Valentine’s Day in the City of Love

For Valentine’s Day this year, David surprised me with a trip to Paris!  On Friday morning, Paul arrived with a note from David simply telling me to pack a suitcase for the weekend, and then he took Kirby home with him.  After finishing up work later that evening, I met David at the tube station near his office and we were off!  But I had no idea where we were off to…

As we started to go the opposite direction of Heathrow and past Victoria station, home to the Gatwick Airport express train, I started to suspect we were headed to St. Pancras and the Eurostar.  Even then, there are so many destinations that the Eurostar travels to, that we could have been headed to Belgium or the Netherlands or anywhere else on the continent.  But as it was Valentine’s Day, I had a sneaking suspicion we were headed to the City of Love!

David handed me my ticket in the security line, and confirmed that my guess was right!  Yay!! Off to Paris we went.

David even booked a premier carriage for us so we were treated to a small Valentine’s Day meal – a typical French cheese plate with salad and a heart-shaped chocolate cake.

We arrived at Gare du Nord later that night and the hotel was my second surprise of the weekend. David booked us at the new W Opera across the street from the Palais Garnier. It's the first W hotel to be opened in France, but I must admit, the contemporary decor of the hotel fit in strangely with the surroundings of the Opera area and the 19th century building.

This pillow man greeted us when we walked into the room.

And on the wall next to my side of the bed, well, I don't really know what's going on there...

David left the next two days up to me.  There isn’t much I haven’t seen or done in Paris having visited multiple times and lived there for a summer while I studied abroad, but there were still a couple of things I hadn’t gotten around to doing.

So on Saturday morning, we grabbed a pain au chocolat and almond croissant for breakfast, and walked from Les Halles to Ile de la Cite to see la Conciergerie.  

La Conciergerie was always under construction while I was in Paris, but this time, it was finally open! 

La Conciergerie is the oldest remaining part of the first royal palace in Paris, the Palais de la Cite.  The center of the entire city and royal palace was concentrated on this one small island.  After the city expanded and other palaces were built, la Conciergerie was used as administrative offices before becoming a prison during the French Revolution.  It was here that Marie Antoinette and others were kept before being sentenced.

I’d also never been to Shakespeare and Company, so we crossed the Seine to the Left Bank to visit the small bookshop.  We wandered around my old stomping grounds of the Latin Quarter before stopping inside to purchase a book.  David chose the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes stories and made sure to get the book stamped with the famous Shakespeare and Company logo.

Because we got into Paris so late on Friday, on Saturday night, we had our Valentine’s Day dinner in a quaint restaurant David had researched and booked for us.  It was the third and final surprise of the weekend.  La Veraison is a tiny ten-table restaurant off the beaten track, but offers wonderful, decadent meals to tourists and locals alike. 

I started with the signature chestnut soup with black truffle, while David had the foie gras ravioli.  As our mains, I chose the veal medallions and David went with the scallops over risotto.  And to finish off our meal, David had the cheese platter and I had the mille-feuille with pears and mascarpone.  It was absolutely delicious and the best part was that the chef greeted us as we walked in, and said goodnight to us as we left, ensuring our meal was perfect.

Paris is all about the food, so the highlight of the weekend was all of the eating we did!  We had our favourite casual lunch, croque monsieurs, on Saturday.  While wandering around the city, we also stopped for hot chocolate, which was literally melted chocolate with a saucer of milk and a side of sugar to mix in. 

I didn't use that much milk, and no sugar, as I like my hot chocolate thick and bitter

On Sunday morning, we had brunch at the W restaurant, Arola.  With a ‘couture brunch’ concept, it’s recommended as one of the top brunch restaurants in the city.  Each month, the hotel teams up with an emerging fashion designer to create a menu that showcases the designer’s collection.

This month, the designer was Bleu de Paname and the restaurant was filled with his blue clothing.  I didn’t really see the influence in David’s meal, though, as he ordered the designer set menu.  I’m probably just not artsy enough to understand… 

Either way, the food was really great.  First, we had juice and coffee accompanied by French pastries.  

Then David had a broccoli panna cotta while I had the vegetable soup.  I don’t even like broccoli, but I tried David’s and could not stop eating it!  So good!  Next, David had eggs benedict and brioche with stewed beef, and I had an Iberian charcuterie with deconstructed tomato bread and Iberian ham three different ways.  

