Bonjour Sweet Friends!

Today we took the train from Koln to Paris for a long weekend. I’m meeting my friend Rickey Lee tomorrow and we will be doing everything touristy for the next several days. I’ve been to Paris once before and being so close (3 hrs by Thalys train), I told him we will do/see whatever he wants to do since I can always come back; and so I’ve been waiting to hear from him so I could plan our itinerary. He’s been in Thailand for the last two weeks and got out 3 days AFTER the military coup! Of course, I didn’t know anything about it so when he finally called me I said, well I thought you were dead. He replied well, I have been right in the middle of a military coup and might have been killed but you wouldn’t know cos you never watch the news. Of course, I thought he was joking because I don’t read/watch the news, bit he swears he was practically in a scene from Miss Saigon 🙂  although he did manage to get out of Bangkok; so he’s on the way!

We arrived at the main train station around 12:30, so we stored our luggage and set out to find a spot for lunch. I quickly whipped out my Happy Cow app on my phone and searched for a close vegan friendly restaurant. I LOVE this app! Gives you a list of restaurants that are closest to you and lists them by proximity, closest first. Restaurants also appear on a map so you can easily find them – even in Paris! We set out for Saveurs VegetHalles near Notre Dame. We easily found it with the aid of our map and it was a not only vegan, but organic and microbiotic!! Woohoo! We had wonderful salads and I had also had an vegan microbiotic apricot crumble and espresso. Heaven!!

Then we set out to wander around the back streets and alleys with no agenda and no plan. We simply wanted to walk around and meander through streets. We had a wonderful afternoon and met several wonderful Parisans. One man, Bill, talked to us for about 30 mins in the little farmer’s market and when he learned that I came from Hawaii, he whipped out his Hawaiian drivers license!! He lived there for four years at one time and still had his license! Small world indeed! He was wonderfully charming and gave us some helpful information. One young man, I didn’t get his name came running up to me speaking French and kissed my hand and told me I had “style!”  And people say the French are rude! I don’t think so at all. Everyone today was most friendly! We had a great day.

Paris amazes me and takes my breath away. Even the simplest things are majestic and beautiful. The pix from today are mostly random buildings and churches we happened on (with the exception of Notre Dame) and are not in any guide books but they are nonetheless spectacular. We happened on St. Paul’s Church today; just a local community church that dates back to the 1300’s and was just stunning. The ceilings, the stained glass, and the inside of the dome moved me to tears; and this is just a local parish, nothing fancy. Like I said, Paris takes my breath away sometimes.  Everything here is monumental!

Tomorrow, we hook up with Rickey Lee at the airport, hopefully, and then hit the streets of Paris in earnest! Check back for more pix and posts. Have a monumental weekend!