Thanksgiving Update

Rome from Palazo Venezia

Happy Thanksgiving from Paris! I’m on the hunt to find a turkey today, which is actually a lot more difficult that one would imagine. We’ll be having a belated, Saturday thanksgiving. It will be a franco-american thanksgiving, full of stinky French cheese and fois gras, and fruit-tartes and eclairs instead of pumpkin pie. I’ve never actually cooked a Thanksgiving dinner, so am hoping it turns out okay.

The past few weeks have been full of travel. I went to Normandy two weekends ago. It was cold and rainy, but beautiful. The highlight was hiking through fields in the pouring rain to reach the cliffs with the rocky beaches down below. Breathtaking. It wasn’t a long walk, but the mud puddles were unavoidable and the rain was blowing sideways and in every direction.

Normandy

I only spent one night there, and then went to Rome the following day. I love Rome... The food, the architecture, and the energy of the city. It’s definitely one of my favorite big cities. I stayed for a week in the historic center, only two blocks from the pantheon. As I was just there in March and had already done all of the “must do” touristy things, I spent the week wandering random streets and neighborhoods, and not really having any set agenda, which was great. Getting lost on side streets has always been my favorite way to see a city.

I met some great people while there too. I was able to visit the vatican (my favorite place in Rome) with a seminary school drop out which was perfect, as he could answer all of my “who’s that statue of” and “what’s the significance of that?” questions. He grew up in Southern India, and told me he had joined the seminary because he liked the idea of living a life of poverty and helping people. He dropped out because he found the church to be full of contradictions, which lead to a discussion on what Jesus would have thought of the Vatican (we both decided he would have found it a bit flashy). And then we went a step further, and tried to determine how much money could be raised if the Vatican decided to auction off one of its statues - even one of the small, not so important ones. It’s always interesting having deep conversations like that with people you’ve know for less than 24 hours.

I explored the dodgy areas along the Tiber river with a Turkish friend and the seminary school drop out, and spent about an hour taking photos of interesting graffiti. One of the guys was an amateur photographer, so taught me how to use my camera the “real” way, rather than just on auto, like I usually do.  We visited the Jewish Ghetto and tried unsuccessfully to find some good vintage shops, spent a rainy day in Camp di Fiori, and explored the cobble stone and vine covered streets of Trestevere. I went up to Villa Bourghese for the first time, and spent about two hours walking through the parks, sitting by the little lake, and taking in the view over the city. And then of course visited the Colosseum, went to the top of Palazza Venezia (my favorite building), and climbed the Spanish Steps.

Nights were spent gorging ourselves on gnocchi, prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella, eggplant parmesan and pasta dishes, all washed down with cheap wine, sambuca, and limcello. I even learned how to salsa dance (sort of).

All in all, a great time.

Pics can be viewed via FB:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2850773&id=4901962&l=ea2fcac95a

Switzerland Photo Montage

More photos of Switzerland...

Zurich

View of Zurich from our hike

I went to Zurich last week to visit Megan and Trevor. I’d been to Geneva once before, but never to Zurich. I loved it, and it’s easy to see why people say Zurich has the best quality of life in Europe. I arrived Thursday afternoon, and Megan and I began the day with a picnic on the lake before heading to a wine tasting. The tasting was on the lake and spread across 11 boats. There were also 4,000 different types of wine -  yes, dangerous.

We arrived at 3pm and began with the “American Wines” section, trying different Petite Syrah’s from California and Washington, then tried a few Cabs, and a few table wines. After that we made a rule to only sample 2 wines from each table, because the pourers were incredibly generous and sample sizes ended up filling half the glass - and clearly it would be rude to only take a sip, or to spit it out like we saw some people doing.

A few of the wine boats

Unfortunately, this “rule” was a short lived idea that didn’t even make it to the next table - the Prosecco Table. We tried about six different types, then headed to the French section to sample a few Sancerre’s. Then we were back to the Italian section for Chianti, and then back to the American section because Trevor had just arrived, and he had to taste our favorite Petite Syrah.

View from the top of Zurich

We ended up staying until around 9:00, then grabbed dinner at a lovely vegetarian restaurant (that turns into a night club). Needless to say, we were all feeling a bit ill the next morning.

On Friday, I toured Zurich a bit in the morning while Trevor worked and Megan was in her German class (most likely showing off her new vocabulary lesson from the wine tasting - chocolate, cherry, oak, raspberry). Megan and I met up around lunch and went outside the city a bit for a hike. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and unseasonably warm for Zurich, and we ended up hiking for about three hours.