The best part was making my own tomato bread with extra garlic and just a hint of tomato rubbed across the top of the crusty bread, before being drizzled with olive oil and sea salt.

Finally, David ended the meal with a cotton candy custard concoction.  But I was saving the sweets for later.  Because in lieu of a box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day, we spent Sunday afternoon taste-testing a variety of macarons! 

First we stopped at Pierre Herme on Avenue de l’Opera just down the street from our hotel.  And then of course we had to pick up some Laduree macarons on Rue Royal.  I’d never tried Pierre Herme macarons before, but they were amazing.  While Laduree is more traditional, the flavors at Pierre Herme were fun and inventive.  Who knew a carrot saffron cookie could taste so good? 

Some of our friends that were also in Paris that weekend (the Paris of Las Vegas) recommended we try L’As du Fallafel in the Marais district, so on Sunday afternoon before catching our train back to London, we wandered into the bustling Jewish neighbourhood to grab a falafel to go.  It wasn’t hard to find the falafel stand, as the line wound down the street in both directions! 

The falafel was different than the traditional wraps we’ve had in the Middle East and London.  Instead of a burrito-like wrap, this falafel came overflowing out of a small pita.  There was the usual crispy falafel with spicy red harissa, humus, and pickled red cabbage, but this sandwich also contained some surprising extras – fried eggplant and salted cucumber.  Different, yet delicious!  Thanks for the recommendation, Brad and Jen!

Besides eating and site-seeing, we spent most of Valentine’s Day weekend just soaking up the romance of Paris.  We wandered the streets at night, strolled along the Seine during the sunny afternoons, rode the ferris wheel in the Place de la Concorde, and even stopped inside Notre Dame to admire the beautiful stained glass windows and amazing architecture.  

And just outside the cathedral, behind the garden in the back, is the famous Lovelock Bridge.

David and I purchased a small lock with two keys and he wrote our names and the date on the lock (along with a small K on the side for Kirby).  We connected the lock to the bridge, tossed the keys into the river, and sealed the deal with a kiss.

It was such a fun, beautiful Valentine’s Day weekend.  I’m so appreciative of David that after being together for 10 years, he still goes above and beyond to surprise me with romantic surprises like this.  He is a really amazing husband.  I love you, David!

Stratford-upon-Avon

Sorry, I’ve been terrible about blogging since the holidays!  A lot has been going on with work for both David and me, and we have been spending our weekends checking things off our London site-seeing to-do list.  I’ll blog more about those things later, but this weekend, Katie came to visit!

Katie had to be in London and Prague for two weeks for work, and decided to fly into England a couple of days early to spend the weekend with us.  Because she did her college internship in London and has visited us before, she asked if we could do something a bit different this past weekend and go outside the city to see part of the country.

So on Saturday after she flew in, we ate at the Churchill Arms in Kensington, a historic pub known for its beautiful flowers and delicious Thai food.  We had a late lunch of pad thai and curry in the butterfly conservatory section of the pub before walking around Notting Hill to Portobello Market.  Katie had never been to that area of the city before, so she enjoyed browsing through the antique stalls and picking out some goodies to bring back home to Texas with her.

On Sunday, we rented a Zipcar for the day and drove 90 minutes northwest to Stratford-upon-Avon, the home of William Shakespeare.

David turned into his alter-ego, Nigel the chauffeur, 

to drive us around all day.

We started our tour at the home where Shakespeare was born and raised.  We learned about the history of the house, where his father ran his glove-making business, and then the expansion into an inn, and finally a museum.  There were even costumed actors reciting the famous playwright’s verses to keep us entertained. 

From there, we had lunch at Fourteas, a 1940’s tea room.  The walls are covered in posters from that time period, and the waiters and waitresses also dress the part.  The menus are printed as ration books and the to-go box we received for all of the sweets we couldn’t finish was a brown cardboard box with string.  We suspect rations were distributed the same way seventy years ago.

Katie and I had afternoon tea with sandwiches, scones, and a variety of desserts,

while David had a bowl of soup and the largest club sandwich I've ever seen in England!

