Flattery and Fashion in the Heat

Breakfast was more of the same, Mellon, croissant, ham and cheese, with of course, good strong cafe au lait. 

I enjoyed 2 pigeons fighting out in the courtyard as I ate. I don't know if they were mating or fighting, but it did not look fun either way!  Off two BHV for more perfume, I thought I was going to  be commiserating with Gewn.  Whew, I am set for a couple more years! The salesgirl was so sweet, she gave me a box, a bag, and some samples. The box, I was going to decline, but I thought "if I find those goat cheese chips I want to badly"...... So I let her put the perfume in the box!  It is hot (87 degrees  as I write) so I took the metro to my next stop, had it been 70 instead, I would have just walked, but I have a pass, so what the heck.  The museum I was going to was not yet open for the day, so. Off to Monoprix, I bought some masarea on arrival and LOVE it so wanted more. No chips though.   I mosey shopped on the way back looking for something anything, not sure what.  As I approached the Bastille I noticed a craft market where the market is on Sunday and Thursday.  So I went off for a gander, I stopped to look at a lady selling scarves, they were beautiful, and I am still considering, but I am no sure what I would so with it, what I would wear it with.  Anyway then came to a fellow selling paintings.  Man did he turn on the charm..... Those French men.  I bought one for me and one for a friend for her BD.  They are actually prints of his art but they will look great  matted and framed. After a quick lunch of leftover procuitto and melon, lasagna and a cold salad compose I had 

picked upon the way back, I was back off to that darned Exposition.

It was about fashion, the way and women's rights, really.  About how it all interacted.  No pictures allowed, but there is always more than one way to get a job done!

And who knew that nurses no forms were a fashion statement during WWI?

I kind of had a little moment of pride and then was really glad I never had to work in this!

Next was another yarn shop,  in a PASSAGE!  Two birdies with one stone!  

So far this is my favorite yarn shop in Paris, even though I La Drougerie had charms.

Then a quick jump to the 5th to check out a concert but it is tomorrow, so a bit of souvenir shopping.  

Goodies for the kids.  There, another fellow must have been pretty hard up, he gave me a cell phone case and wanted me to come back later.  Too funny, but I was hot, sweaty and it was flattering. 

Back to La Bastille and thinking about dinner but something cool. Oh, There is Bofinger. It was air conditioned and they had a goat cheese salad on the menu.  

Not the best,  but the AC and location made up for it!  Amorino for carmel and chocolate ice cream  tonight.

Changes

I read until 1 AM, which allowed me to interrupt Mom and Jodi at dinner.  Of course I was up late today, but not so bad because I am on vacation!  

Breakfast was a lovely orange, juicy and sweet I bought at the market yesterday., a croissant I slipped out to buy, a piece of ham, Emmentaler and Comte.  An of course a bit of yogurt.  

I headed to the 6th to buy my glasses.  Several years ago I bought a glass with the Eiffel Tower on the side for my bathroom, then the next time we returned I bought 5 more. I had my desires set on the stemmed ones for a while, but had just not done it with either Kathy and Dean , or with Joe and Austin.  It was time! I got there, she still carried them, but alas there were only 5, I was a considering 8 and 2 more small ones..  So now some lucky person (or unlucky however you want to look at it) will  get the Bee glass rather than the Eiffel Tower!  I am a thinking of purchasing some  trinkets and the person who gets the "bee" glass can have a goodie. A new tradition!  Next stop was the Poste and buying a box to ship them home.  

So, I am contemplating that racial profiling thing.  I sat waiting on my train, watching a middle eastern man, about the shape and size, even bearing of my daddy when he was young.  He was clearly middle eastern though, even dressed in western garb.  As I watched he took a panorama shot of the Odeon station below, and I wondered at it. It made me fearful, I even contemplated calling security.   I did just sit there and rested until I was fairly sure his train would have reached its destination.   Then at the station where I had to change I watched a white man take a photo and thought nothing of it.  So here is my delima , how do we stay safe without profiling when we know who is the problem, right now ISSIS.  I wonder if I had watched a white guy take panorama shot in the same manner would I have become so fearful?  I don't think so.  And the thing is this guy is probably on vacation use like me and wanted a pic of the Metro, shoot I have done similar things many times.  Hmmm.....      

As I write I am back at the ranch enjoying a glass of ICE water and a fan, resting, or rather cooling  to head back out in the heat.  

Back out I went back to the 6th to Luxembourg gardens, my intent was to hit up a favorite shot, maybe cool off in church and then head to the gardens.  I moseyed along and to my horror the shop is closed.  Seriously?   So I had to go to church and contemplate change, how I don't always like it ( especially when it is a shop or restaurant that closes) and how inevitable it it.  Again it was blessedly cool in St Severin.

