Ashley has uploaded the best of our photos from our February trip to Paris to the photo-sharing site, Flickr. You can view all 169 photos there as well as view them as a slideshow.

It\’s been a sad day. To wrap up our trip Ashley and I took a boat tour around Paris. It was interesting to see all the monuments and buildings from a different perspective.

Things I miss from Paris (in no particular order):

• Polite, well dressed people
• CNN International
• Coke with sugar
• Different languages all around me
• Foreign police sirens
• Trying to figure out words people are saying
• Fresh croissants and bread
• Small cars
• Good chocolate
• Twenty-four hour time
• Euro coins and bills

Ashley and I hit up Laduree and secured Macaroons to bring back to our respective offices and we got ourselves a small box.

That pink one with lots of cream up front was Rose flavoured. So Good!!

Ashley and I took our picture outside of the Musée de l’Orangerie. The Eiffel Tower is just off to the left and this is an open square with a monument to someone or something I can’t remember.

I do know that the road around the monument is called Place du Concorde but that doesn’t clear anything up…

Today, our last full day in Paris, we took it slower than on other days so that we could enjoy it and not hurt too badly tomorrow.  So we didn’t get to everything we wanted to – but that just means we’ll have to come back for another week, or more, to see it.

This is a close-up of one of Monet’s famous Water Lilies. We got to spend a good amount of time at Musée de l’Orangerie where 8 (and maybe all) of the paintings reside.

Just seeing these with my own eyes was a near religious experience.

Day six in Paris – our last day.

We have a couple more museums to hit up, a little more shopping for gifts for family, friends and ourselves, and then Montmartre and Sacré Coeur to close out our trip.  It’s been a fantastique trip, better than I could have hoped for!

There are some things we wanted to do that we just didn’t have time to get to, so we’ve already decided – and told the owner of our apartment – that we’ll be back.

This is the French chef who lead the class – Chef Jean-Francois Deguignet – and the english translator (sitting down).

Here he’s mixing the dark chocolate with the for the Sacher biscuit for the chocolate and cointreau cake during the demo.  We’d watch him do the task to learn how to do things and then we’d do it (or try).

This is what the class looked like. A pretty standard professional kitchen (just more refrigerators and stove burners).

You can see the translator sitting down – he had a herniated disk so when we could sit down he did. The people in the class came from Canada, USA, Japan and France and during lunch we talked about all sorts of things, mostly travel, how shitty the dollar is doing and how great it is for everyone (except people from the US).

This is the orange tart we made. We made the crust (a pretty simple egg, butter flour and sugar mixture), the custard (7 eggs, sugar, corn starch, butter and orange juice) and the glaze (a simple syrup with orange zest).

It’s my favourite of the desserts I made today.

Day five in Paris. My day started pretty early as I was out the door at 8:00 and on the metro to my class by 8:10. The streets of Paris, or the streets of Ile Saint Louis, are very empty at 8:00, so it felt a little weird.

I found the Le Cordon Bleu Academy relatively easy, checked in and had a light breakfast (a croissant and orange juice). At 9:00 we were taken up to our kitchen and introduced to our Chef and translator. Quick introductions all around and we were off baking.

I\’ve never worked so hard whipping egg whites, kneading dough and making soufflé cakes. At one point a little of the chocolate I was working with spilled over my hand and I wiped it on my apron – the chef then said to me “A dirty apron means hard work and a good meal”.

This is the Phillipe Starck Louis Ghost chair. It is my favorite piece of furniture/art and I have been wanting to get one for a while now. The price tag is a little high for essentially a clear plastic chair, but it is also a great piece of modern design art.

In case you were wondering how to say one of the silliest corporate tag lines ever in French

Jeph and I went to Versailles yesterday and it was extremely cold but lovely to see again nonetheless.

Little diagrams are all over Paris, but this one in the Pompiedeu Center made me laugh as it reminds me of those horrible ready.gov pictographs.

We had the best dinner ever tonight at a little ‘resto’ around the corner from our apartment – I don’t even think it had a name but I could be wrong.

We paid 25 euros each for a three course meal and each course was heaven. Ashley had pumpkin soup with crispy ham, beef stew and brioche pudding for dessert. I had a quesadilla (with ham, tomatos and ementall), a beef filet with couscous and potatos and citrus tart for dessert. I wish we had taken photos of the food, but Ash said that it would be rude – she’s probably right but still….

The citrus tart was, by far, the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth. The lemon was so fresh I could swear they made it seconds before they brought it out. It was nice just to relax and watch the day fade into night while eating and drinking and talking to the staff – Ashley even got a nice compliment, an older woman who worked at the restaurant told her that her french was very good.

Tomorrow is my pastry class – I have to be at Le Cordon Bleu by 8:30, I’m really excited but also a bit sad because Monday morning is coming way too fast.

