As I leaned over to look out the window; my eyes were bathed with the sights I had heard so much about; vast green landscapes, acres and acres of vineyards, scant buildings poking in the distance all encompassing a historic monument, a magnificence that was built in 1889.

A few minutes from the airport and I was in the heart of this immaculate country, I was in Paris; the smell of fresh croissants being baked flooded my curious nostrils, lovers holding hands and embracing each others lips surrounded quaint corners, the fashionistas trotting the sidewalks with the fall printed scarves, coco channel purses dangling off of their arms and fancy pairs of Jimmy Choos draping their feet. It was refreshing to be in Paris, a metro-fashion-saturated-and-gastronomically inspired world. Its a cocoon where every girl dreams to live in… drink the finest wines, eat the finest foods and dress in the finest threads. All of my senses tingled and bubbled with happiness.

Paris highlights, crepes, Eiffel Tower, Artwork at pompedieu

One of the most intriguing houses of art we saw was the Pompedieu center… the name itself has that pomp about itself; the artwork in there was quite fascinating… very different from Le Louvre (which we visited as well) but I felt more taken away by the modern and contemporary art that was displayed here. Do not miss the art/book shop below, we managed to raid that place with some amazing artwork that is soon to go up on our walls in Dubai. We also checked out the Arc du Triumph which was gorgeous to look at, especially that we went there at night… the place is different, it has a whole new vibe, energized, invogorating, bustling with people… but what i loved the most was popping a few steps of a terrible waltz with the BF right in front of it with no worry about what people had to say and think of… it was a memorable moment indeed all captured on my ipone as well

We visited the dainty petite cafe’s scattered through out town, bit into some of the fluffiest buttery croissants, oh and those delicious crepes from montparnasse… oh my those crepes were just divine, but there was one place that really slapped us hard in the face with a big fat WOW! It was L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. This place is an art gallery for food; there isnt much of a fuss about service, where you eat or who’s sat beside you; the focus… is on the art of food and just food. L’Atelier offers you to come in at several different sittings during the day for lunch, but for dinner they only offered just one sitting. I didnt make that fact clear enough to my BF earlier… and he was wondering what was all the hurry about to get there before 6:30… but thanks to reliable public transport we were there on time and I believe very lucky to say the least. We had’nt reserved (big boo-boo) but the host was kind enough to sit us down. I looked around for a table that I would like to unwind at, but there were no tables in site…just one horse shoe shaped big bar scene with bar tables and placemats running from one end to the other, all facing a very busy open kitchen. Without hesitation we took our seats. We were greeted with warm towels and quite intricate menus with a perfect pairing of wines; as we looked up at the waiter to place our order, the room was packed and bustling. Every single one of those bar stools were filled out with a toosh and happy dangling feet. Both of us went for the degustation and below you can have a look-see at what we ate. In all honesty.. this is one of the best places I had eaten at.. EVER! The foie-gras… it makes my knees weak just to think of it. The experience truely was all about the art of food and the magic of mixing flavors, however I really would’nt mind a tad more enthusiasm and personal warmth from the waiters; I thought they were a little too cold and if you were lucky enough you would possibly catch a smile on one of them, it may have been the busy kitchen, or the constant rush of someone asking them about a perfect wine pairing or it could have possibly been a norm; well whatever it was the food definitely took the prize.

L’Atelier de Joel Robochon

The Eiffel tower, you would think would be the first stop… but it was not, yes we heard so much abou t it, pictures and movies and magazines… it just seemed a little too commercial for my tastebuds, so i didnt fuss about seeing it pronto and decided we will feed our eyes when we see fit. We had caught glimpses of it through restaurants and other surrounding buildings offering panoramic views.. the magnificence, the art, the history.. its all quite evident, but not until the third day did we push ourselves to scratch our itch and go in search of the magic that surrounded this piece of architecture. As we walked past, the slew of vendors, people bathing in the fountain under the hot summer sun, kids chasing each other… giggling with balloons in one hand and a melting ice creams in another, street musicians busting out old french classics… this is what it was, this was the magic and we could feel our feet being being consumed by the spell. It absorbed us, sucked us in like a moth to a street lamp… with our eyes glued to this beauty we walked right beneath it. We sat in awe just a few feet away from this elegant masterpiece, sun kissin git perfectly from behind us… and we simply gazed at it for the next 40 minutes. There was magic, I could very well feel it and see it effecting people around us like a drug; its quite hard to put it in words really but you really have to be there to live it.

A land associated with Love, Cheese and Croissants; I now see what the fuss is about. If I am to write about everything I admired in this blog post would span over 8000 words easily; but if the saying is true that ‘A picture speaks a thousand words’ I’ll let my photorgaphs do most of the talking. For more pics click here.

L’avant Gout

Eaternally Yours,

Drina C.