Labor Day and Frisbee

Hello readers!I want to apologize for taking a little vacation without internet access without warning you all first!

We went up to Durango, CO to participate in the Durango Hat Tournament for Ultimate Frisbee and we really did have a blast :)  The tourney was sponsored by Ska Brewing and Zia Taqueria and both provide such delicious products!  We were lucky enough to have a sampling of the beer throughout the weekend and Zia fed us on Saturday night.  I won't bore you with all of the details, but I want to share some pictures and happening and let you in on what we did

Tea was enjoyed

Frisbees were jumped for

Puppies (or just Lisa, really) were cuddled with

Pretty flowers found

Rivers played in

And check out this huge mushroom we found!


And plenty of fun was had by all :)  For my American friends, what did you do for the long weekend?  For those elsewhere, did you do anything fun? 

Adventures!

I know, I've been a bad blogger.  Things have been crazy on this end with all of the traveling I've been doing!  Next week I'll be back home and things will get back to whatever "normal" might be and I'll be a better blogger, promise.  In the mean time, I wanted to share some pictures from the adventures I took while in Asheville!

The first real day we were there, we went to eat at Corner Kitchen (where President Obama ate while he was there) and went window shopping and to Yarn Paradise across the street.

The next day, we went to the Grovepark for lunch (where President Obama stayed) and got to drool over more than one gorgeous art gallery. (this was the view from our table)

The third, and sadly final, day of our trip we went to the Biltmore house which was so beautiful and huge and completely jaw-dropping in so many ways. 

The gardens here were ......... well, they make me speechless :)

I tried to keep this post short on the photos because I'm sure you all don't want to see all of the 300 pictures I took over a 3-day span ;)

Some Lessons Can Only Be Learned The Hard Way

And the fact that puppies and inner tubing down a river is one of those lessons.

It started out a good idea, she likes water, we like tubing, we'll bring her along and she can swim alongside!

But uh....that's not quite the way it turned out, and here are my battle scars to prove it:

(Disclaimer: the following photos show a lot of leg, but nothing that would normally be covered by a bathing suit ;) )

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The scratches you can see up by my knee have bruised underneath so now it looks like I got in a fight with a bobcat or something.

We ended up flipping the little raft a few times and the final time it busted, along with my left hand, wrist and heels.  My flip flops did not make it to the end ('end' here was improvised, about half way through the original planned trip) with us and I had to get another cheapo pair to finish the trip with (the ones I'm wearing in the above photo).

Our adventure was well worth it although next time we'll leave the pup at home ;)

The Louvre

We returned to the Louvre on Wednesday after our fail on Tuesday (see yesterday's post) and it was well worth it!  We saw so many beautiful statues, sculptures, paintings and drawings.

(Click to make the image larger :))

 

Of course we made our way to the epic Mona Lisa,

No, no, I meant the painting, not my pup (hehe)

I highly recommend spending as much time as you can at the Louvre if you're ever in Paris, you won't be able to see everything in one day, your feet and back will probably be killing you, but it will all be worth it!

More Exploring: A Pretty Church, and the Arc

Tuesday, we went exploring, hoping to see the Louvre, but, sadly, its not open on Tuesdays.  It was still a good day though, we happened upon this absolutely beautiful church on our way and walked around, took some photos and a brochure.

It had paintings on almost every wall, gorgeous depictions of various biblical scenes.

There were statues,

And of course, there was an organ.

This church was different from Notre Dame, it had the tall ceilings, stained glass,

But it seemed a bit more eclectic, and I suppose seeing one of the nuns riding a scooter wasn't bad either ;)

Then we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe and although they were cleaning it and I didn't get to see it in all of its glory, it was still a pretty neat thing.

Yarn Shop

Now, of course I can't come to another country and not check out their fiber goods.  I looked online and found one fairly close to me, within walking distance, that had all kinds of good reviews, and that's where I went on Monday.

Its called La Droguerie and some of the highest quality yarns line the walls when you first walk in.  Alpaca, cashmere, wool, angora, kid mohair, baby alpaca, linen, bamboo, cotton, and blends of each in all sorts of colors, weights and textures!

 There were completed projects made out of the yarns lining the walls as well, and each section of yarn had at least one swatch that had been knitted up so that shoppers can see what the yarn looks like knit up.

Beyond the yarn, there is a plethora of buttons, toggles, patches and embellishments for knitwear or sewn goods, then around the corner lie shelves teeming with jars of beads.

Big beads, small beads, all different shapes, sizes, colors, materials, and purposes.

Not to mention the spools of ribbon!  Ribbons and trims of every color, width and design, what would you possibly do with them all!

And of course, a section for faux flowers, butterflies, birds, vines and the like.

