Notre Dame, Paris, France

So in March, my beautiful daughter turned 21 on St. Patrick's Day.  She's a junior in college so I thought it was time to make her a European traveler and take a trip to Paris and London (I will do a separate post on London because that's a whole different universe). 

The Front of Notre Dame

We booked our travel through
https://www.tripmasters.com/
which I highly recommend.  I think we saved like $10,000, literally, booking through them.  They have travel agents that you can call online to help you, but the online website is so easy to navigate, you won't need it.  I don't know how they book the flights because they are dirt cheap, and the same exact flights you can get on the ones that claim to be the cheapest!






I will go into details on the entire trip, and itinerary (I hate spelling that word!) but trust me when I tell you, Paris is not to be missed.  I went back in 2012, and a lot had changed.  For one, it has become MUCH more catered to American tastes.  There are tons more souvenir shops, the restaurants have much more American food, and depending on where you are, you can hardly find French food at all!

I will talk more about the trip to Paris in a later post, but wanted to talk about the Notre Dame cathedral first. Paris is very historical and Notre Dame was something that I had to have my family see. Here are some pictures of the interior.  I am not sure what has survived, but this will give you an idea of what it looked like inside.







There were rows and rows of pews, and it honestly smelled like they were just put into the cathedral.  They had pockets of places to walk into, as you can see below, and each one had a different stained glass and story.  I am sure there are books about all of these marvels, but I just stood there thinking about how people for 800 years have been standing where I was standing.  It was breathtaking.







I can't imagine what Paris is going through to have something so important to their culture in such a state.  I know it will take years to rebuild it, but I am so thankful that I got to see it twice!

Outside Carvings

The church is actually situated on an island in Paris, and you have to go over this really neat bridge.  We ate at a nearby patisserie, where I had way too many chocolate croissants.  But the walk to Notre Dame wasn't far from there, and you don't really know you are at the church until you are literally right on it! But it's so beautiful that you can't believe you are actually there.  The "flying buttresses" are so beautiful--the gargoyles are actually very neat too.  The courtyard in front of the church allows you to take lots of pictures of the front with ease.  

Along the sides of the church, all you can see are the souvenir shops everywhere, which like I said, takes away from the "Frenchy" part of being in France.  And lord help you if you have to use the restroom.  I should have taken a picture, but it is a very large round plastic thing in the middle of the walkway.  We passed it literally 5 times, and the Parisians kept telling us, "over there" but we didn't get it until a small line formed.  The restroom required a steam cleaning after each use.  I estimate it takes 10-15 per person to use said restroom, simply due to this "cleansing process".   

One cool thing you could have done while in Notre Dame, was you could light a candle for a loved one.  Though I am not Catholic, I did this, in total respect of the holy place I was in.  There was a small gift shop in there--and I mean small--a counter of things that you could purchase.  I grabbed some postcards that I have placed in my scrapbook. 

Southern Tea Parties

There are two days that stand out in the "Book of Kim" as the best days of the year: First, Christmas, the most wonderful and blessed day of the year (need I say more?) and second, the Oakwood Tea Party.

Each year for my Mother's Day gift, my sister, niece and Mom attend this event.  My daughter Rachael went a few times but didn't seem to enjoy wearing a dress, so alas, she bailed on us years ago. https://www.historicoakwood.org/garden-tour-tea

Why is the Oakwood Tea Party so amazing?  Well, first of all, my family doesn't live close to each other, so its the one time a year that us girls get to go out and have some fun. The venue for the first couple of years was always at someone's home.  It was an outside event so you could see the lovely gardens while you sipped your tea, however, in the past couple of years it's been inside.  I know weather played a part in why that was changed, but I think it takes away from the romantic outside adventure that it used to be!

When you arrive, you are able to sit at the table with different types of tea cups and plates--the napkins are actually handkerchiefs.  I wish I could say that it didn't feel exciting looking around and deciding which plate to sit at!

Mom and I dressed in yellow this particular year (though now that I look at the photos, we seemed to pick yellow several times).  Why I chose a bright blue straw bag to go with yellow, is beyond me.  I will never say for one minute I know how to coordinate!

Then, there is the fact that I am all about the food.  There are literally tiers of delicious food.

Each tier represents a biscuit (scones as the English call them), a savory and a sweet sampling of food.  The teas are then brought out one at a time that are carefully selected to match the tier you are eating.  The waitresses will show you the tea leaves before they bring each tea out and there is always a reason they selected each one.  The whole process takes about an hour.




















