In Paris with family!

I spent this past weekend with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins in Paris while they are there on holiday for two weeks. They've done a house swap with their Newport Beach home and an equivalently nice flat in central Paris. I took the Eurostar over on Friday after work, arriving a bit late, but nevertheless welcomed, at 10:30pm to the flat with wine and snacks waiting for me. We all sat out on the balcony to catch up while enjoying the warm summer evening.

The rest of the weekend was a good balance between relaxing and tourism. On Saturday, we had lunch in Montmartre and walked up to Sacre Coeur. Saturday night we ate at La Closerie des Lilas on recommendation from a friend of theirs. The restaurant was amazing, with beautiful ambiance sitting in the patio atrium area. We all had a fantastic meal.

On Sunday we went to a service at the American Cathedral in Paris and then had lunch at an outdoor cafe at Place d'Alma across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. The weather was perfect, warm with a light breeze, and we could have sat there for hours, but instead walked up to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Elysees where the weather turned from warm to *hot* and nearly unbearable. After a few photos at the Arc, we decided to seek out air conditioning at the modern art museum, Le Centre de Georges Pompidou. We discussed 'what is art?' as we looked at blank white canvases, odd iron figurines, and collages worthy of 7th grade book fairs.

Before heading back to the house, we were successful in our search for baguettes (EVERYthing is closed on Sundays, particularly in August). Sunday night's meal was a self-styled meal of the ingredients in the house, ending up in the form of pasta with a sauce made from scratch with tomatoes, garlic, basil, bell peppers and saucisson. Everything was delicious, as were the courses of wine - champagne, chenin blanc, rose and then a languedoc red.

Up at 5:30am, I was on the Eurostar by 7am, in London by 9am and at the office by 10:30am. It was a wonderful opportunity to share a family holiday with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins in a great European city, to practice my French and to live up to my purpose of moving here - travel! City breaks, as they call such weekend trips, are the best!