Pensees de Paris

Linda and I had a fabulous weekend in Paris, staying with Hellie for the last time, before she comes home to Yorkshire next week.

We arrived on Friday night by Eurostar and headed for Le Marais district just in time to sample the latest Beaujolais Nouveau.

That was after we both bought a chic hat each in Place des Vosges.

We spotted Pere Noel driving a Citroen van.

On Saturday Hellie took us to the little town of Montfort d'Amaury, about 20km south west of Paris.

It is a delightful little place, where the gendarme still uses a bicycle.

We had lunch in the square. Linda will never forget that Andouillette sausage......

Pere Noel has his own personal mailbox here.

We came specifically to visit 34 Oct. Two stunning shops.

 The first is a little boutique full of goodies. We found brilliant retro cake decorations and quirky jewellery.

Their second shop - round the corner is an atelier/mercerie where they sell wool and haberdashery and run workshops. We were in heaven. www.34oct.com

On Sunday morning we visited the local market at Suresnes, near Hellie's apartment. 

Oh my goodness, we had huge fun; we bought lunch to take home, flowers, bargain boots with pompoms, patent brogues, a rose covered, quilted vinyl washing machine cover for Donna (need a pic of this!). We all found something on the 1 euro stall, including a pale blue wool riding jacket with black velvet collar with my name in it..... and it fits!

I love Hellie's apartment. 

She has so many lovely things and displays everything with her own inimitable style. This is a child's toy dresser in the kitchen, for herbs and spices.

We had wonderful continental breakfasts......lunches and suppers.

Morning yoghourt.

Sunday afternoon we sat and knitted Christmas trees - yes, yes, yes. It was so addictive, we made three each in various different yarns. Funny how sparkly brillo pad style yarn that you would never dream of making a garment in, works brilliantly for a Christmas tree.

The knitting chair.

We spent Monday in Paris, Christmas shopping and taking plenty of much needed breaks. 

Chocolat chaud at Cafe de Flores was a must.

Found some lovely postcards at 'Omar's' kiosk.

Thanks so much to dear Hellie and Rob for being such brilliant hosts. Hotel Maxwell will be relocating to Yorkshire as of next week. Hope the move goes well.