From there, we walked along the river Avon to Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare was baptized, married, and buried with his family.

The rain has been relentless this winter, and though it’s not as much of a problem in the city, the countryside is going through terrible flooding.  The Avon was completely swollen and overflowing into parks and fields.  We couldn’t walk along the riverbank because it was underwater, with the water nearly reaching the road.  But nonetheless, we enjoyed the views and walk through the town, admiring the old (and some new) buildings.

View of the Swan Theatre, home to the Royal Shakespeare Company, from the Avon

From Holy Trinity Church, we walked to Hall’s Croft, the home of Shakespeare’s daughter, Susanna, and her wealthy husband, Dr. John Hall.  The house is enormous, even by today’s standards, and the gardens are supposedly beautiful in the summer.  As it was a cold, wintery day that threatened more rain, our guide advised us to come back in a few months to admire the roses and other flowers. 

Hall’s Croft was built in 1614 and is celebrating its 400 anniversary this year.  It consists of large bedrooms upstairs, grand fireplaces on the first floor, and an original glass window.  Glass windows were a privilege only the rich could afford in the 17th century, and they often took the windows with them when moving house.

Katie and I had never been to that part of the country before, and David hadn't been since he was a kid, so it was fun to explore the small village together and see something new.

Sub-Zero New Year

David and I spent Christmas in London again this year.  Jeff flew in from Texas for his winter break, so Karen and Laura hosted the three of us at their house in Surrey.  The weather was terrible, windy and rainy, so we spent the week relaxing indoors.  We slept in every day, decorated cookies, read, played games, finished a jigsaw, and watched a lot of Xmas movies!

One night, the boys and I ventured out to the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland to check out the German food, European craft stalls, and of course – the rides.  David and Jeff are posing with the star of the Mousetrap rollercoaster.

One lazy afternoon, we dressed up Kirby in a festive necklace and antlers.

After Boxing Day, I flew to Connecticut to spend the week of New Year’s with my family.  Unfortunately David had to work, so I went back to the states solo this time.  And as I feared, travel in and out of the Northeast was a disaster!

On the bright side, because my layover from Chicago to Hartford was extended to 7 hours, I had plenty of time to eat dinner, have a slice of hot chocolate/salted caramel Eli’s Cheesecake for dessert, and pick up a tin of Garrett’s popcorn.

It took a Herculean effort to get home, though, once Winter Storm Hercules hit!  Because my Friday flight to DC was delayed by more than 3 hours, I knew I would miss my connecting flight out of Dulles to London.  So after spending hours on the phone with United and at the desk speaking to reps, they were finally able to find me a seat on a flight out Saturday evening instead.  Which meant I was spending the night in DC, if I could ever get there!

After I did finally arrive at midnight, it took more than 3 hours to try and find my bag (which never came through) and get a taxi to the hotel my dad had kindly booked for me using his reward points. They stopped running the Hilton shuttle after midnight.  By the time I realized the shuttle wasn’t coming, it was 2:30 in the morning and about 5 degrees outside!  There was a German family next to me also waiting, so we decided to share a cab.  When we re-entered the airport to get in the taxi line, the queue wound itself all the way back to baggage claim!  When people realized that was the line for a taxi, some burst into tears.  And I didn’t blame them.  Hilton told me they started running their shuttle again at 4 AM so we joked that by the time we got a taxi, the shuttle would be back.  Luckily, that was not the case.  The line moved fast enough that we got a taxi and I was in bed by 3:15.

Some people had decided to try stand-by the next morning for flights out of DC, so they hunkered down in the airport Friday night.  I needed some rest, so I decided to sleep rather than go back to Dulles at 6:00 to try and get on the 8 AM London flight.  So I slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, and then started the chaos all over again. (I was just glad I was traveling solo, I felt so bad for families with a ton of tired kids trailing behind them!)  First stop – baggage claim to try and find my bag and ensure it would be on its way to London later that night with me.

This is just one small area of baggage claim.  The entire ground floor of Dulles looked like this!  After searching for about 20 minutes through the mess, I decided to wait in line to speak to an agent.  Amazingly, United figured out that I was booked on the later flight out that day and my bag was tied to my new ticket.  Success!

