We Didn’t Eat Cake!

Yesterday I got up, again ran to  the patisserie, and managed to eat another croissant and lovely cup of coffee.   Sheryl and I went to the market on Cours De Vincennes near our places and it was lovely.  

We commented on how different it was from the one in Bellville and it is!  Everything is presented much nicer, the area is cleaner and taken care of.  I succumbed to a purse! The same color as one I have at home, but this one is SO much better, it opens up like a wide mouth bass! So I can see everything inside.  Mustard Yellow, a good color for fall, my only other option was orange and I am just not much of an orange girl.

We bought some cheese and a puff pastry with  a mushroom creme sauce in the middle and a melon!

We came back to Chez Moi (my house) and had lunch.  

We had those puffy things (there is name but it escapes me), cheese and meat, and fruit, including the melon! It was fun to actually have someone here and get to show her where I am staying.  

We cold not linger as my Marie Antoinette cooking class was at 2 and I really like an hour to get where I gotta go.  (I just smelled a waft of Brie as I am sitting here writing, someone must be eating a San dish out on the street. I just love many of the smells of Paris, and some not). It was so fun, the chef, Sara, was a hoot.  

Luisa was there again,

and she is lovely, and I get to practice my Spanish!.  There was a youngster on my right Ashlyn,

she too was lovely, and the others were too, I just did not interact with them quite as much., I do remember their names, Michelle from Israel,

Barbara who claims to be homeless, they travel, Luisa,

Victor and Olivia, a long distance love affair, and Ashlyn.  

We baked Coffee Flavored Chocolate Tarts ( which I am snacking on as I type) , Fig Macarons, Chou pastry filled with Rose Crème, Raspberry Jam and Marscapone Crème, as well as truffles, and Passion Fruit Jellies.   It was lovely and we had a blast!

When I got back and rested a tiny bit, Sheryl and I headed out for a bite, We took a fairly circuitous route and  

 Was mighty hungry!  I think Jodi would have been asking me if I were hungry!  LOL.  We did ally stopped at a place that ran rather a bar with small plates ( I think we were the oldest people there).  We had an Eggplant dish, Sheryl liked it and a Duck dish, I liked it.  I officially do not like eggplant.  We walked back of course and by bedtime I had put in 16,000 steps.  No wonder my left leg felt fairly useless.  

Definitely not Kansas Anymore

 9-9-2022 pt 2

We went to Belleville this morning, one of the places “Common man”” had been pushed to because the rent is so high in center of Paris.  It was not “Kansas anymore”  for sure. 

 Not cared for, crowded kind of sad to me.  

The market was crammed full of people, one elderly lady rolled her cart over my foot, she apologized  and her husband gave me hell for being in her way!  Rather interesting.  Didn’t buy much, A cute little backpack for Sami.  I looked at dresses, but the markets are not what they used to be in the way of clothing. Jodi told me to buy myself a dress but I am thinking she is going to get off the hook on that one!  Sheryl saw a church steeple and wanted to find the church, we wandered towards it

and she wandered around and I sat and contemplated the construction then and now, why we construct and its purpose.  And felt a bit sad as todays construction is just not built to last in my opinion, just like the things we pus are most often not meant to last either.  

We found a cute little restaurant, we chose it because Sheryl thought the pillows on the seats looked cozy. And it had started raining.  It was an interesting meal.  Started with a Tomato and mustard tart. 

 I always forget to remember that I DO NOT like  baked tomatoes.  I like fresh, sauce, stewed…… but somehow I do not like the texture of baked tomatoes.  Regardless it was interesting, to quote mother……….”Different”.  Our main though was to DIE for.  A piece of beef with an amazing sauce and a Celeraic purée.  I have tried purchasing celery root in the US and what I have found was like a piece of wood, so it was a REAL treat to have this accompany my meat.

That part of the meal was delish!  We decided to have coffee and dessert, I was forgetting you don’t get them together.   Dessert was another rendition of Mirabelle (I tried to give them another chance) and neither of use really cared for it.  

Our coffees were cute as heck, and our bill was reasonable for the experience!  I would definitely go back.  Marchon at 161, Rue Saint-Maur 

Back to the Masion to rest a bit b score dinner. We had agreed we would go to G. Detou to check into the vanilla thing, they had it available now! AND i bought chocolate for croissants!.  Then I got to carry it for the rest of the evening!  We went from there to St Suplice as we had tickets to the Requiem.  It was a trip. The music meh, but the people were amazing!  

The bald guy played what his entire body

We dined at a little place we stumbled on, not a do over. 

Classy Cookin and beautiful moons.

Cookin with Class is indeed a classy establishment, my experience here was totally different than the Sauce class I  took before. 

