If it’s Friday it must be France …

Writing deadlines trump blog posts. I’m in the final stretch of completing Book #3  of my Love In Provence series.  (Title vote coming soon, dear newsletter subscribers …) Every minute possible at the moment is devoted to reaching that light at the end of the tunnel. I can see it! *waving*

Soon, the manuscript will be in the hands of my enthusiastic and supportive Lake Union Publishing editor, Danielle Marshall. I love the editing process and am excited to dive in.

But I also love doing my Friday in France posts and don’t want to miss sharing this. So here’s a quickie that is mostly photographs. I’ll elaborate another day on the beautifully elegant Le Train Bleu in Paris. There are a lot of intriguing stories … as you might imagine! (Think Coco Chanel, Brigitte Bardot, Jean Cocteau, Colette, Marcel Pagnol, for starters.)

Initially called “Buffet de la Gare de Lyon”, it was renamed “Le Train Bleu” in 1963, after the famous train of the same name.

Pour yourself a coffee, tea, glass of wine … and come along. I hope you enjoy this visit.  Have you been? The meals are exquisite but simply stopping in for your beverage of choice is well worth the experience.

First, go to the Gare de Lyon. It’s easy to reach by the Metro system.

Walk to the very front of the station … then look up above the trains … and voilà … since 1901.

Climb the elegant staircase …

Walk through the door and enter a time gone by …

 

In The Promise of Provence, Katherine rushed to see this iconic restaurant on her visit to Paris. It was high on the “must visit” list Philippe had put together for her.

Ever since writing that scene I’ve been obsessed with returning there (after more years than I care to say out loud … yikes!). I’m pretty sure that first time my travel buddy and I snuck in for a peek … those were the days we traveled with Europe on $5 A Day as our bible.

So three weeks ago, my husband and I had a delicious lunch at Le Train Bleu … joined, quite coincidentally, by our friend Carol Perehudoff, the fabulous travel blogger. Click right here to follow her hilarious and informative posts on Wandering Carol as she explores the world. She’s rated in the Top Ten luxury travel bloggers by USA Today and deservedly so.

How Carol and I discovered we were in Paris at the same time with reservations at Le Train Bleu for the same day is a story for another day.

Have you ever visited Le Train Bleu? I would love to hear about it!

Bon weekend!

I just discovered this postcard ~ what fun to see the restaurant truly has retained the original atmosphere.