Rainy Weekend in Paris

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Hello, hello, I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  Things were pretty quiet around here.  And rainy.  We spent Saturday night watching the SEC championship, skyping with my sis (who is having a baby in less than four weeks!!!) and logging in an excessive amount of time on pinterest.

Speaking of the source of inspiration, this pinterest picture put brunch on my mind.

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I miss long Sunday brunches with my girl friends in NYC (one thing that Paris is missing).

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The good news, is that you can always create your own.  So that's what we did.  Ours just happened to be inside at our tiny counter sans the adorable place mats and the balcony view.  The spread was delish nonetheless.  Brioche french toast, blueberries and a hearty side of bacon.  You really can't go wrong with bacon and syrup... and French press coffee, of course.

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We spent the rest of Sunday afternoon at the Louvre.  The first Sunday of the month is free admission Sunday at most of the museums in Paris.  We try not to miss it.

This Sunday, we chose the Louvre because there was a Forbidden City exhibit that we wanted to see.  Unfortunately, it was already full by the time we arrived.  Instead, we wondered up to the Napoleon III apartments which were fabulous.

I have been to the Louvre so many times but never to see the apartments.  They are at the very top of the Richelieu wing complete with an Angelina restaurant and all.  The apartments were built by Napoleon III, the last emperor of France before it became the republic that it is today.

The apartment tour begins with an interactive computer demo taking you through a typical dinner in France during the 1700's.  In about 10 minutes, it takes you through all of the dining courses with great graphics to explain the different pieces of servingware used.  For any girl that likes to entertain, you would really appreciate this.  I learned that the French always served family style (hence the many different kinds of servingware) until Napoleon changed it to Russian style (each course is served by waiter to the individual).

And then they would eat at a table that looked something like this...

After exploring the apartments, we headed down to the first floor and saw the Ancient Orient collection.  Starting with the Assyrian era up through Egyptian Alexandria.  (The Mr.'s favorite)

The rain finally gave way so we decided to cap off the day with an evening climb up the Arc de Triomphe to see Paris sparkle at night  It is a steep climb, but a beautiful view of the city at night.

Let the Christmas shopping on the Champs begin!  Just look at that madness on a Sunday night.

I hope everyone else had a bon weekend.  Happy Monday!


Images:  1) via pinterest; 2) via Linen and Lavender; 3) via My Little Paris; 4) via pinterest;