La Vallée Village

Yesterday was filled with lots of time in the park under the warm, sunny rays of le soleil.  We went first to have some tea at the mosque, then hopped over to the Jardin des Plantes for a little sunbathing.  Although, my English friends slathered on the sunscreen so no sun was getting through that layer of cream.  I probably should have followed, but I just love have that first sun kissed look of summer.  I have been so pasty white (almost blue) this summer that any time in the sun I am going to take advantage of.  I know I should be better about sunscreen....but I believe I follow suit of my mother and her love of the sun.  

It was later on in the afternoon when we went to Chipotle to have dinner, and met up later on that evening at the Champ de Mars.  The Champ de Mars was as packed as I've ever seen it!  There was hardly a place for 4 girls to sit!! We ended up choosing a bit on the side so that Alison (who was coming later) could easily find us.  

This was a little bit later on into the night....

I know you've seen a thousand photos....you can only imagine how packed full my iPhoto is of pictures of la Tour Eiffel.  

Today we took a short trip outside of Paris to La Vallée Village, the "chic" outlet shopping just out near Disneyland Paris.  We were able to take the taxi shuttle service for free on Sundays (which turned out to be our luck) driven by well dressed French men in cleanly pressed suits.  We were dropped off at the entrance to the winding outdoor stores, not unlike the stores at Silver Sands in Destin.  It was unlike the Silver Sands in the fact that the stores consisted of Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, Longchamp, Valentino, Jimmy Choo, and Givenchy.  Very excellent discounts from their original prices...but still clearly out of our price range! 

The property was lovely, and felt like its own little city out in Val d'Europe.  There were little to no cars running about, and the apartment buildings looked extremely new.  With the abundant sunshine, we sat listening to the fountain nearby and closed our eyes and pretended we were in the south of France.  

Afternoon pick-me-up.  Always so perfect.  Top to bottom: grapefruit, exotic mango, black cherry.  To the side is chocolate and pepper.  

After our afternoon of shopping, or lack thereof, we spent the evening in a small park near Flora's new mansion of a house.  Her new host families' house spans 4 or 5 stories and sits in the middle of a swanky part of town in the 16th.  

The most perfectly blue sky at the park today!  

Tomorrow is a holiday here (yes, another MAY holiday...we have seriously had about 10 this month) and I am working for a bit in the morning and then we are headed out to the Bois de Vincennes for a cheeky bike ride around the park.  Hoping the sun holds out for the rest of my time here!  It's amazing how it changes the way I feel and the mood I'm in!  

Tuesday, Laura and I are going to Roland-Garros, or the French Open for one of the qualifying rounds.  We bought tickets ages ago, and although I know little about tennis I'm excited to be a part of something that I will more than likely never have the chance to do again!  Hope everyone has an excellent Memorial Day!