There is a beautiful nave behind the alter.

  St Severin is famous in Ammerica for Dan Brown's DaVanci Code.

This is the obelisk he  mentioned in the book. The last time we were in this church there were big hand written signs up indicating that this church has nothing to do with the occult.  Not really what Dan Brown  implied, but you could tell they had thier priests robes in a bind! NO signs now, though he has a new book coming out.  I hope he leaves this church alone!  

The on to Luxembourg gardens but stuff was crapped ups there too.  Lots of visible police, they carry machine guns here!  The place was packed, but it was blessedly cool in the shade, I sat on a double sided bench for a while knitting and watching these folks play this game. 

It reminded of bowling and stone skipping combined.  There were these pegs  and they would stand them up and someone would sort of wing a 10 inch  one of the pegs at those standing up.  A person keeping score would document and set them back up where they fell, and the next person would go.  It looked sort of fun. I was enjoying watching the until some big hot lug came up and cosied right up to my back.  It was too hot for that crap!  So I said "Au Revoir" to my bench partner and moved on.  I wandered back near the Medici fountain and found this wedding photo session going on, it as charming to watch.

She had on the most interesting dress, and no, Mother I do not mean "different"!  It was beautiful!

The train appeared to be square, but lay beautifully.  I wish you could see the photos I took on my phone, they are live and you can see the train fluttering in the wind.

She wasn't quite light as a feather, and he let her know when the photographer told him to pick her up.  They were sweet together.  

I hope they have a long happy marriage, whoever they are. 

There was another knit shop near and a restaurant I had heard about, so I called for reservations, and headed to the kint shop.  It was interesting clothing  and yarn.  But the years was pretty boring, all solid colors, though they had every variation of blends you can imagine.  

They also seemed to have their own line of patterns.  I didn't look too hard as I definitely don't think my French is up to reading a knitting pattern!

The restaurant, L'Estrapade,  was a mixed bag.  

The appetizer was amazing. A pear, with chorizo and Roquefort baked until the pear was done and the cheese bubbling. Again it was amazing.  

The Main was Gambas, (Remember those big things from my the market?  Well these were not).   I asked if they were shelled and he said they had thier tails on, OK, I can handle that.  There is just something about the eyes looking at me!...... SO they arrived and what he said was true, except the chef culdn't resist putting the eyes on the plate.  The sauce was not to my liking and finally I figured out it was ginger, I am just not fond of too much ginger.  But the veged accompanying were a new spin,  zucchini, pears, tomatoes and peppers, an interesting mix.  For dessert, 

I had a Molleux, aka molten lava cake, but mine is better.  The ride and walk back was uneventful, for which I am grateful.    

I use love the roof lines here, Bon Soir. 

Back to the Land of the Living

 Today was market day and after a cup of coffee and a few bites of yogurt, I was off.  I wanted to have another gander at the dresses and just wanted a few things. 

We learned yesterday that it is smart to use warm eggs and that they are not sold cold here, indecently neither is milk. But adding both to ingredient changes things. Who knew!  Apparently it is the secret to lumpless gravy!  

I also began to covet her kitchen herbs,  I think I have to have some when I get home!

And that there are 2 types of artichokes here, one grown in the north and it should be cooked with butter and the purple ones gown in the south and which should be cooked with olive oil!

I also inquired about white asparagus, as mine is growing away from impediment and I have to wonder at the growing of the white.  At last, I was told it was a different type.  Humph, I'll have to consider this point. 

As you can see this seems to have grown 'er rigidly straight!

Look at the size of this gambas,baby!  Seriously they were about 10 inches long!

And these tentacles,don't we prettily call that Calamari?

And there was the technology of the West meeting the folks from the east. I don't think she was selling much.

I bought some Lasagna, procuitto and melon for lunch and ate in the apartment.  Yum.  Not much cheese, but tasty.

Retrospectively I probably should have done something different today, but I went to St Dennis and it was blissfully cool!  Should have saved it because it is supposed to be 95 and 97 Saturday and Sunday.  Two good things about that.  I am on vacation and do not have to do any work, and I could always go back!  Well actually 3, I also have a new cool cotton dress!

St Dennis is all cleaned up for it's anniversary!

IT was so nicely cool inside that it required a sit and contemplation.

The little guy, Bishohp (I think) Segur put  himself in a piece of the stoned glass! He's the little guy in green on the right.  I love how he did that.  It's like sticking your hand in the freshly poured cement, in hopes that it will still be there a long time from now.

The tombs at St Dennis always amaze me.

Here's Henri and Catherine De Medici, she got to sleep with him in the end!

