Picnic by the Seine

During our Paris dinner cruise we saw people lining the river banks, picnicking.  We decided that as this was what the locals were doing, we should too!  We were staying in an apartment in the 9th Arrondissement, very close to Rue des Martyrs which is an awesome street full of all types of food shops.  There are Boulangeries and Patisseries, Fromageries and Charcuteries and all sorts of produce shops.  We were set!  We purchased a beautiful hard sausage, of course cheeses, some lovely radishes and figs, and the obligatory baguettes.  We packed it all up and took the Metro to the stop by the Louvre, meeting up with other very important members of the group who had brought the wine,  and picked a spot on the walkway that had a lovely view of the Musee D'Orsay.  It was a truly beautiful evening, and one of the highlights of the trip.  And you will be happy to know, we waved to all the dinner boats.

Paris in Spring

I love my girlfriends!  How cool is it to decide that you want to celebrate a significant birthday in France, then make it happen.  AND have 8 friends join you!?!  I did feel just the tiniest bit guilty last week for jetting off to Paris without my Aussie husband - it is after all the city where he proposed to me.  However, this was most definitely a GIRLS trip and he would not have fit in.  Except maybe during tastings in the Champagne region... but I am getting ahead of myself.
About half of the ladies had never been to Paris, so we signed up for some touristy things so that they could get some sight seeing in.  One of those was a dinner cruise on the Seine.  We had some misgivings, but the cruise was lovely and the food surprisingly sophisticated.  Here is my foie gras first course-

The wine was also quite good, and as they left the buckets for the white wine right next to me and there were several bottles of red on the table, I had ample opportunity to taste them.  =)
It made for some very interesting photos of the Eiffel Tower at the end of the cruise!