adventures with meko

new york city was a winter wonderfuland on saturday and and meko was in town! 

i met up with meko and her friend in town, christen, for an afternoon of shopping and coffee in flatiron and union square. christen, in town for the week from taipei, was on the hunt for a pair of black leather boots and a beanie. after much searching along fifth and sixth ave in the non-stop blizzard (thank goodness we were all bundled up in our hardshells with hoods on), we finally found her the perfect pair of flat-bottom black leather boots at dsw and a caramel beanie with a big furry ball next door at nordstrom rack for christen.

and although it was cold and messy, and i was unprepared for the snow-slush-dark mush with my uggs, there's something fun about walking through the city when tourists and out-of-towners are off the streets!

we finished off the afternoon with some chocolat chaud and financiers at maison kayser. yumm ... though note to self - chocolat chaud in paris has not met its match in nyc yet!

where can a girl go to find a proper chocolat chaud?

je suis charlie

catacombs & laduree

arriving to the catacombs of paris fifteen minutes before the 10am open was not early enough. the line was wrapped around the block once when we arrived, and continued to double-wrap after we got in line! but it was our last day in paris and the catacombs was probably one of the more esoterically interesting sites that we hadn't seen, so we waited +3 hrs in the rain to finally have our chance!

it was pretty disturbing to be honest, and somewhat disrespectful, that people at the time would exhume the remains of six million people to make room for more burials in central paris cemeteries. but it was quite a site for the eyes. we saw mostly femurs and skulls lined neatly up and down the former quarry walls. some of them were so old, dating back to the 1400s, that the bones have started to disintegrate. walking through the catacombs and seeing the remains in person definitely satisfied our curiosity (see it to believe it), but i don't think we will revisit this somber site.

as morbid as the morning was, we hopped in a taxi and hurried over to laduree on champs-elysees for our 1:30pm brunch reservation. after enduring a cold, exhausting morning in montparnasse, we decided to treat ourselves to the ludicrous multi-course le brunch laduree. 

for drinks, we had fresh grapefruit juice, chocolat chaud (hot chocolate and BOY WAS IT GOOD!), and laduree champagne! and brunch included pain perdue (french toast with a custard center), fresh fruit, two mini club sandwiches - one salmon, one veggie, 3 mini macarons, and a basket filled with mini viennoiseries and breads - EACH. haha ...

the highlight of our brunch, however, was probably the sweet elderly parisien couple that sat next to us and chatted us up throughout the meal. so very friendly and kind, and kevin loved that the gentleman finished off his lunch with a coffee and cognac.

the next stop of the day was visiting e.dehillerin, a cozy parisian restaurant supply shop. they had giant size EVERYTHING! i wanted to get so many baking pans, but decided to hold off until i learn to use my new kitchenaid properly :) that means i will be back!

before dinner, we took advantage of the warmer weather (57F) and went for our last run in paris along the seine. it was basically a game of tourist dodging so our running course is all over the place! it was a nice night to see the mini notre-dame and arab world institute.

we had dinner with a childhood family friend, jen, and her boyfriend, thomas, at the l'opera restaurant in the palais garnier. the restaurant design and lighting were stunning - a very fashion forward feeling, and the food was quite delicious as well ~ i had seared scallops over a bed of crunch risotto. best of all though was the company and great conversation. we left the restaurant four hours later :)

magnum photos

we took the RER (suburban paris rail) to la vallee outlets this morning, and good thing we got there when the stores opened because within two hours, there were lines just to get into half the shops! in order to cover the most amount of relevant shops in the least amount of time, we split up at the outlets and met two hours later at starbucks. kevin had picked up a pair of loafers and i had a shirt and a scarf. score! :) while there were lots of european designer outlets, we've both been trying to be more careful to avoid compulsive shopping so we were pretty happy with our purchases!

headed back into the city and were seated relatively quickly at le comptoir du relais, a cute french bistro at the hotel relais st-german that came highly recommended by a number of friends. kevin had the nicoise salad and i had the joues de boeuf confites (red wine-braised beef cheeks). the salad was very good, and quite similar to the maison kayser one we get for lunch in the states actually. the beef cheeks were super tender and the flavor was robust, but not heavy. the service, however, was as i'd read on reviews online - our waiter could not muster up even a hint of a smile for us. oh well.

walked around rue de rivoli and stumbled upon building 59, a six floor building dedicated to (squatted by) local artists. pretty cool building and reminded me of the artist studios we visited in gowanus in october.

it was dark by the time we finally made our way to the hotel de ville for the magnum photos exhibit, and after a 60 minute wait, we finally made it in! i'd heard of robert capa and henri cartier-bresson, mostly from kevin, but this was my first time seeing a large collection of their works, and a very extensive collection it was, ranging from the 1930s to present day. it's a little sad that black and white film photography, and photojournalism, in general, will be another relic of the past with the development of color photography and video. 

what happened next? after the exhibit, we headed over to frenchie to learn that it was closed until january 12th. sad! fine, off to the next restaurant of choice, josephine chez ducomet in montparnasse. fully booked! shizer! tired of wandering around the city, we decided to go to les deux magots, a famous cafe by our flat with a rich history of writers frequenting the establishment. kevin had the veal and i had the duck breast. i thought mine was tastier :) but actually the highlight of the meal was not the entree or the wine or the pierre herme 2000 fuilles dessert, it was the amiable and attentive personality of our waiter, olivier. what a treat!

