I love Paris in ze Winter

Bonjour!

At the moment I am in a cafe just near Notre DAME...in Paris!

Since I last wrote I have visited the Hague (International Peace Palace and Gemeente Museum for a Picasso to Tapies exhibition), and spent a few delightful days in Brugge. The main town square has an ice skating rink in the middle and Xmas markets. The waffles there- well, let´s just say they were quite heavenly...

I arrived in Paris on Monday and am having a great time. I visited the Louvre on my first day here....only got through about half a wing in about 4 hours.....plan on returning tomorrow though to see a little more, but I am certain I will never truly get to do it justice as an occasional visitor.

On Tuesday I went to one of the Museums of Modern Art - It has an interesting range of Cubist, Fauvist, Dadaist etc. works. I also did lots of walking along the Champs Elysees, and had a look at the Arc de Triomphe, Hotel Des Invalides, Le Saint Eustache Eglise (a lovely Cathedral), Jardin des Tuilleries and did some window shopping. I also went to dinner with an American guy from the hostel to sample escargots- aka SNAILS...they weren´t too bad at all - quite salty and a bit like mushrooms - doesn´t everything taste like mushrooms if its indescribable? The worst part was trying to get the mushy snail out of its shell without shooting the whole thing across the floor. I think we may give frogs legs a try in a couple of days...

I picked up a friend from the airport yesterdqy - Sam - and had to get up at the crack of dawn so i am very very tired still. It rained much of yesterday which was a shame, but we went up the Arc de Triomphe and laughed at all the cars below, visited the Madeleine, Musee D´Orsay, and God knows what else!

We have visited the Pantheon this morning and are just shortly heading to Notre Dame and then i think we will head to Monmartre, The Sacre Couer, Salvador Dali museum and to have a look at the Moulin Rouge. Tonight we are going to have dinner with some people from the hostel and head to the Champs Elysees for late night shopping. It is a nice sunny day and i don´t even have a coat on so it should be nice and clear later when we head up the Eiffel Tower.

I am in Paris for a few more days and then I head to Switzerland to stay with my cousin Kraig. It will be great to see him again after many years of him living abroad.

Hope all are well.

A bien tot

Belinda x