April in Paris (and Iceland?)

We arrived in Paris on a less than glorious April morning. The skies were gray, and the wind was chilly.

Still, it was Paris................


My friend, Dianne, and I headed out
immediately for Rue Daguerre, and
lunch at the Cafe Daguerre

Diane ordered a boeuf bourguingnon,
which was served in a cast iron pot,
and was absolutely delicious. Don't
you just love friends who share with you!

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_bourguignon

I ordered my usual pate de foie gras 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras


Often there is something sweet served 
with this dish, such as carmelized onions, 
or an apple compote.  I enjoy the 
contrasting tastes when this is done.  
Here it is simply served with a side
of sea salt, but was delicious none the less.








None of the kiosks were out today on Rue Daguerre.  Of course, it wasn't market day.
If you want to know more about this market, see my post of January 13, 2010.
I was still hoping to get some honey at Famille Mary but the shop is closed on Monday.

http://www.famillemary.fr/boutique/liste_rayons.cfm

We headed back to the Metro and over to the Eiffel Tower.  We wanted to see the what was blooming in
the Trocadero and the champ de mars.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trocadéro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champ_de_Mars,_Paris

Along the way we posed for typical tourist photos.
I think this one is of the Leaning Tower of Paris.
I didn't think that we had that much wine with our
lunch. Must have been the lack of sleep.












I was a bit surprised that the flowers were not nearly as open as the blossoms in London had been.  It is still a bit early here, and the weather has been a been a bit colder.  By the end of April they will be in their glorious full bloom.  We did see a magnificent tulip magnolia that was already celebrating spring.

And we saw a tulip bed that was only beginning to show it's potential,

providing a backdrop for young lovers enjoying the Champ de Mars, 

despite the chill in the wind.

We walked by 10 Avenue Charles Floquet, where my friends Carolina and Hernan used to live, with the Eiffel Tower in their front yard.  I have so many good memories there.



We stopped for a pastry and coffee at my favorite patisserie on Avenue de Suffren.  They have the very best raisin pastry I have ever had..........and I can't tell you the name of the place.  I will have to note it and take a photo on my next trip.



Okay, I found the name of my favorite bakery/pastry shop at 34 Avenue de Suffren.  It is called Legros (pere et fils) and I linked it to Google Earth.  There is probably a better way to do this so that the link isn't so long, but it is kind of interesting, so you can take a look.  It isn't the fanciest shop, but I do love their pain aux raisins.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=34+Avenue+de+Suffren,+Paris,+France&sll=35.113682,-80.842347&sspn=0.010356,0.018818&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=34+Avenue+de+Suffren,+75015+Paris,+Ile-de-France,+France&ll=48.854963,2.295064&spn=0.002082,0.004705&t=f&z=18&layer=c&cbll=48.855031,2.294953&panoid=ffes15inraklzunUw-ZHDQ&cbp=12,204.96,,1,12.81&err=1

We left on schedule the next day and all was going well until we had a little problem with fumes in the plane.  This information is probably classified or something, so I will only say that we don't take this kind of thing lightly, so we made an unexpected stop in Keflavik, Iceland.

Do you think those reflective strips on the ground crew's jackets work?

The company brought in another plane from the UK to take the passengers home that night. The crew was not legal to fly (we would have been on duty for too many hours), so we spent the night.


I had never been to Iceland before, and I was interested in seeing the landscape.  It is as barren as you would imagine, yet the town could be any small coastal town in early spring.


I would like to go back there and see more of the country.  
We were only about 20 minutes away from their famous 
Blue Lagoon, but it was getting dark and we were leaving 
early the next morning, so there just wasn't time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Lagoon_(geothermal_spa) 


The now infamous volcano with a name no one outside of Iceland can pronounce, erupted a couple of hours after we left on 14 April.  I still swear that I had nothing to do with it. The Blue Lagoon spa is offering a volcano special for people lucky enough to be stuck in Iceland.
http://www.bluelagoon.com/ 


Update:  Now that the volcano has settled down, the above mentioned special is not being offered.  An episode of the show "The Bachelorett" was filmed here and aired on June 21.


The most wonderful thing about Iceland was the people.  They are bilingual, moving between English and their own Icelandic language with ease.  They work diligently to preserve their language and keep it alive.
The following link is only interesting if you are into languages and their origins.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_language

We left early the next
morning for Dallas. I will
keep a warm memory of
the people of Keflavik,
and I will remember the
hospitality and the kindness
they showed to us.

I love London in the spring, when all the trees and flowers are blooming, so I choose to fly there for my second trip of the month.  My friend Patti was on the trip with me.  We had enjoyed London together at Christmastime 2008, so we were looking forward to seeing the parks and gardens in bloom.  We arrived to the most perfect day you could imagine.  It was pleasantly warm and the sun was shining.

We decided to head out without a nap, so we could make the most of the daylight.  We headed to the Gloucester Road Tube for a ride to Picadilly Circus.  We had lunch on Heddon Street at Piccolino. I have eaten there many times, and I love the atmosphere and the sophistocated Italian menu.
http://www.piccolinorestaurants.co.uk/heddonstreet.html

There are several great restaurants on this street including the Absolute Icebar, another favorite of mine

http://www.belowzerolondon.com/absolut-icebar-london/

I think it was spring break in London, because the streets were crowded with families out shopping and dining. We did a bit of shopping ourselves, stopping at Whittard's of Chelsea, where we both purchased a hand-painted "Tea with the Queen" mug, and sampled some warm cider.  I don't know why but in the photo in the following link the words are backwards.  Did they photograph it in a mirror?

http://www.whittard.co.uk/store/catalogue/China-P7000/Mugs-SC7002/Tea-with-the-Queen-Hand-Painted-Chatsford-Mug-211375.raa

I have always said that I enjoy eating my way across a city, and we were hungry for dessert now. We stopped at Caffe Concerto, a divine pastry shop on Regent Street.  Notice the cakes on display in the window in the background.

http://www.caffeconcerto.co.uk/restaurants.aspx

Patti had a delicious pear pastry, and I just had to have a

scone, with clotted cream and marmalade.  I also took one

back to the hotel to have with my tea in the morning.

