Monday, March 26, 2012

An American Women in France -- post by Kelley

Bonjour ! That’s all the french I remember.... lol.

Well I must say that I had the most fantastic time, Thanks very much to both Mark and Jill. And my husband for letting me go. It was a short 8 days, but so much was accomplished. I didn’t imagine I could of seen and done as much as we fit in. The flight over was ok, and they even let me bring my own alcohol on the plane with me ,,,as long as it was under the liquid limit. So I enjoyed my rum and coke, movies, food and sleep over the long haul. I was even greeted with cameras and microphones when I got off the plane,,, for sure they were expecting my arrival , was I really the only american woman  to have ever crossed the ocean and land in France ? Oh well,,, my dreams were only shattered a little. I had a good 40 minutes to ponder if my ride was going to show up ! HA HA 

I was tired,, and the apartment was spinning a little, but after a short rest were on the road !  A nice little walk to see the Eiffel tower. Yes, its huge. The buildings are all so pretty, very old yet elegant looking. Not like walking in downtown Spencerport. But sort of the same with my friend back by my side on our ventures.

Over the course of the week, Mark had wowed me with all his restaurants,, I tried so many new things to eat. We wont mention the 5 lbs. I gained. Some of my awesome foods included, snails, sea bass, duck, lamb, french spaggetti(yummo), sushi, quiche, bread, cheeses, quail eggs,  and the best olives I have ever had. Not to mention, the hot chocolate ! Notice how I didn’t mention wine ? Well I saved the best for last. I loved the wine.

We went on a really nice wine tour, and I learned a lot. Very informative on the wine region, and how to make champagne. I even found a red that I enjoy.  After that, we went to Moulin
Rouge, (feerie) the actual show. It was fantastic. By then , the wine was really , really good ! LOL The day after, we went to Montmarte and shopped around the street artists, and I actually found a canvass art work that reminded me of the show the night before. I just love it. The church was really something as well. We also visited Notre Dame, walked around beautiful gardens, and had cute lunches in side street cafes. ( with wine )

The stores were very cool too, even very smelly. In a good way. I think Abercrombie and Fitch pumps there cologne out into the street and entrance way. I liked the smell though  Jill almost needed oxygen to recover. It was a bit overtaking. Just to enter the building you got to have your picture taken with a young frenchman ! There is very cool bookstores, Public markets, cemetaries, antiques shops, zoos all to visit.

On one day, Jill and I took a train to Versailles, a really awesome place. We got to visit the king and queens palace and gardens. It was a real treat to walk threw there, so many beautiful rooms. Then we had lunch in the palace, followed by a wonderful stroll in the gardens (which of course had a little shack selling wine and treats way out in trails). I restrained and ordered water and a toblerone ! Miss Kelley cannot return being an alcoholic !  Already it was hard not to serve wine with the macaroni and cheese to my babies!

I also got to see where Princess Diana died, the tunnel looks just like it did on tv. When we drove threw it in a taxi, I actually looked behind me just incase to see if anyone was following or chasing us. ( you know, the whole first American woman traveling alone to France thing again !!!) my little fantasy for 8 days... ha ha 

I almost even found a really nice huge gold band on the side of a street. But a woman picked it up before me and tried to hand it to me. She thought it was mine,,,, next thing I know, my elbow is in a death grip, my arm is being twisted BY JILL and shes yelling at me,,,, NO, NO, NO,,,,,keep moving. Some kind of a French scam she said,,,, darn it ! My growing stardom
fantasy fell short that day, ha ha.

But all in all,,, I miss being there with my friends. Having coffee every morning with Jill again was the best, cant wait till they get home! Thanks for such a wonderful experience I will remember for the rest of my life.