Bonsoir everyone! I'm popping in to write a quick post before I head out to my French class tonight. I just got back to Geneva this morning after spending a lovely weekend in Paris!
I had originally planned to come to Paris to run the Nike Women's 15K, but earlier in the week, I learned that I needed a "medical certificate" stating that I was allowed to run races in order to participate! Apparently, this is quite common in France, but I had no idea until about Tuesday. Given that I haven't been doing much running, and the fact that a bunch of friends decided to join my trip in Paris, it didn't really seem worth it to me to go through the hassle of getting the medical certificate. I just said "c'est la vie" and decided to enjoy a weekend away!
We spent all day Saturday roaming the streets, popping into small cafés when we were hungry or thirsty, and just enjoying the beautiful weather.
We had been worried that a lot of restaurants would be really crowded on Saturday night because the French Open was in town, so we took a recommendation from a couple of friends and booked a table at Le Bistrot Paul Bert. It was delicious!!
Green bean salad with summer truffle
I have a cousin who lives in Paris, and she was able to join us for dinner! It was fun catching up with her, as we don't see each other much at all. After dinner, we headed out for a few celebratory birthday drinks before seeing a bit more of the city via Uber.
On Sunday, we looked at more touristy things!
We actually sat in the Luxembourg Gardens for a bit in the afternoon and just ate some fruit and cookies while people watching and enjoying the scenery. I really love this type of laid back afternoon. It feels very European :)
Over the weekend, I tried to use my French skills whenever possible, and while I do think that I'm getting better.. most times when I said something, people would ask me to repeat myself and had a hard time understanding me. I think it's a combination of my poor pronunciation or my awkward grammatical constructs. Oh well. Off to class now - practice makes (not nearly) perfect!
I had originally planned to come to Paris to run the Nike Women's 15K, but earlier in the week, I learned that I needed a "medical certificate" stating that I was allowed to run races in order to participate! Apparently, this is quite common in France, but I had no idea until about Tuesday. Given that I haven't been doing much running, and the fact that a bunch of friends decided to join my trip in Paris, it didn't really seem worth it to me to go through the hassle of getting the medical certificate. I just said "c'est la vie" and decided to enjoy a weekend away!
The weekend turned into a birthday celebration for Brian. He was working in London for the past few weeks, so this was a great chance to celebrate in a fun city before he headed back to Singapore! We did a ton of walking around and exploring some of the various neighborhoods in Paris. And of course, because my friend Cassie loves markets - we hit the Marché President Wilson on Saturday morning. I was really impressed with the variety and quality of the stuff at the market!
There was TONS of variety here!
Escargots!
Farm fresh :)
We spent all day Saturday roaming the streets, popping into small cafés when we were hungry or thirsty, and just enjoying the beautiful weather.
Obligatory gelato
View from the steps of Sacre Coeur
hahaha
We stumbled across a random parade! The band was playing "Hey Baby" which brought back a rush of Lionette nostalgia :)
We had been worried that a lot of restaurants would be really crowded on Saturday night because the French Open was in town, so we took a recommendation from a couple of friends and booked a table at Le Bistrot Paul Bert. It was delicious!!
Green bean salad with summer truffle
Veal kidneys with mustard sauce and pasta
I have a cousin who lives in Paris, and she was able to join us for dinner! It was fun catching up with her, as we don't see each other much at all. After dinner, we headed out for a few celebratory birthday drinks before seeing a bit more of the city via Uber.
On Sunday, we looked at more touristy things!
I saw some runners and thought it may have been the race that I had signed up for! (It wasn't)
We actually sat in the Luxembourg Gardens for a bit in the afternoon and just ate some fruit and cookies while people watching and enjoying the scenery. I really love this type of laid back afternoon. It feels very European :)
We saw four brides being photographed over the weekend. They were all Asian!
Cousins!
Over the weekend, I tried to use my French skills whenever possible, and while I do think that I'm getting better.. most times when I said something, people would ask me to repeat myself and had a hard time understanding me. I think it's a combination of my poor pronunciation or my awkward grammatical constructs. Oh well. Off to class now - practice makes (not nearly) perfect!
No comments:
Post a Comment