Spring in Paris?

I wasn't sure if the weather would get really nice before I left Paris or not, but so far, so good.  It all started the week after Marcy left. The sun came back out and the temperatures were on the rise.

One afternoon, I met Amanda and Maureen for lunch at La Defense. Maureen and I walked around for a bit while we waited for Amanda to get there and I got some pictures of the modern arch that is there along with some of the other art.

We grabbed some pasta for lunch and Maureen headed home to start her au pair duties. Amanda and I continued on to the Marais district where we walked around and of course, got some coffee. Amanda is lucky in the sense that she only au pairs every other week since the kids rotate between mom and dad's and she lives at dad's. So, with her free time, it has been easier for us to connect for longer chunks of time.

We met up a couple of other times during the week as well:

One day, we went on a thrift/vintage shop hunt - I was looking for a spring jacket, Amanda for a big sweater she could wear instead of a coat. Neither of us got what we were looking for, but Amanda did get a cool turtleneck sweater for cheap!  And, of course we also stopped for some coffee and pastries - dangerous!

We also grabbed dinner on Rue Mouffetard - but, we misjudged the weather. Whereas it had been a beautiful day, nights are still cool, yet we opted to sit outside and by mid-meal, we were quite chilly. But, the wine helped a little!

Then, on Friday, we decided to picnic in Buttes Chaumont Park. What an awesome park! It is huge and really pretty to walk around in.  I went to the gym in the morning, picked up a salad and cookies (of course) for lunch, and met Amanda after she finished her French class.  We spent the afternoon relaxing, eating, chatting, and walking around. Despite the naked sunbather (yes, SHE was virtually naked with all but a piece of dental floss covering her crack), we had a good time. And, I asked if nude sunbathing is legal here - it isn't, but oh well. The police we saw didn't do anything, maybe they just enjoyed the view!

Every picnic needs cookies!

Puppet shows in the park

Friday night, Philippe's parents came for a raclette dinner to celebrate his mom's birthday, which had been on the 14th.  We had quite a spread and I think I am learning to enjoy meat just a little more than I have in the past...

On Friday, Amanda and I made plans to meet at the flea markets on Saturday morning at Porte Clignancourt. We were joined by a few others - Maureen and then a couple of Swedish girls - Linnea and Elinor (sorry if I didn't get the spelling right). Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but I can say this was a cool place - art, old postcards, antique furniture, clothes (here are a few pictures I nabbed from Amanda).

Yes, creep upside down doll heads...

I didn't buy anything - again, Amanda got another neat old sweater - but, I did get a marriage proposal, haha. Okay, let me explain: We were starving by mid-afternoon, so we stopped to get...you guessed it...crepes! The man at the crepe stand asked where we were from and I said the U.S. He told me he had lived in New York. When I asked what he did he said he was a dancer and he loved it there. I said that I loved it here in France and would love to stay. He told me he had to come back to France because he couldn't get a visa to stay in the U.S. and I said that was my problem too - hence, a marriage proposal in jest so we could both go back and forth between the U.S. and France.

While I am glad that I went to see les marches des puces (the flea markets), I have to say they are in a very shady area of town. I kind of laughed when Philippe warned me multiple times to watch for pickpockets, but upon returning, I acknowledged that I understood what he meant.

Oh yeah, and how could I forget - I am going to lose another toenail. Gross, I know.  But, it definitely can not be because my shoes are too small.  On Wednesday, I decided to run from the house down to the river, along the river, and back...I ran for about 110 minutes and did a little over 10 miles.  It was so beautiful and I got a bit of a tan!  But, then I added another almost 5 miles on the treadmill on Friday and that put the toe over the edge.  So, here we go again and hopefully I'll have a semblance of a nail back in time for summer and pedicures...