Back from Paris

It has been a good four months since I've posted, and I apologize for my absence. But, little Ms. Iz and I went to Paris for five wonderful weeks this summer which took a lot of prep beforehand and a bunch of reorientation afterward. And, so, now that back-to-school mania has calmed down, I am back.

I did chronicle our trip on a separate blog, which you can access here  at Summer Jet Setter. There are a few days missing on the end of the trip, but all of Paris is there in all it's glory.

To the left, you will see the most amazing Baked Egg dish I have ever experienced.  We managed a lot of eating in Paris, but this was the best for me. Half a dozen eggs, half a pound of bacon, some cream and lots of potatoes, and you have yourself a fabulous dish. The pan it was cooked in was brought to the table. I managed to eat almost the whole thing myself, but in hindsight, I wonder if this was meant for more than one person.

My good friend Fred went to Paris a few weeks after me. Before he left, he asked for explicit instructions on how to find the holy grail of baked eggs. I gave him the info, he missed the restaurant several times, finally found it, and sent me a lovely picture of his meal. Worth going half way around the world for these eggs, we both agreed.

Here is a recipe from Epicurious for baked eggs in ham crisps. I have not made it, but wanted to include at least a guide for how it's done.

Paris was extraordinary and I am very much prepared for the new school year and all that lay ahead!!

EuroStar Part Deux

The lovely Michelle took the time this morning to come to our apartment and get us. We walked all our luggage to the Chatelet Metro stop. It was raining and chilly, but the walk was as good as it could have been.

Isabella took the lead with one pink case and her backpack on her back. She has certainly gotten way more comfortable in the Metro, so much so that she mapped out the way based on her train trips to Parc Asterix. Becasue she knew exactly where she was going, she got quite a bit ahead of me and Michelle and had to be called back.

I, on the other hand, was carrying both pink cases up and down the stairs, with Michelle valiantly taking the new black one. Strong though I know I am, it was quite a feat to make it to the train. Once we got on the Metro, it was just a few short stops to the Gare du Nord.

When we arrived in the train station, Michelle was an amazing amount of help again, not only in helping with the bags, but also with finding the track and assisting me with the customs forms. I had one or two minor meltdowns, especially when I filled out the customs forms wrong and had to re-do them, but Michelle kept with me.

After we said our goodbyes to Michelle, we headed through Customs. There was a British guard who asked us some questions and then a bag x-ray. No mention of our Pate needing to be removed from our bags, we made it through and headed to the waiting area.

The train arrived, we found stowed our big black bag and got our pink cases above our seats. This trip turned out to be much quieter than the one on our way out. No show girls (see post from June 23rd), only lots of sleepy people. It was so quiet, Isabella said she felt awkward even talking!

Ugh...Packing

See those two little suitcases on the left? This is just part of what needed to be packed to get us back to the US.

While Isabella enjoyed Parc Asterix, it occured to me that I should pre-pack as much as I could. When I discovered we had amassed 11 bars of soap, 3 tubes of soap and many other items. I did manage to get everything into these two cases and one duffel.

The main issue though, was the shoes. Isabella got two pairs and I got three. Not sure how it happened, but I guess being somewhere with lots of nice things for a month got me shopping (hmm, had I re-read my previous posts, I would've seen how much we bought).

We leave tomorrow for London, and then have two more days to go before we fly home. So, it is going to be necessary to unpack at least some things when we get to the hotel and then re-pack. Not going to happen with the tight packing into those small cases.

Solution? We bought a nice big black rolling bag, with wheels that roll in many directions. Everything fits, and then some. Our final BHV purchase is a really good one!

London, here we come!

Shopping, Again?!!

That's us on the roof of Galeries Lafayettes. We spent today with Kristen helping her locate a dress for her bachelorette party and her rehearsal dinner.

She had already picked out a beautiful dress for the rehearsal dinner, but wanted our opinion. Isabella helped her find a lovely beaded bolero jacket to go over it. And then, she found something spectacular...

A Missoni-print dress for the bachelorette party. We don't know if it was truly Missoni or just inspired-by, but it was lovely. Mostly reds and oranges with some purple in the chevron stripe they are known for, it looked perfect on Kristen.

Isabella managed to find a shirt that fit her like a mini dress in the Women's department and I got a tank with some ladies embroidered on it. Overall, a good haul, on second markdown for some of  the items.