bonjour, paris!

we woke up to sunshine and panoramic views of the paris from our flat bedroom window today. it made it very difficult to get out of bed much less get out of the flat.


olivier and charlotte's little nespresso machine helped do the trick! and we were off walking along rue de bac through the tuileries and opera, awe-struck by the long lines at all the little japanese restaurants in the opera.
nestled not too far, we found one of the nicest travel bookstores: voyageurs. the interiors, the books, and the endless maps ... if i had a library in my house, i would want it to look and feel like this place :)

we walked from opera to the centre pompidou and le marais, a bohemian area with lots of cute shops and boutiques. this is also where we experienced the sloooooweeesssst parisian dining experience ever over a 2-3 hour creperie lunch. it turns out they had forgotten about kevin's dessert crepe! lol. despite it all, they were super tasty!

the rest of the afternoon was filled with bvh shopping ~~ i got some SANDRO dresses! and saw this adorable pillow which reminded me of rose & dustin. unfortunately it was EUR 50 or i would have picked it up for them @_@

we finished off the evening with falafel and kebabs in le marais. it wasn't l'as du fallafel which kevin's friend had recommended, because he got so excited seeing the falafel shops on rue des rosiers that we just entered the first one we saw and sat down immediately and ordered. lol. it's purple in this picture because it was purple in the restaurant. it was disorganized, we were sitting back to back and thigh to thigh with people around us, but the service was great and the food was excellent!

british museum & dishoom

so ... we got up extra early this morning to tidy up and head to st pancras int'l station for our 8:31am eurostar, arriving nearly an hour early due to the swifty tube. but we dwindled that time away at the station coffee shop as i was completely unaware of the 30 min prior check-in requirement. :( doh ... we would be put on the next train to paris, departing at 3:30pm.

i. was. bummed.

good thing one of us was level-headed and kept us in high spirits as kevin suggested we check out the british museum and dishoom, two places we hadn't had a chance to hit up.

after an EXTREMELY LONG circuitous walk to the british museum, we decided it would probably be better for kevin to navigate going forward. special note!! the british musem is a 15 minute walk from st pancras int'l and has a very reasonable baggage check-in, so take advantage as necessary :)

we checked out the germany: memories of a nation exhibit which was quite interesting, and enjoyed the beautiful architecture of the great court designed by foster+partners. it felt like you were inside and outside all at the same time, and in my opinion, the great court design enhanced circulation and the symmetry and shadows were beautiful to look at. 315 tons of glass!

next we walked around the shops in seven dials and were quickly seated for lunch at dishoom, a bombay cafe in london. we weren't familiar with the concept of bombay cafes, but after some reading, learned that they were actually irani cafes opened by persian immigrants in bombay and quite famous for their chai teas and tasty foods.

the decor was phenomenal. tiled floors, wood trim, pendant lamps, and tattered mirrors. the food was phenomenal! we had the pau baji, black house dahl, chicken ruby curry, and LOTS of garlic naan. my earlier frustrations from the train complication had melted away.

a few hours later, we arrived in paris's gare du nord! the last time i'd been here was during the summer of 2003 while backpacking with my friend, melissa. eleven and a half years and +25 countries traveled later, i felt empowered at the gare du nord, a place where we'd spent many hours checking schedules, trying to schedule and reschedule trains, and napping in my early twenties.

when we arrived at our st germain flat, our hostess, charlotte, was waiting and ready to give us the tour. it seemed like the eiffel was also waiting for us as it twinkled for 2-3 minutes as the clock struck 8pm :)

dinner was next on the agenda and we found it at a local cafe in st germain, on the recommendation of two parisians smoking out front. it turned out they worked at the cafe haha! kevin had something with sardines, and i had the most ~heavenly~ warm camembert cheese salad. i am definitely trying to trick at home! crispy, yet warm, tasty, refreshing, and hearty.

the morning sure didn't start off perfect, but the ending was going rather well.

we are going to london+paris!

despite weeks of flip flopping between japan, argentina, and france, we finally booked tickets to heathrow, and are planning to spend 3 days in london and 5 in paris. i was clobbered with remodel stuff the last few months so was a little disappointed (understatement ha) when i realized that all flights to japan and buenos aires had gone through the roof, and i didn't have enough time or energy to plan a trip somewhere new.

looking forward to wandering the cold, wintry streets of london and paris with kev :) and exploring all the little shops, coffee spots, and architecture! it's been a year since we've visited somewhere foreign!

we will be staying at these lovely flats in notting hill and saint-german! i need to do some research! it's been +12 yrs since i've been to france ... lucky for me, three of my girlfriends just visited this fall so i am hitting them up for recommendations :)

best: watching friends find love. love that is strong and truthful enough to be the real thing. mutual respect. taking time to get to know each other and learn each others' strengths and weaknesses.

worst: watching friends go through difficult times. and nothing you say helps. i don't know, i'll just try my best to support and rebuild my friend's self-esteem. things will be okay, actually, things will be BETTER than okay in time.

smile: our sectional arrived! enough said. there will quickly be body imprints on the chaise :)