunday morning. Luckily, traffic isn't especially bad on Sunday mornings, so we dropped the car at the rental place with only a few wrong turns. We found ourselves a few blocks past the Arc de Triomphe. And the first thing we spotted was a bakery. So I took the kids inside and let them choose a pastry. 

Tucker chose a pain sucre, a sweet roll with large pieces of sugar on top. Grace got a caramel eclair, long and slender with a stretch of caramel along the top and delicate cream inside. 

As for Spencer, he stood looking in all the glass cases before he chose a KitKat bar. Yes, exactly like he could have gotten at home. 

Here they are a few minutes later posing with their father in front of the Arc de Triomphe. Notice that Grace and Tucker are still holding their pastries. Spencer's KitKat bar was long since eaten.

Now at 22, Spencer assures me he would not pick a KitKat bar again. He has worked in some pretty fancy restaurants, and I think he's more aware of what good food is. 

Thanks so much for playing along with Dreaming of France. I really appreciate your participation and I hope you'll leave a comment plus visit each other's blogs.

Dreaming of France -- Twilight in Paris

Thank you for joining this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.

Something strangely peculiar happens to the light in Paris as the sun begins to set. The light turns an amazing shade of blue and bathes everything in soothing tones. 

This is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel just across the street from the pyramid at the Louvre.

Here's the pyramid as the clouds add to the drama of the sky. 

The Eiffel Tower is lit up already and a sliver of the moon hovers above.

And here's a closeup of the Eiffel Tower. I love how warm the golden light is. 

Thanks so much for playing along with Dreaming of France. I'd appreciate if you'd leave a comment and visit the blogs of others who decide to play along too. That way, we can all experience the joy and beauty of France.

Dreaming of France -- Arc de Triomphe and The Tourist

Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
Maybe we can all satisfy our yearnings for France, until we get there again.
Today was the last day of the Tour de France. I love watching it on television so I get a little glimpse of France every day. The last stage in Paris took place in the evening so they could include a light show. The sun had a hard time complying though, as it seemed to stay up til 10 Paris time. Chris Froome, a Brit, won the Tour and he seems like a nice enough guy.
Once it finally got dark, the organizers cast lights onto the Arc de Triomphe behind the podium.
Here's a copy of a photo from the Daily Mail in the UK.

And here's a link to part of the show. It's definitely worth watching if you didn't see it.

Also this week, I saw a movie that at least began in Paris. It's called The Tourist and stars Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. Have you seen it? The scenery in Paris just feels so French! And then they take the train to Venice, so what's not to like it?

Jolie is gorgeous and Depp does so well playing a math teacher from Wisconsin. I'd never think he could play an ordinary character. 

Here's Jolie in a Paris cafe from a blog post called The Collider.

And here she is walking on a Paris street. Doesn't she look elegant, a throw back to the women in the Cary Grant movies of the 1950s.

I'm still participating in Paris in July hosted by Thyme for Tea and Bookbath.

Saturday Snapshot -- France with Kids

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post on Alyce's blog At Home With Books. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.
This month, I'm also participating in Paris in July sponsored byThyme for Tea and Bookbath, so, of course, I need a France related photo. I wrote yesterday about the wildfires in Corsica when I visited there more than 25 years ago. I have some great photos from that trip, but they aren't all on the computer yet. Instead, I'll post a photo from one of our visits to France with the kids.
We took the kids to France when they were 2, 4 and 6. Yes, we were slightly optimistic and a little insane, but we have some fun photos and memories of this trip. We've forgotten the exhaustion and frustration.

Here we are outside our friend's apartment in Paris having returned from
 a successful day hunting and gathering for a baguette.

Here's Earl and the kids in front of the Arc de Triomphe. We had just visited a bakery.
Grace got a Saint Honore cake and Tucker got a pain sucre pastry; Spencer asked for a KitKat candy bar. He was not convinced
of the goodness of French pastries at that point.