Monday 29 November 2010

SNOW!!!

The first snow of the season definitely deserves its own blogpost!
And after spending 6 years in subtropical Brazil, I really find it something special.
 Even after the huge amounts we had in the beginning of this year.
It really looks wonderfully magical in the garden!
 And after a grey start this morning, we're also having sunshine now.
Snow & sun, what more can we ask for?



Of course, Senna put her nose in the snow!
Although being Brazilian, she doesn't mind the cold at all!
Have a nice day & enjoy the arrival of the winter (at least on this side of the equator!).

Bisous,


Friday 26 November 2010

Getting into the Christmas spirit!

The end of November already, hectic times here at the Abacaxi & Hortelã-house & change is on its way...
But the end of November also calls for getting into the Christmas spirit, don't you think?
So we headed one night to the Champs Elysées to see all the lights and visit the Christmas fair near the Place de la Concorde. Such a pity I couldn't capture it all in pictures, but I gave it a try:
Hotel de Invalides, such a remarkable building.
One of the restaurants went crazy...
The most beautiful Avenue of the world.
Also entertainment for the small ones.
Time to warm up: such a nice hot chocolate spoons in all kinds of flavors & preferrable combined with:
Don't they look good? And I can confirm: they taste good too!

This weekend will be dedicated to decorating the Christmas tree, hot chocolate and cookies ready? GO!

Have a wonderful, thankful weekend!
Bisous,

  

Tuesday 9 November 2010

Fall is here!

It's official now:
fall has arrived in Paris !
Time for candles, warm plaids & soft cushions on the sofa, red wine, hot spicy tea & 'pantoufles'!
Oui!
They are cute, aren't they?

After weeks of visitors & holidays, it's time for a good cleaning of the house and then on to the nicer things:  thinking about Christmas decorations & starting to shop for presents!

Happy week to all of you!
Bisous,

Friday 5 November 2010

Palais Royal & Les Grands Boulevards

Another Paris tour this week...  
This tour started, after a coffee in Café Le Nemours of course, just opposite the Comédie Française and close to this beautiful piece of Millennium art.

The Palais-Royal, originally called the Palais-Cardinal, is a palace and an associated garden located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. Facing the Place du Palais-Royal, it stands opposite the north wing of the Louvre, and its famous forecourt (cour d'honneur), screened with columns and, since 1986, containing Daniel Buren's site-specific artpiece, Les Deux Plateaux, known as Les Colonnes de Buren (the black & white... huge contrast with the historic building, pretty interesting to see).
Today it houses the Conseil d'État, the Constitutional Council, and the Ministry of Culture. At the rear of the garden are the older buildings of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the national library of deposit, with a collection of more than 6,000,000 books, documents, maps, and prints; most of the collections have been moved to more modern settings elsewhere.
Although it's November already, the gardens still look amazingly fresh, lots of colour and even the trees still had so many green leaves!! 


From the Palais Royal we went on to Les Grands Boulevards.
 They are built on the site of the city's old ramparts and extend in a long arc from the Église de la Madeleine in the west to the Bastille in the east. Once highly fashionable thoroughfares where 'tout' Paris would come to promenade and seek entertainment, they're still a vibrant and colourful part of the city, with their brasseries, theatres and cinemas.
The streets of the Grands Boulevards constitute the city's main commercial and financial district. Right at the heart of the area stand institutions like the Banque de France and the Bourse, while just to the north, beyond the glittering Opéra Garnier, are the large department stores Galeries Lafayette and Printemps. Rather more well-heeled shopping is concentrated on the rue St-Honoré in the west and the streets around elegant place Vendôme, lined with top couturiers, jewellers and art dealers. Scattered around the whole of the Grands Boulevards area are the delightful passages – nineteenth-century arcades with glass roofs and tiled floors that show what shopping was like in a different era.


The above statement had nothing to do with the tour, but I just liked it (it says: one should never be absent from school nor arrive late without permission), should show it to Thom, maybe it helps!! 
It was, again, a lovely tour through a part of the city I didn't know... Still so many hidden places to discover!

And YES! It's Friday again! And with this bunch of colourful flowers I'd like to wish you all a wonderful weekend! Enjoy it!
Bisous, 

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