After sitting around the airport for another 4 hours, I was finally on a flight back home!

It was a hassle, but it was all worth it to see my family and this kid!

While in Connecticut, we spent the majority of our time hanging out at Emily’s and Kendal’s house, watching movies and playing with Bailey.  I learned that having an active 16-month-old is hard work!  She never stops!  She doesn't just sit and watch a kiddie movie or color or read a book.  Instead, she runs around all day, only napping for about an hour in the afternoon.  It was exhausting watching Emily chase after her daughter from morning to night… plus I had a cold for the first couple of days and couldn't imagine having to go-go-go when I wasn't feeling 100%.  Now I know why they say moms don’t get sick days! 

Bailey showing me her favorite ornaments on the tree,

and how she loves to go grocery shopping,

her monkey, Kokomajoe,

the alarm clock Auntie Sarah and Uncle David got her for her birthday,

and her new polar bear PJ's!

Bailey is growing up so fast, so I'm really happy that I got to spend a whole week with her. It's amazing how much she's changed in the 6 months since I last saw her in Puerto Rico. 

Dad taught Bailey this great dance to 'Colors of the Rainbow.'  She was obsessed with that song!  (And no, that's not David singing 'Wake Up Bailey.'  We got that alarm clock made at Hamleys in London, it just sounds a lot like him!)

On Monday, Mama got some 1-on-1 time with Bailey when she stayed back with her all day while the rest of us went skiing in Massachusetts at Butternut Mountain.  

It was Elizabeth’s first time skiing, so I took the beginners class with her, and then we headed up the mountain to try a few green runs.  With names like the Pied Piper and Cruiser, we didn’t think those greens would be very hard.  My experience with greens has always been really positive.  Well, the Pied Piper and Cruiser were not greens in my book!  Unfortunately we were already at the top and Elizabeth was stuck, so we carefully made our way down to the bottom and she called it quits.  After lunch, Dad and I did a few more runs together before turning in our skis as well. 

Elizabeth’s 'before' picture on the ski lift (she was too upset to get any ‘after’ pics).  We should have known it was going to be pretty steep since it took 15 minutes to get to the top of the mountain on the ski lift!

At the top of the Pied Piper run

Emily and Kendal were also happy to leave shortly after lunch, after snowboarding down Black Diamond after Black Diamond.  They kept getting lost down the mountain and going down black runs instead of staying on the greens and blues.  They both had some pretty bad bruises to show for it!

During the week, we also made a trip to Gillette Castle and Mystic.

Gillette Castle was built by William Gillette, an American actor, in 1914.  After he died, the state took over the property and its grounds and transformed them into a state park.  Unfortunately the castle is closed during the winter months, but we were still able to walk through the park and take pictures at the property.

The almost-frozen river below the hilltop castle

Bailey wanted to run all over the park, even though it was freezing outside!

'Let me go!  I want to run around!'

'Okay, I'll take this one nice picture and then I'm free, right?'

From Gillette, we drove to Mystic for lunch at Mystic Pizza, the setting of the Julia Roberts movie from the late 80’s.  

Main Street

So full!

Mystic River

We enjoyed four different pizzas before Mom and Emily had their fortunes read at a local physic.  I don’t think they were satisfied with the vague predictions made about their future... but we were all excited for the future by ringing in the New Year together back home!

The ladies got matching PJ’s from Emily and Kendal for Christmas.  Only 3 of us in this photo made it to midnight.  Bailey and her mama needed their sleep!  The rest of us stayed up to watch the ball drop in Times Square.

Happy New Year!  

(That hat was my dad's and no one else was allowed to wear it, according to Bailey.  Every time Bailey saw it lying around, she'd pick it up and bring it to my dad.)

We can’t wait to see what 2014 has in store! David and I are looking forward to spending more time with friends and family, and exploring new places around the world. We hope everyone's holidays were as restful and fun as ours.  Here are just a few more pics:

Bailey and me in our reindeer outfits (She never looks happy to be in matching outfits with me.  She's probably thinking, why does my almost-30-year-old aunt dress like a toddler??)

Snow falling outside the kitchen window

We celebrated Christmas late once I (and my gifts) arrived.  Doesn't Bailey look adorable in those pearls?  

Deer in the backyard