L'automne à Paris

It feels like it's been a crazy last 6 months with visitors and trips almost back to back the entire time.  The past few months we've had several weeks in Paris.  So what have we been up to, you might ask?  Aside from relaxing, catching up on U.S. tv (aka Breaking Bad and the Office), we've also been out enjoying Paris!

Be sure to check out all of our pictures from fall in Paris here.


Pick-Your-Own-Everything Farm
One of our favorite things to do every fall in Wisconsin was go to the apple orchard.  For the last 3 years, we haven't had a real fall season, so we were pretty pumped to have the opportunity again.  After a little research, I found there was a highly recommended pick-your-own farm just a few minutes from Nick's work.  And what fun we had...we spent a good two hours and could have easily spent more!

Picnics & Football & Friends
We've also had lots of fun with friends this fall, both old and new.  (I've met a whole new group of Canadians and Australians through a friend at work, and it's awesome!)  Now that American football is on, we use any excuse to watch it.  Pizza night at our house, drinks at a bar to watch college football, you name it!

 Jesse, Nick, and Skee representing Penn St, Wisconsin, and Michigan respectively

 The girls were just there more for conversation! :)

We've also had a last few picnics at the Eiffel Tower before winter sets in, and gone to a wine festival in Montmartre.

Cooking Fun!
Last week I took a cooking class through AWG (American Women's Group).  I had heard wonderful things, but hadn't been able to go until now.  We spent the entire day (10am-4pm) cooking, chatting, and of course eating our wonderful 4 course meal.  Chantal, the Frenchwomen who hosted, taught us all about French etiquette and table settings, as well as helped us prepare a wonderful meal.

Apertif: Champagne with snacks
Entree: Artichoke souflee (soooo good and I plan to try it at home this week)
Plat: Pigeon in a grape sauce
Fromage plats (as you can see below, we were not lacking cheese)
Dessert: Poached pears in a red wine sauce
All with many bottles of wine from their own wine cellar.  YUMMM!!  Yes, even the pigeon was good, even though I'm not sure I'm brave enough to go to the market and order it myself!



I must have been inspired by this class or something, because a few days later I decided I wanted to make croissants for the first time since my class with Melissa.   So, my other friend Melissa, came over and we had a fun afternoon *attempting* to make croissants and pain au chocolat.  While they may not be quite as pretty as the ones you buy in the bakery, they sure were delicious and fun to make!


Fall...
And lastly, I will leave you with some pictures of fall in Paris.  Fair warning, there are a lot of them.  But hey, I guess that's what happens when you haven't seen fall in 4 years!