Budapest, Hungary

12 hours until I set off for Budapest with Taylor and his friend David.  As I was packing I kept thinking to myself how unfortunate it is that I'm not traveling with any girls because if I need anything such as hair dryer or straightener it is vital that I pack them both.  I can guarantee you that Taylor and David won't have them.  My biggest concern right now?  Keeping my luggage from getting lost.  We have 30 minutes to change flights in Prague and I'm a little concerned about how they will get my baggage from one tiny Czech Airlines flight to another...so I will try and spy out the windows at the airport and keep my fingers crossed!  

I'm so very excited to explore a new city and be in a new place!  I crave that feeling and its been quite awhile since I've spent a few days elsewhere.  

Wanderlust.  Yep, I've got it.  I've got it bad.  

Stole this one off of Kaelah's blog!  

My Mimi finds it hilarious and inspiring, my dad, not so much.  Some people are insanely jealous of my worldly travels and others think I'm crazy!  But either way, I'm going and I will continue going until money and time run out.  What a wonderful opportunity I have to travel to some of the most beautiful countries in the world and see the most amazing things and clearly I am taking advantage of it.  Or as the French would say..."profiting" from the situation.  

I've updated my iPhone with videos and Budapest travel apps, made copies of my passport and flight itineraries, charged the batteries in both of my cameras, and kept a little room in my suitcase so I can bring back some paprika and a Hungarian doll or two.  

So excited to satisfy my craving for new people, places, culture, and food (goulash, chilled cherry soup, and paprika stew this trip).  And most of all, I can't wait to share them with you!  

Remélem mindannyian kiváló héten. Amíg a következő alkalommal!

I'm about to overload you with photos...

This blog post is full of photos!!  What an excellent weekend I have had in Paris!  Friday I was welcomed by a package full of goodies from my mom, which included Seinfeld Seasons 1 & 2.  Instant movie night!  Saturday morning I woke up and met a big group of au pairs out at the end of line 9 for some flea-marketing.  I wasn't so impressed, as digging for used clothes that may or not have been around since 1964 is not really my cup of tea.  Rozy was the only lucky one and found a cute tweed blazer for 1 euro in pretty good shape.  So, we left to go find something to eat and check out a huge vintage shop in the 16th that Taylor had discovered.  We stumbled upon a tiny crêperie with a delicious menu.  The walls were covered with black and red wallpaper with black booths and tables and red highlights.  Elevator/jazzy music was playing in the background and you could hear the chatter of everyone around you considering there were only 7 tables.  This wasn't a nutella crêpe kinda place, but more of an inventive crêpe/galette restaurant.  After a good 15 minutes of salivating over which to choose:  caramel/apple, nuts/brie, salmon/crème fraîche, strawberry/homemade chocolate sauce I settled on sautéed spinach/tomato coulis/crème fraîche/and an egg.  YUM.  

A nice, pretty, before picture:

And, after I mixed it into a plate of yummy goodness:

Taylor and Rozy both chose honey/walnuts/goat cheese.  Holy filling.  

We left with full stomachs in tow, en pleine forme to check out really expensive secondhand Chanel, Lanvin, and Roberto Cavalli.  Can only imagine if you buy these items at the actual store.  Don't get me wrong there were some absolutely beautiful things, but I had rather spend my hard earned euros on travel!!!!  I had promised Chloé and Franck I would babysit Saturday night so Estelle, Laura and I wandered a bit around the area killing time stumbling upon, surprise surprise the Eiffel Tower.  I decided to take advantage of the bit of fall coloring left and snap a few shots.  

Marie-Césare was an angel and we were in the middle of playing with pâte à modeler when she picks up and says she is tired and she wanted to go to bed.  Well...I have never heard such a thing from a kid in my life.  But, alas, we went directly into bed as I feared her changing her mind!  I spent the evening doing a small fraction of the amount of homework I have due for next week and helping Chloé by proofreading a presentation that she had to do for work.  (In English of course...)  By reading all those marketing statistics and facts and figures it made me realize I am just not ready for the real world.  ha!! Although it is quickly approaching....

