SLO life

After our tour de Santa Barbara, we headed north to San Luis Obispo on Friday afternoon to meet up with Amanda and Josh, who were also getting into town that evening.  While we waited for them to get in, Shane and I took a quick spin through the Cal Poly campus for a stroll down memory lane.  Wandering through the architecture building was a total blast from the past – I poked my head into the studio where I spent what felt like every waking hour of my last year at school, and when I saw the desks strewn with cool models and crazy sketches, I felt a little pang of longing for old times.  Then I stood on the same little balcony from which I remember making hundreds of stressed-out late-night calls to Shane, and saw the grungy old couch which I napped on when I was working in the studio until 4 a.m. and couldn’t trust myself to head home and make it back for my 8 a.m. class, and I was thankful that those days are behind me.

Amanda and Josh arrived that evening, and once we were all checked into our hotel room, we headed toward downtown to hit up Firestone’s for dinner – their tri-tip sandwich was a protein staple in my college diet, and I’ve been craving this meaty goodness ever since I left.  Deeeee-lish.  When we left the bar, it was pouring rain, so we decided to just head back to the hotel to hang out and veg.  Even though Amanda and I hadn’t seen each other since June, it never takes us more than 15 minutes to feel like we’ve never been apart, and it felt good to have a low-key night together, just talking and laughing.  I’ve missed her.

Saturday morning, I had only one mission: coffee at my favorite cafe in downtown SLO.  Shane and I were up bright and early-ish to hit up Linnea’s Cafe.  I was happy to find that the place was relatively unchanged – still cozy, still serving good coffee, and still inhabited by the same intriguing man that has sat at the same table every day for years now, hunched over his journal, in which he writes/draws symbols unlike any language I’ve ever seen before (I’m betting all of my old Cal Poly peeps know exactly who I’m talking about).

After coffee and a short stroll through downtown, the skies cleared and the sun came out, and we were all beach-bound, intent on grabbing lunch at Splash Cafe in Pismo Beach.  Their clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl was another staple in my college diet (the term ‘Freshman Fifteen’ exists for a reason), and again, I was not disappointed.  However, I was slightly disappointed when we left the restaurant to walk on the beach, only to find that all beach access was closed for the day, due to the coast-wide tsunami warnings.  Bummer.  But we got over it quickly enough, ’cause we had a wedding to get to.

The wedding was fabulous.  The bride was my old friend Jenny, whom I’ve known since high school, when we used to type messages to each other on our calculators in high school math class.  We were roommates during our freshman year at Cal Poly, and though we haven’t seen each other since Shane I got married almost four years ago, I was thrilled to be a part of her special day, which was so wonderfully ‘Jenny-ish’.  Francine, another one of my best friends from high school, was also there, and our little reunion was so much fun.  When I say, ‘We all go waaaay back together’, I really mean it, and it was fun to reminisce.

Sunday was our last day in Cali, and we took advantage of it by heading up the coast to see the elephant seals near San Simeon.  There is this stretch of beach that is home to hundreds of elephant seals, and driving up highway 1 to go see them is a favorite Central Coast pastime.  They were out in full force on Sunday, even closer to shore because of high tide.  The four of us spent nearly an hour just watching them lounge around in the sun, then occasionally flop across the beach to get in the water or play with one of their mates.  They are amazing animals – the males can get up to 20 feet long and can weigh as much as 8,000 pounds, and they have these horribly-ugly-but-still-kind-of-cute hooked snouts that wave around a little bit when they raise their heads in the air to bark.