From there, we decided to take a look at Fauchon and were tempted to go to La Maison du Truffes for a truffle themed luncheon, but the heat and the lack of Isabella-friendly food (not to mention the cost) sent us back down to the Metro. We headed back home to the Marais, and found another Italian restaurant.

Pizza for Isabella, pasta with amatriciana tomato sauce for me and a salad for Kristen. Isabella tasted the pasta with tomato sauce! And, she liked it enough to have several bites and declared that she will now eat tomato sauce. A banner day for food diversity.

After lunch, we found another second hand store and bought some more scarves. Oh, if we had more time to sort through all the items in those shops!

What's for Dinner? BBQ Duck!

After Parc Asterix I met Isabella and Kristen at the plaza in front of Notre Dame. We were all starving and needed something delicious right away.

Kristen directed us to a Chinese restaurant, where I spotted the BBQ duck right away. Isabella loves all manner of Asian noodles, so we headed in.

Really succulent duck was served as well as a chow fun of some sort and lots of good spicy oil, Kristen got a wonton soup (though I couldn't believe it since it was still up near 90 degrees even though it was after 7pm).

Isabella at four or five portions of noodles and a very large amount of duck. Success!! Considering most of her recent meals, if you recall, involved hot dogs, pasta or pizza.

After dinner, it was back to Berthillion for ice cream. Along the way, we came across a street performer who did crazy balance tricks involving a bicycle and duct tape. No way for me to describe it, but we did video it. Of course, the soundtrack for Amelie was his background music, which always makes me cry, while Isabella laughs at my sentimentality!

What a day!

ParcAsterix

There is a very funny French comic book character named Asterix. That's his friend Obelix with Isabella and Kristin. See them here on Amazon.

The last time we saw Kristin I was we saw a poster for ParcAsterix and I mentioned how much I hated amusement parks and that there was no way I would take Isabella. Kristin immediately said she would love to go and maybe she could take Isabella.

Later that night, I emailed her and she was serious. And, so, today, she and Isabella headed out at 9am to explore ParcAsterix. It took the 40 minutes in two trains, and then a shuttle bus for another 20 minutes to get there.

They had a wonderful time, and I need more information from both of them to include here. I will repost as soon as I have a more descriptive account of their day.

Greek Sandwich

GREEK SANDWICH!!

Oh man, this is good!

Michelle took me to her favorite greek sandwich place in the Mouffetard (Rue de Contrescarpe is just nearby).

It's a sandwich that includes fries....on it! Did the purveyors of such a treat say to themselves "what kind of sandwich would Tashi like best?" and then add the fries to make it my favorite thing ever?!

Chicken marinated in secret spices, though I definitely tasted oregano in there. And the white sauce they put on there may have had yogurt. Oh, the pita bread was fresh and the tomatoes, too.

I do believe this kicked the L'As du Falaffel's sandwich down to number two, but either would be delightful.

Bon Marche Epicurean

While Isabella and Kristen were at Parc Asterix, Michelle helped me find the Bon Marche Epicurean store. Oh, my, I nearly passed out. How to describe that first impression?  So many beautiful products everywhere. Not to mention on such a hot day, the freezing air conditioning was a welcome relief. I couldn't get over how calm the store was, as well, in comparison to the large gourmet stores back home.

There was an international section where they showcased foods from all over the world. The meat section was very impressive with a whole section dedicated to duck products. Not to mention the huge selection of both fresh and packaged pate.

But, I'd have to say the assortment of treats was my favorite. The color of the fondant, the smell of the chocolate and the overall displays were amazing. There was a whole house a al gingerbread houses, covered in gummy bears. Another one covered in marshmallows and a third one in a variety of treats.

It is just next door to the Bon Marche department store and well worth a trip!

**the picture is from versailles, i couldn't find any food-related shots that were worth it here!!

High-Low

Who's to say you can't go from hot dogs and onion rings right to fancy tea?

Worked out well for us, since we hadn't had dessert yet, and are always up for tea at Mariage Freres. Before we went in to the tearoom, we went across the street to the tea annex that sells pre-packaged loose teas. I wanted to smell them to see if something less heavy than Lapsang Soucahng might appeal to me.

With our choices made, we headed into the tea room about twenty minutes later.

As lovely as the last time, and a bit more crowded,  we were seated right next to the cake display, in front of the tea bar. I settled on the Carre D'Or- 24 Carat and an iced Himalayn Rose tea, Isabella chose the creme brulee scented with their Marco Polo tea and an iced Earl Grey.