Two more days in Paris!

The Pompiedeu Center, Paris’ modern art museum, was really cool. Some great paintings, sculptures and new media collections.

Also, the architecture of the building is just neat, random tubes taking you from floor to floor and really cool spaces to show the art.

One thing I learned, Phillipe Stark is France’s Michael Graves. The museum has a large collection of art, furnishings and silverware from the artist. I even think I saw a tea kettle.

Versailles is probably one of the tackiest places I’ve ever seen. It’s full of gold, silver, art, luxury fabrics and furniture and furnishings made of those materials. Everywhere you look – gold.

It takes on a bit more meaning when you realize that everything in the palace was paid for with the huge taxes the king demanded from the citizens.

No wonder they revolted!

We didn’t get to go down to Marie Antoinette’s house as it was freezing and most of it was closed for repairs – we’ll just have to see it when we come back.

While we were there we had lunch in the cafe under the palace – I’d recommend avoiding it if you go. The food is horrible and it’s packed with tourists – in the back of our minds we knew this going in, but we were hoping that tourist traps in france were different. We were wrong.

I can’t believe we’ve already been here for four days, our trip is quickly coming to a close!

Since we got such a late start yesterday we decided to do things around the city and go to Versailles today.

The grounds and the main building open at 9 but the rest of the buildings and especially the Marie Antoinette building don’t open til 12. So we’re leaving at 11 and riding the train down.

Only going to be 45 today. A little cold and cloudy, but it gets warmer over the weekend!

It’s a long way down!

While I was at the top I secured the camera to my hand and stuck it outside of the wire mesh (despite printed warnings) and over the monument to take this picture.  The lights had just come on making this one of the best ones from that set, just shows you how high up you are.

On our way up  we were in a race with the rolling fog that was quickly coming in.  As you can see in this and other photos the fog won.  The only problem is that with the fog came the cold and we suddenly needed our gloves.

It was a good St. Valentin’s Day and we ended it at the top of the tower and then dinner from the Supermarche.  We haven’t eaten out much (since it’s so nice to make dinner) but tomorrow, after Versailles and the Pompadu Center we’re going to go out and enjoy a full meal.

While we were at the top, the sun started setting and but the time we got down to the second level, all the lights of Paris, and the tower came on.

Every hour the square lights placed throughout the tower’s exterior and interior start twinkling and the tower just sparkles. While we were waiting for the elevator down to the bottom, they started blinking and I was lucky enough to be able to step out of line and grab a couple pictures of the event.

Just before taking this photo I think I said “Holy Shit, there it is”.

We had turned down a side street following signs leading us to the tower but we weren’t expecting it to be – right – there.

Seeing it from across the city you know this thing is big, but until you get close you don’t know how big. Here’s a hint, it’s BIG! It’s almost twice the height of the Washington Monument (it’s short 124 feet of double).

That right there, ladies and gents, is the top of the Eiffel Tower at 986 feet.

By the time we got to the top, it was so cold and windy we could only stand to be outside for 5 minutes at a time. Luckily most of the top is enclosed by windows with displays about what you’re seeing below

The most important factoid about the Effiel Tower- Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes got engaged at the top in 2005. All hail Lord Xenu!

Who knew they had weaves back then?

Whistler’s Mother and Lisa’s Daughter

Today we changed plans and went to the Musee D’Orsay instead of Versailles (that’s tomorrow). The Musee D’Orsay is basically France’s Pre/Post/Impressionist haven with some legendary works by Degas, Manet, Monet and Rodin. The best and most infamous painting, “The Origin of the World” by Courbet was not there as they are renovating that gallery but if you know the work you know it is basically some very in your face full frontal female nudity. It’s shocking today even so imagine was it was like in the 1800s. The funny thing is they sell postcards of it, which is bound to get you on some horrible FBI monitored list if you send or get one.

But I digress. The Orsay is probably one of the most amazing museum facilities I have ever been too. It used to be a train station and in 1986 was made into a museum. The layout is incredible and it has so many neat angles to view the work and the sculpture especially.

So far this is my favorite stop of our trip.

It’s day three in Paris!

We’re getting a pretty late start today, it’s just about noon here. We walked all over Paris yesterday so we’re a bit more tired than usual, we’re not used to this much walking – no wonder the french are so thin!

We went to the Louvre (where this picture was taken), through 2 sections of the Louvre, to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and all the shops around that area, to Bon Marche and finally to the massive grocery store, La Grande Epicerie de Paris. We got back home around 8, laid down for a while then made dinner and went out for a bit more walking around the island and beside the Seine.  It’s funny, as you walk through Paris you’ll randomly get glimpses of the Eiffel Tower, similar to the way you see the Washington Monument in DC.

Today is Versailles. We were going to do that one day one, but the jet lag got the better of us so we just did the local things. So we have to metro to the train station and then ride the train out.

