Melting Brie

Any way you slice it today the Brie melted.  It was hot and I really wanted to go to the Rodin Museum, or go buy a Sari for my friend Mary, but we waited around here until I got sick of it and tried to call the airport again.  In the midst of (did I ever tell any of you that phones are my undoing here?)  trying to call on my own cell with no luck over, and over.  I finally heard the apartment phone ring and thought it was me, but no, it was the airport and they left a number, well sort of, it was so statickey that I could not understand it well enough to make out the numbers  I listened to it several times and was on the verge of tears, and finally thought, o.k I have figured out how to call, I can just call the number on the receipt they gave me at the airport.  So I did only to be told that I must call the delivery service.  So I did, and they must have been having a party today because I could barely hear and understand what was being said.  After asking the guy three times to speak more slowly, Jodi said I copped an attitude and said, No, No, No, .................  That was all she heard, but she got the message that I was annoyed.  Finally he spoke slowly enough that I understood and Mr Delivery man said that it would be delivered between 8 PM and 12 AM.  Great, a whole day wasted.  That was about enough to push me over the edge.  Jodi suggested going ahead and trying to purchase the Sari, but by now it was 4 PM and just too late,  so we walked to the nearest Monoprix.  On the way we both found the Hermes store window interesting.  The animals have gone wild!  Before we entered the Monoprix, we walked on just  a bit to the Deux Magot for a drink and people watching.  It was amazing.  The couple behind us were all over the guide book they had with them,  as if it were the Holy Bible.  The waiters were their normal arrogant selves, and our waiter was flirting like crazy with the lady behind us.  There was a elegant but very wrinkled gray headed woman sitting against the building lording it over us all in a regal manner.  In front of us was a couple who Jodi said were planning a little somethin-somethin because he was taking a viagra, I did not have the heart to tell her I don't really think it was viagra.  I sure hated to spoil her fantasy.  Right there together are Le Deux Magot, Le Flore and Brasserie Lipp, all big names from the twenties when Hemingway et al were living it up here.  At Monoprix Jodi got in trouble ( rightly so, one should never take a photo of someone having the big “o”) for taking a photo of me in the make up department.  We purchased stuff for dinner and then schlepped it all back to the apartment.  We got back with 45 minutes to spare and Jodi wanted to go across the street to get some Coke zero so we took MOlly Dolly and shot some pics for that blog too.  Dinner ended up being more of a yummy picnic, Brie, Mimolette, Emmentaller, Pate, Salami, Bread and Cherries accompanied by a awesome Cahor wine.  We are still waiting and we just watched the 11:00 twinkling of the Eiffel Tower.  HOw did I come to the title?  Well a Kerry at church calls me Brie and I felt like I was melting down, or you can just know at that it was pretty hot and the Brie cheese on the plate melted.  Either way is the truth!

Wednesday: Sans Valise

I was worred about the sofabed but either the wine with dinner, exhaustion, or comfort over took me and I slept like a dream.  I slept like a dream  until I woke up and started perseverating on the fact that I am in Paris and have no clothing.  We did a load of laundry last night but could not figure out how to make it dry so I hung them in the window like a hilbilly, but neither my dress or panties were dry when I got up this orning.  When I look up my bag on the Air Canada website it says the bag has arrived and should be delivered today.  We will see.  

After we got settled in the apartment as best as we could, we decided to head toward our dinner reservations.  I had read raves on the Fordor France board about a place called Reed near the Eiffel Tower.  So we headed that way, found the resturant place on a quiet little street called Rue Amelie, and walked on a bit "window licking" (the term the French use for window shopping) until we finally succumbed to a store with purses!  We both fell in love with a different purse in the same shop and we both are chewing on it a while.  I really do NEED a brown/tan purse though!  We stopped for a glass of wine, a red for me and a glass of Muscat for Jodi, accompanied by a small little bowl of peanuts.  Those peanuts held me over untnil out 7:30 reservation.  It was well worth the wait.  I had read about Catherine the chef and owner on line and she is a charming woman, no bigger than a minute, but mighty in the kitchen.   The server, too, was endearing and fluent in English, as well as tolerant of our taking photos with Molly Dolly for Ghianna.  We got to sit side by side and were able to observe everything that was going on in the small resturant.  It seats about 18 people at Jodi’s count.  

Dinner was a Fois Gras Terrine with salad, which was with the house bread a meal enough for me, but NO I had to try the Rissoto with Morell mushrooms and it, too, was fabulous.  Accompanied with a bottle of red wine, it was a unforgetable meal.  Jodi had the Beef Cheek Bourginon and other than the mushrooms she picked out, she seemed to like it quite well.  I aksed her how she liked it and she said o.k. which for her it = good.  There was a couple beside us that had returned for a second meal, no surprise to me.  Our meal checked in at 75 euro which was plesantly less than I expected, but it also cheked in as a “do over” which gave flourish to my experience!

