Birthday at Laduree

Last month I was lucky to have my parents in town for my birthday! It was a beautiful April day, the sun was shining and we went to the Champs Elysee for a little shopping. Well, my mom and I went shopping and my dad went up the arc de triomphe for a little sight seeing. After buying a dress in Naf Naf and meeting back up with my dad, we headed over to the famous Laduree for birthday celebration cakes. Laduree is a luxury cake and pastry brand that is best known for making the best macarons in the world.

I was a little worried that we didn't have reservations, but we didn't have to wait long. We were directed upstairs through a little room with a fireplace to be placed at our table under a beautiful chandelier. The restaurant is beautiful separated into many different rooms and decorated in luxury wallpapers, and fancy chairs. I have gone to Laduree in the past, but only to buy macarons to take away. You may remember my last post about it here.

Trying to decide what to have is the main problem with Laduree. There are so many choices of pastries, cakes, macarons and tarts!

I finally decided on one that had raspberries and rose flavored cream. It was delicious!

My mom and I tried to eat them slowly and savor them, but they were just too good and ended up disappearing quickly from our plates.

What a fabulous way to spend a birthday in Paris!!

La Tour de France

Happy Tour de France day! Today my boyfriend and I fought through the crowds on the Champs Elysees to get a glimpse of the Tour de France. It was set up with a jumbo screen which followed the tour into Paris. There were also food stands, and merchandise stalls set up to buy hats and t-shirts. It was almost like being at a concert.







Before the cyclists came through the street, there was a parade of advertising cars and floats. There were many different vehicles there which were quite well done.



I must admit, I don't know much about the tour, other than flicking past it on the t.v. previously in Canada. The only person I know in it is Lance Armstrong, yet seeing it live is quite spectacular. We waited by the side of road, and suddenly the crowd started cheering as the cyclists flew by us. If you blinked, you might have missed it. Luckily, they do 8 laps around the Champs Elysees so you do get to see them a few times. I couldn't believe how many people are cycling, and how fast they go by! I am so glad I went to see it live!

Nature Capitale

Yesterday, I had the bright idea to venture out into the 30 degree weather to check out the Nature Capitale at Arc de Triomphe. Along with over a million people, my boyfriend and I stepped onto the metro on our way to Champs Elysees. We took the RER line for some of the way to avoid the rush in the metro. Once on the train, I suddenly felt a rush of heat that almost knocked me over. Stupidly, I asked my boyfriend "Where is the air conditioning!?" He looked at me and with a little smirk and told me that there is no air conditioning in the public transit.

I have never been so glad to get off the subway as when we arrived at our destination. Going up into the street, and looking up at the Arc de Triomphe was pretty spectacular. However, once I started to look around I noticed that you could barely move around since there were so many people there!
The street was closed down, and there were plants, trees and even vegetables growing where there are usually hundreds of cars driving up the Champs Elysees. This was a PR event that was to remind Parisians of what the country looks like! There were palm trees placed around street lights, and cows just hanging out in the middle of the road.



There were french farmers there drawing attention to all french grown or made products. From mustard to lavender there were booths set up to promote it. I have to admit that I did love this girl's cheese skirt that was obviously advertising french cheese!


In true french fashion, you could also purchase wine and oysters on the side of the road. There were people standing around drinking and eating in the hot summer sun.
At least the summer weather seems to have arrived in Paris. Hopefully it is here to stay! Now, I just need to get used to riding the metro in 100 degree weather!