After our seal-gazing, it was time to say good-bye to Amanda and Josh and head back down to Santa Barbara to catch our flight home.  One last walk on the beach when we got to SB, and then I was officially bummed to be leaving California.  What a weekend…

Posted in seeing, traveling | No Comments »

beach fix

When Shane and I received a wedding invitation from an old friend of mine, stating that she would be getting married in San Luis Obispo at the end of February, we looked at each other and said, “Do you think we should go?” Approximately 2.5 seconds later, we both nodded our heads with an emphatic “HECK YES.” It would be a great chance to celebrate with several old and dear friends, to revisit my old stompin’ grounds (I hadn’t been back to SLO since I graduated a few years ago), and to enjoy a romantic little weekend getaway. And so we bought our tickets, packed our flip-flops and sunglasses, and we were off.

We flew into Santa Barbara and decided that we would spend Thursday night there, before joining our friends in SLO on Friday. Neither one of us had spent any time in Santa Barbara, and we were looking forward to checking out the beaches, the food, and the wine country. Our plane arrived at Santa Barbara airport at 4:15 p.m., and Shane, being the stellar planner that he is, had already picked out a place nearby where we could grab a couple of drinks and catch the 5:51 p.m. sunset. We hopped in our rental car and were off to Hendry’s Beach. The second I stepped out of the car, smelled the salt of the ocean, heard the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, and saw the sun glinting off the expanse of water, I was smitten. It was then that I realized how much I’d been missing the Central Coast. After a margarita and a sunset walk on the sand, I was ready to call up my office and let them know that I would not be returning to work anytime in the near future – I was in the midst of some serious beach lust (as in, lusting after the beach, in case that came out wrong).

We spent the rest of the evening on State Street, enjoying tacos at Lilly’s, then drinks and dessert at Pascucci and then Palazzio. From the novelty of the labio tacos (translation: lip – Shane was bolder than I in ordering this one) at Lilly’s, to the decadence of the creme brulee at Pascucci, to the richness of the wine that we shared at Palazzio, it was a perfect night.

Friday morning we took advantage of the free bikes that our hotel had for check-out and hopped on a couple of beach-cruisers to head down to the water for breakfast. There can’t be anything more Californian than riding a bike down State Street in your flip-flops, zipping past palm trees and trendy little boutiques, loving the feel of the sun on your face and that cool, coastal breeze in your hair. Heaven. After a 3-mile ride, we arrived at East Beach Grill, where I ordered a heap of wheatgerm banana pancakes (an ode to Jack Johnson), settled into my chair just inches from the sandy beach, and chowed down. Again, heaven.

After breakfast, we headed back to the hotel, packed up our things, and pointed our car north, in search of the perfect glass of Santa Barbara wine. The hills northwest of Santa Barbara are scattered with tons of wineries, big and small, and without a real agenda in hand, we decided we’d just head in the direction of Los Olivos and see what struck our fancy. We hit five wineries and tasted over 30 wines that afternoon – my favorite was the Zaca Mesa Estate Roussanne, and Shane loved the Merlot from Curtis. The landscape was absolutely beautiful, with its rolling green hills and small, rocky mountains.

Once our tongues were sufficiently coated with tannins and our teeth disturbingly purple, we decided it was time to make the rest of the trek up to San Luis Obispo. However, many of you know that no visit to California is complete without a stop at In-N-Out burger, so a pitstop in Santa Maria for some quality fast-food goodness was in order. You can see Shane eyeing me with that “Let me just eat my burger” look:

We arrived in SLO on Friday evening, but I will save our adventures there for another post – I am wiped out tonight, still recovering from the bliss of such a perfect weekend…

Posted in seeing, traveling | No Comments »

quality time

We spent a very quick 24 hours in Portland this weekend, jetting down there yesterday morning after brunch with some friends, and jetting back to Seattle this afternoon in time to catch the Superbowl at home (and if you saw how Shane drove today in order to make it home by 3:30, ‘jetting’ is a gross understatement).  It was a nice trip – briefer than I’d have liked to it to be, but full of some quality-time with the fam, for which I am grateful.

