Only in France

One of the things Matt and I have always loved about traveling in France is that it is not uncommon to come across things that are quirky, bizarre or just plain weird! Last weekend's outing was one of those times where we just looked at each other and shook our heads We were headed to one of the 3 or 4 museums in the city (at least that I know of) which houses display of taxidermied animals. What do we happen to pass by on our way to such a museum? Nothing less than a store dedicated to....taxidermied animals!

Sam gets a taste of what's to come.

At La Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature (Museum of Hunting and Nature) we saw all sorts of cool things. Guns, gore and everything in between!

The guns. Even Grandpa Shaw
 would be impressed by this collection

The gore. I think the lion is winning.

Everything else! This is just one corner of one room...

My favorite was "the owl room". You step inside a small room and then look up. This is the view from below.

These guys were big! Their heads were the same size as Sam's!

They even had examples of furniture made out of animal parts.

No, you can't sit here.

I didn't think I would be so impressed by a collection of "stuffed" animals. After all, we can see live animals in a zoo, right? But here you can get up close and really get a sense of how big and powerful some of these creatures are.  Even though it was dead, looking into the lion's eyes was intimidating!

Theo prepares for battle.

Sam gets in on the action.

Those claws are BIG!

Even the grownups loved it!

Why the Grocery Store Makes Us Laugh

We are fortunate enough to have a Franprix just 30 seconds from our front door. It's a tiny store but it works!

 Some of what we find on the inside, however, can be a bit strange to us foreigners...

Canned Tripe. Need I say more?

Cheeseburger flavored chips?

I have to wonder who buys this?

Apparently there's not a lot of storage space at the store. When a new shipment of something comes in, it's just left right in the aisles!

After all of my lamenting a few weeks ago about not being able to find bacon at the store, what should appear this week but (practically) an entire row of different kinds of chopped up bacon! 

Bacon Fumées, Lardons Fumées, Allumettes Fumées...Why the different names? They all look like the same thing!

Now this one's no laughing matter. Cassoulet (with duck confit) is one of my favorite French dishes. I like it so much that I might just try it from a can. Someday...

Monuments and Tapestries

I decided to take a day off from sitting in our dark apartment, poring through even more apartment ads (we need to find a permanent place here) and take a trip to one of my favorite museums, The Cluny. I got off the Metro at the Notre Dame stop, thinking I should at least walk by it on my way as we have been so inundated with figuring out daily life here that we haven't really seen any "sites". I took a quick pick to send to Matt while he was at work  - not sure if that was nice or not ;)

I figured I should get a closer look and then noticed that admission was free so of course I felt the need to just take a quick peek inside...



They had a special exhibit of tapestries created by a guy named Dom Robert, who was a Benedictine Monk as well as an artist. There were six tapestries in all, but I was particularly entranced by the color and design of this one...

I was so transfixed by the tapestries that never made it to The Cluny Museum that day - maybe next time!

Although we haven't been up the Eiffel Tower yet, we did finally get close enough for a picture while on our way to the aquarium. No matter how many times I see it, I always think it's amazing!