This morning I met Laura for church and afterwards headed to meet Estelle at the Arc de Triomphe for today was the day that we were going to brave the stairs to the top!  It was a beautiful and a bit warmer as we waited in line for our ticket and then walked around the corner.  You know what?  There were only 284 stairs!  There are 187 or so to the top of my stairs so what's another hundred?  Leaning Tower of Pisa was 430-something....It was a piece of cake.  And so worth it.  I have enjoyed every "best view of Paris" I have encountered including Sacre-Coeur, Panthéon, Tour Montparnasse, Tour Eiffel, and the pavilion at Parc des Buttes Chaumont but this was by far my absolute favorite.  The Panthéon is so far away from everything and you can't see the Eiffel Tower from the Sacre-Coeur...but from the Arc de Triomphe its incredible!  You can get the lay of the land and the beautiful structure in the same picture, its breathtaking.  

You can also get a birds eye view of the Champs Élysées and all the people scurrying about spending money they don't have.  

And you can't forget about Sacre-Coeur...although I'm not sure you can even notice it in this photo now that I've posted it....

And, you can discover truly the horizontal axis of Paris.  If it weren't for all the smog, you could really tell this was the Louvre and the arc in front of the Louvre, the obelisk on Place de la Concorde, and Tuileries gardens.  

And then of course on the other side you have La Défense.  You can stand right in the middle of the horizontal axis and see how exact everything is.  Pretty impressive.  

The twelve avenues that radiate from Place Charles-de-Gaulle are all named after battles and famous people related to the military history of Revolutionary and Imperial France.  In 1806 after the Battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon told his soldiers that they will "march home through arches of victory."  The arch was suppose to be the single most dominating structure in Paris and was originally suppose to be on the Bastille side of Paris but Avenue Champs Élysées was chosen as a more appropriate location.  

Needing something to warm us up a bit, we met Flora and Alison at Angelina's for a cup of chocolat chaud.  The line wasn't long at all so we took advantage and decided to actually go in and have a proper hot chocolate and an authentic Angelina's experience.  They were prepared for the masses today as every pastry was in stock and the towers filled with warmed chocolate were full to the brim.  

*Mouth watering photos ahead*

Toni, these are for you! 

Pecan Brioche, Strawberry/Pistachio Religieuse and Saori

Tartelette Eva, Verrine Fraises, and Green Tea Cake with Raspberry filling

Chocolat Eclair, Mango/Passion Fruit Eclair, and Apricot Verrine

Religieuse, Saori, and Olympe

I have never actually taken the time to read the description of each pastry, because in the "to-go" line it is rather hurried.  If the way each pastry is presented isn't enough, you should read the descriptions in the menu.    

Unfortunately the room where our table was ended up being rather warm, so my wallet thanked me as I ordered only a pastry and skipped on the hot chocolate today.  What did I choose after all of those delicious descriptions?  

The Saori:  

A lime cheese cake on top of homemade vanilla pastry (a good half inch thick by the way), with a strawberry gelée filling.  A thin layer of white chocolate was draped over the top with flecks of lime zest, 4 tiny strawberry marshmallows, a strawberry, and a little gold leaf for color and luxuriousness I suppose.  Sound overwhelming?  Yes, it was but surprisingly everything worked together in harmony for a refreshing snack.  

Jealous?  You should be.  Sometimes I think that pastries are overrated for their price here in France and I go months without eating a tart, pain au chocolat, or macaron.  But I am here to tell you that in fact, they are not overrated.  They are delicious little slices of heaven and the Saori was worth every bit of 7 euros and the afternoon spent getting to know good friends.  

Tomorrow we are having proper English tea at my friend Alison's house (I seem to have encountered lots and lots of English friends this year) and the early Tuesday we leave for Budapest!!!!  I haven't had nearly enough time to get excited about the fact that I will be spending 4 days in Hungary, so I better catch up.  Spending my Sunday evening deleting old photos on my memory card, packing, hopefully chatting with my parents, and a warm cup of tea.  

Life is good excellent.  

Hungary? No thanks, just thirsty.

It was realllllly cold this morning.  Today is the first truly cold day.  Not just fall, but like, borderline winter-is-coming-your-way-turn-on-the-heater weather.  Brrrr!!!! 

