My 30th birthday celebration will be one of those events that I will remember forever! The week leading up to it was pretty eventful as well…searching for and finding a new living situation, as well as finishing up classes before the Christmas vacation at both of my schools! Wow! I was able to sleep-in the morning of my birthday (which is a gift in and of itself!) My host family prepared a small luncheon, sang “Happy Birthday” in French, and my host mother made a cake (sweetened squash with walnuts – think banana bread, minus the banana, yet still delicious!) with candles and offered me a sweet little gift on behalf of the family! It was so thoughtful! I headed into the city to meet up with two girlfriends at the Roue de Paris (The Ferris Wheel of Paris)…Susy and Heather joined me as we saw the city spreading out below us from really high up! We wandered through Hermès for a bit (searching for perfume samples! :), and then up to the Pont de l’Alma to join 3 other girlfriends amidst a group of carolers from my church. We sang a number of popular American carols by the replica of The Statue of Liberty’s torch, on the metro, and as we walked along the Champs Elysées. At various points, we drew a small crowd and even some applause. It was really fun and also really cold. We needed to warm up quickly, so we took the metro to a restaurant that I had in mind for dinner…Au Pied de Cochon. Pretty much every item on the menu contained a bit of pork in some way or another. My meal consisted of their famous (and delicious!) onion soup and a salad (with bits of ham). I was also very excited to order profiteroles for dessert (cream puffs with chocolate sauce), but our server, who had been acting like a ham all night, totally distracted me and subsequently proceeded to drown my pastries in chocolate :( (They were still delicious, though!) After dinner, Susy and Joy joined me for a kir royal at a local bar, Carpe Diem (excellent choice, Joy!) A kir royal is a glass of champagne with crème de cassis (blackcurrant syrup)...my favorite cocktail! It was a really fun evening with a combination of new and old friends. I'm quite fortunate to have kicked off my 30s in such style with such lovely ladies!!!
Hello 30!
Amazing gift of macarons...so good!
Ferris Wheel...
Susy and Heather
So cute...and so cold!
Waiting in line with Heather...
Always have to have a shot of the Eiffel Tower!
In the gondola...even colder up above!
Far-sighted...
(Les Jardins des Tuileries)
Near-sighted...
(Champs-Elysées)
Cold, but happy!!
Hello again, Eiffel Tower!
And every hour on the hour, it sparkles!
(This was the first time I had seen the tower sparkle since arriving in September!)
Ready to carol with Sandy, Heather, Joy and Hannah!
More candles to extinguish...
(See the profiteroles drowning in chocolate sauce on my right??)
The waiter startled me by suddenly appearing and grabbing me from behind all the while wearing this pig nose...I would have screamed, but I think I was in mid-chew!!!!
Oh.my.goodness.
Harkening back to our days at Hollins, Joy gifted a bottle of champagne that was signed by all the attendees...even our server!!
The prankster himself, Christian...
Group shot!
These restaurants are everywhere!
And the pig motif was everywhere, too!!
Au Pied de Cochon...
Open 24/7...literally!
Friends and a...
kir royal
Fabulous way to end the celebration :)
Many thanks to Susy, Heather, Joy, Hannah and Sandy for helping me celebrate such a special birthday in such a special city!!! I love you all!!
Goodbye, 20s.
Helllooooo, 30s ♥
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