Thursday, December 26, 2013

The Day After

I got to spend a lot of time with my husband the past few days so I didn't get around to blogging. 

We spent Christmas in Paris while our two sons spent it in Alaska. We did offer to fly them to Paris for the holiday but both had work commitments and would prefer to visit in the spring. Hubby and I decided to start a new Christmas tradition...begin the day with French champagne mimosas. I tried my first chocolate croissant...fabulous!


Around noon I coerced my husband into taking a walk with me. A couple of blocks from our apartment we walked by a bakery with a line outside the door. We were shocked to find all three of the bakeries within two blocks of our apartment open on Christmas morning.


The folks in line had a nice view of the Eiffel Tower.


Fresh-baked goods are taken seriously in France!

We spent the day watching "Hell on Wheels," the first season. My husband got is as Christmas present and of course we hadn't ever seen the series. He really enjoyed it right away...his first comment was, "Good...it's violent." I thought that was funny! One of his all-time favorite mini-series is, "Lonesome Dove," and he put it in that category so I guess we'd better get the second season DVDs.

I made a tiny rack of lamb for dinner. I bought my ingredients from, "Picard," a French chain-store that sells only frozen foods. I will be doing an extensive blog on this store soon...lots to share about it! I got the recipe from their website...in French of course. I must have translated it fairly accurately because it was incredibly good. We licked our plates clean! That recipe is going in the family-keeper file. The lamb is encrusted with a mixture of mint, thyme, garlic, sliced almonds and a mustard vinaigrette.


A couple of days before Christmas I went for a walk up to the Seine and thought I'd try and show the horrible traffic in Paris the week before Christmas.


This is a beautiful bridge that crosses the Seine about mid-point of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. On the right side of the photo is an intersection where cars look like they are pointing in every direction...gridlock! I think it is crazy driving in Paris every day but the last couple of weeks were exceptionally bad. When we came back from London we took a cab from the North train station to our apartment. It took twice as long as the ride would normally take. Our cab driver told us all the extra traffic was from all the non-Parisians coming into the city to shop. He didn't speak any English but my husband's French is getting pretty good and I understood most of the conversation too! 

The weather was horrible on Christmas eve...very windy and rainy...I didn't leave the apartment at all but I did start a new quilt project...bear paw blocks for a bear-themed quilt.


This is a pattern I came up with on EQ7 this summer. Hopefully I brought everything I need with me to make it. So far I'm loving it. Yes...of course it is all in batiks. I can't ever get a decent photo of the fabric colors. I really miss my well-lit studio in Alaska!

I also finished the top of the Cupcake Angel stocking. This was a very fun one to work on.


I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I might have to buy a Lego set to open next year...I really miss putting together those sets with the boys on Christmas morning!

3 comments:

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

sounds like you are adjusting well to Paris for the winter. The thought of all that fresh baked bread and rolls I wonder if the prices are lower than here for that kind of thing.
Like the blocks you are making - Mike got me tons of fabric for Christmas I will need more ideas for piecing!

Christelle said...

I told you that Picard was not that bad!
We tried the chesnuts, they had 2 recipes we liked them both!
Well, bread & cheese (My Israeli friend was so surprised by a shop seelling only cheese in Rambouillet) that's a serious commitement around here! we went at 8 o'clock to get the bread and avoid the line!
I wanted to go back to the supermarket but just the sight of the parking lot made me turn back home...
The weather was awfull because of Dirk the big storm that hited Normandy.... so I also had to stay inside and I'm happy that I squeazed some quilting watching Christmas movies....
So now New Year eve.....

audrey said...

So interesting to hear about your Paris adventures. Those bakeries would be hard to resist!