Well, you're not kidding that January FLEW by. Just thought I'd better darn well post my 2011 calendar before it's March already. Here's hoping you enjoy every minute of every day of every month!
Time for a summer adventure! We said farewell to Burlington, Vermont's maple syrup and cheddar cheese and hello to the Big Apple. Peace out, Ben & Jerry! We hopped on the subway to Brooklyn, dropped our luggage in Park Slope, and explored DUMBO--the area Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. We sat and watched this beautiful carousel by the water for quite a while. Pretty and relaxing. We love places to eat that offer a lot of options--especially since one of us is vegetarian and the other is not--so Time Out Market New York was perfect. We sat at the counter and ate at Mr. Taka. Lots of delicious choices that made both of us happy. I like riding the subway, and bridges and elevated tracks make it even more interesting. I also really love being able to see out of the windows on the train as we travel in and out of Brooklyn.
Day two: Well, almost. I w oke up at 11:49 a.m. feeling like I had a full night's sleep. I was convinced that my phone hadn't adjusted to the new time zone. I woke again at 3:00 a.m. At 4:00 a.m. we watched an amazing thunder and lightning storm and watched a video my brother Dan sent us. I'm sure our hotel neighbors wondered why we were giggling in the wee hours of the morning. At 6:00 a.m. I finally gave up on sleep, got up, showered, and went for a walk. I just couldn't look at the ceiling any longer--no matter how pretty it was. We stayed in a quiet little area near the Sorbonne so it felt safe to wander rather aimlessly. The nighttime rain had washed the sidewalk clean, and the quiet morning offered a good chance to begin to get my bearings. Here and there, I was able to notice fun little details that I didn't expect like this color wheel on the pavement. We grabbed a quick croissant and cappuccino at Parisienne, 52 bd Saint-Germain, 75...
On our last full day in Paris, we ate breakfast at the hotel and walked to Le Marais quarter. A few weeks before our trip, we had contacted Paris Greeters to be matched with a Paris resident to meet us for a stroll through a neighborhood of their choice. We were assigned Francoise and arranged to meet her at the carousel at Saint-Paul Metro Station. We arrived a little early so we took a few minutes to visit Eglise Saint Paul – Saint Louis, 99 Rue St. Antoine, 75004. It was beautiful. St. Vincent de Paul I loved this painting of Joseph teaching Jesus carpentry skills Our greeter was well-prepared and offered interesting historical information as we meandered through the Marais neighborhood. Highlights of our walk included seeing a cannonball in the side of the medieval building at Hotel de Sens (a lone cannonball remains lodged there from the French Revolution), Place de la Bastille, and learning about the gold foundry that existed in the neighbo...