Lisboa!

Ok, it's not in France, but it's still super cool as location! We went there for the weekend while my man had a work conference.

Once there you tend to compare with Barcelona and...well, it's not quite the same but much the same. The city looks older, even if there is definitely that party feel to it. It feels impregnated with history almost, even if I must say I do not know much of the history of Lisabon.

We got there the eve of the Lisbon fashion night and the streets were packed with people and merchants displaying their stuff on the sidewalks and boutiques, all open till midnight. We kind'a missed the stroll since we were driving around for a long time without hope of finding a parking place...that's why I say don't rent a car when you are visiting a foreign city!! just walk, take a cab, take the public transportation , I don't know, whatever. We spent so much time in traffic that by the time we stopped I was so nervous and frustrated that it almost spoiled my night.

We sat down a nice popular cafe called the Pharmacy - Pharmacia, where drinks on the menu were actually called Paracetamol, Ibuprofen and what not and the setting was like a real clinic...the outside terasse was really cool though, nice view overlooking the city.
I had an Oxy..something, in translation a cocktail made from Porto-the traditional wine which is not at all like the Porto made for US, it's much lighter and not so sweet-, fresh pear puree, cognac and brown sugar. It was amazing and the cute server gave me the recipe :)

Here is a link for the full description, although we were there at night and the feel was much cooler :)
http://www.thelisbonconnection.com/excellent-gastronomy-lisbon-restaurant-pharmacia-overlooking-thetagus-river-pharmaceutical-paraphernalia-museum-lsd-cocktail/)

The second night we ate at Cafe In, a reaaaally cool place very similar to Gibson's steak house in Chicago, except here they have all kinds of fish meat on the platter - in adition to steaks - and a real service!! I had the impression the guys were trained in America! It was amazing! I felt so pampered that I forgot it's rather normal to be served like that in a restaurant. Awesome food, if you are in Lisbon, you must eat there.

 

Here is a link and a pic, we sat by the window overlooking the Tage river and the Christo Rei statue of Jesus with the open arms over the bridge.

http://www.restaurantes-emlisboa.com/fr/restaurant/cafe-in 

 

We actually sat at the corner table next to the capitoned wall! 

 Here is Lisabon and the imposing ocean 35 min away.

 

 The tramway coming down the street, look at the cool system

 

The Tage river is at the end of the square.

 

 

 By the ocean, such a cool beach, lots of surfers and a statue of 'surfing' (like in the statue of liberty) 

 

 And back to the city before heading to the airport with a promise that we'll be back Lisboa! Definitely need more time than a 2 day weekend.

 

My blog

I am subscribed to quite a few blogs. I receive, daily, about 10 emails from all the blogs I signed up for. As this blogging journey started with a search for interior decorating and design ideas for our home, the majority of the blogs are home design blogs. Then some are blogs I discovered on certain blogs as beeing blogs they- the specific bloggers- follow (a lot of "blog, blog, blog" use, I know): on life experiences with a religious twist, on cooking, on brocantes, on places.

Reading them for a while, some are writers I respect, others that have lost my interest and made me question my purpose in blogging as well. What do people like to read about? I realized I like to look at the pictures when they are not always or only personal; I read, rarely, some of the stories out there and most often I just scroll...

So me writing, it was going to be about France. France has quite a reputation, and when you first get here you are in a stage of wow, then you accomodate, then it turns into normal. Since there are a miriad of blogs about Paris and people in love with it, and since I am not a good referrence for Paris anyway, I was going to write about my part of France, this Valley of the Juine at 38km from Paris where we live. About the homes around here and the real estate market. But all that isn't kind'a boring without any personal detailing, or is it?

Then I looked at blogging as a mean of keeping record of ...life. Since my baby came, it is moving so fast, not really my life advancing into a direction or another, but her life which has become my life...growing, changing stages and ... more growing! It barely sunk in that I am a mother, now she is in pre-school already?! There are blogs which record daily, moments otherwise left to dissapear in time. And while daily is a bit much, preventing irreversible clips vanish seems compulsory especially since I can't seem to remember clis from 1 year ago!

There's the 'frustrating France', when we see all the differences with where we left from, not in a "wow, French!" kind'a light but rather "this French sucks" kind'a way. And then it all goes into standard which comes normally after the adaptation period. (I would attribute about 1 year to each stage...)

So now that we are here, what should we write about? I thought I would just mix it all up. What the heck, I change my time periods so the blog could as well. Once the house gets decorated we pass onto other things, once the baby is done being a baby we move on to another phase, once the 'in between jobs' feel gets tired, we have to get off our ass and change that too. Even if it requires quite an effort at times.

 

 And here's of my favorite pics. I'm gonna frame this one!

Have a good one :)

Most amazing home for sale!

Check out the latest most beautiful home for sale at 40' from Paris on the La Valee de La Juine page.
This one's priced right at the limit, moving fast!

Les Pastoreaux

Les Pastoreaux

 

The title may sound like whatever, but this a most magnificent place to get married. And coming from one who still consideres her marriage day ... not a cool thing, the least you can be sure is that this setting will make you, or your people, feel like they're part of something really special.
I didn't want a big marriage, I didn't even know what kind of marriage I wanted until I discovered this place. Everything was designed around it, even the number of people we would have!

I would pass by the iron entrance many times wondering what was hiding behind the stone walls surrounding part of this village area :

 

And then one day, looking online for places hosting marriages I discovered the amazing domaine of Les Pastoreaux  (here http://aablin.perso.neuf.fr/galerie/galerie.html) and the name clicked!!! I just had to have it. I saved on everything else, even on my dress just to have this place. Too bad I didn't know how to make the best of it...

 Passing by on small street you would see this entrance tucked away from the world

 Continuing down a gorgeous path crossing a parc

 

Arriving here, the front entrance.

 This is on the actual day we married (below), in the back of the mansion. Pics are not too clear because they were taken by a photographer so as not to be reproduced.

 

 

About the pretty village of Lardy in the next post.

On procrastination and ...projects

Those two really go well together...   I start making lists of projects. Then lists of times when I would tackle those projects. Then of course the lists get lost and I start over.

A few days ago I realized a little more than 10 years have passed by since I was into starting projects. I realized every time I got a project up in theory there would be a barrier going up in practice. WHY on earth is that!? I have no problem working and working even several jobs at a time. But apparently I have a problem with keeping up with my own projects. It's like I would need someone to pump into my ears the "Just do it" Nike commercial. Why don't I just do it?... Anyone has any input on this...going through the same phazes... I can't be the only one, can I?

They say to get a friend who would be your motivator, an "accountability partner". Any volonteers?
Well, in the meanwhile I have a list that's going into practice. I have a planner!!! I am, really am, starting to get down to work on my own projects. I hope I will be able to present you my work in progress, along the way...really soon.

For the moment, here are some of the cool motivators.

 

:)