Neige

Il a neigé! Snow in Paris is not common and it makes looking outside my window a beautifully bittersweet. Paris looks even parfait in the snow, mais bien sur:) I have one more day here and then back to the states, the snow is like sweet icing on the cake. Je manquerai Paris.

La Grande Roue

La Grande Roue

La Grand Roue (big wheel) is 60 m high

pretty sick embroidery!

Temps de Noël avec mes amis!

Yay for the Obelisk!Well, Bonjour Arc de Triomphe!

To really get a birds eye view of the famed Champs-Élysées, the ferris wheel at the Place de la Concorde is parfait! From wiki "Place de la Concorde is one of the major public squares in Paris, France. In fact, in terms of area, its 86,400 square metres make it the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées."

La Grande Roue was created to celebrate the millnium. It is available through November and January every year.

Ma maison de promenade

I just love Paris at dusk. On my walk home from school the saying "City of Lights" is wonderfully visibly. Enjoy. Enjoy. Amour pur!

Dior, LVMH, Guerlain...just another day in class

Last week, on a cold Paris day, our fearless leader Jean-Pierre lead us on an excursion through Avenue Montaigne and the Champs-Élysées. We saw Dior, Chanel, Valentino, Ralph Lauren, Dolce and Gabanna, jewelry stores, and other high-end shops. The Plaza Athenee is a high-class hotel that is also located on Ave Montaigne which has a Dior spa.

From wiki "By the 1980s, the avenue Montaigne was considered to be la grande dame of French streets for high fashion and accessories, and is now considered more important than rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré (which is where the Chanel store is with the staircase). Several established clothing designers set up here, particularly the LVMH (Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton) group. LVMH brought investment and international attention to the street, and its stable of top designers and firms, such as Céline, Loewe, Vuitton, Inès de la Fressange and formerly Christian Lacroix, own a substantial portfolio of the street's real estate."

The store opened in late 1946. The salon is known for the dove-gray color. Does anyone remember Carrie Bradshaw's spill on the marble floor? Christian Dior Fall 2009 Haute Couture show which takes place at the store LVMH Headquarters. Like the Murakami? Next on to beautiful Guerlain. Guerlain was founded in 1828 and is now coincedentially owned by LVMH--hmm, should I buy some stock? It is one of the oldest perfume houses in the world. I was the tester for their infamous Teracotta make-up. I had a nice healthy glow:)

Le Marche Gourmand

This happened last weekend on my street, Voltaire. They had gorgeous gourmet chocolates, cheeses, meats, macaroons, and vins. The marches occur in different neighborhoods once a month. Dusk in Paris is so beautiful, and to have Le Marche Gourmand occur on my street at dusk after a wonderful Thanksgiving made it feel too good to be living here.

Aujourd'hui de Dinde. Gobble Gobble.

Thanksgiving in Paris. Sound unheard of? Well, yes because it is not a French holiday--we own that one:) but, my fantastic fellow American students and our wonderful guest of honor all enjoyed one of the best Thanksgivings, ever.

the well designed table--Martha, don't hate

Thankfully I did have someone yell at me that I was not carving the turkey properly.

Natalia and Nina. Natalia made awesome gluten-free stuffing!

Thanks Sherry and Nina. We had our own American football rivalry!

Catlina, Audrey, Raena, Jean-Pierre Constant, Nina, Gabriella, me, Janine

And all of our festive turkey hands. Long live kindergarten traditions!

What a great turkey for JPC's first time:)

It was very cool to have a professor share such a special tradition, and considering that this was his first turkey day, the exchange of culture was wonderful. He did note that we were teaching him. (I felt like I was in the college in the 60's having my professor over for dinner and sharing wine.)

All of my girlfriends did a fantastic job. The company was such a pleasure. We did say what we were thankful without any tears, barely.

We did have plenty of Beaujolais Nouveau, as well as some Absinthe to try.

I give so much credit to everyone because we had to make do (very design) as well as hunt for ingredients, and tools for cooking. Do you know where to find cranberry sauce? Gab did the centerpiece with leaves from our street. Sherry found pumpkin pie ingredients at store called the "Real McCoy." Raena made green beans for the first time! I brought out crayons so we could participate in a true American pastime, turkey hands!!

Three cheers for everyone and I hope your Thanksgiving was just as special!