Pictures from Paris

I finally got around to downloading the pictures from my camera onto my iPad on Saturday.  There are quite a few that I love, and that turned out much better than I had anticipated.  One group of photos I took in Hyde Park on a cloudy day that really came out quite well.  Here are two taken in Paris on the Sunday we were there.  In the afternoon we took a walk after brunch and ended up Notre Dame.  And here we are, Emma and myself, posing on the bridge and you can see the nice and clean cathedral behind us.

I was so surprised at how much detail was lost in all the years of grime.  It was, as you can see, just packed that day so we didn't even try to take any pictures closer.  Those tourists are too much for me to battle -- and so we just scooted through on our way to the other side.

And this other picture was taken that evening in the Green Linnet, an Irish pub owned by a friend of mine who used to own the Quiet Man, where I met Emma when I first moved to Paris.  The goofy looking guy behind us is our old friend Remi.

It was early enough in the evening, as you can see.  On this day, I guess is was Sunday the 20th, we had gone to have brunch at a restaurant owned by a friend of Remi, on Blvd. St. Germaine.  It is a champagne bar and restaurant.  Well, you know how I love champagne -- I was all over that!  However, it left much to be desired in the way of a brunch.  And it's not that I'm a huge egg eater, but .. there were no eggs!  No quiche.  No scrambled eggs nor Benedict.  But the champagne cocktails were out of this world.  And the weather -- as you can see, cloudless and we were actually quite warm in our coats.  It was chilly in the shadows but nearly 60 in the sunshine.  Because Emma and I had been such naughty girls Friday night we were much too "tired" to hang out and gossip with Eoghan on Saturday evening, instead heading to the hotel around 11 pm.  But we promised to come on Sunday and gossip with him until the wee hours, which is what we did.  He is such a sweetheart and was trying to talk me into staying for Thanksgiving, because they were doing a big football/Thanksgiving party.  But I had plans, so me made me promise to do it next year.  He and his wife and daughter take a house in the south of France in the spring every year and they always invite me to come stay with them.  I would dearly love to do so, but it's going to be difficult this year.  Not impossible -  nothing is impossible - but ..... we'll see.

I had a nice weekend and did, indeed, manage to finally kick this cold.  Even the lingering little cough is gone gone gone!  Saturday was a beautiful day and my friend Monika needed company on a drive to Port Townsend to pick up something at an art gallery, so Tink and I accompanied her and we had a very nice day.  I had lots of time to finish a cashmere beanie and to start a beret, and we had a couple of nice little walks around the town and lunch.  I got home in time for the Saturday night football game - not a normal NFL night, but a bonus.

And Sunday -- the big football day.  As of the end of the day I am only 5.5 points behind my opponent!  And for the game tonight I have two players -- one on each team -- and he has one player.  He decided to bench Rothlesberger because nobody knew if he was going to play, and IF he plays he is going to be hobbled.  I have a running back in this game, one of the best in the league.  If they go with a second string QB you can bet he won't be chucking the ball down the field, but rather handing it off to good old reliable Rashard Mendenhal.  I could win this thing!  I'm pretty excited.

Three times I will be able to run this week and I am going to do it.  Today, tomorrow and Thursday.  Today I need to check on a gift for my sister at University Village, so that will be a perfect place to run to, do the shopping and run back.  It should be a good run.  I'm looking forward to it!