As a follow-on to our successful Zurich margarita summit, we organized an even bigger margarita summit in Paris. This one was held at “La Perla”, the renown Mexican joint in the Marais where my French classmates & I enjoyed some boisterous evenings back in November and December, and specifically where Soenke informs me that I became “sticky” after a few margaritas and “made a pass at him” for the first time. (right, babe, RIGHT.) What this really means is that I may have, er, *briefly* touched his knee while leaning over to surreptitiously snake the rest of some other table’s chips & salsa. Or something like that…

So we rounded up an auspicious roundtable of 7, including Deanna (my friend the US tax guru and world traveler from CA), James (Australian IT genius living in Paris), Dani (British media mogul working for Yves St Laurent in Paris), Mirjam (international hotelier living in Locarno), Rina (French language expert and pastry chef from Japan), ……and of course Soenke & me. Mirjam especially amazed us ALL by taking a 12-hour overnight train from Locarno just for this event! Soenke had requested a flight tour to Paris for the date of the dinner, so he and I had free accommodations at the 4-star Lufthansa crew hotel (the Sofitel) in La Defense. Yeah!

So dinner at La Perla went fantastically. We did not ‘boister’ as much as we did last winter, but we did have plenty of opportunity to catch up on current events and reminisce on past ones. After several rounds of salsa, margaritas, and photo-snapping, we each headed off in our respective directions shortly after midnight. I was reminded of the last time I left La Perla with Soenke, where we parted ways at the Hotel de Ville metro, & a few minutes later I sent him a text message that got this whole thing started !!!! (details upon request….)

The next morning, Soenke left at the crack of dawn to go fly some weird, early-morning-loving passengers to Frankfurt at 6am. I crankily said goodbye & slept another few hours, waking just in time to meet Deanna at her Tuileries hotel at around 11am. We headed out for some Serious Shopping, including the following stops:

“Colette” - a trendy store on St Honore with (among other things) really cool, cutting edge cell phones that no one can afford.

Catherine’s Parfumerie – we didn’t buy any perfume this time but Deanna bought a small crystal Tour Eiffel to hang her gorgeous wedding ring on while she is washing dishes.

Sephora’s flagship store on the Champs Elysees – I bought my favorite French shampoo & some nouveau night cream which I am told will transform my hair into a glowing, highly-conditioned, work of art.

Ladurée – picked up some of their world-famous macaroon cookies (SORRY MOM I ACCIDENTALLY ATE THEM ALL; I DIDN’T MEAN TO!)

Later we headed up to Sacre Coeur to enjoy the fabulous view over the city. We strolled through Montmartre and suddenly found ourselves in a creperie, ordering beers and a chocolate crepe! I don’t know what brought THAT on. But we really enjoyed talking about Deanna’s upcoming wedding and many other chick topics over our odd culinary combination.

Later we met Mirjam and James for dinner at the ill-fated vegetarian restaurant where her purse was stolen last December. It was booked up, so we ate next door at an internationally-inclined restaurant. Mirjam enjoyed some Spanish gazpacho, while I delighted in an Asian fish plate with rice cooked in a lotus leaf. Deanna and James went for steaks and pommes frites. We all shared a nice bottle of red wine from the Rhone. Mirjam and I discussed the similar romance experiences we had at French class: meet German guy whom you don’t live anywhere near, fall hopelessly in love, go on fabulous trips together. We also observed that we have birthmarks in the same place (sorry, nowhere shocking).

After dinner, Deanna and I strolled down to the Notre Dame. We found the square in front of the church filled with people: singers, dancers, musicians, and…. fire twirlers! I finally located the bronze plaque in front of the Notre Dame from which all distance measurements in France begin (note: I had unsuccessfully tried to find this several times before; apparently someone had to have been standing directly on it before because it was in such an obvious location). In accordance with local legend, I made a wish and turned around three times while standing on the plaque.

It was a great 2 days, & I headed back to Hamburg feeling pleasantly energized and inspired by the most beautiful city on earth !

Here is the gang at La Perla:

Deanna & I doing serious shopping:

Fire Twirler in front of Notre Dame:

A fine view of Notre Dame at dusk: