Like the rest of New England, Boston really surprised me. It is such a beautiful, clean, walkable city. We only had one day there but I feel like we really did as much as we possibly could. I barely made it back to the apartment because we had walked so much. Highlights include: dinner at Mamma Maria, walking the Freedom Trail, the Granary Burying Ground, visiting the USS Constitution, and walking along Newbury Street. Thankfully Joe likes Boston and New…
Oh, New England! I had no idea of the charms and wonders that were waiting for me here. It’s a lot like the South but… nicer? Okay okay, I didn’t see nearly as much of New England as I’ve seen of the South. If it weren’t for those awful winters I’d be sending Joe job listings. It was unseasonably warm (I’m not complaining, for once) so there wasn’t the flood of fall leaf colors we were thinking we’d see.Food highlights…
New York City is unlike any place I’ve ever been. Leading up to the trip, Joe kept telling me how surreal it would be to see it in person after seeing it in movies and on t.v. my whole life and I didn’t really get what he meant until I was there. Sure, I’ve been to Paris several times and I get that heart-stopping feeling every time I see the Eiffel Tower, but that feels like a part of me…
Oakland Cemetery is a beautiful deathstination (thank you Caitlin Doughty for that word). Not only are there unique headstones and beautiful landscaping on a lot of ground, but there is a gift shop. Why don’t all cemeteries have gift shops? Do they not know how much money I would spend at each and every one? This time I purchased Ghost Cats of the South (the only thing that would scream “me” more would have to be Cooking with Ghost Parisian Cats…
In September two friends and I went to NOLA Storycon in, well, New Orleans. They live in Atlanta so I flew there and we drove to New Orleans, enabling me to check a new state off my list: Alabama. Since these are my travel and shopping buddies, of course we had to stop at the outlet mall outside of Birmingham. It was a great success, as well as the lunch pit stop at Yo Mama’s in Birmingham. I’d move there…
Despite it being horrifically cold, we really did get to see and do some very awesome things. We took a bike tour where we got to see ancient Roman ruins and explore a new-to-us neighborhood, St-Germain. We did a walking food tour of Montmartre with Clotilde Dusoulier (my main bday present aside from actually going to Paris). We got to see and touch the most beautiful Iron Lady. We went to Musee d’Orsay and see beautiful paintings. I got to see…
Before planning for this trip, I didn’t even realize you could go up into the Sacre Coeur. After having a light lunch of soup around the corner, we went up the millions of steps to the top. We were rewarded with darling gargoyles and spectacular views. The weather was pretty gross for most of the trip but cleared up for a little while while we were up there. It was neat to learn that sixteen nuns live in one of…
We got to see so many more things on this trip than we were able to on previous trips to Paris. It was my third trip, Joe’s second, and our first time on our own without a tour group. We took a bike tour, my third and his second again, and this one was “Off the Beaten Path.” New sights included the Church of Saint-Sulpice, the church that was started in 1646 and never quite finished; beautiful Parisian doors; all kinds…
Instead of the usual Wednesday Whimsy post, I’m going to go ahead and get the worst photos of the Paris trip over with. Not all of them are awful, but you just can’t do much for indoor winter dinner photos, even in Paris. Well, I suppose someone could figure it out, but I’d rather eat. From the food tour of Montmartre that we did with Clotilde: Lunch at Le Petit Cler: Ladurée adventures: Lunch at Les Philosophes: Various Breakfast in…
^The original ceiling^ After booking the trip to Paris, Joe and I decided to do a day trip. I suggested Disney and he suggested Mont Saint-Michel. I was a little reluctant to do the latter because it was about a four hour coach ride each way with around 3 hours to spend there, but the French countryside isn’t anything tortuous so we decided to take the trip to the Normandy coast. We signed up to get lunch with the group…