Farewell Paris!

Well, after nearly seven beautiful, interesting, and inspirational weeks, the time had come to bid Paris adieu.

Katy was done with her work and we were off to Milan for the next phase of her project. Just four more days and we'd be off to Rome for our long-awaited vacation (since we actually had planned to be in Rome and Puglia in May of 2007 so that we could visit Katy's uncle Herb and aunt Joey in Rome, but we were forced to cancel since Katy had some critical work at the time and couldn't afford the time).

The departure was bittersweet. Paris was lit up in its Christmas glory. I had gotten a couple of great last-minute meals on my own while Katy was off at work (notably chef/owner Christian Constant's Les Cocottes where everything is served in a cocotte [basically a cast-iron covered cooking pot in various sizes - typically manufactured by Le Creuset or Staub], be it the velouté de potiron [pumpkin soup], the main or the dessert). I had walked around a little more to take in the last of the Parisien ambiance, and said my silent goodbyes.

On our last day, true to Paris form, we had a special treat. Searching for one last hot chocolate before leaving town, I took Katy to Steiger for that melted-dark-chocolate-bar cup of yumminess. Uh...no. Not doing hot chocolate today. Ugh. OK. Plan B. Head over to that standby classic of Paris hot chocolate luxury - Angelina's. Score! No big line of tourists out the door...they sat us in less than 5 minutes...and we had a wonderful salad (with foie gras, thank you very much) and a croque monsieur and, of course, their marvelous chocolat chaud.

Taking a taxi back to our hotel from Angelina's before heading to the airport, we got into a cab near the Rue Rivoli, told the driver where our hotel was, then this little guy peeks up over the passenger seat. Awwwwwwwww. What a nice way to end our visit!

Ciao, Italia!