day 250: I still can’t believe the temperature difference between here and New York, or here and France, or pretty much here and anywhere else right now. It’s supposed to be fall but it was about 82 degrees today according to the weather channel. It was downright toasty outside at lunch!

day 249: It seems the time change has done bad things for my photo-taking abilities. If I don’t take a picture before I go to work, it will be pitch black out by the time I leave the office. It also doesn’t help that I’ve been going to bed at 9pm. I guess I’m not 100% adjusted back to pacific time yet!

day 248: Actually this post has nothing to do with Kansas, or traveling for that matter. I just wanted to show off my shiny new red shoes (Dorothy… get it?). I like crazy bright shoes and I got these in New York. No place better for crazy shoes than Manhattan!

day 247: We got home from our amazing vacation last night and I think Ben and I were both quite wiped out. He was also quite happy to see Rita and they took a little nap on the floor…. before we got up and got in the bed and passed out by 8pm. Jet lag has a way of turning me into an old lady.

day 246: I can’t believe my brother’s getting married! I couldn’t be happier and he couldn’t have picked a better bride… congratulations Chris and Tara!

day 245: Today in addition to all of the other fun New York sightseeing, we got to have the awesome-ly cool outing of going to see a Broadway show… starring one of my oldest friends. I’ve been friends with Bridget since middle school and it was way way beyond cool to see her starring in the new Mark Twain comedy “Is He Dead?” which is playing at the Lyceum theater. We got to go backstage (and on the stage) after the show and it was pretty much the best thing ever. If you’re in New York you should definitely go see the show… it’s hilarious!

day 244 : On our last day in Paris we went back to the Luxembourg gardens for one last stroll. I love that the park is always full of couples and it’s so ridiculously scenic. We saw this American couple in the park and I was commenting on how you can only get away with matching berets once you reach a certain age. I think Ben and I should take a trip back to Paris when we’re 70… both wearing matching berets.

day 243: On Wednesday night we finally made our way over to the Louvre (for the much cheaper ticket price and much less crowded museum since it’s open late) it’s impossible to see the whole museum at once but we wandered through one wing of it. I’m always blown away by the enormousness of some of the paintings… like this one by Le Brun.

day 242: Today we went for the super-tourist day, visiting the Eiffel tower, the Champs Elysees and other very crowded, “must do” sights. What better way to start the day than with a tiny coffee? Parisians don’t normally take their coffee to go so we were quite entertained to find a takeout coffee place that would give you an espresso to go. And since we went to the Eiffel tower I just had to post a photo of that as well.

day 241: Monday was the day that we decided to go back to all of our old hangouts, starting with the street that our apartment was on. Since we were in the neighborhood we couldn’t resist stopping at our favorite bakery on the corner of Rue Yves Toudic and Rue Marseille in the 10th arrondisment. They make something they call a mini pave, which is the most delicious tiny bread you will ever taste, full of many different tasty fillings. My favorite is the olive but they’re all delicious. Mmmm mini paves.