Tokyo 2

One day I stopped for a while and just spent time photographing people walking by. I REALLY like the casual street style and do note the shoes!!

TOKYO 1

I only had 2-3 days in Tokyo and the jetlag kicked in so I was surviving (?) on about 3 hours sleep a night. 

Still you can't keep a Fabric Hunter down and I got out and about. Sometimes a little too out and about since I did get lost a time or two. But that's all part of the fun, right??

The most difficult part of wondering around was finding landmarks to remember the way back. There are too many high rise buildings to be able to see the ones that you may have carefully spotted before leaving your hotel...

And there weren't many shop or building signs in English so that didn't work for navigation either. 

And I don't have a sense of direction at all!



So I discovered some lovely quiet residential streets amongst all the huge buildings ...







And the Fashion College which I'd seen on the map earlier and that told me I wasn't where I thought I was!











But I did find Okadaya and spent hours going floor to floor. 6 floors of buttons, beads, accessories, trims, tapes, needles, dyes, etc. And then 5 floors of fabrics. Exhausting!

This place was huuuuuge too!

Luckily I have Koru membership and can have a free extra checked-in bag coming home. I could have bought much more than I did.

And this is the toilet control panel. So tough now that I'm home and don't have the heated toilet seat anymore!! 

Bai bai
Ree

My essentials for Paris - with pictures this time!

Sorry if you tried to read my last post which had the missing photos. My computer problems seem to be fixed??? Turns out that I was just too kind to this little HP notebook. After it got a bad case of Black Screen I threw it into my suitcase, flew it across the world to Tokyo, and all that freezing cold and being chucked around by airport staff has brought it back to life. Yay! So no more sissy traveling in the handbag for this machine, it's going to get tough love!!

So here's my Paris essentials list with the photos and maybe a few more ...

1. Get some good walking shoes. Handy to have a bit of a platform going on to keep you above yicky street things, especially stinky puddles from all those men who pee on the streets!
These are by Fly London.

2. A metro pass.













3. A handy book on fabric and other 'craft' shops in Paris. 









4. An even handier friend who knows Paris like the back of her hand, can find all the best coffee places, and let's you be lazy and not even try to speak French.

5. A book that sets out most of those great coffee and food places. We discovered this on our last day at Le Peloton which is a great coffee shop and it had most of our other favourites. 









6. Gin for evening drinks on the balcony after a hard day slogging around Paris in 30 degree heat.

7. And maybe some champagne to celebrate good friends and cats who drink out of bottles... 

Ree
Xox

My essentials for Paris ...

Some essentials for enjoying Paris ...

Some good walking shoes. Handy to have a bit of a platform going on to keep you above yicky street things, especially stinky puddles from all those men who pee on the streets!



A metro pass.


A handy book on fabric and other 'craft' shops in Paris. 


An even handier friend who knows Paris like the back of her hand, can find all the best coffee places, and let's you be lazy and not even try to speak French.


A book that sets out most of those great coffee and food places. You can get a copy at Le Peloton which is a great coffee shop!


Gin for evening drinks on the balcony.


It would also be good to have a reliable computer if you want to blog. My nearly new Notebook has succumbed to black screen, which seems to be a not uncommon problem with HP. So I'm pecking this out on my ipad and I won't be able to edit or check it before I publish. Hope it works okay! 
Ree
Xox

Sans gluten - did she eat wheat?

One of the big questions for this visit to Paris was whether or not I would give in to the temptation to eat bread and/or pastries in Paris. I haven't eaten wheat for several years so it was going to be interesting with a boulangerie or patisserie seemingly on every corner!

The general attitude here to Gluten Free is either full-on or totally uncomprehending. For example there is this guidebook on the left. And I enjoyed this beer ...

But the best way to eat wheat free in France seems to be the same as I eat in New Zealand. Just read the menu and choose meals that don't have wheat in them. Of course it does help having a bilingual friend to help with the translation! I have had some great food ...

On Sunday we went for a lovely long lunch at Les Ombres which has a stunning view across to the Eiffel Tower and from their terrace you get a 360 degree view of the whole city. We booked in advance and let them know that I didn't eat wheat. It was all good but it appeared that no one told the waiting staff since they kept trying to give me bread but eventually I was proudly given this GF roll. And I really appreciated it as we had the most divine mushroom entree and it was bread or lick the plate!!

Our booking confirmation also included "Tenue correcte souhaitee". Yep, they were telling us to dress properly. Er, not all the guests that day appeared to get the memo as there was a reasonable amount of tourist-chic going on.

The champagne was great (of course!) and I was overjoyed about the glasses - proper flutes that you can get your nose in! Yay!!

So the answer is NO. I didn't eat wheat and I am having a fantastic foodie time without it! One more foodie pic - desserts. Divine!

And did I mention the Boudin Noir in Normandie? And all the other saucisses. Yum!

Yep, I'm in my happy place.
Ree
xox