Chinese New Years in Paris

Saturday night we went out to celebrate one of our friend's Birthday. She actually celebrates for an entire month, but that's for another post. We all met at a Chinese restaurant hidden away over in the 12th. It was our first time to have Chinese food since we left Austin last summer.

It also happened to be Chinese New Years, and the placed was packed.

There were 12 of us, and I can't believe how much I ate (and drank ). Plates of food slowly trickled out of the kitchen, giving us plenty of time to enjoy them. The mostly Asian crowd was getting wilder and wilder as the evening progressed. And the guest of honor is an Aussie, which of course means that we were also gettting wilder and wilder.

We ate and drank for 4 hours:

• celery and calimari salad
• beef and pepper salad
• pancakes filled with porc and vegtables with a yummy sauce
• steamed dumplings
• shrimp stir fried with peas
• lamb with whole cumin seeds
• sweet and sour chicken
• a really spicey soup/stew thing

I think the waiter developed carpal tunnel syndrome from opening so many bottles of wine.

Dinner was really good, we will definitely go back there. And true to their form, our friends had everyone over to their apartment after dinner, where we polished off plenty of champagne.

All in all, a very nice night. We even met some new people, which is good for us. It can be a little isolating here away from all our Austin friends, so meeting fun people definitely helps that.

All Photos, All the Time

We've started placing photo albums at:
http://suzyinparis.free.fr

Enjoy!

I want this job!

Another wonderful Sunday morning in Paris. We enjoyed clear skies on our walk along the Seine this morning.

These are Paris river firefighters, they are out zooming around the river playing with their boat that has a fire hose attached. They try to aim for the red boat as it zooms around them. Looked like fun to me. Their office is a nice looking houseboat right at the tip of Ile de la Cite. Sweeet.

We timed our walk just right, as we got to the river, church bells were ringing on both sides, and we were in front of Notre Dame right as its bells started ringing. Oh, and we undid all the goodness of taking a 90 minute walk by having a Nutella Crepe as we finished the walk.

Snacking on a nutella filled crepe in front of Notre Dame on a georgeous day and listening to the bells go crazy. Can you say sensory overload? 

How many stars in the neighborhood?

How many *Michelin* stars, that is. We live in the gastronomic center of the Universe, or at least that's what the Michelin France guide tells me. We can actually walk to two different 3 star restaurants ( 3 is the most you can get, and there aren't that many of them). A chef commited suicide a few years back when he lost a star, so people take this stuff seriously.

Unfortunately, people are also willing to pay to eat in Michelin 3 star restaurants. They are actually willing to pay a lot. A whole lot. Unfortunately more than we feel comfortable with. Maybe we'll work up to a big splurge at Tour d'Argent, which has been around for several hundred years, has a smashing view of Notre Dame, and a wine cellar of several hundred thousand bottles. Or we might try L'Ambroise over in Place des Vosges.

But for now, we subscribe to zagat.com, and try to find some fun places in their "best buys" section. Eating out here is really fun when you find a good place off the beaten path. 

Divert all traffic from CDG on Sunny weekend days!

I woke up to another clear sunny day, and made it out for some more picture taking. I just wish I could convince CDG airport to divert traffic, to get rid of contrails in the sky.

Sunday morning is very enjoyable in Paris on the streets. Very few people are out, and they close the road next to the Seine, allowing rollerbladers, cyclists, and pedestrians to use it. It is a joy to walk along, with views of the river and bridges that you usually don't get.

This photo is taken on the opposite side of Il de la Cite, it's a closeup of Pont Neuf ( named "New Bridge", yet is the oldest bridge in Paris) taken from River level. They are doing an extensive cleaning an rebuilding of the bridge, as you can see, it's pristine on this side. They are still working on the other side, it's not slated to be done until late 2007. 

Another Sunny Saturday Pic

I took this walking along the Seine. The booksellers line the street, and were all out selling today, since the streets were packed with Parisians with cabin fever ( well, not really cabin fever, because you can always go out and do something somewhere in Paris no matter what the weather is like). There was finally a break in the line of booksellers, allowing us to get a nice view of Notre Dame and snag a few shots. yes, I did use a polarizing filter  

Sunny Saturday

We had a nice warm Saturday this weekend, which is unusual. Sarah and I are both used to full Texas sun, and things can be a bit grey and cold in Paris in the winter. I'm not complaining, everything else about this place more than makes up for it.

Anyway, the weather brought out crowds of people, including the "performance artist" here. He's a constant fixture on the bridge between Ile de la Cite and Ile St. Louis. Only in Paris would some guy do bicycle tricks with classical music blaring. His grand finale is riding a tiiiiiiiiiiny yellow bike, which you can see in the lower left of this photo. 

Say Fromage!

This cheese shop is on Ile St. Louis, on the road that divides the island in half down the middle. The French take their cheese *very* seriously. France has a bazillion different cheeses, some of them resemble fungus science experiments. Many of them are quite pungent. Suzy is working her way towards appreciating some of the more...uhhh....flavorful ones. 

Brugge revisited

Another photo from a trip last Fall. This one from the canal-lined city of Brugge in Belgium. You definitely need a tripod when visiting this place, wonderful reflections of lit buildings at night. 

Monet's Gardens

Here's a pic from our trip to Giverny. We visited in August, when it was a riot of flower blooms. I want to go back with my new toy (Canon Digital Rebel XT SLR camera).

I've been without a highspeed connection at home, which means I've only been able to post text since we arrived in France. Thank the Godess that is over, this place is too beautiful to describe in text.