Monday, October 19, 2009

Summer Sailing in Seattle

We interrupt autumn's gray, rainy days to bring you sunshine!



One day when Dayne and I were driving past the waterfront this summer I saw a sign for Let's Go Sailing and I immediately wanted to go sailing! We looked up their website when we got home and thought the price of $40 for a 2 1/2 hour sunset sail was great, you can bring whatever food and drink you want aboard also.



Della & Greg decided to come with us and we had quite a nice little picnic on the boat while cruising around Puget Sound. Dayne had mixed up margaritas and after cocktails we popped open some wine and had some great snacks. It was a really relaxing way to spend a weekday evening, I want to go again but I think now I'll have to wait until next year.


Doesn't the sun and warm weather seem so far away right now? Bundle up friends.


Sailing photos

Friday, October 9, 2009

Paris, a love story...

Ok, not really but I've been home for 2 weeks and I'm missing it. The sprawling city, evening lights, metro stops, shady con men in the tourist areas, over priced cocktails, 4th floor flats with no lift... I miss my favorite city. I know you all feel terrible for me ;)

I had a wonderful time spending 2 weeks with my friend Forest, it's rare that I'm just in Paris to hang out for such a long time- usually we are stopping in on our way to other adventures. But this trip was just me and Forest doing whatever the hell we wanted, and we did a lot! Forest is in the process of moving into a cute little studio flat at the base of Sacre Couer - if you've ever taken the funicular up to the church you have walked right past her place as it is on the avenue between the Anvers metro stop and the merry go round in the Square Willette.



The first night in town I finally got to attend a Wednesday Cocktail Adventure! Le Magnifique, although a bit spendy, is a beautiful cocktail lounge with an impressive menu of mainly in house created cocktails. I'd go again and would recommend it for those without a budget. And it was a great space to meet some new friends and meet up with others I haven't seen in a long time!
photo courtesy of Forest Collins


For my tourist adventure the next day I headed to the Musee de Moyen Age. I love old ruins and this museum is housed in the remains of a 3rd century Roman bath and a neighboring 15th century mansion. The museum is really interesting and displays the famous Unicorn Tapestries which everyone but me has supposedly heard about.



That night I had a wonderful dinner at La Gazzetta with Forest, Nicole, Luke, and their friends Braden & Laura who recently lived and worked in Seattle. It is a set menu only and although we all agreed there were a few "misses" most of the dishes were wonderful. Our group had started with pre dinner drinks at the nearby Bottle Shop and Forest, Nic and I headed back there for some after dinner drinks as well.  And then we went to Nic's when the Bottle Shop closed. And then it was 6:30am. We rock.


The weekend arrived and with it came our friends from Switzerland! We had a little wine reception at the studio apartment while Jeremy, Philippe, Larnie, her mother and the baby Louise trickled in, taking various trains from Zurich and Geneva. Once everyone had arrived we went out and did it up. Cocktails until the bars close? check. Street crepes? check. Dancing to 80's music in a late night bar frequented by gigolos?  check. Breakfast at 5am with strangers? check. Breakfast martini's at 7am? check.


Holy hell! That was a FUN night/morning!
 

 

The next day (that day) I met up with the Swissies and we took Louise on her first Seine boat ride and showed her the Trocadero area. She loved it :)




We met Forest in the Marais for a really good dinner at Les Fous d'en Face and then the 2 of us had a quick nightcap at Why Bar near Les Halles. The next day we all met up near the big market Couvert Beauvau to spend the afternoon drinking wine at Le Baron Rouge. What a fun way to spend the afternoon with friends, trying different wines, all the bottles well priced between 7 Euro and 15 Euro. Snacking on charcuterie plates. Catching up while jostling glasses and bottles on the street and then inside on the coveted wine barrel table.


 The Swissies soon had to catch their trains home and Matt & Violaine were nice enough to invite us stragglers over to their near by apartment. Armed with a few more bottles from Le Baron Rouge we spent what was left of a lazy Sunday afternoon on their deck overlooking the streets of the market being cleaned up, peering at the neighboring decks and chimneys and even spying the Eiffel Tower  in the distance. Oh and taking funny pictures of each other in hats! (I'm not even going to try to go into details about their bathroom which is decorated like "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"!)




You can see more pictures of the debauchery here

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