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Monthly Archives: November 2012

Flashback Friday – Mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs

30 Friday Nov 2012

Posted by in Flashback, North America

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In July 2011, Mr. Selfish and I took a mini-road trip to Weeki Wachee Springs. It is a little water park built on a natural spring. The main attraction is the mermaid show, which is in a theatre that is also built into the spring. Weeki Wachee Springs is old Florida at its finest. It is campy and full of family fun. We enjoyed it immensely.

We greatly enjoyed the water park itself, because you get to swim and slide into the spring. There are huge water slides and a little area around which you can tube. The water is a cool 74.2 degrees year-round.

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The Beautiful 1st Arrondissement

29 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in Europe, France, Paris

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Mr. Selfish and I loved walking around the 1st Arrondissement, especially around dusk. The lighting was beautiful, and we really enjoyed the Jardin des Tuileries, which is known as the place where the “Parisians celebrated, met, promenaded, and relaxed.” We especially enjoyed relaxing around the fountains.

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Other Stuff to Do in the 7th Arrondissement

28 Wednesday Nov 2012

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The 7th Arrondissement, of course, has the amazing Eiffel Tower. But there is other stuff to do in the 7th as well.

One of the most beautiful sites is Les Invalides. It contains museums and monuments relating to the military history of France and, most significantly, is the burial site of Napoleon Bonaparte. Across the way is the École Militaire, which is a military school at which Napoleon studied.

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The 10th Arrondissement: Gare du Nord and Le Petit Bombay

27 Tuesday Nov 2012

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While our apartment in Paris was in the 18th Arrondissement, we were quite close to Gare du Nord in the 10th Arrondissement. We accordingly did lots of transfers from Gare du Nord and discovered the Church of Saint Vincent de Paul was nearby.

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The Luxury of the 8th Arrondissement

26 Monday Nov 2012

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Mr. Selfish and I enjoy saying the term “Chumps Élysées” instead of just saying “chumps.” So, we definitely ventured to the Champs Élysées in the 8th Arrondissement and said “Chumps Élysées” as often as possible. We didn’t buy anything but just window shopped. We also stopped by Paul for a croissant. Paul is a prolific chain but it has consistently good pastries.

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Selfish in Spain

25 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by in Europe, Spain

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Mr. Selfish and I are currently in Valencia, Spain. We rented a car from Barcelona and are traveling through southern Spain. We will end in Madrid and spend a week there. Here’s the map of our itinerary:

I know we’re still working through our posts in France, but if you have any recommendations for Spain, let me know.

After Madrid, we fly to Marrakesh and spend three nights there. Lastly, we’re in Lisbon, Portugal for three nights. That means that in less than a month, Mr. Selfish and I will be back in the States for Christmas. Can’t wait!

Château de Vincennes in the 12th Arrondissement

25 Sunday Nov 2012

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Mr. Selfish and I rode the metro all the way to the end of Line 1 to go to Bois de Vincennes and Château de Vincennes in the 12th Arrondissement. The Bois de Vincennes is a park that is three times larger than Central Park in New York.

We arrived at Château de Vincennes, which was a favorite second home to 14th century French kings. They used it as hunting accommodations due to its proximity to Bois de Vincennes. Mr. Selfish and I had brought some banh mi from Saigon Sandwich with us to eat. The weather looked like it was clearing up, so we sat down in the château grounds and enjoyed our banh mi.

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Specialty Stores in the 2nd, 9th, and 10th Arrondissements

24 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by in Europe, Food & Drinks, France, Paris

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Mr. Selfish and I discovered three interesting specialty stores in the 2nd, 9th, and 10th Arrondissements.

The first was G. Detou, which is a specialty store for bakers and cooks. The name is a play-on-words meaning “I have everything”. It indeed looked to have most everything a cook or baker could want. Mr. Selfish and I purchased a kilo (2.2 lbs.) of dried strawberries and have been munching on them ever since. Our friend purchased pearl sugar to make liege waffles.

