Do you ever daydream while riding your bicycle? A benefit of taking side streets to work is the opportunity to let my guard down and allow my mind to wander a bit.
One of my favorite daydreams is of being in Paris. Since visiting last year, I consider Paris my favorite city (okay, Chicago, maybe my second-favorite city). The best way to evoke Paris is by listening to Coeur de Pirate while riding my bike and stopping for lunch at Leonida's Chocolate Cafe for savory crepes.
I love the little pati...
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On a Monday morning, waiting impatiently for spring, a girl needs daydreams.
Paris is always a good daydream, so if you'll indulge me in a non-bicycling detour, I'm putting up some of my photographs from our trip last year. {This post goes out special to Trisha. :-)}
Read more about the bicycling aspects of our trip: Bicycling the Wine Road, The Freedom of Velib, and a Bicycling Tour of Versailles. For more French goodness, see street shots of Parisians...
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The scene: Versailles, a city outside of Paris renowned for the Palace of Versailles.
After taking the RER train from Paris to the suburbs and walking a short distance, you are greeted by the imposing statue of King Louis XIV on horseback. The surroundings are a bit ominous, but don't be scared - continue on and you will be rewarded.
You encounter the palace first.
Then turn around and gawk at the decadent and expansive grounds.
Okay, this is still a little scary. Sorry about that. No, the...
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Alsace is my favorite region in France for a lot of reasons; it's going to be a bit difficult for me to focus this post on our two-wheeled adventures without first enthusing just a leeeetle bit about this under-explored region. To set the scene: here's Dottie and me in Strasbourg, along the canal overlooking La Petite France. A bit worse for the wear after our 7-hour plane ride and 2.5-hour train ride, but definitely happy to be there.
The entire city center of Strasbourg is a UNESCO heritage site and is full of b...
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Remember when Trisha and I were gone to France for two weeks? You may be wondering if and when we'll write about our adventures. Trust me, we will! I have not yet summoned the time and energy to tackle the task, but eventually we'll highlight three bicycling adventures: biking the Wine Road in Alsace, renting bikes to tour Versailles, and riding Velib around Paris. Here's another sneak preview: me and Trisha riding bikes on the grounds of Versailles.
Trisha will be visiting me in Chicago this weekend (yay!...
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Lately I've been feeling French. Dottie's and my planned trip there this fall has been on both our minds and I'm afraid I'm somewhat obsessed. These past few days I've been listening to French radio, watching French films, reading French websites and even reading French novels (Stendhal and Nothumb, a balance of classic and modern).
So it goes without saying that I have been riding my French bike.
This morning we took a ride to pick up French bread and cheese (sadly, not French) to bring to an Oscar party. Anyo...
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Note to the blogosphere: when someone sends me a link that is summarized like this
I just read this on yahoo and thought of you. Bikes! France! Technology! Oh my!!!!
it will be clicked on. Immediately. (The only noun that could have been added to make this even this more appropriate for me would have been "books" or perhaps, "cheese.")
This is what I found.
(click on photo to see more photos)That is the La Defense. In Paris! And the person on the trike has been paid by Google to ride around the city taking ...
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The other day at the bookstore I treated myself to a French magazine. They can be pricey but always provide a different angle on style and fashion as well as a new vocabulary word or two.
My faves are the Elle family, especially Elle à Table, but today's selection was Marie Claire Ideés. It had a bicycle on the cover -- no contest.
This magazine, which has no American equivalent as far as I know (maybe one of Martha Stewart's line?), is full of beautiful photos of craft projects, theme parties, fashions, etc., an...
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From me and Le Peug. We're celebrating with some macarons, brioche, cheese and of course, wine.
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