On Sundays, the farmer’s market on our street (bd Raspail) is all organic! It’s the best. All the produce is fresh and the colors are beautiful. Granted, we both got crepes and pastries today…but that’s beside the point.
Today we finally got to try Bob’s Kitchen for the first time! We’ve heard so much about their fresh pressed juices and smoothies so to make up for lost time we each ordered two (go big or go home). We both got the smoothie of the day (strawberry/basil/banana/orange) and then also ordered their famous green smoothie and green cocktail. We shared their mixed berry/caramelized banana pancakes (which they only serve on the weekends) and they were soooo good! The whole restaurant is vegetarian and organic so it’s definitely a step up on the healthy scale from our traditional baguette routine. We originally came with the plan to detox….but the food and smoothies were too good to stop at just one glass of fresh-pressed greens. Needless to say, we’ll be back for more. Probably with the same intentions, yielding the same results.
Et voilà. The price for a beautiful balcony view in Paris. The picture really doesn’t do it justice. But we’ve concluded this is probably why French women don’t get fat. These seven flights of stairs get factored into every decision we make. (i.e. How badly do we really want that baguette? If we go down to get baguette, should we really only buy just 1?…). Considering we’ve been averaging 3 baguettes/day, you could say it really hasn’t been that much of a road block (although I should say baguette has probably been our #1 priority).
After having eyed this food truck (via our balcony) for the past week, we finally got around to trying the Cantine California food truck at the farmer’s market on our street. We got the goop e-newsletter last night that featured this truck, so that pretty much pushed us over the edge. We weren’t sure which was more refreshing…the taste of bacon cheeseburgers, cupcakes, french fries, or people speaking English…Both of us ordered the Cali’Classic burger (which includes bacon, cheddar cheese, avocado, +) and the cupcakes du jour (carrot and chocolate) which were both incredible. The carrot cupcake was especially good and had candied orange zest on top (mmmmm). All the ingredients were so fresh and we loved their Abbott Kinney vibe, which reminded us of home (especially Kelly who is currently having Gjelina’s withdrawals). It’s definitely a food truck I could see at Outside Lands Festival too. One of the guys who works there actually worked at Hidden Villa farm in Los Altos Hills– such a small world! Definitely worth the flight up and down our stairs (which actually says a lot haha). Not to mention we probably needed the cardio after downing the burgers and cupcakes within 5 minutes…We’ll be back for more soon! Maybe for tacos? (they serve those too and they looked soo good!)
Last week when we were looking for a place to eat we discovered this little gem close to our apartment, L’Altro. We split an appetizer and then casually had best pasta dish I’ve ever had (lemon cream and rosemary tagliolini). They served us bread to start with some incredible balsamic vinegar (seriously, that probably sounds weird but it was SO good!…We’re on a mission to find it now). Anyway, today we came back after deciding the flight down and back up our stairs would be worth it to get our new favorite drink, la framboise chic! It’s crushed raspberries with brachetto d’acqui and it tastes like heaven. It’s also probably the girliest drink one could order on the menu but their beer is really good too. We’ll be back soon. As in, maybe, probably (?) tomorrow…
And I quote, (from one of the models leaving Elie Saab’s show), “Yeah I’ll just see you at Valentino”…Casual. Real casual.
Today, I made (yet another) spontaneous decision to go check out the scene at Chanel’s Haute Couture show. YOLIPO. I didn’t want to look like I just got out of bed..since it is, after all, Chanel…So I sucked it up and wore my (heeled) ankle boots (Woo! Yeah! Go me!). Once I got down the stairs, I then realized I forgot my gloves. I looked back up the stairs…I looked at my heels. Ha…not worth it.
After I hopped on the Metro, it took about 20 minutes to get to Le Grand Palais, where Chanel’s Haute Couture awaited (the actually invited guests lol). I got there when people were leaving the first show. Let me just say, it was a [mofo] zoo. Of beautiful people, of course. I didn’t know where to look. There were at least 8 girls at a time being swarmed and circled by paparazzi. I couldn’t recognize anyone by name. So I just took the cue from everyone else, whipped out my iPhone, and started snapping a few here and there.
Once everyone had left the building, I thought I would head back. Little did I know, this was the calm before the storm. Within 15 minutes, the swarming was happening all 360 degrees. This time however the first person I saw was Carine Roitfeld(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). I only caught a quick photo of her because I was too busy trying to keep myself from passing out. Then it hit me. This was the legit wave. Next came more fashionistas, Miroslava Duma and friends, Elisa Nalin (who has the best smile!), and more celebrities. Then, like an angel with wings, there was Emmanuelle Alt. So effortlessly french and cool (for lack of a better word). As to be expected for the editor in chief of Vogue Paris. While the paparazzi flocked other young fashionistas, she clearly tried to make a quick run towards the entrance. Then before I knew it, she was walking up the stairs in my direction (where there was the least crowded path). And then it went black. And then she was less than a foot away from me. And then it went black again. God knows I’d black out from seeing Emmanuelle Alt before ever blacking out from drinking. Her mannerism was so calm, cool, polite, and um, perfect. Je l’adore!
Very soon after, sans-gloves, sans-wool-socks, sans-Chanel-invite, I decided I might die of hypothermia if I stayed outside any longer. It was time to call it quits. Au revoir Chanel!
Once Kelly came back from her classes, we decided (over baguette…haha) that we might as well head over to Paris Fashion Week for Dior’s Haute Couture show. The location was “secret” and it wasn’t until the show was streaming live that we saw it was over in the Tuileries! We figured we might as well try our luck (YOLIPO) even though it was already 20 minutes into the show. Thankfully, we live right above (not really right above, more like 7 flights of stairs above…) the Metro so we were able to make it over to the Tuileries and find Dior’s HC show in less than 15 minutes. Love. Life.
Once we got there, we tried to play our cool around all the paparazzi and fashion-stalkers (I guess we were stalkers too?..) and then the COOLEST thing happened. Some guy (dressed very hip, might I add) asked to take our picture. Say what. We tried to keep our cool. He told us how to hold the umbrella (my dad’s compact umbrella, completely taken along for utility) and Kelly and I tried our best to make “closed-mouth..yeah-were-fashionistas..oh-great-another-picture” smiles. I guess you can say we are officially “posers”.
When the show ended, the shit show started. We completely lost our cool. No more posing, iPhones out. Flash on? (Woops).
As soon as Emmanuelle Alt strutted out in her white jeans, We both thought we were going to black out. That is as close to perfection as I’ve ever stood. AhhhhhhhHHH! Followed by Caroline Issa and Elisa Nalin!!! What a tear-jerker.
Conclusion: The best decisions are made over baguette.
After visiting Musee D’Orsay, we decided hot chocolate at Angelina’s was completely necessary (obvi). On our way there, we walked through the Tuileries Gardens and it was unreal. Since it was a Sunday, the street workers didn’t clear the snow so the entire park was white and looked straight out of a freakin movie. Paris is so beautiful in the snow!
People warned us that winter in Paris would be cold, but nobody said how beautiful it could be! Granted, we are both wearing 5+ layers and 2 pants each…