Young Wine and Van Gogh

The 3rd Thursday of November marks the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau, a wine made in the Beaujolais region of France and is made with the grapes harvested this year! Bars, cafes and restaurants all over Paris were ready to party to celebrate the release of this year's wine. With my mom in town for a visit, we knew we had to try it. It's light and a little fruity and goes down easy.

 Another highlight of our visit was the incredible food we had! From oeufs coccotte (eggs and cream sauce with leeks in a ceramic pot)...

 ...to the most incredible burrata (a liquidy, creamy version of mozzerella served in olive oil), and our first experience with fromage de tete (headcheese) which is the parts of a boiled pig's head formed into a little pate with gelatin...it's actually pretty good.

...and even this "melon de poulet", which is a deboned chicken stuffed with ham and cheese and wrapped in bacon. Yeah, I know...

...and our Wednesday night dinner at Les Papilles with this version of beef bourguignon

There is starting to be a stigma attached to taking photos of your food at the dinner table, so we've had to be stealthy about our photos, and if we had more pictures, we would have shown you the leek and potato soup ladled over a bed of leeks, croutons and fresh herbs, and the beef braised in white wine. But we did do things other than eat...

On Saturday morning we all hopped in the car and drove 45 minutes out to Auvers-sur-Oise. This tiny town was home to Vincent Van Gogh. He found lots of inspiration for his art in this town.

It's a tiny town but worth an afternoon visit. But in the off-season, be sure to visit during the week since everything is closed on the weekends!

L'Arc de Triomphe

In the middle of the Place Charles de Gaulle at the very top of the Champs-Elysee stands the famous Arc de Triomphe. This incredible monument, standing 50 meters high, was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806. Visitors can cross beneath the dangerous and scary rotary to visit the inside of the monument, and to witness the incredible views from the top! We made this one of our cultural events this weekend.

A view of the Champs-Elysee

The tomb of an Unknown Soldier from WWI

Fontainebleau Chateau

Just 55 kilometers from Paris is the French town of Fontainbleau, which is home to one of the largest and most famous chateaux in France. Fontainebleau was home to many French kings, including Louix VII, Francis I, and Henry's III and IV. It was also the birthplace to Philip IV, Henry III and Louis VIII. After the French Revolution, it was taken over by Napoleon Bonaparte. The palace's exterior is big and beautiful, like most French chateaux, but it's most impressive inside. The rooms are furnished and fully decorated in varying styles representing the rulers who lived there and redecorated rooms and wings to fit their own needs and the styles of the times. We highly recommend a trip to Fontainebleau to any travelers looking for a day trip from Paris.

Napoleon's original clothing are still intact! Check out his shoes, below!

Napoleon's actual hat!

Napoleon's bidet!

Napoleon's bed- notice how short it is!

Ornate walls decorated in the style of the Italian Rennaisance

Napoleon's Throne

Like most French chateaux, this one also boasts charming gardens and lakes. We came in November, so it was lovely with the leaves just turning gold and yellow.

 

 After visiting the chateau, we headed into town for a stroll and to have lunch.

  

We had to share one more meal of "choucroute", or saurkraut and meat, before we leave France!

Père Lachaise

This week American children probably dressed up as ghosts and goblins and Trick-or-Treated in their neighborhoods, collecting sackfuls of sugar-highs. While this tradition hasn't really made it to France, the tradition of paying respects to the dead on All Saint's Day is very important. Our plan was to visit the Père Lachaise cemetery on this special day, November 1st. However, yesterday brought a torrent of rain and a dark sky. So when Peter headed to class this morning and I saw a beautiful blue sky, I called my friend Emily to head up to the cemetery with me. We were so happy we went. The sky was clear, the leaves on the trees were golden and because of the holiday, most of the gravesites were covered in gorgeous, fresh-cut flowers. This cemetery is famous for being the final resting place to many famous people.

Gertrude Stein's Grave

Jim Morrison's grave

An interesting gravestone

Like an illustration from a children's picture book at Halloween

Frederic Chopin's grave receiving some TLC