Pause from my usual material. This trip I took needs to be documented so for this week, welcome to my travel blog.
When I was sixteen, I was supposed to go to Paris with my mom but plans fell through. For the past 29 years I've been practicing my French.
Some of that practice paid off but gosh, they talk fast! I'm limiting myself to THREE (oh so tough) pix per category.
FOODIE STUFF:
Yes, I did. Of course I did. And it wasn't horrible. I'd eat it again. Not sure I'd pay for it again but the worst part of this gig was honestly the grabber tool you're supposed to use to pop the little guys out. I definitely showed my American-ness in the attempts. C'est la vie.
Carpaccio. Technically Italian but the Frenchies did it proper enough to blog about. Raw beef tenderloin served cold with pesto, fresh lemon and parmesan. This will be one of my favorite dishes no matter where in the world I am! 🤌
This here is a galette, not to be mistaken with its cousin, the crêpe. Most the ones I had were made with buckwheat, I didn't ask why. This one here had carmelized onions, shredded pork belly, several cheeses of course and a side of sautéed mushrooms for good measure. I love my new friend, the galette!
Honorable mention to the daily baguettes, chocolate mousse, fish and chips, pain au chocolate, french onion soup, and the citrus meringue tarte that I never got a pic of because I physically could not put down my fork.
ART: (there are three hundred images of artwork on my phone - I'm just randomly choosing these three because I can't even begin to rank them)
Monet's architectural paintings are not to be ignored. The master of water lilies surprised me with his captures of the city. So much done here with such little value range.
Believe it or not, there are other paintings in the room with the Mona Lisa (all the love, Leo, but people are WACKO.) This and other Titian's for example are shamefully overlooked. My capture is awful so do yourself a favor and look up The Crowning with Thorns.
Every time I visit a museum I discover a new artist I hadn't known before. Balthazar Denner who are you and how did you paint with a brush this woman who eerily transfigured out of this painting and into my soul?
Honorable mention to Bougeureau - always a favorite but sealed my loyalty with "Equality Before Death", Rodin, Ingres, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Delaroche, Winged Victory (ten pix just of her), and Denys Puech whose sculpture of Aurore has me questioning everything I thought I knew about stone.
HISTORY:
This pic up front just because I think it's cute. So Frenchly blue, white, and red 🇫🇷 on my visit to Napoleon's tomb. France honors their heroes proper.
Paris Catacombs. Okay so they honor all their dead proper. This tour was actually incredible and I choked up more than once. There was a sacredness to this place. But seriously, is there anything the French can't turn into art?
Marie Antoinette's hamlet and the palace of Versailles. Just wow. The bike tour through Versailles was an absolute treat. And French history is nuts. The weather could not have been better for a day cycling through this gem on the map.
Honorable mention to Sacré Coeur where my children's names are now on the prayer roll, Sainte Chapelle and The Conciergerie.
NORMANDY:
I rented a car in Paris and drove to the coast in Normandy. Thanks to the navigating skills of a very special stepmother we crossed spectacular bridge in Honfleur that gave me just a little anxiety! Let me just say the French countryside exceeded the hype.
Etrétat. A little windy. A little chilly. But absolutely no regrets walking that rim.
Mont St Michel Abbey has lived only in my imagination since I did a history project on her in the fifth grade. So glad I was able to make the journey to see all her glory.
HONORARY PIC:
Omaha Beach. If you get the chance, plan to spend the entire day soaking up the history of this sacred ground. All I kept thinking was, it wasn't their fight. They gave all anyway, and turned the tides of the war.
Honorable mention to the Paris LDS temple for starting our journey west with much needed peace, Monet's gardens, Rouen and all the crazy roundabouts. Navigating them on a scooter was a special treat.
FIN:
I realized on the flight over that I didn't know how to say "I'm a life coach" in French. So I fell back on "Je suis artiste" and got myself into some cool doors.
Bucket list item checked off, owing to the best husband and family a girl could ever hope for. Now back to work! What's on your list and how can I help?
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