BONJOUR! this is way long!

i'm gonna try and post about the most amazing place i've ever been but let me start with this: i'm in such a foul mood right now! i was downloading today's photos as today was the kid's last day of school - thank heavens!! and we had 2 graduations (kindergarten and 5th grade). since i'm new at this i pushed a button i shouldn't have and like a dumb #*! i deleted today's photo's and i'm flat out pissed!! so...if i curse in this post, forgive me, or just don't read any further. actually i also think i am "p.m.s.'ing.
isn't this first photo amazing?! i always pictured the eiffel tower being as big as...oh i don't know maybe a really tall house...no one told me it would be as huge as the statue of liberty! it's size was overwhelming and amazing. or maybe i was just in lust with the best ever chocolate crepe that i was shoving down my throat as we marveled at it!
i don't even know where to begin about our week there. maybe i'll just start out with each day's overview or something... so we arrived in paris at about midnight. it was cold and drizzling. on our cab ride to the hotel paris seemed so big and, well, dirty. i immediately said to myself that i wasn't gonna like it as much as london. it seemed big and overwhelming like n.y.c. and i was like, dang, how am i gonna see everything in one week? the hotel was big and full of tourists where as the hotel in london was a small boutique and so quaint and charming. i just needed sleep.
i knew when we left paris i was so gonna miss the following: every morning as we left the hotel the housekeeping staff, as we passed in the halls (where i always got lost because it was so bit) always said to me, "bonjour madame" and i felt like a celebrity! i took french in high school but could only remember bonjour, au revoir, cava, cava bien, como talle vous (i don't think i'm even spelling this right...), some numbers, je m'appelle suzy (i know i didn't spell that right) and vous le vous coushay avec moi - c'est soi? didn't spell that right either!
we began our first day walking from the hotel to the arc de trompe and from there, down the avenue des champs elysees to the musee d'orsay and to the musee du lourve. why we didn't take the metro? we wanted to "see" everything and "eat" everything - oh did we! so the women smell even better in paris and have the world's best purses, scarves, and shoes!!! i will say that as we were crossing over the seine...there she was...a young musician playing her violin and it was so beautiful and romantic. everyone says that paris is for lovers and that there are couples making our everywhere...ya...didn't see that so much. we both asked where they all were? but...while talking about that, as we were walking, i did see this heart shaped pebble in the ground and it was a "sign" that paris is the city of love and passion! sorry, it's sideways.



as we walked down the champs elysees i saw these shoes in a boutique window and took a photo just to remember what an almost $3000 pair of shoes looks like:


they look like something a prostitute would wear - a very expensive prostitute!
this next photo is at a place we stopped to eat lunch after being at the musee d'orsay. loved the colors and the baguette sandwich was soo good. what's not good on a baguette?

the following photos are taken from the d'orsay and louvre - i love the impressionist art and especially the french sculptures - the d'orsay was my favorite.

i love how sweet this little sculpture is!

this one is all about "young lovers and passion" no wonder i loved it!

this was my "ahhhh" moment! when we were going down the hall at the louvre and came to the bottom of a stairwell where this was at the top, i stopped and fell in love. this is "victory" and i could have stayed and looked at it all day.

oh my gosh i just loved this little face and that crown. i love marble. i love paris. and naked art.

love this young naked lad too. i couldn't stop taking photos of the marble statues. beauty.all of the art was unbelievable. monet's water lillies and the mona lisa and renoir. and all the nakedness. did i mention that?!
this was just our first day. after both museums we went to an area called "les halles" and oh i loved it. not enough time to go to all the shops - boo hoo. a friend of a friend gave me a list of exactly where to go eat and how to find the places. best food ever. first place was in a cobblestone alley and called, "quincambosse". so divine. in france when they serve water it's with a slice of orange and mint - so killer. we had dessert everynight in paris. no regrets. we walked home that night - almost 2 hours! we watched the eiffel tower twinkle with lights for 10 minutes - what bliss and beauty. it was raining. we got wet and it was so fun!

the next day we got up late and walked to my most favorite place i went to in paris, well, that i've ever been to in my life - the "parc de bagatelle". it was far. it was noon. i was hungry. not a good combo for suzy. poor ian. he said "i was wondering if you would actually make it for 2 weeks without complaining or going 'postal' on me"! i lost it. we couldn't find it at first and i kept getting more hungry! finally found an outdoor cafe in the middle of this huge park and had a hot dog baguette - so dang good - and a hot chocolate, of course! a dog pee'd on ian's backpack because dog's run wild in paris, no leashes and also there is dog crap everywhere!! i was good to go and finally we found this little garden in this huge park. i was in heaven. it was a perfect day - half day. ian was a good sport. we were there for hours! peacocks and flowers and old architecture and mini gardens and a lil' restaurant where a little wedding was taking place!! here are just a few of my photos:

gotta love the purple flowers.

loved this statue and the plant growing on the wall behind it.

i so love this color and this bench spoke to me so i took a photo of it and will frame & hang it.

at this point we'd been walking for hours and found this little winding path in the middle of the parc and followed it up (it was a spiral) to a little bench and view of the eiffel! we were tired.

these tulips had "lovers" written all over them or "couple" or "us".

these stairs led up to this beautiful bridge and gazebo made of the same color and iron. it took my breathe away and i could have hung out there for hours. so much to see there!!

aren't these beautiful?! i so loved the purple flowers all over and this is just a peak at what the whole place looked like!

