Flashback: October in the South

The south of the US that is, not to be confused with the south of France! 

Here are a few pictures from my time in Tennessee. I got very lucky as the weather was gorgeous for the entire 6 weeks I was there. 

My Mom and I at "Wine on the Water" - a wine/food tasting held once a year on the Tennessee river. It was really fun! Until I drank too many frozen margarita juice boxes...

This is the river/creek where we went ziplining in Eastern Tennessee (just about North Carolina) 

In our ziplining gear...a tad bit different than the way I tend to dress in Paris! We had such a ball...minor freak out at the beginning but it was really fun. 

My mom in the kitchen

The above 2 pictures were taken with my new camera. This tree is right next to our garage - the colors it turned through October were incredible! 

My Dad and I in Cade's Cove - an 11 mile scenic loop in the Smokey Mountains. The first time I ever went (a few weeks before this picture was taken), we saw a black bear!! I'm sounding like quite the nature girl ;)

Lou Lou!!! This is my Aunt Jane's new dog. She's a golden-doodle and is absolutely INSANE! She actually thinks she's a person but she's just too cute to ever get mad at! 

Really cute halloween decorations in...umm..I forgot the name of the town actually. 

In Gatlinburg, they have a ski lift which takes you to the top of the mountain for the view - no actual skiing. It was really quite beautiful.

The adorable chipmunk that lives in our backyard!! 

Hotel du Nord - Friday 26, November 2010

I was way too excited yesterday to write about anything other than my purse so here's a bit more about what went on over the weekend! 
A friend of a friend, Eric, (who is now my friend) was in town for the weekend and we went to one of my favorite restaurants Friday night - Hotel du Nord. It's a cozy but bussling restaurant in the 10th arrondisement right on the Canal St.Martin. The décor makes it feel like you're eating in a (very large) living room. It's the perfect place to go with a group of friends or on a date. 


My favorite dish there is "Millefeuille au Thon" - doesn't sound as good when translated literally in English - "Layered Tuna". Yeah, let's forget about that name. It's basically seared sushi grade tuna layered with lightly fried wonton crackers drizzled with a sesame-soy-honey-ish sauce with seasonal vegetables and alfalfa sprouts. YUMMO. 

 And then here's me - enjoying my wine as usual :-) 

p.s. best to go late - the crowd gets better!

Hotel du Nord

102 Quai de Jemmapes

Paris 75010 

Dream come true!

I did it!! Finally :) 
So I have been wanting a Chanel bag for quite some time now. So the last time I went into the boutique I found out that the price had risen significantly enough that I could no longer have it. So Saturday afternoon when I went to Bon Marché (the best department store in Paris for those who don't know...think Barney's meets Bergdorf), I didn't actually plan on buying one, but I had to go visit the purse to say hello at least!! When I did, I found another one on a mannequin and fell in LOVE. It's part of the 2010-2011 Paris - St.Tropez cruise collection and was the last one in the store. That was it - I had to have it. Being handed the beautifully wrapped shopping bag was most exciting. I had a smile from ear to ear and even hugged the sales lady who helped me!


I obviously knew exactly what was in the box, but unwrapping it at home was the most fun thing EVER!!!!!!!

I mean seriously, how pretty is she!?!? 

I took her out on saturday for her first night out on the town and we both enjoyed it thoroughly. Spent the night sipping celebratory champagne at Raspoutine until the wee hours of the morning.She was carefully nuzzled under my arm to prevent anyone from spilling even a drop of alcohol on her. We both got home safely as the sun was rising :) and I would be lying if I said she didn't sleep right next to my bed!! 

No Moncler for me.

Who ever thought that getting a coat would be this difficult! 

I have been running around the city trying to find the Moncler coat I want and preferably in my size, although at this point I'm pretty sure I'd take an XL if they had it. The store has a door man. I mean...seriously!? A door man. Like an actual bouncer. So I finally made it inside (phew) to find out that I most likely will not be able to get it until next winter. Awesome. 

Saved me 865€ for now but my search is certainly not over yet! 

Joyeuse Thanksgiving!

Good morning Paris! 

Another gray day..and only about 7 more months of this until I can expect to see some sunshine. I've found this to be one of the toughest things to get used to living here. Not that NY winters aren't rough sometimes, but even on the coldest of days there is still the possibility of the sun shining. Not here.  EVER. 
This is the view of the Champs Elysées from the Rond-Point facing Place de la Concorde. 


So Thanksgiving in France was quite interesting. Our dinner consister of 2 Americans (myself and my friend Christina who I must say did an excellent job cooking), 4 French guys and an English girl. Everyone was a bit curious about what stuffing was..Christina and I just kept saying "It's an American thing..trust us it's good!" 


Despite the fact that I wasn't home with my family, all in all we had a great evening. Good food, lots of wine and good company - that's what it's all about! 


Here's a picture of my plate: 

Nymphéas

This summer I went to Giverny, where Monet lived and got inspiration to paint his "Nymphéas" (Waterlilies) series. I wouldn't exactly call myself an art aficionado but I love Monet. I find his paintings very..relaxing. 

Gardens at Monet's house - Giverny, France 


The Musée de L'Orangerie in Paris houses the largest collection of his waterlilies series in 2 specially designed round rooms. I'm not much of a "sit and stare at art" type of person, but this is one the places I could actually do that...with a time limit of course. 

Musée de L'orangerie -  Jardins des Tuileries, Paris

Pont Alexandre III

This was taken last Saturday, 20th November from the Pont Alexandre III with my new iPhone..I jazzed it up a little with Photoshop express, one of the many "apps" I've downloaded. 

Not too shabby, eh??

Canon T2i

So I just got a new camera when I was in the states a few weeks ago..rather a month ago - how time flies! For the past weeks, I can safely say it has rained almost every day. With the exception of last Saturday when I decided to spend the day shopping rather than photo taking. (With Chanel being out of the bag I want and a bouncer with a line out the door at Moncler it turned out to be not so successful) Anyway, I'm dying to use my camera, which I should add, my wonderful parents bought me for Chanukah. (Thanks Mom and Dad) 
This weekend is supposed to be absolutely frigid but DRY. So if that's the case, this Saturday afternoon will be spent meandering around town playing with the camera. And besides learning how to use it, they also got me Photoshop which I'm just as clueless about. 

...Pictures to be posted soon! 

Macarons

Macarons - (N) - a delectable, mouth watering "cookie" for lack of a better word. 

I thought this would be a good way to start since it is the title of my blog. For those of you who have never had a macaron I suggest you get on that. I'm not talking about the coconut ones you eat on Passover..these are like little soft cookie sandwiches with cream or jam in the middle (I'm salivating just thinking about them and now might need to run up the Champs Elysées mindlessly pushing tourists out of the way to buy some at LaDurée). And they come in the prettiest little boxes...and a bargain at that - €14.00 for 6. Trust me it's 20 bucks well spent!!

My favorites are (in no particular order) : Framboise (raspberry), Citron (lemon), mimosa - this was a special flavor that I'm very disappointed they no longer have, figue (fig) and fruits rouges (red fruits). Ok, so they're all delicious.