Le Marais - our neighborhood in Paris

While in Paris we stayed in the wonderful Le Marais neighborhood. Full of great food and shopping but also all of the usual Paris type establishments that make this city so fun - cafes, butchers, bakers, pastry shops and green grocers - just to name a few.

We arrived tired but exhilarated - so we decided to start walking our neighborhood and get a sense of what is and Paris had to offer.

Hungry and ready for a breakfast - we stopped in for a little coffee and Croque Monsieur (a wonderful version of grilled ham and cheese with a bechemal or mornay sauce). This is not your typical breakfast item and garnered some unusual looks from our waitress. But once she knew we were americans it all made sense.

I was amazed at the amount of pastry/bakery options that one neighborhood could support. From basic bread to fancy pastries and confections.

This store had amazing marshmallow options as well as beautiful cakes and pastries.





The butcher shops were so pretty - these people take their craft very seriously and meat was displayed like works of art. Some still had feet and heads attached - it was nice to see a culture still in touch with their food. Not like here where most things are shrink wrapped - boneless and no longer representing the animal that it once was.



There were a great deal of deli type stores - filled with cured meats, salads, cheeses etc. A great place to stop and pick up a meal or side dish. We oohed and ahhed over the aspics and meat gels.





One very cool little chain of stores is called the Daily Monop. Here you can get a wide variety of pre-made sandwiches, salads and soups. Also prepared fruit, yogurt, beverages and dry snacks. There is a variety of fresh-baked bread and rolls to choose from as well.

We stopped by here regularly for little snacks - it was so convenient to say - "I am running down to the Monop", it was so close and handy.

doors in paris

This post will show my geekier side for sure. I love doors. There was a time when doors were really important design elements - and I love that and miss that. I even have a door in my house that was a gift quite some years ago - it has moved with me all over and just hangs out against a wall in the dining room.

One of things I loved in Paris were all the doors - so old and so beautiful. I took a few pictures of them alone - then decided that Ramon would be a good door prop.

So here you go -

travel sickness cure

How fun it was one day to bump into a group of people we knew in Paris and then meet up a few days later at one of the famous falafel restaurants.

Megan of Not Martha was part of the little group we bumped into - I had met her before at a Grassroots Business gathering I attended as a speaker. She is a pretty big deal in the blogging world - she would totally deny it of course.

We sat next to each other and had some discussions about things we love or not love in Paris. She and her guy were traveling to England the next day and she mentioned that she has some need for travel sickness pills occasionally. She was hoping to pick up these magic pills at a pharmacy. I mentioned that I also have issues and that it would be cool if she grabbed me a box.

Well - with so many things going on and being in Paris and all I had forgotten my request. So it was so nice to see her walk into Immortal Dog with this little package in her hand for me...... Boots Travel Calm.

I love pharmacies and Paris had great ones stocked with fancy face products, lots of foot products for all the walking they do and fancy soaps etc. I was entranced. So Megan bringing me this product from the Boots store in England was so awesome! Thanks for thinking of me! I look forward to trying it out on my next motion adventure!

love in Paris!

Paris is the city of lights - and the city of love they say. Well it turned out to be the latter for me. Exciting news - Mr. Ramon proposed in front of the Notre Dame - while guitars played in the background. Lovely, breathtaking and romantic - and I could not help it but say yes!



So look forward to posts about wedding planning - mood boards, venues, dresses, flowers and all that silly stuff.

paris street art

Both of us really love street art - and when we travel we try to get a feel of what the city has to offer. Paris was pretty amazing. On the train ride in to the city and back to the airport we saw so many great strips of art. My camera was not available for that - so I concentrated on picking up images of smaller art in the city as we walked around.