Honestly, after seeing the Eiffel Tower I didn't think Paris could get any better...but it did! After the Eiffel Tower we kept walking north to Champs-Elysees and saw the Arc de Triomphe, a massive monument that Napoleon built to honor his armies. Like the Eiffel Tower, we didn't go up in it but rather took pictures and recited Meg Ryan lines from "French Kiss" (ok, only I did this not my hubby). Then we walked the Champs-Elysees Street which was decked out with Christmas lights and amazing store windows! The windows on that street were single handedly the best store windows I have ever seen. I must say the French know how to entice a shopper! I have never seen so many wonderful shoes, bags and yes, cars! As if I wasn't already impressed enough, there was a huge ferris wheel at the end of street. Walking down that street was like being in a Gene Kelly movie. Just when I think Paris can't get any better we hop a boat, via the Beatuex-Mouchess company and take a canal ride all around Paris. I got to see the pretty Eiffel Tower for a second time but this time it had a blue effervescence and twinkle lights. The boat ride only inspired me to see as much as I could see during my stay. After our ride, we were completely and totally starving. We had walked everywhere under the moon and need substance so we stopped at the first cafe we could find. My hunger could only be satisfied with beef. After eating croissants and crepes my body just needed some protein and all I wanted was a burger. The hub went the French route and I went the American route with French fries. So I ordered a cheeseburger and let me say, it was the worst cheeseburger I have ever eaten in my life!!! One word described the burger I ate...raw. I highly doubt the cook put the thing on the burner, that was how raw it was. I didn't expect the Parisians to make a particularly good burger but at least I thought it would be cooked. I was so mortified that I didn't know what to do. Should I send it back? I didn't know and the waiter was no where in site. I took three bites and felt sick (not from the rawness) but at the cost. I spent a ton of Euros only to get raw meat. Where those cooks laughing at me because I was an American in Paris and ordered a cheeseburger? Anyhoo, I was so mortified that I couldn't wait to get out of the restaurant. A lady came to clear the dishes and saw my red meat. I saw her take it to the kitchen and show the cooks. I felt even sicker knowing that the red meat wasn't right. I felt fooled and robbed of money. The hub suggested that perhaps the Parisians like to serve it tartar as he recalled a steak on the menu being tartar. I had know idea how the Parisians were supposed to serve it other then they served it with a side of barf! Rest assured I will never eat another non-McDonald's cheeseburger in Paris ever again!!! There is one thing I can be assured of in life and that is when you are traveling and you have a craving for a cheeseburger go to McDonald's because it is the only place a person can go to and be assured about the quality of beef and the appropriate non-rawness. After this incident, it has become clear to me that countries that speak at least a little bit of French i.e Canada and now apparently France, do not know how to make cheeseburgers. A little tip my French speaking friends, us Americans like our cow dead not mooing on a bun. It is not fancy to serve the meat red. That burger was the only disappointing thing in Paris. I was soo not impressed.
When I was going to Michigan State University, my friends and I would always go to BW3's for hot wings. They always had a variety of flavored wings from Honey BBQ to steaming hot, hot, death wings. Wings and a beer were just the thing to satisfy a busy student's appetite. When we frequented BW3's it was a dive bar but by the time my brother graduated from MSU they swapped locations for a building across the street and turned the name to Buffalo Wild Wings and the restaurant became more like a chain thing. Well, color me shocked the other day when we went to the movies and I saw a Buffalo Wild Wings being built in the AMC Burbank 16 complex. Apparently, after looking on their website they are one of the fastest top 10 chains in the US. So of course I had to introduce the hubby to one of my favorite college treats. I don't think he is so much a fan of chicken wings so we got boneless chicken wings a.k.a. tasty little chicken chunks in two of the flavored sauc...
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ahhhh, maybe one day i'll find out I'm in the owner's will...
I love your play-by-play account...I makes me want to jump on the concorde and go!!!!!!!
miguel