Atelier des Chefs & more...

Last Wednesday we gathered 8 ladies together for a nice day in Paris.

We started with coffee, macarons & a beautiful view on the rooftop terrace of 'un des grands magasins':

Le Printemps in the 9th arrondissement.

 

And once your in Printemps, you definitely should go to their restrooms: Point WC!

It's not the cheapest restroom in Paris but it's a clean & fancy one!

For 2 euros you can make use of the Japanese toilet, you can adapt the temperature of the toilet seat as well as the water temperature.

I'm sure there are more gadgets on this toilet, but I couldn't figure that out quickly enough...

Go and try it yourself!

The Japanese toilet together with a very modern & colourful design,

make it almost a pleasure to go to the loo...

After this experience we headed to the Atelier des Chefs, where we had lunch...

But first we had to work!

In about an hour time, we prepared our own lunch, guided by a Chef.

Funny enough, the Chef that lead our 'workshop/lunch' last Wednesday was a guy that

participated in Top Chef 2011, a succesfull TV program that I followed as much as I could.

Hereunder an impression of the day:

And yes, I made pictures, but worked too... Here's the proof of it!!

Thanks Ann, Anette, Anette, Claudie, Corry, Eline & Maud for this lovely day...

It's definitely one that I will cherish!

Bisous,

Tennis fever

It's that time of the year again...

Time of THE tennis event in France...

The French Open started again last Sunday...

And yes, again, we'll be heading there to see some matches :)

Of course we follow on TV too... watching tennis & having diner at the same time... only during

So if you miss me here... you'll know what I'll be doing...

Oh & by the way... it's only four weeks till school's out!! Counting...

10 Weeks of holidays to look forward to!

Wishing you all a sporty week!

Bisous,

Preparations in full swing!

Tomorrow is the day; International Day... lots of cooking has been done already!

Time for the decorations now!

Are you also going to try typical dishes from all over the world this weekend?

I'm sure I will:

Spain, France, Argentina, Lebanon, Azerbaijan, Israel, USA, Sweden, Germany,

Brazil, Switserland, Italy, UK, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, India...

Not sure if I will manage to get a taste of all of them, but I promise you I'll do my best :)

(diet & sports will have to wait till Monday!!)

Have a delicious weekend!

Bisous, 

Colourful!

Just a quick post to let you know that I'm busy this week... busy with the organisation of the International Day at school... an yearly event, full of fun, food & friendship.

That's why I leave you today with some pictures of my terrace (I just can't get enough of the it... it's still such a wonderful weather in Versailles so we do enjoy our garden/terrace to the fullest!).

These little flowers (dorotheanthus bellidiformis) are so adorable, they love the sun and they open every day and close again at night time.

Just take away the old flowers from time to time and you can enjoy them all summer long!

Have a look in your garden center, they are such a happy flower!!

 

I wish you all a happy & colourful week!

Bisous, 

A day in Chartres

A trip to Chartres has been on the calendar for what seems like ages!

It's rather difficult to set a date with a group of about 20 busy ladies, but we managed...

On the 5th of May we met in front of the gorgeous & famous Chartres Cathedral, which is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.

Chartres itself is a cozy, nicely maintained, typical French city, so if you ever have a chance, I can highly recommend a visit, maybe when you're on your way to the Loire valley?

I made so many pictures that day and I find it extremely difficult which ones to show you, so I made a huge selection, hope you don't mind??

 I wish you all a lovely weekend!

Bisous,

And the winner is...

We've had some busy weeks with an almost 2 weeks holiday (in The Netherlands and in Greece) followed by lots of house guests. But now it's, more or less, getting back to normal, at least for the coming 3 weeks :)

I love having people around, like to prepare their breakfasts, plan cozy diners or show them around our 'home abroad'. As you can imagine, it's pretty difficult to keep up with the daily routine... So that's why I haven't been here on a regular basis... but will try to make it up in the coming weeks!

First of all I have a winner to announce: it's Elly of Elly's kleine Idylle. Congratulations Elly! I can recommend you to visit her blog, it is, as the name says, a 'small idyll', beautiful pictures & serenity. Have a look!!
Elly, if you can email me your address at abacaxiandhortela@gmail.com, I will send your presents as soon as possible!!

A bunch of pictures to follow, just from the last 2 weeks:

Some entertainment at home

An afternoon at the races... Hippodrôme de Saint Cloud

We celebrated a birthday...

Just a tablesetting

Notre Dame... from the back side

Notre Dame... from the side

The boys on one of the bridges, watching all the 'bateaux mouches' full of tourists passing by

One of the 'bouquinistes' along the Seine

Arc de triomphe on a Saturday morning

8 May

View over the Champs Elysées and Place de la Concorde

Montmartre & the Sacre Coeur, view from the Arc de Triomphe

On the other side: La Défense

Great weather... :)

Wishing you all a great week!

Bisous,