 The only difference was the fellow classmates and they were amazing both times.  I signed up for this class because the one I did a few years ago with la Cuisine, was not really  a hands on thing and I have never replicated any of them.

  I opted to give it another try as I love eggs Benedict, and Bernaise on my steak.   I blame my love of sauces on my Sjjogrens, and it is probably accurate, but they also sure add something to a plain piece of meat, vege or other dish.  Like my Chicken from last night!  The funny thing is i usually have the ingredients in my fridge but still opt for a package, no more!  

We did several sauces Bordelaise, sweet and sour *,  Hollandaise and a Maltese ( Hollandaise with reduced OJ)*, Mayo,  Sorrell Sauce *. Maybe more I forget, as you can see by the start I had favorites.  The chef teaching our class was aghast ay my question as to why we had to reduce the wine before putting it in the stock pot,  (my method,  which seems to work just fine) and proceeded to tell me why it was not a good idea.  We all participated in the whole preparation and at then end ( I do have to say that this guy could multi task!)  Chef cooked Salmon and Chicken  which we used along with bread to taste out sauces.  I might have liked the bordelaise sauce better if there had been an accompaniment,  so maybe worth a try.  

A volute/soup of fish , it was good.. 

We shall see  later.  One of the girls in my class is going to be in my Marie Antoinette class and she was fun, so I am looking forward to that. 

I moseyed home, still not feeling we all and probably not helped as CWC is also generous with wine at the tasting. I had this little goodie, left over from the other class going on at CWC

So I tried to take a nap,  but people kept calling me, so that was an epic fail.  Sheryl and I went to dinner, tried Polidor, I swear they have moved into a smaller place, and Boullion Racine and neither had  a table. 

The Parthenon

 So we wandered tend found a place, I had gazpacho, and  Chevre  with toast, just the thing.   We got tickled at the use of the trash can and street for an extension of the Restaurant, the waitress who waited on the folks in this pic was a piece or work!

I got up this morning feeling better, grabbed a goodie, something new, a torsade (Twist) with chocolate and almond. It  was good.  Then I read the news that the queen of England had died, Sheryl said it was lovely that she died with the beautiful moon we had last night. I have never really been a Royalty person, but it made me feel a bit misty. 

  I got tickled at the pastries on offer this morning.  Ramona, you know what I mean! 

 Off to Belleville Marche.

Learning to Nap

This morning  I got up late after not sleeping well last night, lets just say I think I have dined on my last steak tartare.  I had to meet Joseph, the Paris greeter assigned to me., at 10:00.  One applies on line with some info and availability and a volunteer will propose a tour.  Sheryl went with me so he was a bit surprised, but all went well. I had just a cup of coffee and was off.  Sheryl and I met the the metro station and went to The Marais to meet him.  He took up all over, to places I had not been, some I had but his perspective was interesting and  he was a kind interesting person as well.  

This is part of the original City Wall

He toook us to Saint Gervais, it was interesting as over time due to war the windows have been replaced and there is a mix of the old and the modern

This is were we ended up later after he recommended it, Sheryl had a croissant with spinach for breakfast as we walked and she suggested we return, food choice!

I seriously identified with this sign!

A recommended Pizza Place, A cherry on the Pizza, hmmm?

This mid evil building ( Half Timbered Jodi!) turns into a place to Swing at night, it looks so innocuous. 

Madame su Sevigne’s place, a way to get into Place to Voges.

After we parted from Joseph we had a quick lunch ( by Paris standards) in the place du Voges and  then started walking .

The most expensive restaurant in Paris, no prices on the menu!

I found a ribbon/yarn shop, it was a delight!

We went in here, the door was open, and got kicked out!, but Sheryl got a pic of this guy literally watering a rose. 

There is a Museum of Victor Hugo on the corner of Place du Voges and we dropped in, it is free.  We could not imagine having the rival edge of living here. 

  I wanted to see Nina Kendosa, it is gone, and Sheryl wanted to see a store called Free People.  We met the most delightful young woman named Clementine, who worked there.  She was lovely, I could not get over how much she and Ilieana looked a like.  I showed her a photo and she too was struck.  

After we went back to a place Joseph had shown us for a coffee and a goodie, sort of a hunk of chocolate mouse in a chocolate shell.  Pretty yummy.  

It started raining while we were there and when it let up we went back to Place du Nation and our separate ways.  I took a mandatory nap and then started considering  dinner which I decided should be Bistro L’Estrapade.   I had a repeat of their Ravioli au Gratin

and a Chicken in cream sauce with spinach.  

It was delish, too much, I should have forgone the ravioli, but I just can’t get it all the time.