Recently in the category : Went
First glace of the summer
Last week I got a chance to finally meet up with Ali of AliThinks who helped me out with some proof-reading for #thepaper.
Since it was a very warm day, I proposed to head over to Berthillon to get some ice cream - my first of the summer.
She agreed so we headed over to Ile Saint Louis to get us some from the Berthillon shop itself which was rather crowded.
There are lots of flavors to choose from - and handily translated into English as well...
I waffled between the Mint (Menthe) and Pear (Poire), but pear won out!
Following Aimée Leduc...
In Episode 338 and Episode 339 of Katia and Kyliemac V.O. we had the pleasure of speaking with Cara Black, author of the Aimée Leduc Detective Series.
One of the stories she told us was her "investigation" of the Maison Victor Hugo and how Aimée could escape the museum in the novel Murder in the Marais.
So when I was there this past weekend with some friends, we decided to see the place of escape for ourselves...
Aimée Leduc was here:
How to escape?
It won't be easy...
Clearly someone has read the novel and taken care of this oversight...
k&k get cultured #2 - les égouts de paris
Last time I didn't manage to get any photos on the blog before I inadvertently deleted them ALL, so this time I'm getting a couple of these photos up now, before I (inadvertently) do the same thing again.
We met early on Saturday, so thanks to all of you that braved the cold and managed to get up in time to make it. It was chilly on the riverbank, so it was actually a bit of a relief to get inside the sewers!
Here are some of our intrepid adventurers on the
lookout for a little culture!
We had enough people to get the group rate (yay!) and had a tour guide all to ourselves. The visit took about an hour and we learned many very interesting factoids about how the sewers work.
FACT: Certain vaccines are mandatory for sewer workers.
FACT: The Paris Sewers have 2100 km of tunnels.
FACT: There are lots and lots and lots of rats in Paris. (And they don't cook.)
FACT: The sewers can be really smelly. However, some metro stops actually smell WORSE.
FACT: Streets aren't just labelled above ground, but below ground as well, to aid with navigating throughout the sewers.
FACT: Kyliemac can outrun a stationary Sewer cleaning ball. Take that, Indy!
We learned a lot more about how the sewers of Paris operate, but if you want to learn more, you'll either have to google it for yourself, or brave the sewer on your own. Although I suggest it with a guide!
LES EGOUTS DE PARIS
Open everyday except Thursday and Friday from 11am to 4 or 5pm depending on the season. (And it's closed in January every year for two weeks for maintenance. I suppose it smells less then.)
Metro: Alma-Marceau Station (Line 9) and cross the river.
RER: Pont de l'Alma station RER C
book signing
When I found out that Heather was making cookies to take to the book signing at Ô Chateau, it was just the hook i needed. I mean, who can resist homemade cookies?
(Hint: Not me.)
This was the door that told me I was in the right location, but the actual book signing/wine tasting was in the 'cave'. Which is where we found the authors-
Here is the lovely Heather. Check out her guide to "Naughty Paris". And you can hear her on the show in episodes: 183,184,248,263,200 & 201.
David Lebovitz was there too with some cookies.
Clearly, these two are from the Dark Side.
And then there was Canadian author, Keith Spicer who has written Paris Passions.
ruelle des chats - troyes
Yet another shot taken during my visit with Vivi in Champagne...
Shiny cars
I'm not a big car fan, but even I was impressed by the Musée de l'Automobile in Mulhouse.
After all, I am a girl, and girls like shiny things.
As discussed in the k&k podcast episode 291.
they should have these in france
while i was in the states this past summer, i finally saw one of the mythical REDBOXes that we'd heard about from some of our listeners as discussed in episode 242.
this one was in the local grocery store, but i loved that fact that you could drop them off at any other REDBOX location - and the fact that the rental was only $1.
maison à colombages
On my recent trip to the champagne region to visit the lovely vivi we spent part of the afternoon in Troyes wandering about this town that has existed since roman times.
This is one of the houses we saw -
These half-timbered houses are called 'maison à colombages' or 'maison à pans de bois' and you don't see many of these types of structures in Paris (although a few do remain) because eventually it was required that the buildings be plastered to protect against fire. They always make me think of Shakespearean England or Fantasyland at Disney.