More croissants for breakfast this morning with a pamplemousse rose (pink grapefruit) that we got at the store yesterday. I may pack a pear to eat on the train.

We went grocery shopping tonight at La Grande Epicerie de Paris at massive grocery store in Bon Marche, a huge shopping center.

Normally I love grocery shopping, I find it pretty relaxing going through the aisles looking at everything. However, grocery shopping in Paris tweaks me out. Everything is in french (duh) so I can’t read anything, everything is strange, and the milk is kept on a shelf – not refrigerated.

I knew to expect somethings like this, eggs for example are not refrigerated as are most cheeses – the french treat cheese as it is alive, not something to be ziplocked away deep in the fridge like in america.

We bought some beef fillets (for 8 euros) and soybeans as well as sugar in cubes, fruit, more bread and coke, real sugar of course.

It\’s weird, some things seem to be more expensive, some things less expensive and some things – like the beef about the same. I wish I could say the beef tasted the same, alas it was so much better.

Ash and I are wondering if we’re ever going to be able to eat when we’re back home!

These were dessert for us tonight. They were filled with chocolate cream and were the best thing I’ve ever had. The food here just keeps getting better and better!

The famous Mona Lisa.

I got closer than this, but because the painting is behind the protective glass, to protect her from camera flash, and everyone crowds around it none of the pictures came out very well. Truth be told, I kind of like this one better.

Up close you can still see the beautiful details – if you can see through the flash flares. But it has lost a lot through years of poor care.

I think the Louvre is being unfair to the painting though. They put it in this room off to the side of the main hall with one of the largest paintings in the museum, The Feast of Canaan. So in contrast, even though it’s a normal-sized painting, it looks very small and… kind of disappointing.

This is one of the largest paintings in the Louvre and that’s saying something as you can see in Louvre Hall photo. It’s called, The Feast of Canaan and is painted by someone we can’t remember (commenters, fill us in).

It’s beautiful and the scale is just amazing. Being in the Louvre was very weird as I studied many of these paintings for 4 years in art school so finally seeing them in person and being able to touch them (if I wanted to get arrested) was a very bizarre feeling.

This painting is in the same room, perhaps unfairly, as the Mona Lisa.

This is one of the many halls within the Louvre. The scale throughout the entire museum is stunning and some of the paintings are gargantuan.

I have several space invader characters printed out in black and coming down my wall back at work. So when I saw this on a building near the local market I knew I had to take this photo.

I think it’s the logo for the french tech/gaming tv (read G4) station – it’s similar to the one we saw while flipping channels, but it could just be some weird random occurrence.

The inside of the Louvre surprisingly made me feel at home. It’s much grander in scale, but it feels very similar to the National Gallery’s modern art wing. And it probably should since the same designer, I.M. Pei, designed both the NG modern art wing and the pyramid entrance to the Louvre.

After walking through 2 of the 4 wings Ash and I sat down at a little table along the side of the building and had a ham and swiss baguette and a Coke -with real sugar. Coke with real sugar (instead of high fructose corn syrup) tastes incredible and is, surprisingly, a little sweeter when compared to US coke. We also saw some Coke Light with Orange and several other weird beverage concoctions.

This photo was actually taken from within the Louvre through a well-placed window. The contrast of new and old is everywhere in Paris but it’s probably most notable at the Louvre.

I’ll post a couple other pictures of the artwork, the sheer scale of the building and the artwork is amazing.

On the metro to Bon Marche for shopping Ash and I had a run-in with the law.

At one stop 5 metro cops got onto our train, blocked the exits and one of them asked us for our tickets. Since there is no need (or so we thought) for the tickets once you get on the system, Ashley had thrown hers away and, for some reason, I had pocketed mine I pulled mine out, showed him and Ashley explained that she had thrown hers away and he said something to the effect of ‘40 euro fine’.

I had a quick thought and pointed out that we had bought a 10 ticket pack and Ashley showed him the unused ones and the cop replied ‘ok, 25 euro fine’.

While she was paying the fine I noticed that we were the only ones asked to show their tickets – probably because we had the camera out and a bag from the Louvre gift shop. Once I realized that I kind of got a little pissed off.

We also missed our stop by 3 because of the commotion. I snapped this picture 2 stops before the metro police stopped us – it shows a bunny getting his hands caught in the door.

I wish I could write these captions for everything in the Louvre.

Today we went shopping along the Rue Saint Honore. I went to Marc Jacobs and bought another bag, not as pricey as the other one, but a special travel bag he did for Pan Am\’s retro flight bag series.
They are having a shoe sale….so I may be going back.
I also had a brush with the metro law. I had thrown away my ticket when they did a random ticket inspection and inspected only Jeph and I. So I had to pay a 25 Euro fine. C\’est la vie.

