Mad for Macarons!
Is there any treat that says "Paris" more than the macaron? I'm trying to remember the first time I had one but I'm drawing a blank. Surely I don't want to think of a life without macarons though! You might think that I'm crazy for sweets but those of you who know me know that I choose cheese over dessert any day. So why the infatuation? There is just something about those pretty cookie sandwiches filled with interesting fillings that has my heart.Forest and I found ourselves conducting an informal macaron tasting starting in the 9th after lunch at Rose Bakery (which was good but a bit over hyped and over priced IMHO). We walked across the street to Arnaud Delmontel, they advert

More Paris Adventures
Forest and I returned to Paris from Hamburg and immediately headed out to meet her Wednesday Cocktail Adventure group, this time at Panic Room in the 11th. As always I had a great time with Forest and her friends but the Panic Room is not some place I would put on my suggestion list for cocktails. The worst? non. But there are so many other places to go.

In like a lion...
Day two in Hamburg we took a great cruise on the upper lake canals. It is very very pretty with it's swans, mansions, waterways, etc. Hamburg boasts a lot of things- one of them being the Venice of Germany.The US embassy here looks like a mini White House...

Hamburg- a fine place for cocktails
After Forest and I rocked Paris to it's core (ok, not really but we gave it a shot!) we got up early (damn you Forest, stop booking flights that require me to get up at 6 am!!), took the train to CDG (much easier than I imagined) and hopped a flight to Hamburg, Germany. Neither of us had been to Hamburg (this was my first time even to Germany!) so you may think the destination of Hamburg is a strange choice- unless you are into cocktails and then you might know that it is home to Le Lion, voted best new cocktail bar in 2008. More about that later...

Summer Sailing in Seattle
We interrupt autumn's gray, rainy days to bring you sunshine!One day when Dayne and I were driving past the waterfront this summer I saw a sign for Let's Go Sailing and I immediately wanted to go sailing! We looked up their website when we got home and thought the price of $40 for a 2 1/2 hour sunset sail was great, you can bring whatever food and drink you want aboard also.