On our third and last day in Paris, we returned to the Jardin des Tuileries - one of the most visited gardens in Paris. Apparently, it was designed in the French formal style by the same gardener who designed the gardens of the Versaille.
I was enthralled by the gorgeous architecture ... were these the remains of the Tuileries Palace?
We thought this would be a perfect spot to have our Laduree macarons :) ... an afternoon tea in the Tuileries ...
Rose macaron ... this was truly one of the best rose macarons I have ever had ... the rose flavour wasn't too overpowering, was so well complemented by the light cream filling, and together with the slight chewiness of the almonds from the almond meringues, this produced the ultimate macaron! ....
Salted Caramel Macaron .... this would satisfy anyone with a craving for toffee! I thought the balance of saltiness and sweetness of the caramel was wonderful! Delicious!
Erm ... there ought to be a picture here of the Pistachio Macaron we also bought, but ... erm ... I was too eager to sink my teeth into it, I totally forgot to snap a photo! Apologies!
But fortunately, I had the presence of mind to take a photo of this below! Now, this is what bliss looks like!
I had never seen anything like this before ... a macaron cake! They actually call this a cake in Laduree! So, without further ado, let me introduce you to "L'Ispahan" ...
Yes, that is a rose petal atop the lovely almond meringue, and yes, it does taste rather like the rose macaron's almond meringue. But it also has a whole luscious layer of raspberries and LYCHEES sandwiches between the meringues! WOW!!! The combination of flavors was simply amazing! Just looking at the pics now makes me long for one .....
SIGH ... (that was a sigh of contentment :))
So after devouring 3 macarons and 1 macaron cake, we had to walk it off, and this is what we saw along the way .... Musee D'Orsay ...
This was one of my fav museums cos of their beautiful collection of Impressionist paintings. Now, I'm no cultured fan of the arts, but I truly admired these paintings ... they were so beautiful and dreamy ....
Musee D'Orsay sits majestically on the left bank of the River Seine ...
... where we crossed Pont Royal ... one of the many bridges linking the Left Bank to the Right Bank ... a truly scenic view of the pretty bridges over the River Seine ...
Beyond Pont Royale, we followed the road till we came to Blvd St Germain ... and what a pretty boulevard it was! Lovely tall trees and beautiful old buildings line practically the entire street...
Finally, we reached Rue de Rennes, which supposedly had lots of shopping opportunities. However, I didn't find this as charming as I'd thought it'd be ... perhaps I went to the wrong areas? Would love for someone to enlighten me, as I had read rave reviews about the St Germain area being a charming area.
By this time, we were feeling rather hungry, so we found a little cafe and ordered their special: country style beef stew ....
... and my second attempt at duck confit ... I'm afraid I was a lil disappointed in the first duck confit ... not so much cos it wasn't good, but I just had this impression that duck confit was a duck stew with gravy, so I was wondering if all duck confit in Paris was the "dry" kind ... and I guess it is!
After refueling, we had to return to our hotel as we were leaving for London via Eurostar, so we retraced our steps, and happily walked back through the Tuileries. The sun was shining, and the breeze was refreshingly cool, so we decided to take a little break and rest our tired feet ...
The well manicured lawns were amazingly cool beneath us! This was soooo relaxing!
Naturally, I thought this would be a perfect time and place to snap a picture of one of my newest purchases ... a Bottega Veneta Campana! And oh my, what a stunning backdrop for my new pet ....
After we reluctantly pulled ourselves up, we made our way back to our hotel ... but with a slight detour to ....
HERMES!
And what did I get, you ask?
Sorry to disappoint, but it's neither their signature Birkin or Kelly (apparently even if I did have the budget for these bags, I wouldn't have been able to purchase one cos they were completely sold out! We did see loads of Birkins in the shop though ... on the arms of the customers in the shop!!!! Hahahaha ...
We also saw lots of people perusing leather swatches ... I assumed they were placing special orders for Birkins and Kellys.
But to get to the matter at hand ...
what I did pick up from Hermes was a ...
Marwari!
Normally, this style of bag wouldn't attract me, but for some reason, my eyes were drawn to the rouge Marwari on display. Then when the ever so helpful (n stylish!) sales lady presented me with this colour combination, I was torn! But eventually, this gold clemence n ebene vache hunter strapped beauty with its lovely white stitching won out cos I knew it was a classic, and I'd carry it more often in this colour combination.
And part of the reason I fell in love with this bag was that it's so beautifully made in the signature Hermes craftsmanship, yet subtle enough that it didn't shout Hermes. A beautiful practical everyday bag for me :)
No comments:
Post a Comment