Happy Soldes

Paris July 29-31, 2013
To say I was excited to be back in Paris is an understatement.  I was looking forward to great food, fantastic bread and amazing tasting butter, wonderful street-scapes and interesting shops. Due to some bad planning on my part, we arrived two days before the end of the summer sales. The stores are full of soldes, soldes soldes. And after the sales  many stores and restaurants close for the whole or a part of the month of August to go on summer vacations.  Not sure what it does to the economy but life is about so much more then the economy. So many businesses talk about work-life balance and in so many cases the balance is tipped towards the work side. So it is nice to see the balance tip someway towards time with friends and family.
On our first day in town we got straight into the local custom of a long lunch  and a skimpy dinner. We had lunch at Le Fumoir. Fabulous tasting main of grilled bream  with a crispy skin served on a bed of  sliced beans sauted with seaweed. We shared a desert of a chocolate cake served with cumquats in syrup and mascarpone vanilla ice cream – simply delicious. Happy, happy happy!.

Entree at Le Fumoir –  Sardine fillet served with cubed potato, spanish onion and dill salad bound with a light mayonnaise

View from our hotel room – amazing blue sky.

Entry to Metro in the early morning before the rush starts.

Vintage Citroen delivery van outside a wonderful smelling boulangerie in the early morning – baking their morning croissant and bread.

Night-time traffic chaos at the Arc de Triumph.

We joined the crowd for a night-time shot of the Arc.

Light on the Eiffel tower in the distance.

Sacre Coeur – a very moving experience once you are inside.

Crowd gathered for a free outdoor cinema screening  of a Woody Allen film  – A Minute in Paris.

Beautiful evening sky with cotton candy cloud as we wound our way through Montmatre.

One more French sweetie!