Eating on the I'ile

Judi is standing in the doorway of the most famous ice cream parlor in Paris.  It is also on the ile Saint Louis.  Right behind her you can see a large, magnificent bouquet of flowers on a stand as you enter the shop.

 In this photo Pat took of me, you get a better view of the bouquet.

This is a triple dip ice cream.  I chose almond, choc. chip, and tiramisu.  A curved, thin almond wafer stands at the back of  the bowl to showcase this delicious dessert.  Well worth the visit!  We did not have to stand in a line to get in as most guide books will tell you is often the case.  In fact, the shop was not full at all and this was a Saturday afternoon. 

The waitress graciously took this photo of us.  We had such a wonderful time together.

     This is such a beautiful restaurant on the ile, and no, we did not eat here.  Photo courtesy of Pat Rogerson.

On Saint Louis L'ile

(I meant for this to be the last photo on this post.  Guess I'm going to have to contact Blogger to see what's going on)                                           Here you see Judi and I emerging from the shop with our little sacks full.  <**>

I love the street signs in Paris!  This, of course, is in the 4th Arrondissement and on the ile of Saint Louis (San Louie).

This was a wonderful stationery/paper shop.  We had not been in one up to this point.  There were so many gorgeous things inside..............wish I had taken some photographs inside.

Out and About

Pat, Judi and I went to the Arabic Institute after we left the group.  These windows are made up of individual camera lenses to adjust the light coming into the building.

Pat took this photo of Judi and I as we were looking across the city.  We were on the rooftop of the Arabic Institute.  They have a restaurant with a terrace that overlooks the city.  It has a nice view of the Seine River. 

 I love this photo of Judi and Pat!  You can tell it was quite windy up there by looking at Pat's hair.

It seems that almost anywhere in our neighborhood, we were able to tak wonderful photos of Notre Dame.  I really like this view of it.

Our Last Saturday in Paris

This is the group going up the hill from the hotel to the Maubert flea market.............duckies in a row!  LOL   This will be our second Saturday to visit this flea market.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wow!  It's already the middle of January 2012!  Where does the time go?  It seems that I have started the new year at a run.  It's been three weeks since I've posted anything.  I'm hoping to finish the Paris trip the next day or so.   Look at these lovely tags!  These are from Sandy Gordon.  You must go to her site a see all the beautiful artwork she has.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that your new year is going great for you. 

Saturday morning.............

Wow!  Pat and I look like we had a late night Friday!  We were up and ready to go back to visit some of the flea markets close by our neighborhood. 

Here we go.............duckies in a row!  Pat would lead out and look back occasionally to see if all her duckies were following along.  LOL

Just havin' some fun!  We were in a typical touristy souvenir shop and Pat spied the purple beret that matched her scarf.  I spotted the purple sunglasses and  gave them to her for this fun photo!

Purchasing our supper

Here is Judi coming out of the bakery with her goodies for supper in the garden.  I am paying for mine at the cashier at the door.  We usually bought a quiche, a sandwich, a salad or a piece of pizza when we were dining at "home".  ")

These are French macaroons. ummmmmmmmmmmmmm!  Not only pretty, but delicious.  They are so chewy.

Look at all the sweets!  We always had a hard time trying to decide what to sample next.

We thought we would try this beautiful strawberry cake the next night, but, alas, it was gone.

Famous Paintings in the Louvre

How tiny she seems in this vast room!  Also, the protective glass around her seems to add to her diminutive state.  I always think of this painting as very large.....even though I have read how small it is (30in X 21in) compared to so many portraits of this era.  But there she is in all her beauty..............and it was very difficult to get to the front of the crowd to get a phto without dozens of heads in my view finder.  ")

Just the opposite of the previous painting, this one was so large (approx 22ft X 32ft/or 276in X 391in) and so full of activity.  I had to really look for a spot to hold my camera above all the visitors to the masterpiece.  I was so suprised that it turned out as well as it did.  We were not allowed to use a flash on these two photos.  I cannot imagine the time and patience it took to paint each individual at this wedding feast plus adding the details of the buildings and the utensils, and instruments......whether utilitarian or musical.  A fasinating work.

The Louvre

 Judi walking past the street lights and that gorgeous fence.

Here you see the glass pyramid constructed by the famous I.M. Pei.  It is so beautiful with the sunlight shining through it.  We did not get to see it all lit up at night, but everyone said it truly is a beautiful piece of art when seen at night.

Here you see Judi at the bottom of the stairs that leads up past the Winged Victory of Samothrace and on to De Vinci's Mona Lisa and Veronese's The Wedding Feast at Cana.

On to the Louvre

I don't know why these photos posted out of order........oh, well,  this is the Gate of the Lions entrance into the Louvre Museum.  The Lion are quite regal.

This man was set up at the end of the bridge that crosses over just up from the Orsay Museum.  He had quite a "band" at his disposable....and he sang!  He was really good with all the instruments and had a really nice voice.  Notice the top hat sitting in front of him for tips.  ")

Here is a closer view of him as he plays the trumpet, drums and melody on the accordian.

