Au Revoir to All That.

The bags are packed, the bank account is closed, champagne has been sipped... it's really time to say goodbye to this adventure we called living abroad.  I must say that 2009 was a year to remember, and while it wasn't often easy to be here in Paris, I'm so very glad we were.

I've been formulating this last post of mine in my head for a few weeks.  So while I know that I won't get everything, I hope that the following covers the things that have been daily loves of mine for the past 12 months.  So, in no particular order, I give you...

THINGS I WILL MISS ABOUT PARIS

The way the special pink of the Paris sunset glints off the dome of Les Invalides.

The smell of baking bread wafting up from the bakery below our apartment.

The coziness of our little place.

My running route over to the Champ de Mars and the Eiffel Tower.

The dogs of Paris.

Walking across the Pont Alexander III in the evening.

Walking across the Pont Solferino to wander the Tuileries.

Macaroons at Laduree.

Oysters and champagne for dinner.

Evening chats at La Marquise.

Dinner at Le 24.

Wandering the Latin Quarter.

Sitting in Les Deux Magots with a glass of wine and a good book...all afternoon.

Walking into any random church in Paris and finding the chapel of St. Joseph.

Looking up.

Taking the #39 Bus to Opera, and passing St. Germain, the River, the Louvre, the Tuileries, the Opera...

Taking friends around town.

Running around town with the friends I've made here.

Shopping at the butcher around the corner and getting teased by him about just how exactly I'm going to make coq au vin.

The saleslady at our neighborhood veggie shop.

Taking the metro up to Montmartre just because.

Arguing with Jon over the proper way to jaywalk.

Killing time at The Bon Marche (especially in the Mercerie and the Grande Epicerie).

The roses in May.

The leaves turning along the Champs Elysees.

Coming out of the metro at Concord and being faced with a view of almost every major Parisian monument.

The lights popping on the evening hours at the Eiffel Tower... and catching a glimpse of that when walking home from a dinner in Montparnasse.

Taking the train.

Walking.  Walking.  Walking.

I could never really do justice to a list about life and love in Paris.  But, the above is my paltry attempt at immortalizing at least a bit of what I found to be the essence of my time here.  I am ready to go back to the States, but while I was here, I was here.  Or at least I tried to be.

So, au revoir to all that- this life of mine as Kate A Broad.  But, the adventure continues Stateside... So, stay tuned.

Until then, this has been the Broad named Kate.  Ciao-ciao, mes amis!!

 

Merry Christmas!

Even though this happened last Thursday (12/17), I thought I would share it as a kind of Christmas gift for my loyal readers, many of whom live in steamier climes.  Thanks for following me this year, friends.  I hope you enjoy these images- the only "white" Christmas most of us will have (especially since it's back in the high 30s here)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Christmas--that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance--a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved."
~ Augusta E. Rundell 

I'm holding you in my heart, loved ones.  Merry Christmas.

PS- If you'd like to see all of the snow pictures I took, here's my Picasa album:

SNOW!!!