where the blueboots go

Seeing as it is le 14 juillet I would be remiss not to write a Paris post. Happy Bastille Day, joyeux quatorze juillet,  jour d’indépendance and la naissance de la république! 

Once upon a time, I was actually in Paris for this celebration and it was quite memorable. But now, on to the 3rd day in Paris.

pssst! Did you miss the posts from the 1st and 2nd days in Paris? They’re linked here and here :). 

We had planned to check out the Ladurée on the Champs Elysees for brunch and arrived there more or less minutes before lunch. But, fortunately, we were still able to order breakfast 🙂

The entryway was ornate and gilded as you can see here.   A good amount of foreigners were seated in the dining room. People order their macarons and viennoiseries here.
  Les menus.
  I thought the tables and chairs were worth a mention and help portray the style of the establishment.   Waiting for my tea and pastries. B was waiting for a massive brunch.
  B’s pastry basket. For 30E, he enjoyed tea, jams, very orange scrambled eggs (oeufs brouillés), and the pastry basket. 
  The tea looked like a trumpeter in medieval times to me. I ordered the Marie Antoinette tea, and B had the Josephine tea. They were both terrific. I would have Ladurée tea over the food, any day.   But I did enjoy my first try of a kouign amann pastry. Trader Joe’s makes one but I hesitated to try it. This one was caramelized and so tasty.
  B’s fresh-squeezed OJ. 
My rose framboise pain perdu.   It came highly recommended. Here I am pouring rose raspberry reduction onto my sweet french toast slices. It was tasty!  My breakfast date.
  We also went to the L’Orangérie to meet up with a friend who was also in Paris. 
  I was drawn to a few pieces, this one probably because I was feeling tired after walking some after breakfast, and I liked the thoughtful expression on this Matisse.
Interesting still life of a kitchen by Picasso.   These pieces that follow are by Marie Laurecin, an artist I hadn’t come across before but am intrigued by. 
  
These reminded me of my mother-in-law – 🙂  Oh, windy, topsy-turvy world! It gives the impression of that moment when a storm hits and you’re bewildered outside and thinking of a million things at once.   Here, begins the stunning panels of Monet’s water lilies, the main attraction in the museum.

    
  
    We tried to figure out if the different panels were of different seasons. Do you have a favorite? Let me know in the comments below.
  I had to…In front of the obelisk gift from my people.

Then we headed to Le Marais for coffee.YES!!! and a snack. 
  Feast your eyes. 
It wasn’t until we went to Lyon the following day that we tried Brioche aux pralinés. I was mistaken in thinking it was pralines – it is a traditional french cake-bread which is pink from strawberries and peaches in some instances. Yum. But we were simpler here…   
A truly delectable and almondy almond croissant.   
After a couple errands, I was wiped out. We had a quiet night in, but super special and fun. B went to the florist and got these sweet peas for me  -wrapped so nicely!   And we watched Ratatouille, in French. It was perfect!  It is one of my favorite animated films and no better place to watch it than Paris. The hotel had a DVD player and provided popcorn too. Once the movie was over, we had small sandwiches made with emmenthal, ham, and whole grain bread from the store next door and the day was complete.