Though she didn't stay at Hotel ThuyJulien, Charlotta made a stop-over in Paris, on her way to attend a wedding. She and Thuy met up every day and checked out the funky, unique fashion boutiques in the 3rd and around Place des Vosges. In following Parisian habits, they frequented various cafés, indulging in conversations of the heart. Having flown all the way from British Columbia, it took several days for Charlotta to get over her jet-lag, but she was in fine form for her friends' wedding reception in Annecy, where she showed up with a "blind" date who turned out to be a "dancing queen" and life of the party.

In early August, Cheryl and Tim arrived for a two week visit. Knowing that Hotel ThuyJulien had been booked for August 11-14, they set out in a rental car to discover the Burgundy and Savoie (French Alps) regions. They had the intention to visit Provence as well, but with all the wonderful vineyards and cellars they visited in Burgundy and the hike in Chamonix, they ran out of time and had to head back to Paris.
In the meantime, Anita, Chiko & Sarah came the weekend of August 10th, with Sarah coming in on the Eurostar from London Friday night and Anita and Chiko the next day from Mallorca. The amount of luggage Anita and Chiko had with them almost equalled that of Paula, but if Thuy had known that they would be travelling before coming to Paris, she definitely would not have asked them to lug with them a 2.54 L party-sized bottle of clamato juice all the way from Toronto! As such, unlike most visitors leaving Paris ten pounds heavier, Anita and Chiko have returned home with rippling muscles, despite their consumption of fine French cuisine.

Knowing that anytime Thuy, Anita and Sarah get together (Anna Bellos should have been there too!), they like to go out clubbing. So, the goal of the weekend was to find some cool clubs. Well, Saturday night started out well enough, with dinner at the restaurant in La Mosquée and cocktail drinks at the Buddha Bar. However, there was no such luck with Les Planches (which closed its Paris doors and moved to Deauville during the summer) nor the Times Club (never did find the place), so we headed for Batofar, but by then we were all rather tired and headed home.

A visit to the Georges Pompidou Centre, locally known as the Beaubourg on Sunday to see the "Alfred Hitchcock and Art" exhibition added the cultural element to the weekend. After a late lunch at Costes, we saw Sarah off as she headed back to London. Anita and Chiko had another full day in Paris before heading to Barcelona and unfortunately Thuy wasn't able to see them off, laden with purchases from the fine foods store, Hediard, but she was more than happy to call a cab for them!

A couple of days of rest... Cheryl and Tim's return, continued....