On arrival home, I was hoping, desiring, wishing for my bag to be waiting on me, but we came home to an empty foyer.  

I left Jodi sleeping to go to the market at the Bastille, this is near where I have stayed before and this is my second favorite market, as well as near a bank where  I know I can get money with my ATM.  Many of the ATMs here will not take my American ATM card, something about  a chip.  I bought some fruit and cheese but my cookin man was not there and I was dissaopinted not to be able to puchase a yummy prepared lunch.  The male vendors were in full force, flirting for a sale and the women vendors are just impatient with another female.  Starving I arrived back to the apartment to Jodi still asleep and no bag! Apparently the sofabed is comfy enough for both of us!

Tuesday: The Garrett

I got up this morning, got dressed and woke up  Jodi only to hear, “ I think I am going to skip breakfast”.  This surprised me less than her telling me last night that she thought she would go to breafast.  So,  down I went to a awesome breafast of Cafe au Lait, freshly squeezed OJ, Croissant, swiss cheese and yogurt.  The dining room was quaint and the people friendly, at least untill check out time.  I am pretty sure that I already paid for this room, I remember seeing it on my credit card bill.  But we went around and around, for her to ask me if I had the bill with me.  Seriously, carry my bills around with me?  So I paid promising that assuming I could prove it, I would be contacting for a refund.  When I left to get a cab I left Jodi with the key and had told the lady that Jodi had it, as we got in the cab she came running, because she had not gone to get it from Jodi as I thought she was going to do.  Needless to say by now she is pretty disgusted with us!  

But back to Breakfast.  I  read for a while, fininshing the only book I brought, then a couple form Canada sat down beside me and before long we were chatting.  They were a lovely interesting couple and te talked for a long while.  So all in all it was a plesant morning.  Our apartment is near the Bon Marche and the associated Grande Epicerie.

It is a cute little studio with a view of the about the top half of the Eiffel Tower, however, there is construciton right across the street and at 0800 it is LOUD.  IT goes all day, until, we are not sure when.    

What an adventure

When I was making reservations I stumbled onto tickets that were $500.00 a piece cheaper, I thought I had found a bargain and the catch was that it had two stops. I talked to Jodi and we agreed that this was probably worth it. Upon reviewing just prior to paying I noticed that I had typed in the date for Monday and not Tuesday and upon further review we could have left from the US with one layover. but Jodi said she thought that the extra stop would be good for her back. So we stuck with the Air Canada flight with three stops. Leg one went well until we got to the Toronto airport. Who knew we would have to go through customs inToronto. Poor Jodi was body scanned a total to three times yesterday. We finally (Note to self: this is an airport to be avoided in the future) got on the plane, only to wait to take off and to sit on the tarmac for about an hour. When, at last, we arrived in Montreal our plane had taken off without us. We were rebooked for a flight tonight, because this "was the last flight out tonight" We were booked into a hotel, given meal vouchers and told to go get our bags. While waiting on our bags another guardian angel (I think) was also waiting on hers but she had made them find her a flight on another airlines, so apparently this was not the only flight out of Montreal. So I handed Jodi my phone and traipsed off to find customer service, while Air Canada baggage claim was looking for our bags. I was again told tht the issued flight was the last one it for the night, and I said, "That is odd because a girl downstairs was booked on Air Transat for tonight".  The lady at the service counter copped a bit of an attitude and I indicated that we had a prepaid hotel room that we would be missing as well as an entire day of our trip and how were they going to compensate that, if they could not get us to Paris?  She walked away in a bit of a snit, but after about 15 minutes came back with a voucher for the Air Transat flight. Back down to find Jodi, and no Jodi, nor any bags.  So while I am scanning the area and trying listen to the Baggage Guy (who reminded me of Doug Colgrove, so I immediately liked him. He spoke French like Doug probably does too!).  I was about to panic. Finally I found her, she had been sent to find her bag on the carousel, which we did finally get, but mine, for some reason went back to Toronto.   All squared away, my bag supposedly coming to the hotel. We found the check in counter for Air Transat, and got our boarding passes, not seats together. BUT, we could ask to switch. What a laugh, no one would trade, so we spent the flight one behind the other. It was a miserable flight, The seats were so small, that I kept thinking that if I were a pound fatter I wouldn't be able to get in or out of the seat.  The Lady to the righ or Jodi used her for a pillow all night, and the lady on the left kindly gave her a shower by kindly dumping her water down her leg.  Jodi couldn't even understand her apology.  Jodi kept trying to say it's o.k. and the lady just kept rambeling.  Finally our night in purgatory was over!  We got Jodi's bag and I hashed it out with the baggage people for mine to be delivered to the apartment, and are in out hotel, Les Degres de Notre Dame. Fifth floor, no elevator, but it is charming, and we have a limited views of Notre Dame. As I type I hear Jodi's gentle snore, the occasional clang of a French emergency vehicle, traffic along the Seine and the infrequent French word lofting up our way. The room is huge by French standards, a double bed and a twin. With a big bathtub in the bathroom and a bidet as well! She gets one hour to sleep before I get to feed my aching hunger, the insipid yogurt that they fed us this morning is long gone!

