A Walking Tour of Paris

Last Tuesday, I decided to take advantage of an overcast yet not overly cold morning to take a long walk to a market I've been dying to visit since we moved here. The Marche des Enfants Rouges is the oldest food market in Paris, originating in 1615 under the rule of Louis XIII. The name means Market of the Red Children, supposedly referring to a 17th century orphanage nearby where the children wore red uniforms.

As many people I speak to have never been to Paris, I decided to document my walking tour to the Marche, to show what real Paris looks like. So what did I see along my route?

Eglise St. Germain

One of many beautiful old Parisian buildings decorating in a mosaic pattern.

Place Furstenburg, my favorite quiet corner of Paris, housing Delacroix's home in a museum dedicated to his work.

A beautiful flower shop.

Eventually, after weaving through the small streets off of Boulevard St. Germain, I came to St. Michel and its famous fountain, right on the Seine.

After making my way through the tiny cobblestone streets of St. Michel, I turned a corner to discover the Cathedral Notre Dame just ahead.

Before crossing the River Seine to the Ile de la Cite, I stopped by Shakespeare and Co., a famous English bookstore here in Paris.

Passing under Notre Dame allows walkers to view the famous gargoyles up close.

Paris wouldn't be Paris without berets and scarves! Thank goodness for the little tourist shops near Notre Dame.

A view of the next little island in the Seine, the Ile St. Louis, a chic and quietly beautiful neighborhood.

The Pont Marie (Marie Bridge) connecting the Ile St. Louis to the Right Bank.

Once entering the Right Bank, I came across THANKSGIVING, an American grocery store! See some of your favorites in this photo. Lucky Charms: 12 euros!

Heading into the Marais, Paris’s Jewish Quarter, I passed through the Hotel de Sully, a mansion built between 1625 and 1630.

The Hotel de Sully took me straight through to the famous Place des Vosges, a beautiful (perfectly) square park, which was built by Henri IV from 1605-1612. Victor Hugo lived at #6 from 1832-1848.

After walking up Rue de Turenne for another 10 minutes, I turned the corner at Rue de Bretagne, and soon enough, the market snuck up on me! My heart pitter-pattered in anticipation of finally seeing the market I've been hoping to see for months.

But OH the disappointment! When I finally got inside, I discovered that most of the vendors where not there. There were a few ladies selling vegetables and one or two vendors with fresh pastas or selling liquor. Because it was Tuesday, not many stalls were open. It was just a sign that I need to go back on the weekend when Peter is available to join me!

I decided to head home, as my legs were growing tired from the long walk. But as I headed towards home, new sights kept catching my eye.

A miniature version of the Arch de Triomphe, at the Porte de Saint Martin.


A gorgeous clock at the top of a building. The name on the clock is A. Reamur, which is also the name of the nearby metro stop.

After a long walk, I decided to hop the metro home!

I finally ended up back in the St. Germain area, and hopped into Monoprix, the local grocery store to pick up a "Coca Light" and some lunch to fill me up!

A Googlemap view of my walking tour.

Although the market was a disappointment, it was an enjoyable walk and only made me want to continue to explore Paris even more.

Girls' Weekend in London

With Peter heading to Amsterdam for a business trek with HEC, I had a weekend free to visit Rebecca and Kyra in London! Since their future hubbies were away for the weekend, too, this was the perfect opportunity for a girls' weekend. We kicked it off with a visit to the farmer's market so we could make a tasty meal that night.


This Farmer's Market is located in the parking lot behind a farm store in Kyra and Rebecca's posh neighborhood of Notting Hill. The produce is beautiful, and we were able to scrounge up the ingredients for a delicious vegetarian meal, with fresh pasta with tomato and pesto sauces, kale with raisins and almonds, and endive and blood orange salad.

The next night, brussels sprouts and roasted winter vegetable helped us keep this weekend healthy (until we hit up a favorite Thai restaurant for lunch on Saturday!)Saturday afternoon, the two brides discovered that a huge wedding dress sale would be taking place at a hotel in the city. I can't show the dresses they actually liked, but I can tell you we had a lot of fun. I ran back and forth searching through the racks and racks of dresses, the girls throwing them on one at a time, getting advice from the other brides and mothers and sisters in the dressing room.

A Ski Weekend in Chamrousse

Last weekend we travelled to Chamrousse, France, a small town in south-eastern France, near Grenoble with 78 other HEC business school students. After arriving in Grenoble, an hour-long bus ride brought us to our resort, and upon arriving in our 6-person room, we discovered that this was our view: It was incredible to see the low-hanging clouds and the mountain peaks all at once. We spent the weekend skiing and admiring the incredible views.

Neither of us are extremely experienced skiiers, but we challenged ourselves to ski down the mountain, from top to bottom, and this is proof that we did in fact make it to the top!
Our next challenge was to dominate a red trail (which is the equivalent of a black diamond in the USA), and once we made it down the steepest part, I had to stop to take a photo for proof. You may think it strange to stop in the middle of a trail for picture-taking. But don't worry, apparently in France, stopping in the middle of a ski trail is very common. On every trip down the slope, we'd almost run into whole families sitting in the middle of the hill, or people stopping to smoke or have a sandwich. We're not experienced enough to know whether this is also popular in other ski destinations, but we are smart enough to know it's not a good idea! But even so, you know the rule: When in France....

...so I stopped in the middle of the trail to take a photo.

One of the best parts of the weekend was spending time with our HEC friends. Staying in rooms of 6 meant early morning breakfasts together, and late night ramen and kimchee parties. In this picture, you may notice that the door to our porch is wide open. That's because it was near 60 degrees all weekend! This made for lots of sunshine, naps out on the porch, and a few swims in the outdoor pool, but also slushy slopes!

Cheese of the Week: Ossau Iraty

Ossau-Iraty is a Basque sheep's milk cheese made in the French Pyrenees, and according to the AOC rules, it must be aged for a minimum of 90 days. Ossau-Iraty is one of our favorite cheeses so far. It is categorized as a semi-hard cheese which firms as it ages, and it has a creamy, nutty flavor. It is not your classic "stinky French cheese", and probably suits most palettes. It was great with some bread and sliced saucisson, but even better just on its own. This cheese can be served before or after dinner, and it's Basque nickname is "farmer's dessert". It's perfect for cutting up and snacking on, and according to those who know, it is best paired with a white Graves wine. Graves is a small wine-producing region of France, which gets its name from the gravel-rich soil.