La Droguerie really does have something for everyone, but each customer shares one thing in common: how to get the things they want.  It took me some time to figure this out, and I had to ask a few other customers to find one who spoke english well enough to explain it to me.

Basically, you look around, find exactly what you want, then you wait in a line (the line for yarn, buttons, beads, or ribbons and faux foliage).  The line takes up the most time, but once you reach the front of it, you get the sole attention of the salesperson there to help you.  You tell them what you want (or show them) and they get it for you.  In the case of my yarns, I told her which I wanted and she asked how much, they sell yarn by weight, not necessarily by yardage or straight skeins or balls.  I got 50g each of the two shown below.

(More to come on these goodies later)

After they get you your desired merchandise, they take the goods and the receipt to the checkout counter, you pay and you're on your way.

I've never been to a shop quite like that before, but it was a great first, lone adventure :)

Notre Dame

Saturday, Megan and I made our way to Notre Dame.  We saw some neat things and grand buildings on the way:

We also crossed the Seine:

And then, there it was, and let me tell you, you would not believe how big this place is, inside, the ceilings are so high up and everything is so beautifully and exquisitely detailed.

I think if you click the picture, you can see the images bigger, and I apologize for the fuzziness of some of them, its hard to take pictures in a dark space.

There is so much stained glass, and some of it is original to the building!

We were able to go inside the treasury and see all sorts of interesting relics.

If you ever get there and don't want to pay to see inside the treasury, you can still see all kinds of amazing things in the Notre Dame, we didn't go up to the towers, but that is another tour you can pay to see.

Our Apartment

These are the stairs leading up to our apartment here in Paris.  They are a little crooked and each step is half wood, half brick.  The bottom floor of the building is called floor zero and the next floor up is the 1st floor, and that's where we live.  We have a small courtyard outside some huge windows that I sleep under which allows me to see the views shown in this post.

The Tower

Friday night we went to dinner at a nice, nearby Indian restaurant: Rani Mahal.  Luckily, our waiter spoke English enough to give us a basic rundown of the ingredients in the dishes we're interested in (I'm vegetarian and Megan is deathly allergic to onions).

We enjoyed our nice meal then took the leftovers home and headed toward the symbol of Paris: the Eiffel Tower.

We found a nice spot on the grass and sat to write in our Travel Diaries, then bought some cheap wine from a ... we'll call him a "traveling salesman".  Enjoying our wine, the positive atmosphere and the view of one of the most recognized structures in the world, we sat and chit chatted for a few hours before getting a closer look, then heading home.

One thing I didn't know, was that the Tower sparkles!  Not only is it lit up, for a few minutes that night it sparkled! 

Bonjour!

Bonjour from Paris! 

We made it yesterday after hours and hours of traveling, and let me tell you, that did a number on my body.  Between airport and plane food, anxiety and sitting (and trying to sleep some) on a plane for somewhere close to 9 hours over the ocean, my body was not a happy camper.  And to be honest, my mind wasn't either, the moment we walked into our hotel room I got all kinds of homesick.  My body ached with the realization that I was so far away, for so long!

We'll see if I actually make it the whole month here, I know, sad right? I finally get my dream come true, and I don't even want to stay :(  It makes me feel like a pathetic wimp, to be honest.  But, enough with unhappy feelings, let me show you some of things we've seen! (Not much, since we didn't do much yesterday and nothing yet today, waiting for my travel-mate's lost luggage to arrive, who knows when that will happen)

Graffiti Face (found on the way from the airport to the hotel)

Some pretty architecture (taken through a light drizzle)

Some of the views from our apartment window

How Appropriate!

Aren't these the perfect stitch markers to find just before my trip? 

I will be enjoying croissants and coffee while taking in the views of the Eiffel Tower and colorful tulips :)

I have a set of the elephant stitch markers from weeones and got my mom a set of collie stitch markers too, don't have a pair? Why not?  They are too cute to pass up!

Ahh Summer. Finally.

We just got back from a nice, impromptu trip to Denver for the weekend and it really was a vacation.  We didn't have anything scheduled in to our days except Ultimate Frisbee.  We got to relax and spend time with friends, ate way too much food and didn't take enough pictures (I'd like to share some but my memory card is being weird and I'll be very sad if it deletes my photos).  Tonight we're heading to a concert in Albuquerque and the next few weeks are a whirl of trips, events and relaxing with friends, isn't that the way summer is supposed to be?

My biggest trip will be to Paris next Wednesday!  I'm going with a friend and we'll be there for a whole month!  We're taking an intensive language class, learning French of course and hopefully traveling and site seeing on the weekends. 

PARIS by ALPHABETdiva

What are your summer plans?  Anything you're excited about?