Megs gets credit - "Wouldn't that be a cool pic?"

 It was beautiful. We enjoyed a traditional Swiss meal that night, and the following day went to Lucerne.

Lucerne

Lucerne was just as beautiful as Zurich. We took a boat over to one of the other sections of town, and the views from the boat were just stunning: sailboats set against snow covered mountains, vineyards, and gorgeous old buildings.

View from the boat

When we reached our destination, we walked for a minute, and then found a lift to take us up Mt. Rigi. We went halfway up the mountain, as we were told the views there would be just as good as the one from the top. We weren't disappointed. It was a clear day, and we could see for miles.

View from top of Mt. Rigi

We started walking towards the top, but a fog came in, so we decided to relax for a bit and drink a beer. What’s wonderful about Switzerland is they provide massive wool blankets to those wishing to sit outside! So we sat outside, huddled under blankets, and drank our beers while looking at the snow covered Alps. Not bad at all.

 

When we got back to Zurich, I was in for another Swiss treat - fondue. We went to Restaurant Suiss Chuchi in Old Town for dinner and devoured two pots of melted cheese and washed it down with a bottle of wine (we were told it’s unhealthy to eat fondu with anything other than beer or wine). For after dinner drinks, we headed to Jules Verne, a panoramic bar offering incredible view of the city.

It rained the next day, so we toured a few churches, drank “The Best Hot Chocolate in the World” from Springli, and then ate bratwurst for lunch, Zurich style. And then it was back to Paris for me. I had an absolutely wonderful time in Zurich, and can't thank Megs and Trev enough for being such great hosts!

Best hot chocolate in the world

My first experience with glug wine - a success. Delicious.

More scenic images from the boat ride

Megan's Visit

Megan came to visit last week. She and Trevor have been in Zurich for about a month now, but as Trev is working and Megs’ visa is still MIA, she decided to come play in Paris for a few days while Trev was on his first business trip. As they still haven’t found a good dogsitter for Sydney, she came too. I think that dog has now been to more countries than most Americans.

Megan had already been to Paris, so rather than redo all of the major tourist attractions, we made up our own tour. We began with a trip to the market and a lovely wine and cheese picnic at the Jardin Luxembourg. On our way, we also had our first experience with the protesters. Contrary to what CNN has been reporting about overturned cars and burning shops, the protesters in Paris have been quite tame (or at least were while we were there). So we made our way through the cops (who sat around smoking, looking bored, and videotaping the crowds), through the protesters, and into the Jardin.

Protesters by Jardin Luxembourg

After our picnic, we went on our own little walking tour of Paris. From Jardin Luxembourg, we headed over to the Pantheon. From there, we saw Notre Dame, and then walked along the Seine for a bit. We walked for about three hours, dragging or carrying Sydney everywhere.

We had asked my cousin and roommate for restaurant suggestions, and they sent us to a great place in the 10th called L’Escargot for dinner. We started with Fois Gras, and then enjoyed duck and fish, washed down by great, local, cheap wine... Followed by shots of Jamaican rum, which our waiter thought we would like. We didn’t.

Picnic at Jardin Luxembourg

The following day we tried to see the Monet exhibit at the Grand Palais, but after learning there would be a three hour wait, we decided against it. We instead went on a walking tour of Montmartre, this time with a guide. Starting in front of the Moulin Rouge, it took about 2 hours and was really interesting. We saw the restaurant Picasso used to hang out out and traded his sketches for food. We saw where Van Gough lived, learned about the ancient windmills in the area. We saw the “last vineyard in Paris,” and eventually made our way up to Sacre Coeur. Of course Sydney came too, and we even managed to sneak her into the church.

Walking through Montmartre up to Sacre Coeur

Notre Dame

After the tour, we went into a cafe for a glass of wine, and then made our way back towards the Moulin Rouge, where we had earlier passed an amazing looking cupcake shop (new to Paris, and very American, apparently). We managed to make our way over to the Eiffel Tower area, and spent another few hours walking.


That night, we splurged... Someone had recommended a good Mexican restaurant, which are hard to come by in Paris and Zurich. As it had been three months since I’d had one of my favorite foods, we decided to go. Unfortunately, we hadn’t realized that a pitcher of Margaritas would be nearly $80 (they were worth it), or that our waitress would frown upon us for ordering them. “Are you SURE you girls want a carafe? But it’s only two of you, right? You really want that much?” Obviously she didn’t know us very well...

It was a great but short visit. I love having friends in Europe too!