Food of the Gods

A peachy little eatery in Greece today.

(Did the Gods have fake flowers?)

(Photo copyright: Kirsten Steen)

Joyeux Noel

Happy Christmas Everyone! 

Above is the little Christmas tree in our apartment's entryway

which the concierge does every year. 

On our first night in Paris,

after a long lunch with ma soeur in Montmartre,

we unloaded our bags and took a walk across the Seine 

to the Village de Noel at the Trocadero. 

I had to come back for some day photos of these lovely little treats.

I did not taste a one 

but now wish I had indulged in one of these gorgeous roses!

The colors, the textures,

everything looks scrumptious.

And Christmas-y! 

I have to admit, on a cold night at these little fairs,

the vin chaud with a little fruit and sugar is my favorite.

Oh, but then there's also the crepes.

Ok, so both! 

Wishing you a Christmas filled with all your favorite things!

And I promise~ so many more photos to come.

(photos copyright: Kirsten Steen) 

'Tis the Season~Missing Paris Day

And I am sooo ready!

I have my 'Bastille My Heart' festive red nail polish on...

...and I've been working on the old abdominal obliques 

and think I'm somewhat ready for the onslaught of Foie Gras and cheese

(although The Chef made Stifado de Boeuf this weekend and topped it off with 

cranberry pancakes for breakfast so that might have put me a little-or big- behind)!

But mostly I'm ready for my Paris family and friends

and the joys of Christmas in one of the most beautiful cities on earth. 

Anyone have any Paris photo wish lists? 

I'm in the mood for making wishes come true. 

And my best holiday wishes to everyone 

in the countdown to the New Year! 

2012~ Here we come!

(Photos copyright: Kirsten Steen)

Moulin Rouge~ Missing Paris Day

When my sister first moved to Paris from New York,

they lived in a small apartment just half a block off the Cimitiere Montmartre
right around the corner from the Moulin Rouge.

I spent hours in the afternoons curled up 

at the tomb of Alexandre Dumas le fils

writing in my notebook

blissfully content at 

being in Paris for

the first time
and wondering if,
at the end of his life,
Dumas wished he could change anything. 

I love cemeteries especially in Paris
with their long alleyways and ornate tombs.
Each tomb is a work of art whether sweetly cared for
or left to grow cobwebs, plastic flowers darkened with dust and broken stained glass windows.

Something about wandering through them
reminds us of how little time we have
but not in a morbid way.
It puts things in perspective.

Is there anything you wish you could change from yesterday
that you could do differently today?
Remember it. Mark it. Change it.

(Photos copyright: Kirsten Steen)

Inviting You To Go Deeper~ Buddhist Thought for the Day

"I am inviting you to go deeper, to learn and to practice

 so that you become someone who has a great capacity for

 being solid, calm, and without fear, because our society needs people 

like you who have these qualities, and your children, our children, need people 

like you, in order to go on, in order to become solid, and calm, and without fear."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

I love this quote because it reminds us that our journey is not just for ourselves

but also for those who look up to us, who follow us, learn from and imitate us.

Children look to us for how best to get along in this world

whether we are their parent, teacher, or friend. 

As Joseph Campbell once said, 

"It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life."

They need to know, as do we, that life is filled with heartaches,

and the best life is not one without heartache or failure

but the one in which we find the treasure in every difficulty. 

(Photo: San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden)

(Copyright: Kirsten Steen)