Paris with Friends

We are so fortunate to have friends who live in France. Nearly every trip, we manage to connect with them. Often, we visit them in Nantes. This time, I asked if they'd meet us in Paris.
They had to rearrange their schedules, because they were on their way to visit family in Nancy, France, but they stayed in Paris on Friday to meet us.
Michel (the husband) met us at the train station, where we hung out for half an hour because one of his daughters was catching a train to Switzerland. We got to spend a bit of time with Isabelle who had stayed with us in Ohio before.
With Michel and Danuta, we went for a walk on Isle aux Cynges. I'd read about it on Facebook and it looked lovely, but you can probably just look at the pictures and skip the actual walk. It was just a stroll on a  manmade island, but it was a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower.
The island, in the middle of the Seine, begins at the French version of the Statue of Liberty.

I thought this was kind of a cool shot. It looks like she is just standing at the end of the bridge along with the other people. Truthfully, she's in the river. 

Here's Earl and me with Michel and Danuta, our friends who live in Nantes. As you can see, the walk ends with a lovely backdrop of the Eiffel Tower. It was cold here in Paris, so Danuta wrapped me in her wool scarf to help me stay warm. 

We also got to catch up with Henri, a boy who stayed with us in Ohio when he was 15. He's a lawyer now for the minister of defense in France and had about 15 minutes to meet us before rushing off to spend time with a friend. Nice to see him again.

We had dinner with our friends and two of their children at a "typical" brasserie near Gare St. Lazare. 

I'll just show you a picture of the ceiling and you can picture the rest. I feel safe in guessing this was a Belle Epoque-style brasserie.

Off to buy some gifts today and to explore more of Paris

Dreaming of France -- Autumn Along the Seine

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.
I'm still fixated on beautiful fall photos from France. Here's one Grace took in 2011 along the Seine.

Can't wait to see what you are dreaming of.

Dreaming of France -- Panoramic View from Bateaux Mouches

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.
When Tucker went to France with his school class, he took some great pictures. This one was from the bateaux mouches, and he took it as a panoramic. Click on it to make it bigger and you can see how fabulous it looks.

I don't think I have to tell you where he took it.

Dreaming of France -- The Seine

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.

I like this photo with the tufts of grass in the river and the arches of the bridge reflected here. Grace took this photo when she was in Europe, fall of 2011.

Okay, Grace just told me that she took this photo in Rome. It's the Tiber River. I don't deserve to call myself a francophile. 

Instead, here's a photo of my husband and me on a bridge along the Seine in 2010. I know for sure that this is France.

Thanks for playing along today.

Dreaming of France -- Musee d'Orsay

Here's a new weekly France meme. Please join in. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to my 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.
You aren't supposed to take pictures inside the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. It was a gorgeous train station that now houses many Impressionist paintings.
Here's a shot from the top balcony across the length of the museum.

 And then by turning around and taking a picture from inside the clock, here's a shot of the Seine and all of Paris with a faraway look at Sacre Coeur up on the hill. I liked the clock in part of the foreground.

Saturday Snapshot -- France Reverie

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, and I can't believe we're at the end of July so this is my last official France post.
When people ask about my obsession with France, I say I've visited a number of times. I finally sat down and counted. I've been to France nine times. So, I decided to post a photo from each visit.
My first trip was in 1983 between my junior and senior year of college. I went with my boyfriend on a student tour of a gazillion countries. I packed a gigantic suitcase.

Next, I went to France in 1985 for three months as a nanny to two American girls who had French grandparents. We stayed in Corsica, near Bourges, and in Paris.  

This was at their country house outside of Bourges.

My next trip was with my husband in 1991, the year after we got married. We came home from the trip pregnant with Grace.

Our next trip was with all three kids, ages 2, 4 and 6, in 1998.

Here we are in Monet's Garden where Tucker disturbed everyone with his loud crying. Our

 French friend Marguerite lives in Paris. She taught English literature in school.

I went to Paris with my friend Michelle in 1999 after her mother, who was from France, died. Michelle had never visited France.

Earl and I went for our favorite trip in 2002 maybe. We're unsure of the exact year. That's our estimate.

This is us in front of the Pont du Gard. We actually rode our bikes across it.

We went again the following year for a 5-day weekend in Aix en Provence as I did some research for a book.

In 2006, we took all three kids again, age 14, 12 and 10.

In 2010, Earl and I went to celebrate our 20th anniversary.

Could there be another trip in 2012? How about 2013?

French Breakfast

The snow, the cold, the gray days, all make me reminisce about those beautiful 10 days Earl and I spent in Paris last April.

The temperature hovered in the 70s. We walked, we ate, we drank. Aaah.
We visited all the popular tourist sites and found some that were off the beaten track.

Sometimes, it just makes me feel warm and happy to look at those pictures. Thanks for letting me share them with you.
Plus, I'm writing this in the morning and I'm hungry, so here's a picture of a French hotel breakfast.

Funny,I'm still hungry.