After coffee and dessert, we were ready to head to St. James Park to see the flowers and birds.

Many of the flowers were just starting to open, but others were in full bloom. They do such a beautiful job of planting the seasonal varities and colors is gorgeous patterns in the flower beds.

The Horse Guards Parade was beautiful against the background of the blue skies, white clouds and the London Eye across the Thames.  Read a bit about the history of the grounds, which have been in use since the 17th century and were used for tilting during the time of Henry VIII.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_Guards_Parade

This photo doesn't do justice to the brilliant colors of the daffodils, and the blossoms on the cherry trees.

It was getting late and the Pelicans were beginning to roost on their islands and the ducks we nesting in the grass.

We took the Tube back to Gloucester Road and went across the street to a little cafe called Patisserie which I like. They have a small raised balcony where I like to perch with a glass of wine and enjoy the superb people watching, as the sun sets  and  Londoners make their way home, or head out for the evening.
http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/directory/1150/22164.php

March (Reserve Month) Madness

March is my reserve month.  I have a reserve month 3 times a year, in March, July and November.  For my non-airline friends, that means that the company "owns my soul" for the entire month.  Okay, not really.  It just means that I am not in charge of my own schedule and that for certain days during the month I have to be available to fly on short notice if the company needs me.  Usually, I don't fly much on reserve, so I plan projects around home and generally play lazy.

It is pretty simple to keep my bags packed and with me, my uniform items hanging together, and to stay within 2 hours driving distance of DFW.   It calls for a little creative packing, since you can end up in wintry Europe, summery South America, or the Caribbean or Hawaiian Islands.  Packing a bikini in your bag doesn't take much room, but sometimes lugging the overcoat is tiresome through Miami and San Juan.

This month I flew a trip early in March with a San Juan, Puerto Rico layover, followed by a Guatemala City layover.  There was not much time to spend in either place, so comfy pajamas were all I really needed.  I was sorry that I didn't have longer in Guatemala City, because I would have loved to take a bus to Antigua, Guatemala, where I have spent a lot of time through the years studying Spanish, learning about the city, and climbing the volcanoes at whose feet the city lies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigua_Guatemala

I have climbed all three of these volcanoes, Volcan de Agua, Acatenango, and Volcan de Fuego.  I have seen Volcan de Fuego during some forceful eruptions, as you can see above.

 I was treated to a view of these volcanoes from my balcony in Guatemala City.  Rain storms were moving in so it was a brief glimpse, but enough to whet my apetite for a climb.




On the left side is Volcan de Agua, rising out of the clouds behind the first range of mountains, reaching a height of 12,000 ft.  I can't prove it, but on a clear day they say you can see the Pacific Ocean.





Toward Antigua is another active volcano which I have climbed,  on a guided tour.  We climbed Volcan Pacaya during the day, but we returned at night during a pouring rain.  We walked by rivers of flowing lava, and heard the close up fury of the volcano gods.  It was not an easy climb, but it was definitely memorable.  Find information about this volcano at the following link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacaya





I flew one more trip at the end of the month.  It was a back to back all-nighter to Buenos Aires, Argentina.  You fly all night, sleep all day and fly home on the night of the day you arrived.  I hate this kind of trip.  I don't choose to fly them myself.  I want a layover!  I want to get out and taste the food, meet the people, see the sights and learn a bit about whatever part of the world I am visiting.  So my reserve month is over, little pain, no gain, back to flying where I want to go.




My first trip in April I went to Honolulu.  You know that I love our hotel, and it's location (see blog posted 2/8/2010).  My room was perfect this trip, offering a great view of  the surfers on Waikiki Beach, and overlooking the huge waterfall in the lobby of the hotel.

I decided to eat at the "Top of Waikiki" again, longing for a taste of their delicious kobe filet mignon served on a hot rock.  I was very dissappointed to find that they had taken it off of the menu.  I know it was popular, so I can only speculate that it had become too expensive or too time consuming to serve.  I'm sorry to see it go.

 http://www.topofwaikiki.com

The view from the top was as spectacular as usual, especially as the sun set and the lights came on.

 I also took the time on this trip to seek out some information about abalone fishing.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I remember when it was legal in California to dive for abalone.  I remember the  large,  buttery, delicious abalone steaks that we ate so many years ago, before they became endangered and a  moratorium on diving for them was put in place.

The abalone here in Hawaii are different than the large ones I remember.  First of all, they are farmed, and sold all over the world, especially in Asia.  These are smaller (younger?), or a different type all together.  I did see some for sale at the KCC Farmer's Market in February, but they were being eaten raw, like oysters on the half shell.   Apparently they are also eaten grilled, or prepared in sushi dishes.  I am not terribly fond of sushi, but I will have to try them grilled on a future trip.  Here is a link to another blogger, with much more information about the subject.

http://tastyislandhawaii.com/blog/2010/03/27/kona-coast-abalone/

Easter Sunday started out with a drizzling rain, but the sun came out by mid morning and the streets and beaches were crowded with tourists and locals enjoying the day.

I had coffee in a rocking chair on the veranda of the Moana Surfrider (with Mama), walked along the beach for a while, then visited the International Market and purchased a Hawaiian print apron to wear on the plane. Watch for me on you next flight to Oahu, with a hibicus flower in my hair, wearing this colorful print!