This past long weekend we were graced with the presence of my (Carla's) good friend from UCSB, Caitlin. Caitlin is a fellow flutist. She did her Masters at UCSB while I was an undergrad. She arrived on Wednesday afternoon and was able to get from the airport to our apartment on her own! I had to work all day Wednesday, but Bobby came home early to help Caitlin settle in. They walked to Montmartre together, and made sure to stop at our favorite tea shop, Bonthés. Bobby also showed her our local fruit, vegetable, meat, and cheese vendors. I came home in the evening and we all enjoyed dinner together.
On Thursday, Caitlin and I walked from the apartment to the area around the Opéra. We walked around the Japanese area, where we had some delicious ramen which was a perfect antidote to the 50 degree weather outside. After filling our bellies, we continued walking towards the Les Halles area to do some shopping. One of the best parts about hanging out with Caitlin is that she gives me courage to go into some of the more chic clothing stores that I'm too intimidated to visit on my own. After spending the day walking around, we headed back home. Before having dinner, we played some flute duets together, which was a lot of fun.
On Friday, Caitlin and I headed off to Bobby's lab, even though Bobby was in Copenhagen for his interview. After dropping off our flutes at the lab, we headed to the famous university cantine. We love taking our friends and family to the cantine because it is such good food and is really cheap. Caitlin had a large salad with salmon on it, a fish main dish, and a delicious Nutella crème brûlée (chocolate and hazelnut). I had a green salad, pasta, and a lemon meringue. As expected, Caitlin was amazed at both the quality and the price of the food. It sure is a lot different from American university food! After the cantine, we headed back to Bobby's lab, where we me with fellow flutist and Bob's lab mate Claudia. The three of us played flute trios for over two hours! After our fun flute time, Caitlin and I headed back home, where Caitlin made a delicious pasta for dinner. I love friends that cook!
On Saturday, Caitlin and I took the metro to Notre Dame, where we had a great lunch of French onion soup. We then walked around the Hôtel de Ville, where there was some kind of convention for service dogs. Caitlin, who is a big dog lover, went kind of crazy at the sight of some many cute dogs. We also walked into the Louvre-authorized antique dealers bazaar, located right across the street from the famed museum. We saw some beautiful statues and paintings, a huge harpsichord decorated with pastoral scenes, and some beautiful jewelery. I've never seen so many emeralds in one place! I'll have to remember to take Bobby there one of these days... We continued walking and window shopping all the way to Opéra, where we entered the Printemps department store. We went there in order to buy some Ladurée macaroons, of which I am fairly certain are made in Heaven. We purchase 15 differently-flavored pieces of Heaven, then headed back home to await Bobby's triumphant return.
On Sunday, Bobby made crêpes for Caitlin and me. When Bobby had his interview in Rennes the other week, he purchased some Bretagne caramel. We put some of this caramel on the fresh crêpes, which I now also consider to be made in Heaven. the three of us then headed off to the Musée Marmotton Monet, which has a very large collection of Monet paintings. The museum is located in a lovely old home in the 16th arrondissement, one block away from the infamous Bois de Boulogne. The museum is a bit small, but is ws a very nice collection of impressionistic works. After the museum, Caitlin treated us to dinner, which was very generous of her. We took her to a pasta place a few blocks away from our apartment (if you have stayed with us, you have probably been to the restaurant. We love it!), where we enjoyed a last meal together.
We had a great time with Caitlin and I already miss her. She is our last guest (that we know of) until some my Mother returns in December. Now if Bobby and I could only stay warm in this cold fall weather...
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