Vins et verres d'Alsace
Whilst in Alsace, a region that is quite rightly proud of its many varieties of white wine, I had the opportunity to taste quite a bit - Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Muscat... After all, when you're working hard, you can work up quite a thirst.
I brought home a few bottles - a Pinot Gris, a Gewürztraminer and a Gewürztraminer Vendange Tardive. The Vendange Tardive is a late harvest wine, where the almost over-ripe grapes are carefully picked one by one, and is really sweet and delicious, and is therefore quite a bit more expensive than the typical wine. But it's so worth it.
One of the many things that I love about Alsace is that oftentimes, white wine is served in a special type of glass which is unique to the region. These glasses have a green stem and base, and a quite atypical cup (you can spot one in the top left hand corner of the photo).
I think I need to get myself some, just for the Gewürztraminer Vendange Tardive.
La rentrée blues
It's been hard to get back into the rhythm of things, after the holidays. In an attempt to counter the post-holiday blues, the Muffin Man and I threw ourselves back into work, with projects up the wazoo, and Miss Mac is an additional motivator, since when she comes over - well, we kindof HAVE to do the podcast... but despite all this, it's been hard to move on from the fact that we're not on holidays any more, that our trip to Australia is far behind us, and our friends and family back home are so far away.
It's been over a month (so get over it already!), but my heart is still on a tropical desert island paradise.
I've found myself wandering over to Skyscanner. Browsing the Emirates website for ways to use up some of our points.
I think that travelling to Lebanon flicked a switch in my brain. I loved traveling before, but this is different. The bug has really bit me and I need to see stuff. To get our suitcases dirty again.
Perhaps a mini-break is in order?
i don't look my age
while i was home, my family went to a casino.
we got in the building and as i tried to walk onto the floor, i was stopped by a security guard who asked for my ID.
my mother laughed and said, "I think you are going to be surprised."
"Oh," he replied, "You'd be surprised at what I see."
He glanced at my ID and looked back at me.
"I'm surprised."
Later that day, my sister and I left the floor for a few minutes, and upon trying to re-enter, I was stopped again to be carded.
"Geez," my younger sister said, jokingly, "They should just give you a wrist band or something..."
Which is exactly what they did.
and no, i didn't win any money, because if i did, i'd be blogging this from australia.
what i did on my summer vacation. by kylie.
happy birthday to the king bee!
what we will be doing today:
Yes, that is what you think it is
A skull, in the catacombs beside Saint-Emilions hermit cave, just before entering the underground church.
As discussed in episode 256.
A glimpse of our Bordeaux studio
Including our Zoom, the borrowed popper stoppers, mikes and mike stands, and, of course, the Muffito(TM).
The Abbey Bookshop, 20th Anniversary Celebration
The Abbey Bookshop, one of my favourite English-language bookshops in Paris, is celebrating it's 20th Anniversary on the 1st July 2009.
The thing I love about this place (other than the fact that in the cold winter months you can rest assured that Brian will always have some hot wine ready so you can warm up from the inside) is the generous piles of books, stacked higgledy-piggledy all over the place, making it difficult to navigate the narrow shop without knocking something over. And I immediately feel at home as soon as I walk in the door. I like to think that if I owned a bookshop, this is what mine would be like.
There is going to be a bunch of fabulous authors signing books, music and food! And it's taking place in the Saint-Séverin cloister, just around the corner from the shop - how cool is that? So... see you there?
The Abbey Bookshop, 25 rue de la Parcheminerie, 75005 Paris
(ps. last night I made Brian come out to pose for this shot, and he dragged out Alex(?) and his Canadian flag. Awesome.)
medieval garden at the cluny museum
one of my favorite places to read the most recent Buffy comic is in the lovely medieval garden located to the northeast corner of the (as my friend andrew calls it) "george clooney museum*" which is just a hop, skip and jump from my "local" comic book store, Album.
the museum is worth a visit too, especially for those of you into "old stuff". as it's the "middle ages" museum, they have amongst their treasures: cool old keys, some old armor, stuff found in the seine, really old shoes, old church stuff, stained glass windows, a unicorn horn (actually a tooth of a narwhal), tapestries, and their crowning glory: The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries .
but anyway, today i went there to read - but somebody had beat me to it...
*also known as the "musée national du moyen âge" or the "cluny museum".
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