Postcards from Paris

Last night I had the privilege of taking Courtney and her boyfriend Levi, to see Brad Paisley.  You may wonder what I am doing going to see a Country singer.  And you would be right to think that I did not like Country music.  However a couple of years ago I decided that it made sense to listen to some of what Courtney was listening to, and so my amazement I like a lot of it.  The Band Perry opened for Brad old “guy” that he still is and so she and the BF agreed to put up with me since I was buying.  

It was amazing!  Amazing for many reasons, The music was great, the effects pretty stinkin cool, but the people there, WOW.  Facial piercing on 60 year old fleshy faces, tats that were droopy, ram horns tatted on bald heads, tattoos on serious cleavage, and in  a variety of other places.  Beautiful young women in pretty little sundresses with flowers in their hair, and wearing cowboy boots.  Toned young men, with beautiful smiles, some arrogantly going shirtless.   And then the typical  obese Hoosier, oh yes they were out in full force too. And the alcohol was flowing, and flowing and flowing, until the poor schmuck in front of us puked up his popcorn and beer, the look of disgust on the face of his date was priceless.  I was glad they left because I would have had a hard time, in that venue, in that heat, going gown to help the pukester.   What was even more priceless was the people who showed up late and shoved their way into the guys vacated spot only to be standing all evening in puke!   Jodi makes fun of me because I am always hollering “that people just cant merge”, and this was another example of it.  Those who got there early and sat in the sun waiting patiently (or drunkenly) were buffeted around by all the late comers,  nurse Ratchett looks were flying!  ;)

When the kids went to get something to eat,  I sat there reflecting, as I waited,  that my Saturday night next week should be very different!  Postcards from Paris was especially poignant last night, and I remembered driving to my dratted algebra class soulfully singing along “It’s like a postcard from Paris when you need the real thing.”  I was so full that I cold hardly stand myself because tomorrow I am going to the REAL thing!

An ti ci pa ta tion

Eleven days, well twelve really if you count the flight before I get to breathe in my favorite city once again!  I am so ready. Ready to hear the sounds of Parisian horns blaring, French spoken in the back ground, and Live music played in the Metro.  I am ready to see my tall slender girlfriend teasing me from across the city, “twinking”  teasingly  at me at night.  Ready to taste the Food, Fois gras should be in season, the deserts we will make in class. And I am so lonely for her, that I am even ready to smell her, the cacophony of the markets, cheese, fish, sweet ripe fruit.  Yes, even to smell piss in the metro from a clochard the night before.  

It was a rather last minute thing, so I have not had the privilege of rolling around in the anticipation and planning that I usually do.  But is it close and I am eager.  Wondering how our hotel will be the first night.  It is a place near Notre Dame  that I  took a photo in 2009 and that has resided on my computer desktop since.  After arranging our apartment, I found  airfares much cheaper if we left a night earlier, so in my dither about where to spend that night, I thought about Les Degres De Notre Dame.  I have given up a bath tub for this trip, so minimally it will be night with a bath tub, maximally it will be a charming little place to which we might return.

What will our apartment be like, it is supposed to have a great view of the Eiffel tower, and a balcony.  We traded in a real bed and bath tub, at least I did, for this view.  Will it be worth it?  Will it be everything it was chatted up to be, will we like this new part of town?  The 6th er is a new one for us.  

My cooking class is lined up and paid, it is an advanced deserts class and Cookin with Class, which is where I have taken all of my lessons in the past.  I am looking forward to learning to make Charlotte au Poire and Paris Brest, among others.  I even got a discount for being a returning student!

Parisian weather is almost as uncertain as Indiana weather and I am arranging and rearranging my wardrobe for the trip almost daily.  Do I want to wear mostly black, or mix it up?  Sandals, or will I need to wear something warmer?  Oh, the decisions!

