Girls Gone Abroad

We headed to the Ile St Louis and our Paris home, no trouble finding the door from the street, had the code and all was well - what a heavy door though! Once inside, a bit of panic because it wasn't a single place, but a courtyard to many places - uh oh Isabelle didn't tell me that part... Luckily a small directory inside the door told us we were in C - where is C exactly? Our suitcases rolling across the cobblestone must have made enough noise and someone waved us in a door and up and up and up, three more flights of winding uneven stairs to our apartment.

The place is fantastic and Isabelle has left us teas, coffee, croissant, baguette, fruit and some hollow pastry with sugar and a nice bottle of wine with chocolates. Thank you Isabelle because we were starving and tired and we didn't have to leave to satisfy "notre faim"! The apartmet is very small and cute and we love having a place to stretch our legs and treat as home. We are on the Ile Saint Louis, which I have to keep reminding Sandy is "in the river" since she just can't seem to get her bearings.

First things first - unpack - second - NAPS! You read it here first peeps Sandy and Shan sacked out! When does it ever happen that I am the one that is actually awake? Not often, so I took a picture! I did also take a nap eventually after enjoying a croissant and a cup of tea and after a couple hours shut eye we showered and headed out on the Cite. We were trying to get to Isabelle's antique shop before it closed but just missed out so we asked at a gallerie about a place to eat some dinner and got recommendations which we ended up not following...

Did you know in highschool French you rarely learn the name of food? It is true, so as translator I have to really think and ask many questions of our waiter. So far so good with the french though, even though I am slightly intimidated I figure it is best to try to use what I know and so far we haven't gotten anything we didn't like!

We ended up eating at a restaurant on Rue de Mazarine in the 6eme called Le Balto - very small quaint place with menus only in French - yea! We have set out to not frequent restaurants that have english translations for both authenticity reasons and price reasons! Our waiter Serge was very patient and it was early for French dinner so it was fairly calm when we arrived. I had lamb with spring veggies, Shan had chicken with mushroom risotto and Sandy had the Thon Rouge (some kind of sea fish) with veggies and roasted red pepper. It was all very good and we shared an appertif of champagne and then 3 1/2 bottles of Vin Rose - guess we should have gone for the bottle to start like Shan suggested! Oh well, live and learn.

The place became very busy and the people watching was excellent! I just can't quite capture the chic-ness of the french, they don't do their hair and don't wear lots of makeup - it is all about the look and the way they stand, sit, walk, you name it, we just don't have it! Sandy says she thinks she does - sorry, have to say not quite but she could if only we could stay in Paris longer than 5 nights!

From there we walked to the Seine and across towards the Louvre and then along the river back to our lovely Ile. It was raining, but who cares, we are in Paris and it sort of sealed the specialness of what you think Paris will be like. We stopped at a cafe for an appertif and dessert and opened the menu to learn we broke the english translation rule, oh well, too late now so a pastis for Sandy and me and a porto for Shan, some chocolate cake and a bill too big for what we got - lesson well learned!

Now we are in jammies and enjoying our wine left by Isabelle and thinking our first day was just right!