I’m not Perfect..but I am Trying :)

Day 3 on this trip wasn’t too difficult. I woke up and made myself a hotel room smoothie special of:
Spinach, banana, blueberries and water (no that water fountain in the background is not popping out of my smoothie!) That kept me going til I arrived at my next European destination in time for dinner. This is where things got tricky. I met up with Becci (who is going to give me THAT cake recipe if I have to pin her down this week!!!) & Court who had been staying in PARIS already and they were glad for a fresh face (although it doesn’t look like it here!)

I encouraged them to come with me to Relais Gascon (a restaurant in Montemarte district that I was introduced to as a non vegan on my first and only visit to Paris in 2006).

They do the most delicious salads, but they are not for the faint of heart and don’t expect them to be very healthy. This is Becci’s healthier option:

I opted for the signature salad (which yes, included Foie Gras & Duck but I gave them away because I was nervous the waiter would not understand if I amended their dish).

Sorry for the blurry picture. This is about when my camera died ((But I ate every last one of my potatoes cooked in deliciously terrible amounts of garlic. Oh thank goodness I was sleeping alone that night. And just to let you know there was a heap of salad underneath let me tell you!!! I encouraged my friends to walk off our dinner by walking up to the famous Sacré-Cœur Basilica, which sits at the top of the highest natural point in Paris, and last time I went (on a Saturday evening) we were able to sit in on a service with haunting singing by the nuns.

This time we arrrived a little too late for this but the view was still spectacular and the exercise was even better. We managed to bypass the steps somehow (the whole point of our walk!!!!) but still walked off some of our heavy ‘salad’ dinner and check out Place du Tertre which is just to the side of the Basilica and where the action is. Full of cafes, souvenir shops and artists wanting to draw your caricature. This is where painters like Vernet, Géricault, Corot, Pissarro, Renoir, Van Gogh, Utrillo & Picasso used to hang out. Court got a crepe and I ordered a hot chocolate (oops).

Headed back to the hotel via the Metro shortly after midnight (oooh I do love how easy the Metro is to navigate in Paree) and the Champs Elysee (near where we were staying….oooh la la). Being a Friday night and Europe in summer at that, there were still people EVERYWHERE which was really nice. But a word of warning to the newcomers to Paris (or Europe). Watch your bag and wallet. Especially on the Metro and especially in the Champs area, or anywhere else where toursist are a plenty. Especially during Tour de France!!!! We were okey, but just a reminder as my little sis got mugged on a recent train journey to Milan. She didn’t even know it til she got off.

Yesterday didn’t get off to a great start. And I think I know why. I slept in late, had to do some work then got lazy and didn’t make my smoothie although I had all the ingredients in my room. Big Mistake. I headed out on an empty tum to find a hairdresser to get my locks seen to (as I am yet to find a good hairdresser back home…anyone?????). On my way I picked up a croissant!!!! Ok, well I am over it now, but who can goto France and not have a croissant. I enjoyed it!

I think I had the prettiest girl in Paris tend to my hair as well. She reminded me of Audrey Tautou from the movies Amelie (2001) and Priceless (Hors de Prix – 2006) and seriously, she did an amaaazing job.

I didn’t have to even explain what I wanted other than some highlights and she did the rest. If only I could hire her to be my personal hairstylists and take her on the road with me. This is one aspect of my beauty regime I am the most adverse to giving up. I understand the chemicals in the hair colour are not inline with the Raw Lifestyle, but until I can come to terms with being a blonde no longer, having my highlights done every 6 weeks with be a treat for me.
But I am not ruling out a transition to my natural hair colour in the future. Kristen from Kristen’s Raw has recently grown out all her blonde hair (and not been a brunette since she was a kid!) and she looks like a hottie as a brunette so who knows. Maybe I will do it sooner rather than later, especially after I picked up the bill! A whopping $240 Euros!!!! Lucky I didn’t really buy anything else in Paris. Very expensive city.

Anyway I spent the rest of the afternoon sourcing an English bookshop for some raw books for me (nada) and some investing books for the boy (found a few). I wanted to find a health food store but I was running out of time and Becci found one days earlier and said unless you had a French phrase book it was pointless. EVERYTHING was in French. So no biggie. I have plenty of supplies back home to keep me going for a bit longer anyways.

So after all that, yes I did feel bad for not planning my day properly with my meals (it all began with missing my morning smoothie), but also one day in Paris and I allowed myself a little leeway to enjoy a few treats. Also this is only a setback. I am not going to let it overwhelm me to the point that I now give up on RAW as we can so often do with any diet changes. I am going to accept it, enjoy what I ate (but believe me aside from the guilt, it also didn’t feel nice afterwards…tummy upsets, lethargy etc) and move forward. Gena, from Choosing Raw, couldn’t have written this at a better time for me. We are all human and temptation is all around. But also travelling and being out of my comfort zone does make it a little more difficult. So yes, next time I hope to be better organised.

On a final note, here is a pic I took of the Champs Elysee of the Arc de Triomphe yesterday. We left just before the Tour de France hysteria hit. My camera has died so I am relying on my dinosaur mobile phone so apologies for the blurry shots.

I am back on home soil now and also in holiday planning mode for my upcoming vacation….so stay tuned!!!