We'll Always Have Paris

The trip to Paris was over. And so nearly her Two Week Wait as well. It was getting to that time. To POAS or not to POAS? She decided to delay the moment of truth and relive that week, that week in what some say is the most romantic city in the world... 

She had finally seen the Sacre Coeur.

And the Notre Dame Cathedral (no hunchback though)...

She had lost herself in an exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe.

 

An installation about forgotten refugees and lost childhoods that moved her. 

You see inside each balloon was a photo. A photo of a child. A refugee. A stolen childhood.

It was a moment to reflect on things bigger than herself. Bigger and deeper than her woes.

She had perused the shelves of the Shakespeare & Co bookstore. 

She read a few pages in a dusty armchair. And wondered about Hemingway, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ezra Pound who had all been there before her.

She devoured a wild strawberry ice-cream from the Maison Berthillon. 

It tasted just like the strawberries she used to find in her grandmother's garden.

She soaked in the Parisian evenings. Walking down wisteria lined cobble-stoned avenues.

It had been a wonderful week. Full of culture, beauty and fabulous food. But now. She returned to reality. Back to IF reality. The moment of truth is approaching. I look at my husband. Whatever the outcome. We'll always have Paris.

My Blog Archive Problem & A Sweet Deal

Okay I have never done this before. But the lack of helpful responses from blogger for over a week since I started posting questions about my problem is driving me crazy! So I turn to you IF blogosphere, for I am sure you are all far more blog-savvy than me, for help.

See my blog archive on the right? Well it used to list the months and then the number of posts for that particular month in brackets. AND for the current month the title of the posts would appear too. Now as you can see it just lists this year with only 46 posts. Well BLOG ARCHIVE there are actually 49! If my dashboard can get it right and these posts are actually posted here in front of your very eyes, why can't you? Why did you change on me over night? Ever since July began you've changed. I no longer recognize you. Why? What happened to you blog archive?

You see I have tried everything to change you back to your original layout. I checked my settings and they were exactly as before. So. I changed them. And then I changed them back to what they were to see if it would have an effect. No, it did not. You remain 2009 (46). This is just wrong Blog Archive. I demand you revert to your former self! I demand you do as your settings command you!

In my quest to get to the bottom of your strange behaviour, I have searched high and low. And indeed I did find something that spoke of this same inexplicable occurrence. I found it in the Known Issues section of blogger help BUT (and here is the twist in the tale) this KNOWN ISSUE was apparently fixed in 2007!!!!  Mysterious? Spooky? No. Just plain IRRITATING!!!

So if any of you out there have any suggestions, solutions or alternatives PLEASE contribute below. And just to sweeten the deal - if anyone can actually solve this, I will send you a box of Parisian treats (that travel well and have a low risk of squishing or curdling) as a token of my appreciation.

Sore Feet

It was her first time in Paris. So she bought a guidebook. And her camera.

She wanted to do it all. She wanted to see everything. She wanted to eat every delicious morsel of French food she could. First she wanted to see the Eiffel Tower.

Then it was off to the Arc De Triomphe. She even went to the top. And courtesy of her pregnant travel mate, she didn't have to walk up the 346 stairs or so. She got to travel up the arc de triomphe in non-perspiring style, par ascenseur. Yes, she thought the world is full of small blessings.

She wanted to walk down the Champs Elysees. She wondered if she could afford to buy anything at the glittering shops lining the boulevard? The short answer was no. But she was an experienced window-shopper and she took in all there was to see.

She wanted to see the Louvre. She wanted to see the Mona Lisa. She wanted to see all the Masters. From Da Vinci to Titian to Delacroix to Caravaggio and more...

She perused the Egyptian antiquities and on to the other worlds of Etrusca, Greece, Rome, Byzantium and Assyria. It was endless.

She wanted to linger in a Parisian bookshop. She pretended to be intellectual and literary. But she just bought two cookbooks. Her darling husband seemed to be pleased with these purchases.

She wanted to add to her wardrobe. A few choice items from Paris might be just what she needed. A whirlwind trip to Galerie Lafayette was undertaken. Exhausted husband with the patience of a saint in tow. She looked and she looked. She found! Oh two beautiful dresses. And in the sale! Each with 40% off! She was VERY pleased. Mission fashionista had been accomplished. 

She had wanted to visit the Sacre-Coeur, Notre Dame, the Sorbonne, the Institut du Monde Arabe, the Shakespeare & Co bookstore.. oh and not forgetting the Maison Berthillon which she had heard had the best ice-cream in Paris. So much she wanted to see, to do, to taste. But alas, there was only so much her feet could accomplish in a day. She would need to pace herself.