My parents were also visiting Portland for the weekend, so we seized the opportunity that this little Jarrell family reunion presented and went out on the town last night for a nice meal together.  Elise stayed home with a sitter, and I was a little bummed to miss out on some quality time with my increasingly-adorable niece, but once we settled into our cozy little table at Navarre and ordered a good bottle of wine, I saw the value in having a grown-up kind of night.  I do love me a good tapas-style dinner, and our small plates of beet salad, crab cakes, braised pork, and roasted brussel sprouts did not disappoint.  Topped off with a shared slice of devil’s food cake and a great cup of coffee, and I was one happy clam.  Yum.

This morning was nice and mellow, and while Mitch and my dad worked on a couple of projects around the house, my mom and I buckled Elise into her stroller and headed over to the neighborhood coffee shop for some quality mother/daughter/granddaughter-auntie/niece time.  It’s fun being able to communicate with Elise on a different level now – she’s able to tell us what she likes/doesn’t like, did/didn’t do, wants/doesn’t want.  For example, she was abundantly clear when we walked by the park on the way home that she wanted ‘OUT’ of her stroller to go play on the ‘SWINGS, PLEASE’ (okay, I added the ‘please’, but she’s working on her manners, so I’ll cut her some slack).  We were happy to oblige, and spent some time pushing her on the swings as she giggled and jabbered.  It was a great morning.

And then, it was time to point the car north and head back home.  Such a quick visit, and while I’m thankful that we have the chance to visit my family several times a year, these one-day trips can leave me missing them more than usual.  So I’m a little bummed out tonight, wishing I could have stayed in Portland a few more days – who wouldn’t miss this face?

Posted in doing, traveling | 3 Comments »

more scenes from san francisco

I had a lovely last couple of days in San Francisco.  I cafe-hopped while Shane attended his conference, I caught up with a few more old friends, and I took in the sights, smells, and tastes of this city that I am loving more and more with each new visit.  The highlights:

A stroll through Chinatown, in all its vibrancy:

Happy hour at ‘B’ in Yerba Buena.  So good to sit in the sunshine, sip Persecco, and slurp up dollar oysters.  Heaven:

Morning coffee at Four Barrell in the Mission.  The best latte I had all week:

And a quick whirl through the SF MOMA, to take in Dubuffet, Motherwell, and Giacometti:

Again, Lovely.

Posted in doing, seeing, traveling | No Comments »

san fran adventures…

When Shane told me last month that he’d been given the opportunity to spend a few days in San Francisco for a work-related conference, I jumped at the chance to tag along, to spend some quality time with my husband, but also snag a little time to myself in one of my most favorite cities.  We flew in on Saturday morning, got settled at our hotel room, and then met up with a couple of old friends who had come into the city for the day to hang out and catch up with us.  Marco is known for making every little outing an ‘adventure’, and indeed, our 8-hour whirlwind tour of 5 different San Francisco bars and restaurants turned out to be an afternoon/evening/night to remember.  We started with drinks at the Gold Dust Lounge – a little saloon-type bar right near Union Square.  It happened to be unusually hot in San Francisco that day, and the bar was pretty toasty inside, so as the beads of sweat began to drip down our foreheads, we decided to call it a day at that place and head out in search of someplace with outdoor seating.  We ended up at Delfina pizzeria in the Mission District and snagged a nice little sidewalk table.  We ordered a couple of pizzas and some wine, and settled into our chairs to enjoy a perfect city evening with perfect food and great friends.  The crostini with fresh mozzarella and arugula was a-mazing, and the pizzas were perfectly light, crispy, and fresh tasting.  I could have sat on that sidewalk terrace all night, but we had a 6 pm reservation at Bourbon and Branch, so we polished off our dinner and hopped in a cab back toward downtown.  I’m still not sure how Marco found out about this place, but Bourbon and Branch has recreated the true ‘speak-easy’ experience.  When you call to make a reservation, they give you the address and a password, and the bar’s entrance is just an old wooden door in an otherwise totally non-descript gray stucco building front.