that night we ate in the "latin quarter" at "le volcan" - where hemingway used to have an apartment. oh....my....hell.....this was an amazing place to eat. it was so good or else we were so hungry! by the way, when we got off the metro to find this place we had no directions. we just pointed at a street and started walking and amazingly found it!! (another recommendation). this is a fun, fun area to visit too. this was our best ever meal. have i died and gone to heaven - i thought! so we again each had dessert. chocolate for me of course. ian, a berry sorbet dessert. when i tasted his, i go, "ian - did you notice something about the taste" and he's all "no". i'm all "ian this has liquor in it" - drenched in the 3 inch syrup! he was seriously clueless. he asked how i knew and i'm like "because it burns like hell as it goes down my throat and i can taste it"!! duh! of course he still ate it and we found out he's not a light weight.

next day...o.k. so breakfast in the hotel was to die for but since we were always up so late we missed it. a spread of everything french and rich and fattening and delicious. enough said! we were off to find the flea markets. we found what we thought was downtown l.a. - yuk. then we found the antique alley's. ian was bored out of his mind! i was in heaven!!! i was also depressed because it was too expensive to buy anything at all!!!

...but this is what i wanted to buy - purple toile!!!! 2 paintings and a bottle holder-thingie.

this day ian said let's stop and get a pastry every time we get hungry! o.k. i said. we had like 7 that day!! eclairs, croissants, flan, crepes, brulee's, pie...oh my gosh... didn't need my daily 2 advil that day! got on the metro to find another jardin. as we were transfering metro's at the "chalet" tunnel i heard this lovely music. it was a group of men that entertain and they were the most amazing sounding voices ever. just ordinary men trying to earn extra money. their c.d. was 20 euro's and i'm like, no way, that almost $40! but i so regret it!!! i love music and i'm not usually so emotionally moved by music but their music was so crazy beautiful and romantic and everyone in the tunnel stopped and sang and clapped and i was video tapping them. ian made me leave and as we walked further away i knew i'd never hear anything so beautiful again. i thought to myself that if this is what heaven sounds like then i hope i make it there! we got on the next meto and i started to cry...for an hour. i couldn't let go of that sound!! ian thought i was crying cause i missed the kids and i said i'm not even thinking about those kids!!

on our way to notre dame, crossing over a bridge, we came to some musicians with a broken down piano...on a bridge??!! they had a dolly they'd brought it on - it was missing the front part and the keys were exposed but the music they played was lovely!!!! the effort they make to entertain the masses! oh paris! i love you!

isn't this a great photo - this little boy was so happy to give them a euro!

notre dame was very gothic. i loved the candles everywhere. it was sunday. i said a hail mary and did the sign of the cross. i think i'm catholic by blood. the organ's were loud and beautiful just like the st. peter's cathedral in london. people enjoy kicking back and relaxing in paris. there's romance because there's passion - there's passion because there's appreciation for the arts, like music and art itself -paintings, gardens, theatre, food, sculptures and architecture, and history. they are surrounded by it everyday and they stop for the musicians and go to their museums and cafe's and gardens, it's wonderful! everyone smokes here too and no one's fat because they smoke and walk everywhere! if you wanna get a man in paris you gotta: have nice shoes and purses, smell good, smoke, love to eat, and know how to chill out.

a popular place to eat fast there was "pauls" - which i loved. good sandwiches and desserts and hot chocolate! a gypsy had her hand in my purse there, while in line, trying to steal my wallet - i kinda got "l.a. ghetto" on her and she scrammed! i had alone time again while ian worked many days and it was so fun to be alone and shop. i just got on that metro with my map and went and went! i was so proud of myself, again. didn't get lost once. went to the big designer shops and little boutiques - got lots of gifts and some books for the kids. on the last day i got on the meto and then the train - big step folks, and went to "versailles" alone. so beautiful - cobblestone streets. the biggest place i've ever been. too many people to do a tour. at this point our camera battery had died and i had left the charger back in london (cause we went back after paris) and i was just as freaked out angry then as i was at the beginning of this post that the stupid camera could only be charged and i was missing out on taking photos of such awesome things and places. at least we had the video camera. after a long excursion i got back on the train, then the metro and transferred a couple of times til i got to the hard rock cafe - my dad collects the t's. i loved that hard rock cause they had a lot of "u2" stuff there. there was also a lot of great shopping in that area. it was the last day. i got one last chocolate crepe - the last of like 6! i was gonna miss paris.

this is a photo of the jardin we found - jardin du hexenbourgh. so lovely too. i'm still caught in the moment.

i started a collection of "things" so i could have a jar of paris when we got home. this is it. i loved the pink toilet paper!

i got this garfield french dictionary for the kids cause i figured if they love garfield they'd read the book - and they do. also this coloring book had a red headed ethan in it! had to get it.

i bought this beautiful rose book at my favorite jardin and this other at a book store in the cotswalds for 50 pence!

leaving europe. i was sad to go. anxious to see my little ones. i missed them at this point. what did i feel then? it had been an unbelievable experience. loved the pop music there. wanted to go back home and teach my children about the arts and how to appreciate them and incorporating passion into our lives! eat slowly and enjoy the food, conversation and environment around you at that moment. don't be so rushed. life is so short, enjoy the journey.

the last night in europe we saw lord of the rings - really great. we had the best fruit cocktail drinks i've ever gulped down! i cried in the shower as i thought about this amazing vacation. i felt so blessed that ian had made it work for me to go with him and have such a blissful experience together.

AU REVOIR PARIS! i'll come see you again...soon. i still miss the "bonjour madame" in the a.m.

notice i started this post at 10:58 pm and i finished at 2:54 am!!!!

song of the day: "passion" by rod stewart!