Author: Marissa
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Becoming an Art Lover in Paris
It’s difficult, if not impossible, to avoid becoming an art lover when you spend time in the museums of Paris. This trip has been a turning point for me – I can honestly say that I’ll be leaving with a sincere enthusiasm for exploring museums, enthusiasm that has replaced the vague dread I had when I…
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Paris Farmer’s Markets
Learning to navigate the farmer’s markets in Paris begins as overwhelm when you don’t speak the language, but it’s worth the effort even if you never learn how to ask for things beyond the smile and mime. Here’s a peek into what it’s like.
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Paris Velib – A League of 20,000 Bikes
In 2007 the Paris Town Hall instituted Vélib, the biggest bike-sharing system in the world: 1,800 bike stations across the city (every 300 meters) for a total of 20,000 bikes. The bikes may be rented for 1,70 € per day ($1.87 US dollars). If you live here, you can pay 29 € ($31.87 US dollars)…
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The Eiffel Tower on a Clear Night with a Full Moon
When you think of Paris, do you immediately picture the Eiffel Tower? I do. Apparently some people hate it, but I think it’s beautiful. On many of our walks, we’ll see it in the distance down a street or peeking above some tall row of buildings. And today, a clear, warm fall day in Paris,…
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Day Trip to Monet’s Home and Garden
In my third year of college, I moved from the dorm to an apartment with a couple of friends. I furnished my bedroom with mattresses on the floor, two white plastic milk crates for nightstands and on the wall behind my bed, a 6 foot wide by 4 foot tall poster of a Monet water…
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Paris: Beside, Behind and Between
Keith and I love to explore cities on foot. It’s a wonderful way to get your bearings and gather a sense of the city’s people – how they dress, how they talk, how they interact with each other, even the pace of their walk. (Parisians have a swift pace!) We typically choose a destination or two and…
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The Louvre: Famous, Favorites and Funny
Do you remember the Hans Christian Anderson tale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes?” If not, here is the condensed story from Wikipedia: A vain Emperor who cares about nothing except wearing and displaying clothes hires two weavers who promise him the finest, best suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his…
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Just A Peek: The 14th Arrondissement & Buying Cheese
I never imagined that buying cheese could be that fun. The city of Paris is divided into a spiral of 20 arrondissements, each is it’s own municipality complete with a mayor. And each is distinct not just in architecture, but in people and personality. Our apartment is in the 14th and the photo above was taken from our…
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Meet Leeloo, Our Foster Pup.
A couple of days ago, we decided to foster a dog from the Redmond Humane Society. Meet Leeloo. (sorry for the blurry pix – she’s camera shy)
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XC Skiing & Frozen Paulina Creek Falls
It turns out that Cross Country skiing not only steals our breath and makes us sweat in 8-degree weather, it’s also loads of fun. Yesterday, we skied up to Paulina Lake with a stopover at FROZEN Paulina Creek Falls (oh baby!) with our friend Tom, and our new friend John. Thought we’d share some photos: Okay, this…