As you can see to the left, the savory tier might consist of tea sandwiches or small quiches.  It's something different each year, but I delight in finding out what tasty samples they have for us!  Some years we have cheese straws, cucumber sandwiches--chicken salad is my personal favorite.  But when you think of the endless combinations, we never know what each year will be!









My favorite dessert in the world is macrons--make no mistake, they are not macaroons (southern coconut yummies).  I've now been to Paris twice, and I can tell you, they are pronounced "mac-a-rons" (yes, Ron, like the man's name).  There are tons of Youtube videos, blogs, websites, etc. showing you how to make them.  I have made them once, and I will tell you, it is like any other meringue, it takes patience.  I will do a post on those later for sure, showing you step by step on how to do it--if you love them as much as I do, it will be worth it!!





Our first year going was in 2013, and part our ritual was picking out a hat from my beloved Grandmother's (GiGi) "hat stash".  We all take a look at them, pick one, and show up to the event in style.  I must admit, we are like the only group, year after year, that dresses up for the event.  People sort of look at us like we are weirdo's, but every year I want to say, you can never overdress for a party!



I have also now traveled to London, and later I will post "Afternoon Tea" from London.  Something that I learned in those teas, is that you serve these tiers with scones and clotted cream, jam and lemon curd.  If you love tart things, you must try lemon curd--you'll feel like you have died and gone to heaven.  "Clotted cream" is like a heavy whipped cream--it doesn't taste like butter, but it's also so light and melt in your mouth, you'll never forget it.  Again, I am going to post how to do that later too.

I take a lot of care to go buy a dress that I think will be comfortable, yet different than what I normally wear to work.  It's my coveted "tea party dress".  I can tell you, when I add gloves and a little pin to my sweater, I feel like I have fallen back in time.

Here's a side table with a small chocolate cake, some ice cream glasses and adorable napkin rings.  I love thinking of sitting for a small taste of cake while breathing in the warm Carolina sun.               

We always start and end the event at my parent's house.  They live in a large, wooded and deliciously green yard during this time of year.  Here's a picture of me swinging with the house in the background!  It's seriously like a Tara in the middle of North Carolina (for those Gone with the Wind fans!).

For the first several years, we also did the Oakwood Historical Gardens Tour.  You get the chance to walk around people's yards who go to extraordinary lengths to make their yards look amazing.  You get so many great ideas, though I must admit, it takes a lot of money and time to be a real green thumb in the yard.  I will share some things I have done in later posts.

Here is my favorite dress from all the years--I wear it to this day, but need to lose a few this year, I think!

Signing off for now--hope you enjoyed my little yearly time travel adventure! (I think I might wear this hat again this year--it looks pretty good--thanks Gigi!)

So I decided to add 2019 so you could see what an amazing time we had again this year!! 

This was me and Mom.  We went with some bright colors.  I thought she looked like an American girl doll with her felt hat.  She made her dress and the yellow collar was adorable.  They warned me not to wear a flowered sweater, but I just had to do it--and I now reflect that it may have been a tad too much! I loved my hat--there is close up of the top of it. 

 The food was very good, but a lot of sweets and not enough savory.  You need both to balance.  I love the pansies below.  You can add them to almost anything for an amazing pop of color!

The fun begins--a little about me

The Blog Begins

I have been thinking about creating a blog for a very long time.  I suppose it took me a while because I wasn't sure what I would talk about and what talents I have.  But I finally decided that my interests are many, and I think that even if you enjoy one of these interests, you will love the things that I will blog about. 

So first thing is first, I am Kim Reynolds, a mom of one college student, Rachael and wife to a hard working husband Larry.  I am approaching 50, which sounded like an ancient age not that long ago, but now sounds like "yippee, I made it!".  I have learned a lot through the years and would love to share some ideas.

One thing you will count on in my blogs is the honest truth.  I am not one of these bloggers that makes perfect, amazing food, projects, etc.  I will be as real as anyone could be.  If things flop, I will tell you how/why they flopped. I have never won any beauty contests so my videos, tutorials, and photos will be of just a natural human being. 

Being that I am a Southern born and bred lady, that perspective will drive a lot of my ideas and views on the world.  I believe in being honest and kind above all else.  And having fun while you do things outside of your normal "work" is what I will be talking about. 

I will blog about a lot of topics: gardening, travel, sewing, crafting, baking, cooking, entertaining, projects, etc.  And it is my hope that I make it an exciting place to follow.  Please let me know if you have suggestions of things you would like to see and I will do my best to accomplish that task!

Welcome to my world and I hope you enjoy everything that I have to share!

Warm regards, Kim