When you knock on the door, a man in a Dick Tracy-like hat opens the door just a couple of inches, peers outside, and whispers ‘What’s the password?’.  Quite the production, but totally amusing.  Luckily, we had that magic word and were led into a dimly lit bar, replete with dark wood paneling and furniture, deep red velvet-embossed wallpaper, and a drink menu that would impress any cocktail connoisseur.  Since cocktail connoisseur I am not, and since the first page of their menu clearly states, “Do not even think of ordering a Cosmopolitan!”, I nervously flipped through the menu in search of something that looked like it would fit my tastes.  My first choice was a White Lady, which is a mixture of Cointreau, gin, lemon, and egg whites.  The egg whites give the drink an interesting foamy texture, and the lemon cut through some of the really ‘alcoholic’ flavors.  Shane ordered an Old Fashioned (an homage to Donald Draper, for you Mad Men fans), and claims it was the best cocktail he’s ever tasted.  We stayed for one more round, and then headed back out into 21^st-century San Francisco in search another venue to continue our adventure.  We ended up at Lori’s diner and munched on French fries to soak up some of the alcohol that was resting in our stomachs from those uber-strong cocktails.  One more stop after that for a night cap, and we were ready to call it a night.  We said good-bye to Marco and Lisa as they hopped on the Bart, returned to our hotel, and slept like a couple of babies that night, thankful that we’d had the foresight to fill up on food and water before we went to bed.

Yesterday we woke to a fog-blanketed city, but didn’t mind the gray weather, as we had time to get a slow start to the day.

Really, we had only one item on the agenda:  meet up with a couple of other friends to watch the Giants WIN against the Rockies.  It turned out to be a good afternoon for a baseball game, sunny and clear, and as we put on our Giants gear, we silently said a little prayer that our team would come through with a victory (we’ve watched them lose twice this year already, in San Francisco and Seattle, and I was worried that Shane just couldn’t bear a third defeat).  The Rockies started off strong, and we were nervous when they went into the bottom of the 7^th inning with a 5-2 lead.  But then the Giants’ Renteria stepped up to the plate and knocked a pitch right out of the park, bringing in four runs and giving the Giants the lead.  It was one of those all-consuming, totally joyous, game-going moments when everyone jumps up and down and grins stupidly and hugs and high-fives each other.  Very cool.  The Rockies just weren’t the same after that Grand Slam and so our team came through with a 9-5 win.  YESSS!  Games like that make me rethink my only lukewarm feelings about baseball.

We turned in early last night after a relaxing swim in the hotel pool, and I am now beginning my first day to myself at Café Centro, trying to decided what kinds of adventures today will hold.  I’m suddenly feeling like the opportunities are endless…

Posted in doing, seeing, traveling | No Comments »

a good dose of ‘urban’…

I returned yesterday afternoon from a three-day trip to Portland – a work-related conference took me down there, but I was fortunately able to squeeze in some time to enjoy the city and hang out with family.  It was nice to have a few hours to myself to wander through downtown with my camera – I was reminded of how much I love the city’s textures and charm.

Portland has this unique industrial richness to it that imparts a sense of age of vibrancy to the street fronts and neighborhoods.  The brick warehouses and historic water towers of the Pearl district, the fire escapes that zig-zag across the fronts of so many buildings, the facades in varied colors of stone and tile…  I’m a sucker for all of it.

And for better and for worse, the ‘grittier’ areas are slowly being infiltrated with trendy cafes, boutiques, and galleries.  I love coffee, fashion, and art, so far be it from me to complain, but I hope that these new establishments are able to respectfully work within the existing architectural and urban character of the city.

Ahhhh, I love this city…

Posted in doing, seeing, traveling | No Comments »

a weekend in the woods

Shane and I spent this weekend down in Central Oregon at my parents’ place, where we met up with my three closest girlfriends from California.  It was a fabulous couple of days – it was great to be reunited with this group of ladies that I’ve known for over a decade now.  We often don’t do as good a job as we’d like of keeping in touch, but the second we’re all together again, it feels as if we’ve never been apart.

