So. Today was my birthday. Now I'm officially 36, just like I told everyone I was for the past 6 months by mistake (yeah, there comes a time in life where you just get confused when it comes to how old you are, among other things). And now that it's official, we had a reason to celebrate.
I woke up with balloons and a "happy birthday to you" chanting from my husband and my very (very) excited daughter, who also chose a present for me - a little kitten doll, which was adorable. The weather seemed to cooperate with us, and so we went out to Paris once more, comme habitude (which basically translates to "as usual"), and headed to Montparnasse area.
We started our route for the day at Hippopotamus Montparnasse. The Hippopotamusis a chain of French meat restaurants in Paris. This means that they serve hamburgers for a reasonable prices, but they also serve various other dishes - fish, chicken, steaks, salads, and they even have dishes for vegetarians - and, of course, alcohol and desserts. In short, we go there a lot as a family, because they have a good loyalty program, and so today was no different. Also, they're very children-friendly, unlike many places in France.
After lunch we headed out to Boulevard du Montparnasse, where we walked east towards the lovely Jardin du Luxembourg. This is the best photo I've taken there today, I think, of the Medici fountain.
From the Luxembourg gardens we strolled to Boulevard Saint Michel, and continued north towards the Seine and the Notre Dame, on our way to A. Lacroix, my favorite patisserie in Paris, and sort of my second home in the city.
Again, I remind you that it was really a lovely day, and so this is what we saw:
What in the world can top such beautiful sights, you may ask yourselves. Well, I'll tell you what. When we got to A. Lacroix, I received a warm welcome from the owners who also happen to be our friends, and we sat with Jackie (the American half of the owners) for a nice huge glass of iced coffee and a chef-made cinnamon roll, the best you'll ever have, made by Arnaud (the French half of the owners and an amazing chef patissier). This was absolutely the perfect birthday cake, and the best part about it is that I've been dreaming about this cinnamon roll for months, but they only make it on weekends, and I've only managed to get to the patisserie on weekdays in the past few months. So this was a double win! And to top it all, a good friend who has been in Paris for the past few days, visiting, but we didn't get to meet, managed to get there and celebrate my birthday with us. Triple win, then!
After that it was already a bit late, and we started heading home, but I didn't forget to take some photos along the way, too. I'll add them in the end of the post, as usual :-)
In summary, this has been quite a birthday. Nothing fancy, nothing super-expensive, just some good, fun, pure quality time with my loved ones. I think I like it that way.
Oh, yeah, and next week my mom is coming to town and we're going to a Michelin-starred restaurant, so we'll have that part to enjoy, too (and of course I won't forget to post photos...).
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And in the meantime – don't forget to have a wonderful day.
