Although Leesa and I have been in touch through our blogs and Facebook, we only met in person today. She organized a picnic to take advantage of the white and pink cherry trees in bloom at the Parc de Sceaux, just outside Paris. The skies were blue, the weather was warm and most of the trees were blossoming; it was great timing.
We were a mix of francophones and anglophones, so I got the chance to practice my French (boy, do I need it!). I can understand almost everything, and can handle some sentences, but if the words contain lots of "Rs," I often get tongue tied. I hate the French R! Who invented this language anyway.
I made prosciutto/feta/basil involtini from a recipe on David Lebovitz's blog. My ham rolls weren't as cute as David's, and there was some confusion over whether it was ham or smoked salmon, but they went over well.
I'm glad Leesa offered to meet people at the café near the chateau. That parc is huge; I never would have found the picnic spot they chose on my own. Its scale and classic symmetrical gardens remind me of Versailles. It was nice to see the chateau, built in the late 1850s, in three dimensions. I probably never would have known about this place if she hadn't written about it on her blog. Since it's only 15 minutes by train from Paris, it makes a great place to get away from the city, breathe some fresh air and have a picnic.
Note: photo collage made via http://www.photovisi.com/
Hi Jennifer!
Lovely post-- I love the collage you did.. Great pics.. and you even got one of Alex and Anna (cool)... Thanks for adding the interesting info about the parc.. I didn't even know that!
Glad to have met you... it's always a pleasure to meet fellow bloggers and to make "new" friends!!"
Take care and hope to see you at the next event...
Leese
Posted by: Leesa | April 18, 2010 at 11:54 PM
Hi Leesa, thanks so much for commenting! Yeah, I thought the collage turned out pretty well and it was SO easy. It was so nice to have met you too and hope to see again soon!
Posted by: Jennifer K | April 19, 2010 at 12:16 AM
Wooohooo You met Leesa :-) and at one of her "picnics" looks great.
Your collage is fantastic, I must try that out.. well done . Oh I would of had a hard time with the French then , if you needed practice.. I hate the "R" too, get rid of it, ha ha ..
Have you been to the parc Bois de Boulogne.. Dawn loves going there.
Take care Anne
Posted by: anne | April 19, 2010 at 11:22 AM
Thanks Anne! Your collages are already so nice. I need more help ha ha. I just edited my post to add the website I used to make the collage.
I have been to the Bois de Boulogne but it has been ages. I need to go back sometime.
Posted by: Jennifer K | April 19, 2010 at 11:45 AM
Just gorgeous. Did you pinch yourself. YOur contribution to the picnic sounds yummerific. For Easter I made a Giada DeLaurentiis recipe for roasted asparagus tossed in a lemon vinagrette and covered with melon, mozzarella and crispy prosciutto bits that I will have to try again. Blogland is an encouraging place and seems like you had a refreshing day out....great pictures by the way.
Posted by: Jenny N | April 20, 2010 at 01:40 AM
Hi Jenny N! OMG that asparagus with prosciutto and melon sounds so delicious. I just had my first asparagus of the year tonight at dinner, but I prepared it very simply. Still yummy though. Thanks for the compliment!
Posted by: Jennifer K | April 20, 2010 at 02:02 AM
Well, this was really such a nice article. I do really wanted to put more comments in here. Great!
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