For some reason Marie Anoinette's memorial alway moves me,  poor kid she really didn't have a chance.

Being royal wasn't all it was cracked to be,  just to make sure you were good and gone they would cut out your heart! Here's Marie's kids tomb.

As I left the sun was shining through the stained glass.

The metro was crazy crowded on the way back.  I haven seen it like that since Bastille day with the kids. I wanted to try a restaurant called L'Ange 20.  So I got reservations for 7PM, and it was as good as the hype on the Fordor board.  

For starter I had to have a Kir Royal in honor of a special person.  But I had a choice of Peach or Cassis. 

Then Fois Gras with onion marmalade.

Then a veal steak, with potatoes and a sort of cold ratatouille combo.  The steak and potatoes were excellent and I picked out what I wanted on the veggies.

It was all going so well, I went all in for dessert and it was worth EVERY calorie!

Carmalized apples on a shot bread crust/cookie with ice cream, caramel and whipped cream.  It was even pretty!

The waiter was a peach,  let me try in my bad French as much as I wanted.

Home to a bath and cool breezes.

Reed: Encore Mai pas Le même

This morning I had much more energy and a desire to have a croissant my way! After a quick of cup of coffee, I was up and off the the local boulanngerie for a croissant and then breakfast the way THIS French girl likes.

 Today was cooking class at Reed and I love to admit it but our Soufflee was better than the ones at Le Soufflee! But we will get to that. 

On the way I got another glimpse of my girlfriend. 

We did a Cheese Soufflee, Salt crusted Chicken, potatoes and mushroom sauce and Berry shortcake for dessert.  Jodi and I had eaten at Reed several years ago,  and I am not sure which I enooyed more, the cooking and learning or the being served, regardless the oral outcome was pretty equal! 

 We started by making the Shortcake, and then worked or way to the chicken,  we learned how to insert herbs under the skin of the bird and then apply the salt crust.  We discussed different herbs,when to use fresh versus dry, and how to chop the herbs.  

We then moved to starting the Soufflee and she had Brie and Comte for us to use in the soufflés as long with Roquefort.  We got to taste the Brie and Comte and I was in heaven.  I don't care how hard one tries we use can't get cheese like this at home, good cheese yes, but other kinds of cheese.

Then on to the Mushrooms as the cheese mixture cooled.  The Champingons were a thing of beauty.

Who says you need gas to cook divinely?

Catherine uses a solid surface top!

We got the soufflés in the oven, worked some on the potatoes ( So easy and SO delish!)  and started assembling our desserts.

Nothing fancy with the shortbread/cake, but I ihave been yearning for a recipe like this since I had a similar dessert in Cincinnatti. 

I was pretty happy to have it.  We each did our own and I decided not to be as fancy, to be a little loosely-goosey.  

Retrospectively I wold have used a bit more cream. But it was good and I did NOT need to eat it anyway. 

But we did not eat it yet, Time to check the Soufflees.

Then we got the mushrooms sauced, and the chicken out of the oven and cut up for eating, 

The Chicken with and without the crust.  The dark is the herbs!

Time to sit and eat with a class of wine.

It was all about the bites!

Tami and her Dessert

Donna and her husband, he came in to eat with us!

Hubby got Catherine's demo,and isn't Donnna's dessert lovely?  She was smarter about the cream!

Our proud class: John, Tami, Catherine, Donna and I.  I liked that apron!

After I wandered and tried again to get some money.  I just could not figure out why I could not get money, the chip was supposed to make it easier. I was headed to the Eiffel Tower and once I got there I sat on a bench in the shade and called the good old credit union.  Well, it seams that after I called to let them know that I was going to be here, they forgot to flip some switch and hence no Euros for me.  It has been flipped and I am 200 Euro richer today!  I didn't know weather to laugh or cry I was so relieved!

After my little emotional outburst, I was sitting knitting admiring the tower and a woman sat down beside me and looked at the tower on her phone, so I offered to take a photo and she said: "Oh, Thank you for speaking English".  So Trish and I had a long chat,  walked to the bathroom together, (because I thought I knew where there was one- even the security guards didn't know it was closed now) and the darned thing is closed, so we went for a beverge and to use the Loo.  I could write that  in French, but it looks  so English if I were to do so!  

Paris is desiring to be the 2021 Olympic site, I rather hope it's not as it will all be crapped up the,but they are going all our for it!

So security,   You have to go throug a security check to get in of the tower area, and depending on where you are going the security seemed to be different,  i.e. staying on terra firma, vs going up in the thing.  I have heard that they are considering putting up safety glass and to once again quote Jodi, it is rather crapped up the way it is.