Paris is a late-rising city. Most businesses don’t open until 11am. When I woke up at 8 to go get bread there were very few people on the street, now the street below us is bustling.

This picture is our view across the street to the other building. It’s going to be blue skies and mid-50’s all week – beautiful!

Day two in Paris!

Yesterday I kind of relied on Ashley to do the speaking as she formally studied the language, reads exceptionally well and can pretty much do anything (as to be expected).

This morning I had my first outing without her – to go get bread. I walked down to the patisserie on the corner, but they were closed so I walked around the block and luckily found another just a few yards away. I don’t think I convincingly pulled off the transaction as a frenchman, but I said bonjour asked for “tres croissant a une baguette” and miraculously got what I wanted – 3 croissants and a baguette (4 euros total). I said merci and left satisfied that my limited french was at least passable in that transaction.

As to be expected, the bread here is incredible! It’s better than I thought it would be and I like that the french buy bread everyday, croissants, baguettes and loafs – the french know that nothing is better than fresh bread- soft and tender, buttery and crispy. The croissants almost melt in your mouth and at just under a euro for one I think I’ll be eating a lot of them.

It seems that everyone is enjoying the blog, and I’m very happy for that – your comments make it seem like you’re here with us, so keep them coming! Also, I’ve discovered my first negative from being here, I don’t think I can ever go to Au Bon Pain again.

Whoa is all I can say about the Vuitton flagship on the Champs-Élysées. The store is huge and has everything in it you could ever want if you were flush with Euros. Surprisingly it is slightly cheaper than LV in the states. I looked at a few items I am considering including a Richard Prince scarf and the Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton documentary (the only thing I can really afford).

Other things I have learned about Paris include

1. It is not a city for jay walking. The traffic is insane.
2. The street style here is way superior to the US
3. The women love messy hair, thick glasses and no makeup. So I feel at home- so much so that people on the street keep speaking French to me. I guess I look like I belong.

Our apartment in Paris, located in the 4th arrondissement on the Île Saint-Louis, is perfect!

It’s a 4-floor walkup – we’ll be getting our exercise – studio and small compared to typical American studio apartments but it’s everything we need and lets us pretend we actually live here.

You can see other pictures and the apartment’s listing here – http://www.parisattitude.com/apartment.asp?numProduit=727

After walking up all the Arc de Triomphe’s stairs you are finally greeted by this view. It was stunning. Absolutely beautiful.

You can see everything in Paris from the top, the Eiffel Tower, the Sacre Coeur Basilica, the business district, and all of the grand boulevards that makes Paris what it is.

Since one of the first shows we watched about Paris back in September started at the top of the Arc, it made poetic sense to end our day first day in Paris on the top. We want to go back during the day and since we have our museum pass, we can go as many times as we like.

The guy in Ladurée was severely pissed off that I took this photo, but I still got it!

They make macaroons in all kinds of flavours (vanilla, fraise, anise and others are visible).  The line was so very long, wrapping around the interior of the store so we didn’t get any this evening but we plan on picking some up tomorrow and perhaps everyday until next Monday.

The french love to light their buildings and since they\’re all made of stone and are classic architecture the result is stunning.

This building was on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées

This really cool spiral staircase is the only way up to the top of the Arc – unless you\’re handicapped.

I thought I was going to die climbing up all these and had to take a break 3/4 of the way up – I told Ashley to leave me behind!

We were walking towards the Arc de Triomphe and crossing the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, to go to Ladurée and Louis Vuitton when I snapped this picture.

The scary thing about this road is that there were no traffic lights at the crosswalks, you just started walking and hoped the cars would stop.

Candles can be bought at Notre Dame Cathedral for 5€. You can light them as an offering to any of the saints in the cathedral or you can take it home as a souvenir.

Before heading back for our nap, Ashley and I explored a bit. We rode the metro to the Louvre (it\’s closed on Tuesdays), went to the grocery store down the street and walked around the island, eventually coming to Notre Dame Cathedral.

It is more stunning and more beautiful than you would imagine and pictures don\’t do it justice.

After walking around for a bit, Ashley and I were tired – despite trying to get on Paris time before we landed – so we came back to the apartment for a little nap.

We were awaken by a musician playing in the middle of our street, the Rue Saint-Louis en I’lle.  I don’t really think it’s completely set in that we are, indeed, in Paris.  Waking up to street music was one giant step towards sinking in.

The drive in from the airport was about an hour long and our apartment was being cleaned when we arrived. So we put our bags down, went to the corner patisserie and got ‘deux pain au chocolat’ – 2 chocolate croissants. We walked around the island and then took a walk up to the Notre Dame Cathedral, which is five minutes walk north.

Besides being a little weird being in a foreign country and city, it’s also weird being in a very monument-heavy city from a perspective we’re not used to.

It’s also weird to listen to French tv talk about the primaries in VA, DC and MD.