Thursday, October 30, 2008

Bièvres, a little village just outside Paris.

Yesterday, I got picked up from the hotel in Paris before breakfast was served - I was hungry. To make me even hungrier, we drove around some of the sights. Not that I was complaining, I got to take some wonderfully bad photos.

Anyways, we stopped there for some breakfast i.e. we stopped at a bakery/pastry shop and bought some pastries. Fresh, warm, and tasty.


If you like Paris, but not the crowds and traffic, this would be the place for you! Far enough to be quiet, and close enough that you can ride a train in there.

In the bakery, I watched a man buy 3 loaves. See, in France, you buy your bread daily, because it's not full of preservatives that allow it to have a shelf life of 100 years! And it tasted really good too.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

About the worst quality pictures from Paris, France you'll see....

It's pretty difficult t take photos when you're in a moving Smart ForTwo on Paris streets that are mainly cobblestones and it's still dawn. So below are my best efforts from today and yesterday.

Above, the Eiffel Tower, below, an early morning Champs Elysees. Pre-tourist time.

Above, a typical brasserie - there are hundreds like it (note the awning covering the 'outdoor 'part - it's there the smokers sit). Below is a bridge over the River Siene.


More Champs Elysees above, and below is just around the corner from where I stayed.


Above, you can just about see La Defense in the distance. I visited there years ago. Not this time. And below is L'Arc de Triomph.



The restaurant on the corner (L'Carre) above is where I had dinner last night. Lamb shank and some kinda wheat. Expensive, but tasty. Everything is expensive here in Paris. Meal consisted of started, 1 bottle of beer, main course, and one glass of Saint Emillion wine. 50 Euros. That's somewhere between $70 and $100, depending on what time of day you check the exchange rate these days. But the food was delicious.






Sunday, October 26, 2008

Detroit's Eastern Market



















Driving up Woodward Avenue, Detroit

After Eastern Market, and due to most of I75 being closed, we had to drive up Woodward. Here are some poorly taken pictures - many through the car windscreen.




There's a lot of churches along Woodward.

They even fry chicken in some churches......









Ah! The Turkey Grill!