Sunday, April 17, 2016

Sixteen and Spring Break

K turned 16!!!  We had dinner at Umi with Sheila and Elliott, we had delicious food and it was a nice relaxing evening because K had a late start at school the following day.  The real celebrating started a couple of weeks later when we went to London and Paris for spring break.



K was having nothing to do with the pajamas provided by BA.  I, on the other hand, put my on and slept like a baby.  



K is looking a little jet lagged in this picture taken on our first day!  I always try to have plans that will keep her awake.  This was taken outside of the London Dungeon.  A fun, interactive way to learn some history of London.  Guaranteed not to fall asleep.  We also went to the Tate Modern and had lunch and saw the Calder exhibit.  It was a beautiful exhibit and we had a yummy lunch at the museum.  



Our fist day ended with dinner at Inamo.  It, too, was fun and interactive and kept us awake.  Good food too!


We visited the John Soan museum, a museum dedicated to the architect John Soan.  It is in his house and contains an amazing collection of his art and artifacts.  Our Uber driver told us not to miss the Charles Dickens museum which is close by.  K is a Dickens fan so we walked to the museum and were not disappointed.  





Another Asian dinner at Hutong at the Shard.  The space is really breath taking and the views are amazing.  It was a rainy evening and I think that added to the beauty.








It rained a lot during our time in London but the spring flowers were out and we enjoyed walking.



We rose early and took Eurostar to Paris.  Lunch our first day was at a Japanese noodle place that I read about.  The food was really good and it was great people watching because it happened to be Fashion week.  K had just taken a very hot (temperature wise) bite of her noodles.



Place de Voges.


We took a break for tea at our hotel.  We stayed at Le Bristol and we decided it is the best place we have ever stayed in Paris.  Love the gold leaf on K's cake.


Our room was amazing.  So much room to spread out and so quiet and comfortable.


Since we had gotten up so early to catch Eurostar we relaxed our first evening and had room service for dinner.  The food did not disappoint.


Le Bristol has a beautiful room top pool. There is a also a great workout facility and wonderful spa.



The hotel sent this beautiful desert up for K's birthday.  It was delicious and we loved the gold leaf touch.


Waffles for breakfast with more gold leaf.  

It looks like all we did was hang out in our hotel and relax and eat.  I swear I could have never left the hotel and been happy.  We did run and around and shop and eat.  We had lunch at L'Avenue.  I told our waitress that her English was very good and she told me that my French was really bad.  K got a laugh out of that!  We also had dinner at Frenchie Restaurant.   It was such a disappointment.  We also found a new little place that we really enjoyed called Hibou.  We returned to Le Berkeley and were disappointed.  Paris eating is always so hit or miss for me.  The food at our hotel was some of the best food I have had in Paris.  


And in more 2016 news, we fostered this handsome guy who was hit by a car.  We nursed him back to health and he was recently adopted.


K's school colors are red and white and I love how there were red and tulips all over campus.  Note the canon in the background.  Hey, we live in the south.


We went to Serenbe and a late lunch with these knuckleheads.  There was so much fighting going on that their parents decided they are not going to Italy with us this summer.


We babysat for a week for one of our foster dogs.  She has gained 12 pounds and is heart worm negative.  She was in such bad shape when she was rescued from the puppy mill last fall.  I don't think she would have lived much longer.  She now has a wonderful family and is thriving.