I am seriously hooked on this coffee.
Green tea, what green tea? ;) Someone save me! No, actually don’t save me. I don’t ever want to be apart from this coffee. I’m sad because I hear that the coffee back at home won’t taste as good as Paris coffee. Is this true!?
What are your favourite brands of coffee to make at home? We do have a brand new coffee maker that we have only used twice for guests before (it was a wedding gift). Perhaps I should dust it off when I get home. ;)
The highlight of breakfast this morning included this VOO Parfait my sister made for herself! I was so proud.
My breakfast was similar to my previous days. :) Delicious and filling as always.
Then we were off to Versailles! We walked to the train station. I meant to mention the other day that the Metro (subway) system is just amazing here. It was a piece of cake to navigate once we figured out how the lines worked.
We were serenaded on the train…
It was charming.
That is, until he walked up to each person afterward, stuck out his coin purse, and asked for money. lol.
After about 30 minutes on the train, we made it.
If you couldn’t tell, the weather here has been perfect! Sunny every day and around 20-25 Celsius. We couldn’t have asked for more. I heard Paris is typically cloudy and gray, but we haven’t had any clouds the entire stay!
The Palace of Versailles is amazing!
Ohhh yea.
Those are some fire logs!!
The gardens were beautiful and went on forever!
Afterward, we stopped into Starbucks for a refresher.
This is the face you make when you find out that Paris Starbucks don’t make Pumpkin Spiced Lattes! I wonder if pumpkin is not popular in Europe? I haven’t seen any baked goods made out of pumpkin yet.
Kristi has a little obsession with Pumpkin Spiced Lattes. ;)
Not long after our stomachs wanted food once again. We stopped in at a nearby restaurant for lunch.
We started with Guacamole and chips:
My mom had the chicken salad which was humongous and so beautiful! The presentation here is just wonderful.
And Kristi had another kind of salad that was equally as beautiful!
They loved both of them!
I decided on a pizza!
It had roasted red peppers, artichokes, eggplant, and mushrooms. It was SO delicious!
They brought me this pizza oil and it was really good to drizzle on.
Part II of our day is coming on up. :)
Wednesday is our last full day in Paris and then we depart Thursday morning for home. Six nights goes by so fast!
How beautiful is that palace!? Can you just imagine victorian era royalty walking around in there?! So elegant and full of history!
Oh…your sister’s salad is making my mouth water! It looks like the salads I had when I was traveling in Switzerland. I miss those salads, and no matter what I do cannot recreate them at home. Yum.
I’m learning all about Versailles in one of my classes! Very fascinating stuff.
I can be of some help on the coffee front! It is true that European coffee is better but us Yankees still have some good brands, lol. Search out Lavazza. It is seriously good coffee. Also, in general try to grind your own beans. That lends to a better tasting cup.
Lavazza is DELICIOUS. Both the coffee and espresso.
I just can’t believe you’ve never had coffee!! That’s crazy to me!
I know pumpkin is not popular at ALL in Italy, aside from a few small towns. No idea about the other countries.
Random story, but when my parents went to Versailles years ago and had a special private dinner in the palace of versailles! I still remember my mom recounting the story to me on her bed after the trip. It sounded heavenly.
i love it that you’ve entered the world of coffee!!!!
welcome! stay awhile! :)
Weird I thought the coffee in France was not as good as the stuff at home. I think they use different types of beans. But also I am from Seattle. We have amazing coffee.
Lovely pictures!
I adore Kevin, my Keurig single-cup coffeemaker and my favorite brand to brew is Green Mountain. Yes, I named my Keurig because he is SUCH an integral part of this household. :-)
Your photos are SERIOUSLY making me want to go to PARIS!!!
LOVE travel posts! Glad you’re having a great time :)
I just KNEW you would love Versailles! I especially loved the picture of the door handle for some reason!
That’s interesting that pumpkins aren’t big in Europe. I have heard of the Pumpkin Festival in the countryside of France, where there’s all sorts of pumpkins in all shapes, sizes and colors. So maybe it’s more of a country thing. They don’t know what they’re missing out on! Pumpkin bread and Pumpkin pie are the best!!!
Beautiful pictures – as always! :) I’m glad to see you’re having such a great time.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with the previous posters what comes to pumpkin in Europe – it’s one of the things I really, really miss from the US. There are various pumpkins/squashes in the stores here, but you only find few “ready-made” pumpkin goods (pumpkin puree – not to even mention pumpkin fudge, cookies…). We just have to be creative and make everything from scratch. ;) However, there is something called “gingerbread spice” that is practically the exact same thing as pumpkin spice. I’m not sure how common that is in Central Europe (it might be a North European/Scandinavian thing), but if you find something that has gingerbread spice in it, it might the closest you get to the taste of pumpkin spice. I’m afraid this won’t help with the latte addiction, though! (:
Wow … those photos of Versailles are breathtaking! You are so lucky to be there.
As for coffee, from one Canadian to another, I can tell you to visit Homesense or Winners (Homesense is usually better). They have all sorts of amazing coffee flavours in their kitchen section. Right now I am drinking “Coconut Cream Pie” but I’ve had Butterscotch and Chocolate Caramel Fudge Brownie flavours (and others!) in the past.
No, don’t come home. I’m loving living vicariously through you. I still need to see Notre Dame and the Sacre Coeur. :)
oh this brings back so many wonderful memories – it is such a magical place!
Ps – Pumpkin spiced / flavours are not really popular in Australia either!
I’ve been thinking all day about starting a ‘bring pumpkin spice lattes’ to UK Starbucks petitions…or maybe facebook…
I second whoever said it was nice to have you posting on European time…loved all your travel posts!
– CJ
I try to drink decaf. Decaf espresso!! Kicking Horse from BC makes the best (it is fair trade and organic!). http://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/en
Caffinated or not, I make it in a stovetop italian espresso maker, which in my opinion is the best way to go!! Yum!!
Versailles was absolutely gorgeous, but you got a much better day than I did–it was misty and grey when I went!
I have good news for you, French coffee is not as good as some of the coffee we get in North America! The only difference is it is stronger and the cafes will often use the old fashioned espresso machine. However make a strong brew at home in a French press (I recommend any organic dark roast that you can buy bulk) and you are ready to run! Bulldog coffee in Toronto does an AMAZING Americano!
Those pictures are gorgeous! I’d love to go to Paris someday :D.
Illy makes great coffee… I mostly use this one at home.