Promenading with the Pear a year ago today…

Paris and the Pear

An afternoon spent wondering through the 7th arrondissement until we found ourselves on the right bank gazing up at the Arc de Triomphe.  I regret never going to the top…next time perhaps.

Arc de Triomphe

A short walk down the Champs-Élysées and we were confronted with the iconic luxury sweet shop Ladurée and it’s celadon green art nouveau façade.  Hmm…should we go in?

Laduree Paris Champs-Elysées

Having bought macarons on two other occasions from the store on rue Bonaparte we knew what to expect as far as confections go, but were not aware of what an actual meal might be like.

laduree box of macarons

I think we figured it might be so, so, but figured what the heck, why not?    In tourist fashion we sauntered in and had the ultimate Ladurée experience. However, the only memorable aspect of the meal was my Marie Antoinette tea and assortment of pastel cuties, aka macarons.  The Chef opted for an espresso and an adorable lavender infused cupcake.  I think we’d return, especially for the tea and macarons and maybe a mont blanc or possibly a slice of the Marie Antoinette dream cake!

Finding macarons here in the US is like finding a hen’s tooth or a needle in a hay stack, it just doesn’t happen, that is unless you live in New York where Ladurée just debuted on Madison Ave or…if you live with a talented chef such as I! Granted he’s just learning how to deal with the temperamental little darlings, but it’s all the same to moi!  It’s like Paris without the jet lag 🙂

Traveling Pear Macarons

After the Ladurée lunch we began our trek back to the left bank.  The chairs of the Luxembourg gardens were calling our name.  And so we arrived just in time to catch the kiddies sailing their wooden boats across the sailboat fountain pond.

I thought this little girl looked really adorable

Since the Luxembourg gardens were just minutes from our doorstep it became an extension of our home.  Days upon days, and hours upon hours, the Chef and I would sit, relax, nibble on something sweet or savory, promenade hand-in-hand through garden’s little trails.  When the Chef was working, I’d spend my mornings running alongside Sénat members (not really, they lapped me more than once) or reading a book under the statue of Catherine or Marie de Médicis–Queen’s of France.  However, the favorite of both the Chef and I…watching unknowing tourist getting booted off the grass by the whistle blowing garden security!  We’d always make a bet on how long they’d get to sit before being caught.  Roughly 5-10 minutes seemed to be average.  I got all of 2 seconds on the green cushy grass before the scaredy cat in me forced me off.

Palais du Luxembourg peeking out behind the flowers

Like sand through the hour glass…these were the days of our lives…in Paris…

Here’s looking forward to the the next Ladurée experience or lazy afternoon in the Jardin du Luxembourg.