First business in Paris: boat ride on the Seine. It was cooold but well worth it. I love boats.
The Mona Lisa and her throng of fans in the Louvre. You had to fight your way through the crowd to get close... kind of ridiculous. I liked this view just fine.
Since most places were closed on New Year's Eve/Day we had a nice little french picnic in our room, complete with champagne we put into water bottles to take with us for the countdown.
Happy New Year! Bonne Année!
Our cute little hotel room in Paris. The hotel was a former abbey and the rooms were small and monkish and the halls smelled like incense. I liked it!
Versailles, Hall of Mirrors, one of the maybe three things I remember learning about Paris in French I with Madame Davis at SJA. The mirrors were directly across from the windows so it was completely flooded with light.
Can you spot me in the mirrors?
Versailles Gardens and Grounds
That's the door Marie Antoinette escaped from when the Parisian mob was coming to get her! Dun dun dunnnnn, they caught her eventually though.
Arc de Triomph!
Chez Clément on the Champs Elysée! The namesake for Ms. Patti's giftstore where I worked in high school.
The entrance to our hotel.
Welcome to Besancon! I was so glad the Christmas lights were still on for mom to see them.
Welcome back/meet my mom/belated birthday dinner party! Mom with a Mont d'Or cheese box, and Laura and Kelly.
Donatella, Eric, Julia, Catherine!
So a brit helped to cook the gumbo... sshhhhhh.
Kelly (US), Donatella (South Africa), Eric & Julia (US), Catherine (England), and Frederic (France)
Gumbo to share with those ignorant of its magic.
The apron Kadi Casey sent me!
My birthday cake! I like to think of it as ice cream lasagna.
Natalie and Mom getting acquainted.
Alberto (Spain), Donatella (South Africa), Laura (Northern Ireland), and Mom (Louisiana)
View of Besancon and proof that Laura is tall.
silly bears
Hot chocolate at a café in Besancon that is SO thick you HAVE to eat it with a spoon.
So my friend Brett from back home was in Paris at the same time and we planned to meet up. Since I didn't get to go home for Christmas it was SO great to see a familiar Baton Rouge face. Us and his friend Billy had a great time hanging out in the Latin Quarter!
Mom eating snails at our last official Europe dinner. Paris.
Steak. Yum. And you see those potatoes on the right? Like french fries but more like little friend potato pillows. I couldn't eat enough of them. Delicious.
