Visitors, take deux

Oh, how I love having visitors.

This morning, my friends Kristen and Todd arrived, and not a day too soon, as I'd been having a little bit of a low time lately. There was some loneliness, despite a couple of amazing trips (soon, updates on London and Burgundy, I promise!), and I was in real need of some hugs from home. Enter Todd and Kris.

We had the most lovely day! First, their plane landed on time, and all of their luggage arrived with them. I've never heard of such a thing at De Gaulle!! My phone rang when they arrived at their hotel -- "breakfast?", Todd asked. "But of course," I replied. And off we went for their first cafe creme et croissant experience.

Seeing friends from home is such a wonderful thing. As much as I love being here, there are definitely times when I miss being around people who've known me for longer than a few months, people who I laugh and joke so easily around, people who run across Boulevard Saint Germain to give me a hug. And today was a day full of that laughing, joking, running, and hugging.

After breakfast and a couple of peeks at various patisseries in the neighborhood, we set off for a walk along the Seine. My job today was to keep them awake, so they could beat jetlag. So we set off on a march through Paris. Walk along the Seine, through the Tuileries, to the Champ de Mars ... we lunched at la Fontaine de Mars, recommended to me by the Michels at my regular haunt, Bistrot du Coin, in Washington. After a tasty lunch (other than the dessert, a very disappointing peach soup), we wandered off through town, eventually winding up back at Fish la Boissonerie for a drink (where we saw the owner, who we recognized from lunch at la Fontaine de Mars -- sometimes Paris can be so small!); then the original Cosi for another drink; and then a lovely little bistro just off of rue Princesse for dinner (my filet du bar with cumin cream was lovely). A nutella and banana crepe was a perfect ending to the night, and I can't wait til tomorrow!