This is the beautiful fence around the museum.  As we walked through the park toward the museum, the fence and light posts were dazzling in the sunlight.

A Grand Time at the Orsay

Catherine and Dale Moore.......what a great time we had with them as we dined in the restaurant in the Orsay Museum.  Catherine was so encouraging to me as our group made plans to make the trip to Paris.  She gave me many tips and links to help with our planning.  How wonderful to meet her in person!  (and a million thanks to Dale for our little transaction!)

A very cherished photo for me.  ")

This is our art group....missing only Miss Minori who was not able to join us from Japan.  (It was an emotional time for me when it was time to part from Sara and Kimberly.)

Miss Z.............I see such creativity here.  I have been able to chat with her online and would like to get to know her better and see some more of her art.  Great to meet you, Z!

Luscious food in the Orsay Restaurant....

Cheesecake with strawberry sauce.

This was wonderful!  The pasta salad with fried salami, cheese slices and basil topped off with a little pesto.  ummmmm!

Scrumcious chocolate cake and sweet cream sauce.

Reunited with Friends at the Orsay...

Here are Judi and Pat talking to Catherine.  I wish I could remember the names of the other ladies in her group.  (so sorry!)  Kimberly Hanlon is at the far right across from Catherine and Jan.

Here I am with Susan and Sara.  Sara and I had actually met in an art group that Susan and Judi were also in at Tejas Stamps in Collinsville in 1999.

Here is dear Kimberly.  She and Sara feel like family to Sharla and I.  Sharla and Kimberly had barely met when the Hanlons had to move to Minneapolis.  Kimberly is a very creative young lady.  She has a degree in fashion design and later went back to get her law degree.  Her law firm is now in Minneapolis.  I have a bear that Kimberly made while living here in Tulsa.  ")  (Mr. Sammy Bear)

Orsay Museum

Our day at the Orsay Museum was to meet Catherine Moore and her group that were in Paris the same week as we were.  In fact, Catherine is the reason for our smaller group to be there.  I had seen her advertisement for her 2011 Artists' Workshop in Paris..........I had purchased the magazine in March of  2010.  I immediately called my friend Sara and suggested that some of us sign up for it.  She told me that she and her daughter Kimberly had already signed up and that I should call Catherine immediately.  Sorry to say, her roster was already full.  She had started a cancellation stand-by list and put me on it.  In the meantime, I talked to Pat Rogerson in England and Susan Wilkin here in Oklahoma.  Soon we were saying, "Why not form our own  group to go?" and we ended up with our group of six.  Here is Jan in the dining room of the Orsay.  We had lunch with Catherine's group and were able to meet the women in her group......well, and two men.....two of the husbands came, one being Dale Moore....Catherine's husband. 

Here is Susan sitting by Sara Hanlon at the other table.  Sara and Kimberly had recently moved to Minneapolis due to Kimberly's acute broncchial asthma.

Susan, Jan and Barb waiting on the rest of us to leave for the Orsay Museum.

Sorry this is taking so long................

I am having difficulty working with my hands.......I am afraid I have arthritis settling into them.  I
can't seem to work very long without them hurting dreadfully.   Some days I just can't type at all and
cutting and painting are becoming difficult.  I take a daily glucosamine with chondroitin and it is helping.  Lord willing, I will be able to work more the longer I am on this.  Thanks for your patience and your comments to me about this adventure I was able to take.  ")

La Labrouette

Ahhhhhhh, creme broulee......we had it several times, but here it was the creamiest and most flavorful.

Judi really enjoyed it, too!  ")   We had also had a wonderful onion soup, which we had tried at other restaurants, but not as thick and tasty as here.  I highly recommend this little spot to anyone visiting Paris in the Latin Quarter.

A pretty smile from Pat..............what a great help she was to us constantly on this trip.  How nice to finally meet an "online" friend and find them to be exactly in person as they seem online.  A great friend, indeed!

Pat took this photo of the Labrouette Cafe in the day time.   How different it seems at night...... of course, it's very busy then.  ")

(The end of our 6th day.......how, sad.....half our trip over and so much more we wanted to do and stretch out our time with one another.)

La Droguerie

Talk about eye candy!  This little shop in Les Halles was chocked full of sweets from wall to wall and end to end.  ")  Jan, Barb, Judi and I made the trek from the Eiffel Tower to Les Halles by Metro and were not disappointed.  Pat and Susan had already been to the shop and clued us in on this little jewel.  As you can see, I brought a sampling of things home with me. 

The selection of velvet butterflies was scant.....the little bowl was nearly empty..... especially of the smaller ones.   I sent some of the red rose ribbon to our friend Minori in Japan who did not get to join us on our trip.

Also sent to Minori were some of those darling buttons.  The tiny-tucked salmon colored ribbon is one of my favorites.

The beautiful floral bias tape binding was made up in bracelets in the store.  They would measure off a piece, slide a charm or two onto the piece and sew bracelet closures onto the ends.  They were so unique.  Guess what I'm going to be doing with it???  ")  (Minori also received some of this from me.)

This photo is courtesy of Pat Rogerson who was smart enough to take a photo of the sign....... not so moi!