Well, I have found a destination for October holidays! Aka, next week! Taylor and I are going to....

drumroll please...

Budapest, Hungary!  

I know, it sounds random but it was suggested to me by several people when I expressed my sincere concern of where to go.  In fact, a few of my friends' favorite European cities!  Its funny when you have such a plethora of options its hard to choose just one.  So, after a few days of tossing ideas back and forth, we decided that the price was right and we should just go for it.  A few days of Hungarian nightlife, a beautiful city, and healing baths sounds just about right.  Besides...I can't just stay here in Paris, right?  We leave on Tuesday October 25th and get back on the 29th and I couldn't be more excited.  Although, you all know me, I love to go to a new place...just to go!  Now if only I could figure out how to get paid for doing that....you all know Samantha Brown?  The tv "personality" that does the weekend getaways or fabulous destinations or whatever it is on the Travel Channel?  I need her job!  Just for a few years until I get everything ticked off on someone else's expense.  

Have been fighting with the customs department at Chronopost for the past few days trying to get the package my mom sent released.  Don't know why it was contained in the first place.  All it has in it is a pair of jeans and a few things for Marie-Césare.  Franck called just a few minutes ago and said he received it.  Looks like my arguing French skills are getting good too!  I'm on a roll!  

Its the little things...really.

I received a card in the mail last Thursday from my bank.  There was a quick note from the manager asking me to contact her.  I have been putting it off, not only because they could tell me I was out of money or something, but because I cannot communicate very well in French over the phone.  

But, today, deciding it could be something actually very important I took a deep breath and dialed the number.  

And.....

I succeeded!!!! I didn't have to tell her that I spoke English or that I wasn't French but we got through a complicated bank-ish vocabulary!!

PEOPLE!!! We are making progress here!!!!!!!!

Pumpkins!

So, last Thursday I was browsing the aisles at Monoprix in the fruits and vegetables and just happened to look down on the bottom shelf....and what do I see?  A small package of three of the tiniest pumpkins you have ever seen.  Marked of course "for soup."  I haven't been able to find a complete, whole pumpkin anywhere in this city!  They are all cut into big wedges for cooking.  So I, without hesitation, grabbed the package and put it in my basket...along with the best looking pomegranate I could find in the bunch.  My sad, yet very welcome fall display in my tiny room in an attic in Paris:  

Normandy

 I left in a taxi from rue Fontaine Friday around 4:30 pm with a sick, feverish little girl in my arms.  We picked up Chloé at her office in the chic district of Place Vendôme, then out to Levallois to get in the car with papa Franck.  The ride to the Cotentin was expected to be about 4 hours, with traffic out of Paris on a Friday evening it took about 4 1/2.  Gaspard did not join us, which made for a much better ride in the backseat.  Except for the fact that I get very carsick if I don't keep my eyes on the road, and a sick Marie-Césare needed a lot of attention that evening.  Franck was driving as quickly as possible, I mean, who needs the German Autobahn?  You can just drive anywhere in Europe as fast as you want and its pretty much not a problem.  We arrived around 10, had a quick dinner and went off to bed.  

The next morning we had the pleasure of meeting one of Chloé's friends who she worked with at L'Oréal, Katy.  She had a sweet yet fiesty just-turned-3 year old and Marie-Césare and Anushka played very well together.....

for the most part.  

Chloé and Marie-Césare went to the doctor early, got some meds-you know, can't just chock it up to a good ole fashioned change-of-the-weather cold.  Gotta be something else.  Franck left at 8 am to go fishing, and I slept until around 9.  Chloé and Katy visited with the girls and I took a little walk.  We stayed in a small village called La Rogue, and I honestly couldn't tell you what the nearest big city was.  I walked around the village and down some side streets, which didn't take long!  The countryside backed up just near the sea which was incredible.  

