Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Paris

To kick off our day, we went to Champs-Elysees location of LaDuree in search of macaroons (they were invented there) but sat down for an entire breakfast. Shauna found her ultimate dessert pictured below consisting of rose flavored macaroons with fresh raspberries and lychee flavored cream inside. If this dessert didn't already exist, Shauna would've invented it.

Random street scene below.

The view from right outside our hotel in La Defense shows the Arc de Triomphe in the background. Although we're a bit out of the way, a metro station is outside our door so distance isn't much of an issue.
Below, Shauna poses in front of the Grande Arche which is the symbol of the La Defense neighborhood.

To round out the evening, we went for a wine tasting which was hosted by a very relaxed, fun and informative sommelier in his loft apartment. Prior to this evening, our knowledge and respect for French wine was almost zero but we came away with some useful insights and a greater appreciation of how great French wine is. Certainly, we couldn't think of a better and more fun way to learn of regional wines than from this tasting and would recommend it to everyone.

He looks serious in the below photo but was actually very funny and entertaining throughout helping us learn.

Below are some photos from Aix en Provence that we didn't get a chance to put up. The main area to stroll is the Cours Mirabeau and it's lined with numerous cafes and bistros to sit around at.

Much of the rest of central Aix is narrow streets filled with great shops, restaurants and cafes. We could've spent much more time there but our rush up to Paris only left us two nights in Aix which was not enough. There isn't much to see there but it's a great place to simply chill out.


2 comments:

Unknown said...

I want to try that dessert, looks tasty! The wine tasting must have been real fun in Paris, the wine tasting in Napa the day after the wedding was fantastic!

Jessica said...

The dessert looked sooo yummy!