Much of the weekend was spent just lounging around the house, playing ping-pong and board games and giggling ourselves silly.  But we did make sure to get a good dose of the outdoors – Central Oregon is home to some of the most beautiful mountains I’ve ever seen.  On Saturday afternoon, we did the grand tour of Newberry National Volcanic Monument.  This was the breathtaking view from the top of Paulina Peak:

And Shane was such a good sport, hanging out with a bunch of girls all weekend.  Bless his heart for enduring, and even enjoying, two full days of listening to our incessant giggling and reminiscing.

One of our last stops on Saturday was at the obsidian flow in Newberry Park.  Mounds and mounds of pumice and obsidian as far as the eye can see.  Sort of desolate-feeling, but also so beautiful.

And on the way home today, as Shane and I kept catching these amazing little glimpses of a snow-covered Mount Hood, we decided to take a short detour to Timberline Lodge to get a better view of the mountain.  Totally worth the trip – Shane and I walked around in our flip flops and took in the view while we watched geared-up skiiers come flying down snowy slopes.  Bizarre.

I was sad to see this weekend come to an end, but so thankful for the chance to enjoy some quality time with friends and family.  Already looking forward to our next reunion, wherever that may be…

Posted in seeing, traveling | 1 Comment »

i left my heart…

In honor of our upcoming third anniversary, Shane and I treated ourselves last weekend to a great little getaway to San Francisco.  It was a whirlwind couple of days, filled with amazing food, lots of sunshine (I’ve got the pink shoulders to prove it), a good dose of baseball, plenty of sight-seeing, and good times with old friends.  The highlights:

We arrived on Friday morning, checked into our cute little room at the Mosser, and headed straight back out the door toward Golden Gate Park.  We were both eager to check out two of SF’s newest museums – the de Young by Herzog and de Meuron, and the recently remodeled California Academy of Sciences by Renzo Piano.  Both buildings were stunning.  The copper panels of the de Young were sleek and gorgeous; the glassy lobby and hilly roof of the Academy of Sciences were simple but incredibly thoughtful.  We grabbed lunch at The Moss Room in the Academy of Sciences and then spent a couple of hours wandering through the museum, taking in the lushness of the miniature rainforest and the wonderful colors and shapes of the sea-life in the aquarium.  I felt like an awe-struck little kid, excitedly grabbing Shane by the arm every few minutes to point out some cool little butterfly or crazy swimming seadragon.  Awesome.

We spent the evening enjoying a decadent dinner at Perbacco, and then headed to District wine bar to meet up with some of my old friends from college for a drink.  It was good to catch up - B and I lived together for two years in college and were both in Paris for our fourth year abroad.  So many memories together, and so many details to share about our post-college lives!  I would have loved to stay up all night chatting, but the wine, the heavy pasta dinner, and the rich chocolate dessert were all beginning to put me under, and so we headed back to our hotel, tired but satisfied with a perfect day in the city.

Saturday we had just two main missions:  enjoy a fantastic brunch at Citizen Cake and take in a Giants game at AT&T Park.  Mission number one was accomplished as I polished off an amazing egg/avacado/gruyere breakfast sandwich at our nice little corner table by the window.  And a couple of hours later, we were well into mission number two, as we grabbed our seats at the ballpark, bought an ice-cold lemonade, and sat back to cheer on our favorite team.  The Giants, unfortunately, were no match for the Mets that day, but nonetheless, it was a well-spent afternoon.

Saturday night we headed to the Marina to get dinner at A16, then bussed south to grab drinks at Bix – a small bar that came highly recommended to us by a good friend.  Bix was awesome, from the perfectly prepared cocktails, to the uber-cool jazz band mellowly jamming out in the corner, to the friendly guy that sat next us and bought Shane and I each a shot of good tequila in honor of our anniversary.  This place has been added to the list of must-hits for our next return to San Francisco.

