Ireland

Last week I took a couple of days off work and flew over to Ireland to visit my brother who lives in Killarney in south west Ireland. The town of kilarney is gorgeous, with brightly painted buildings lining the main streets. The area around Killarney (The Ring of Kerry) is absolutely gorgeous. I hired a car for 3 days and James drove me around and showed me some of the best spots in the area. Killarney is surrounded by Mountains, lakes and gorgeous forests, filled with creeks and waterfalls and moss covered trees. It is also not far at all from the coast so on saturday we drove out to one of the nearby beaches. It is the first time I have ever worn gloves and scarf to the beach, but it was great. I haven't been to the beach for 6 months so it was nice to walk on the sand and hear the sound of the waves. The whole area is gorgeous, and there is so much space! I felt very far away from Paris.

James has a great house which he shares with 4 others, all of whom are really nice and friendly. Friday was James's birthday but he had to work in the evening so we celebrated on saturday night with a few drinks at his local, followed by a lovely Italian meal and then a lot more drinking at a local bar/nightclub.

It was a fabulous break, and it was so nice to get out of Paris and get outdoors. I will be heading back over there for christmas and will probably going to Dublin and Galway while I am over there. I have been pretty slack with posting photos so here is a link to some photos from the weekend.

Ireland - Part 1

Dimanche

Sundays in Paris can be a little strange. Everything is closed, there is no one much around, and there isn't alot to do except hang out with friends and eat. The sunday before last I had a true Sunday in Paris. The day started at the Baron Rouge, an old style wine bar near Bastille which still has the old oak barrels of wine from which you can fill empty bottles. I went there with VikiLee her husband and a friend of her's from australia, as well as a few other friend's of hers that live in the area. At this time of year (oyster season) they sell huge plates of fresh oysters out the front. I didn't eat the oysters but I did go for a cheese plate which came with three huge chunks of different gooey moldy cheeses, which looked a bit weird but tasted amazing and drank some gorgeous sancerre (both white and red) and some brouilly.

After that we went to a nearby bistro which still has the original decor from 1900. It is not flashy but it is gorgeous.We had a huge meal there which (in true french style) lasted several hours and included several bottles of gamme (red wine) followed by a digestif, I had an absolutely amazing raspberry digestif that I have never tasted before. We finished off the day at nearby bar and drank cheap cocktails.

Last sunday wasn't quite so indulgent, but I spent the entire afternoon waking around my new quartier, taking advantage of the unusually mild autumn to spend an entire afternoon outdoors. There were heaps of little streets I had never ventured down before and all of them were gorgeous. I am now really living in "Postcard Paris". The 5th is one of the more exclusive quartiers in Paris but, being in a university area, there are heaps of second hand book stores, independant music stores, and cosy cafes, mixed in with exclusive boutiques and flashy restaurants. The latin quartier and the pantheon are only a 10 minute walk away but I tend to avoid those areas as they very crowded and touristy, my corner of the 5th is much more residential. In a park just near my appartment I stumbled upon the ruins of an ancient arena from 195. I also found a vegetarian cafe (very rare in Paris) down a little side street, and a cave à vins (wine store) which is open on sundays (extremely rare). I ended the day on rue moufftard (a famous and gorgeous little street behind the pantheon) where I met up with alison for a cheap meal of cheese fondue.