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Flashback Friday – Inari Shrine Near Kyoto

23 Friday Nov 2012

Posted by in Asia, Flashback, Japan

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In 2010, Mr. Selfish and I took our first trip to Japan. We loved Kyoto. In fact, we loved it so much that we’re planning on staying there for a month during our selfish year.

One of the most memorable sites we visited was the Fushimi Inari Taisha, which is an Inari shrine a little outside of Kyoto. The Inari shrine was built to honor the Shinto god of rice and is typically represented by a fox.

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Searching for the Best Macarons in Paris

22 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in Europe, Food & Drinks, France, Paris, Searching for the Best . . .

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Mr. Selfish and I love macarons. We therefore decided to search for the best macarons in Paris. It was a hard task but someone has to do it.

First, we tried the macarons at Stohrer, which is supposedly the oldest bakery in Paris. Stohrer is near Les Halles and Saint Eustache. Stohrer only offered traditional flavors, so we purchased chocolate, vanilla, pistachio, and strawberry.

Verdict:  The macarons were pretty good, but not much different from the macarons we had tasted in the States.

Score:  6.5

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Salon du Chocolat in the 15th Arrondissement

21 Wednesday Nov 2012

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Mr. Selfish and I went all the way out to the Porte de Versailles Exhibition Center in the 15th Arrondissement to attend the Salon du Chocolat. It is billed as the largest chocolate event in the world. How could we resist?

It is an exhibition of all things chocolate. There were so many chocolate samples – lots and lots of samples. It was amazing. I never thought that I could get sick of chocolate but I actually did get a little sick of it toward the end.

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Musées in the 4th Arrondissement

20 Tuesday Nov 2012

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Mr. Selfish and I were constantly in the 4th Arrondissement. Not only because we love Notre Dame but because there is plenty to do in the 4th – particularly musées.

On our last free museum Sunday, we decided to go to the Centre National d’Art et de Culture George Pompidou, which is the modern art musée in Paris. It is quite large and extensive. There were two primary floors – one floor focuses on modern art from 1960 to the present and the other floor has pre-1960 modern art. We started with the post-1960 modern art and found it (as usual) to be not our forté.

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Wandering Around the 6th Arrondissement

19 Monday Nov 2012

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Even aside from the Luxembourg Gardens, it is nice to just stroll around the 6th Arrondissement. Mr. Selfish and I enjoyed walking on the bridges and admiring the different views – particularly that of the Institut de France. It houses six different academies and was opened in 1795.

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Mixed Feelings in the 14th Arrondissement

18 Sunday Nov 2012

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I have mixed feelings about the 14th Arrondissement. On the one hand, Montparnasse Tower was quite nice. On the other, we weren’t able to go to the Catacombs because it was closed.

I dragged Mr. Selfish to Montparnasse Tower, because I wanted to see a nighttime view of Paris. I’ve seen Montparnasse Tower from afar many a times and discovered that you could see Paris from 59 floors up. Plus, if you’re up the Eiffel Tower, you can’t see the view with the Eiffel Tower.

To go up Montparnasse Tower, you have to take a lift that only takes 38 seconds. It takes you to the 56th floor, which has a cafe and is encased in glass. You can take photos but the reflection from the glass and lights makes the photos not too ideal.

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Opera and Le Petit Tokyo in the 9th Arrondissement

17 Saturday Nov 2012

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The beautiful Palais Garnier is in the 9th Arrondissement of Paris. It is the opulent opera house of Paris. Mr. Selfish and I looked into going to an opera but the prices were outrageous. Instead, we just walked by and admired.

But, the main reason that we kept coming back to the 9th was because Le Petit Tokyo is there. When we were sick of French food, we ate ramen and udon to our heart’s content. We went to three restaurants in particular and found each of them to be respectable.

First, at Higuma, we enjoyed gyozas and the shio and syoyu ramen, which was called “lamen.” The broth was tasty, and it hit the spot since we were craving ramen. I also liked the demonstration kitchen because the chefs really seemed to enjoy their cooking stations.

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