Sunday began with a visit to the Mission district.  We picked up a couple of tarts at Tartine and walked over to Dolores Park to munch on our treasures and enjoy the view of the city.  Lovely.

Our weekend of gluttony continued as we headed to the Ferry Building to try out the notorious oysters at Hog Island.  Being near the water was wonderful – the breeze that blew in from the bay gave us a welcome break from the heat.  Our final sight-see of the day was to visit the sea lions at Fisherman’s Wharf.  I love these animals – I could watch them bark and flop and laze for hours.

One final bar stop to enjoy a beer with some good friends that were in San Francisco for the day, and our time in the city had come to a close.  And so the planning begins for our next trip back!  I had somehow forgotten or just never realized what an incredible place San Francisco can be.  So much to see, so much to eat, and so little time…

Posted in traveling | 1 Comment »

sifting, sorting, remembering…

I have undertaken the task going through the nearly 3000 photos I took during our two-week vacation, picking out some of my favorites for printing or sharing here.  It’s a slow process – so many to choose from, each one coupled with a special memory.  I’ll sporadically post a few on my blog as I’m sorting – here are the particularly special ones I came across tonight:

By the end of our time in Paris, Shane was rolling his eyes as I stopped to take my 200th picture of Parisian roof lines.  Can’t help it – even though buildings like this are found all over the city, I am still enamoured with each and every one of them.  So lovely…

Lampposts were also a favorite photographic subject – it’s all about the little things (although the sight of the Eiffel Tower in the background certain helps the composition).

More roof lines – this one was taken from the terrace of the Pompidou:

Signs of springtime…

Rue Montorgueil – one of my favorite streets in Paris, lined with cafes and cheese shops and little markets.  Shane and I had a nice leisurely lunch at a little pizzeria on this street after our trip to the Pompidou.

Place des Vosges – one of my favorite public squares in Paris (I’m starting to notice that everything in Paris is described as “my favorite…” – bear with me).  We stayed just a couple of blocks away from here and frequented this spot.  Great place to sit on a bench, eat a sandwich, and people-watch.

Yowsers:

Already our time in Paris and Portugal feels like it was so long ago – I’m ready for a repeat!  But for now, my memories and my thousands of photos will have to do, which isn’t so bad – there’s satisfaction in reminiscing about such a perfect trip…

Posted in traveling | No Comments »

paris: les derniers jours (the final days)

After a rainy stroll through the Parque del Retiro and a cafe con leche at the top of the CaixaForum building, we left Madrid to head back to Paris on Friday.  Our time in Madrid had felt too short, and I had loved Portugal, but I was itching to get back to Paris.  And from the minute we popped up out of the Metro station and onto the sidewalks of the 3rd arrondisement, I was overjoyed.  So happy to hear the sound of French being spoken around me, so taken with the rooflines and wrought iron railings on the buildings facing the street, so drawn to those tiny tables on the sidewalks in front of the brasseries.  In a way, it felt like coming home, which was cool – it’s nice to know that nearly five years after living here, I still haven’t lost my knowledge of and my attachment to Paris.  We checked into our cute little room on Rue de Turbigo and then set out for dinner at Cafe Briezh – we’d been eyeing this place’s dinner crepes last week, but had never been able to get a table.  We had success at finding a spot this time and promptly ordered a buckwheat crepe with cheese, ham and mushrooms for myself and one filled with egg, cheese, and smoked filet mignon for Shane.  Paired with a pitcher of the special hard cider of the house, dinner was delicious.  We of course had left room for dessert, and ordered one crepe with bananas, caramel, and ice cream, and another with chocolate, pears, and whipped cream.  Heaven.

We spent the rest of the evening strolling through the Marais and along the Seine, stopping on Ile de la Cite to listen to the same sidewalk jazz band that we’d come across the Friday before.  We ended the night with a small carafe of wine from Les Philosophes and went to bed that night so thankful that we’d have one more day to soak in the richness of Paris.