I returned from my walk on a beautiful, sunny day on the French coastline and we set off for another small village to have lunch.  The restaurant was full but it was the only one around so we had no choice. At 1:00 pm with 2 very tired girls the server told us it would be very long to wait for fish and if we wanted to get in and out quickly we should just order off the kids menu or have a vegetarian plate.  Since  we didn't want steak haché or fish sticks we ordered veggie plates.  It was actually very good but we didn't have time to enjoy it because we were busy keeping the 2 little ones occupied.  Anushka took a nap on the way to the beach, and Marie-Césare sung songs the entire way there.  It was a good 30 minutes.  We were meeting some of the other girls that Chloé worked with at L'Oréal, and their husbands who had gone fishing.  The women arrived by car and the men by boat.  Turns out it wasn't just a quick jaunt down to the beach, but more of a randonnée through the cliffs.  The water against the rocks and cliffs was absolutely beautiful so the hike wasn't so bad. 

We descended into a small pebble beach area by a rope.  I felt a bit as if I was at Turtleback Falls in North Carolina.  It was quite dangerous for the little ones, but of course, we all made it, safe and sound.  A few knicks on a prickly bush along the way but nothing catastrophic.  Everyone perched upon a rock and the girls undressed and played in the sand.  The weather was actually very warm, and I was sweating in my jeans and turtleneck.  

The beach was a beautiful color bright blue, and every time the water hit the cliffs and rocks it was like a sleep machine.  I could hear the faint giggle of girls in the distance and friends mumbling French to each other, drinking wine and having cheese.  And Franck?  Well, Franck...he heard nothing.  

I wasted away the afternoon in between two very comfortable rocks and my booty in the sand.  We left at sundown, reluctantly, because no one wanted to climb back up the cliff.  The men left in the boat with their daily catch (Franck caught nothing) and a couple of the kids tagging along.  

Saturday night I (inevitably) babysat Anushka and Marie-Césare which ended up with me sleeping in a lounge chair bouncing Anushka to keep her from crying until her mother came home at 1 am.  Its really hard for me to believe that Marie-Césare was just a little older than that when I arrived last fall.  She has certainly grown up this year!  (Thank goodness...its no wonder Marie-Césare and I didn't get along at first, I was SO ready to hand Anushka baby back to her mother!)  

We had lunch today at one of Chloé's friends houses, and we ate a typical French picnic type meal on such a typical French table.  There was a simple yet beautiful garden, lined with hydrangea's and all sorts of flowers.  On the "patio" if you will was a long picnic table which was draped with a turquoise blue tablecloth, a tall jar with fresh cut flowers, paté, rillettes au poulet, a slew of cheeses, quiche lorraine, baguette, and ham.  The plates were a blue and white toile pattern, which looked as if they had been passed down for generations.  A couple of strings of lantern lights were hung over the table, and each person had a wine glass in hand.  It looked like a photo out of a magazine which had been carefully planned out for a month.  But, turns out - simple French country living really does exist.  

The drive home wasn't so bad as Marie-Césare was feeling better yet we were all tired.  I slept for 2 hours, Marie-Césare for 3, and Chloé even drifted off every now and then.  We picked up Gaspard from his friends house on our way in, and since there was a traffic jam on the autoroute, we took a different road.  We slowly drifted under the famous bridges in Paris, Pont d'Alma, Pont des Arts, Pont Neuf.  We were just tootin' along - my French family and I - watching the Eiffel Tower come closer and closer into view.  Marie-Césare was busy playing talking Santa with the iPad when Chloé asks, "Tu as vu la Tour Eiffel, Marie-Césare?"  "Non." she replied.  She lifted her head quickly and said, "Ah, oui." And went right back to saying inane things to her talking Santa like the Eiffel Tower wasn't one of the most recognizable monuments in the world.  We all died out laughing.  

Probably one of my favorite moments of the trip!  I loved being all squished up with the Lachaize family passing la Tour Eiffel, Place de la Concorde, le Champs Élysées, and l'Opéra.  It reminds me that oh-hey! I live in Paris.  And oh-hey!  I am practically French.  

Okay, not really....but one day.  

Cliché! La France vue de l'étranger.

Thank you to Eric Beuerlein for sharing this on your facebook.  I love this little video.  It's titled, "Cliché!" and the typical French clichés are highlighted.  I prefer the French version, but for my followers who speak English, the second video is for you!  Enjoy!  

French Version

English Version