Here is a copy of the photo, you can see my image umbrella and all, in the window as I am taking the photo

Flying low at 53

Who knew I would have so much to say about a trip home? I thought it would be pretty uneventful, just getting the job done and being home. Was I wrong. Firstly with our usual grace 0800 turned in to 1100, but it was worth it. Well sort of, it was rather ironic, but after attending a half day on intentional burns, I think I got scalded by the water in the hotel. And while I personally appreciate the opportunity to make that decision for myself and am a sinner because my own hot water at home is turned to “hottest”, I am not a hotel. It is a situation where a child could quickly sustain burns. So note to self, send a letter to Hyatt Montreal! Jodi wanted one last chance to get a photo of a church I had mentioned in an earlier blog , we checked out, and trekked off to get that photo. On the way she spied croissants and suggested we stop for breakfast before hitting the road. Needless to say she lured me right in! I had an almond croissant rather than plain and oops, this one is not as good as the ones in Paris. We purchased two plain ones for the road, which escaped the clutches of border patrol, but more about that later.

On the way out of the hotel I wanted one last chance to use the facilities and we stopped in the WC at the bar of the hotel, just because it was on the way to the parking garage. Never miss a chance to be a crapper checker! It was the most awesome bathroom I have seen in a long time. It was hard to photo, but the sink was on long “trough” with faucets hanging out of the wall, in the foreground of the trough, was a long flat stone which was a little angled back towards the wall (and the drains) with soap dispensers sitting at the back of that long stone. On the other wall were butterflies cut from beer cans, some which acted as light shades. It was amazing and I wished I had used it before. What does that say about me that I like to use cool bathrooms, I wonder?

I was a bit concerned at getting the car out of the garage as we had watched people struggle with the payment booth all week, but it gladly and easily took our $105.00 automobile hotel bill payment and off we went. I had to stop and take a few photos of some lovely old houses as we left town. I truly think driving in Montreal much easier than Paris! We had decided to get across the borer as soon as possible because we had less things to struggle with in the states, such as currency conversion, phone charges and Delores Gramin. So we crossed at Alexandria Bay, New York. There is a huge bridge we crossed and the scenery was breathtaking, of course no photos because of the railings, but still. We were one of the lucky winners selected for auto inspection and it was a mess. They directed us to a area to park the car, hand over they keys and just walk away from all our possessions, just like that. We were allowed to take our purses and wear a jacket, which they never inspected. The guy was an ass and I tried to joke a bit with him that I needed some kind direction, because I was a “driving across the border virgin”, but he could not even participate in any kindness. This all makes me a nervous wreck because my “good girl” syndrome kicks in and we truly do operate under “guilty until proven innocent” at these check points. The guy inside was even less appealing, and Jodi did not find my joke about a dead insect I had noticed on the dash at all amusing, the poor critter had been there for about a week and I thought it pretty funny, apparently he did not, nor did she. For a dead bug he was pretty well traveled. I also pointed out that it was Jodi’s BD, something he could have noticed had he been paying attention and wished her happy BD, but I had to help him with that too! Geesh, and I pay his salary! ON the way out, there was one guy that was friendly and kind, THANK GOD, or I might have to write another letter! Seriously, I always think we do a lot of posturing, but the bad guys do what they are going to do one way or the other.

About now I am hungry again and we begin looking for a NON-chain eating establishment. I was about to believe I was going to be forced to participate in a chain restaurant experience, and out of nowhere appeared the little Mom and Pop place I think they have 2 stores there. Stefanos was awesome, I had an amazing angel hair pasta with red cream sauce and italian sausage, and Jodi had an calzone. The waitress did not bring my bread ( I had a “meal” with salad pasta and bread) and I was glad I Jodi wend and nagged for me as it was amazing bread! Of course we wished we had one at home! During our meal Jodi realized that she is out of memory on her Cannon, Oh Lord, here we go again, out of memory, out of energy, both are BAD!

The rest of the way was pretty much uneventful, we saw the most beautiful sunset of the trip and Jodi did her level best to capture it. I am continually amazed at the beauty of our earth and reminded how much we need to be caretakers of it, the lovely trees, the grassy slopes, the lakes and rivers, the sunrises and sunsets!

We decided to take a quick peek at Niagara falls because I had not been there before and got a room at the Holiday Inn, Jodi had to poke fun that I would chain hotel it!

It was to a good experience though, some idiot decided to move tables from a room across the hall from ours at 10:30 at night! I felt obliged to give him the hairy eyeball, what a dope!

The restaurant for a hotel restaurant was ok. I had cream of chicken soup and Jodi had the pot roast meal of the day, though she was not thrilled with her beef and the gravy, she liked the potato and vegetables on the side. Off to Niagara Falls!