We were thrilled to wake up to clear blue skies on Saturday morning.  The first order of business of the day was hopping on the Metro toward Montparnasse, as part of our continual quest for the perfect pain au chocolat.  Jack had read an article about a baker down there whose croissants had gotten rave reviews, and so we figured, “Why not?”  We picked up a couple of pastries and found a bench in a nearby park where we could sit and savor our buttery finds.  My pain au chocolat was pretty near perfect – crisp and flaky on the outside, soft and airy on the inside, and swirled with a ribbon of rich dark chocolate.  The breakfast of gods:

Next stop was the Fondation Cartier, a large art exhibition space and one of my favorite contemporary buildings in Paris.  I appreciate this place more and more each time I visit it – so simple, but so well-planned and special.  I noticed for the first time the amazing green wall that is growing over the entrance – nice!

We had dedicated the rest of the day to aimlessly wandering the city, lounging on park benches and sitting at cafe terraces.  And so we strolled over to the Jardin du Luxembourg to see how much blooming the flowers had done since we’d been there ten days ago.  The tulips were popping open in bright shades of orange and pink, and we grabbed a couple of chairs in front of the small pond to soak in the spring colors and watch the kids nearby push their little sailboats around in the water.

One hour, one baguette sandwich, and many rays of sun later, we were ready to peel ourselves from our lounge chairs and do some walking.  We ended up at the Jardin des Plantes, where we found more brightly blooming flowers and a park bench with our name on it.  And so we took a seat to for more people-watching, flower-gazing, and sun-soaking.  Saturday afternoons just don’t get any better than that.

And what better way to end a couple hours of park lounging than with a cold beer or a cup of espresso at a sidewalk cafe?  So we made another trip to Les Philosophes (our new favorite Marais bar) to have a drink and really “play Parisian”, as all of the terraces were crowded with French people enjoying their weekend.

For dinner that night, we checked out a cute little restaurant called Robert and Louise on Vielle du Temple.  Shane had both escargot and confit du canard for the first time, and loved them both.  The snails were smooth and buttery, and the duck leg was tender and fatty.  Mmmmm…  For dessert, we decided to head out and find a table on a sidewalk terrace.  We found such a table a couple blocks away and were soon sitting in front of a tasty little dish of creme brule, a cup of espresso, and a nice glass of Port.  We ate and drank as we watched the stylish passers-by, took in the view of the lovely Parisian streetfronts, and enjoyed the company of each other, so thankful for the memories that had been made over the past two weeks.  We ended the evening with a walk along the Seine, with its glittering reflections and beautiful bridges, and there on the Pont Neuf we said our good-byes to Paris, promising we would return again before too long.

In need of just one more chance to revel in Paris, I got up at 6 this morning to take a final walk through the city.  As I wandered the deserted streets, I was again so thankful for the chance to revisit what I have come to believe is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

We are on the plane back to Seattle now, and there were a few tears on the runway as it really sunk in that our long-anticipated trip is over, but there’s an ever-increasing part of me that is ready to be home.  I miss our house, our bed, our friends and neighbors, and my nightly cup of mint tea.  I am looking forward to seeing if our daffodils have bloomed, to cooking in our kitchen (you can only sustain a diet of pastries and cheese for so long…), and to being able to pick up the phone to call my family or my best friends without worrying about time changes or long distance charges.  Yes, on the flip side, there is a list of things I will miss about Europe as well: our morning runs to the boulangerie, speaking French (I made it through our entire time in Paris without having to use English with any French speakers!  I had forgotten how much I love that language…), having access to so much art right at my fingertips, fast and efficient public transportation, and tiny cups of espresso  But it is time to go home.  HOME.  That sounds nice.  And so, au revoir Paris…

Posted in traveling | 1 Comment »