Sara's Blog

“Are we going to Paris to go to Paris…or are we going to Paris for scrapbook pages?” Keith asked as we got on the tram to the airport. Hmmm…I actually have to think on that one!

Oh, Paris…what a fantastic, beautiful city: The wide sidewalks filled with afternoon strollers, the gardens, the statues, and the vitality of the cafes, patisseries and museums. We visited the Louvre for an art infusion, climbed the Eiffel Tower (500+ steps!) and hit the local markets for croissants, cheese and the juiciest, darkest purple grapes I’ve ever had. Saturday morning I parked Keith at a café with some coffee while I hit the flea market to replenish my lost stash of collage bits. Oh, the treasures I found! Vintage lace, old letters, voter cards from the ‘40’s and art books—and my biggest score ever: Vintage French fashion newspapers with illustrations and advertisements from 1913! They smell wonderful…that antique-y smell that immediately takes me back to being eight years old and curling up with one of the old books in my grandmother’s basement. (I think you have to love old stuff to appreciate that smell!)

Then we went to dinner. Up until now, we’d blended in pretty well (no Lucky Lab Brewpub t-shirts) but dinner was another matter. We found a great French restaurant and the waitress very kindly helped us decipher the menu. We decided on salmon, which we as picky eaters figured was pretty safe. Our waitress brought out the food in record time and we soon discovered why: The salmon was raw. Yes, it was a big salmon filet…only it was totally raw. We just looked at each other across the table and Keith said slowly, “Oh, my.” So in the spirit of adventure, we reminded ourselves that sushi is also raw fish (never mind that we don’t eat sushi) and gamely went for it. It’s not bad, actually, although I couldn’t for the life of me finish it and actually resorted to scooting the fish around on the plate like I did when I was a kid. We left the restaurant feeling far less sophisticated than when we went in…but that’s the beauty of traveling and exploring! (I think the chocolate mousse we had later that night also helped!)

PS. I’ll post digital scrapbook pages with photos from Paris next week!