Jay and I began our day slowly, cleaning up after the birthday festivities from the night before. We had some leftover "birthday cake" (an AMAZINGly delicious fruit tart that Jay bought me from a bakery) and headed out. Stop one: printing out Jay's train and hostel information for his trip to Brussels this week. Stop 2: the greek sandwich shop. Stop 3: the mall.
That's right, ladies. I am not only lucky enough to have a boyfriend who buys me cute clothes for my birthday, but one who is willing to tag along with me as I ooh and ahh and try on every other item I see. It was such a great present -- a day inside and away from the rain, looking at all the christmas displays and coming home with some great new clothes. I got a blazer (I've been wanting one of these for so long and this one is PERFECT -- it fits perfectly, it's warm, and stylish!) and a hat (another thing that is as much useful as it is pretty). Here are some pics of me wearing my new clothes:
Wearing the blazer and hat
Blazer buttoned up with the scarf my mom sent --a much more equestrian look that goes great with my boots.
Jay and I then took off to celebrate with dinner at Léon de Bruxelles, a chain restaurant that functions like the Olive Garden or Chilis, but specialises in mussels and belgian beer. The TVA (the group that controls the tax on restaurants in France) just lowered the taxes, which means all of the restaurants are lowering their prices (tax is included in pretty much everything in Paris). For our dining purposes, this meant we could have a bucket of mussels each, unlimited french fries, and 2 pints of beer for under 15 EUR per person. We were won over by the deal, but were even more impressed with the quality of the food and service we recieved. The mussels were amazing and I really enjoyed the beer (the first of many of the night). The servers were attentive and kind. We'd definitely go back again! They also do unlimited mussels on Sunday nights!We returned home for a bottle of wine before heading out to the latin quarter to celebrate at a couple of bars. We found a great bar called, 'the madmaker' and got prime seats at the bar where bartenders juggled and flipped drinks like circus performers. The inside of the bar looked like a pirate ship and they had quite a variety of beers on tap. Jay and I samped as many as we could, but still decided that Guinness could not be beat. The bar was offering car bombs at 5 EUR, so we took the plunge before going to another local bar where I got myself a birthday pint.
A perfect end to a perfect day.
In the morning, I said goodbye to Jay as he got aboard his train to Brussels. As sad as I was to see him go, he'll only be gone for 5 days and I consoled myself thinking about how romantic it was to blow kisses through the window of a train. Something so vintage about it.
Today I've been trying to catch up on homework before Sarah comes this week. I have a lot of work to do, but c'est la vie! For dinner, Taylor and I made indian food: curried chicken breasts with veggies, chickpeas, and basmatti rice for 4,50 a person. This could easily feed 4 people, though. We have leftovers -- it was delicious!
I've been thinking about how to spend my birthday money, and I think I might want to buy a ticket to london to see Sophie sometime in December. If I plan it right, I can stay for 4 nights and pay only 85 eur for a round trip ticket. Waiting on some dates from Soph and Jay before I buy anything.
Total Damages Saturday:
1 greek sandwich: 5 EUR
1 dinner at Léon (pint of beer included): 15 EUR
2 demi-pints, 1 car bomb, 1 pint: 22 EUR
Total Damages Sunday:
1 baguette: 85 centimes
food for dinner (2 chicken breasts, 2 jars curry, 1 jar mixed veggies, 1 jar chickpeas, 1 packet basmatti rice / 2 people): 4,50
Check out the lastest pictures here: http://s818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/E_Grossman/
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