We both thought I'd be getting a few pieces including a chocolate mousse and some kind of caramel. Turns out, they made a little stack of everything included in the description and it was all wrapped up in an edible 24 karat foil. Very nice indeed, but oh so rich.

The creme brulee we had had last time was more of a coffee scented affair. Marco Polo tea added a fruity flavor that was ok, but not as perfect as the last time.

Regardless, we had a lovely time people watching, evaluating the white linen suits of the servers vs the beige linen suits of the men who worked in the tea shop measuring out tea for customers. The beige ones, overall, looked better on the men, which does not surprise me.

Over tea, we discussed Isabella's next big adventure: a trip with Kristin to ParcAsterix the next morning!

A Nice Sunday

Not everything is open on Sunday in Paris. We knew this and planned on another round of tea at Mariage Freres later in the day, but wanted to get out and do something with our morning.

We headed out to an area we had discovered the night before. It was literally only one block further away from our house than we had been walking, and there was some nice window shopping to do.

Some stores did end up being open, best of which was the soap store, La Maison du Savon.  There were over 100 varieties of Marseilles soap, all reasonably priced and smelling divine. They have every scent from sweet to spicy, including pine, rose, tilleul (which I think is Linden) and rosemary. We bought 5 bars of soap and Isabella got some special rose and angel shaped ones for herself.

Realizing that tea wasn't until after 3pm, we decided to eat. Yes, as the picture denotes, hot dogs. It being Sunday, all of the kosher restaurants were open. We chose Schwarz's since they seemed to have a nice looking deli counter and a good NY deli menu.

It did not disappoint. Isabella got hers plain on a bun. I got the sauerkraut and relish on mine. They also brought some house-made dill pickles to the table, which were not too salty and just tart enough. Isabella was a fan of the onion rings, too.

We thoroughly enjoyed out American hot dogs, and thought it would have been nice to have celebrated Fourth of July at Schwarz's as well.

Flowers After Dinner

After Versailles, we rested for awhile in our tiny apartment. I had no energy to cook, and we had seen a Japanese restaurant about 100 yards from our house, so we decided to try it out.

Turned out to be a great place. The fish was fresh, the miso soup pleased Isabella, and they had Yakitori skewers of all kinds of meat and fish. Scallops (sorry, coquilles st jacques) and salmon for me, chicken and beef for Isabella.

By the time we left, we were exhausted and giddy so we took a walk. A few nights earlier we had eaten dessert at a small brasserie and decided to go back there again. We remembered that the owner was very nice to us that first night.

When we got there, it was clear he remembered us. He gave us each a big hug and chatted a little. When he brought Isabella's chocolate cake and my creme brulee, he gave us water and chatted again.

As we finished out treats, a flower vendor walked in and asked if we wanted flowers. I politely declined, but then the owner came out and said to him "they are my friends", and bought us each a small garland of jasmine. The vendor also gave Isabella a small bunch of flowers, both of which you can see in the picture.

We paid our bill and thanked the owner. He gave us each a hug and told us his name was Sam and we went on our way.

What a nice end to a long day!

Flowers, Versailles

Near Marie-Antoinette's little hamlet of buildings, there were a bunch of very pretty flower beds.

Isabella spent a long time shooting these and really got into all the different types.

We also found a really pretty archway that was covered in grape vines fully in bloom with tiny green grapes. Not to mention the veggies they had also planted in one of the areas.

Truly, can't do it justice here, but take a look at our flickr stream for the Versailles pictures and maybe you can see a little more of what we saw.

Bike Riding, Versailles

Here it is. A picture of Miss Isabella on a bigger kid or smaller adult bike.

Remember a few days ago, I said that we didn't want to rent the bikes in Paris because it just seemed too daunting to ride in city traffic? As luck would have it, we were wandering through the gardens in Versailles and saw a sign for bike rentals.

Isabella immediately asked if we could do it. I hesitated only because I myself really hadn't been on a bike for over 15 years (even though I used to ride a lot as a teenager, oh so long ago). I had a flash of me sprawled out in the lovely French countryside. The idea, though, of finding myself in such surroundings with a lovely French bike with a basket on the front won out and so, we rented the bikes.

It really is true. You never forget how to ride a bike. The weight of my camera bag on the front of the bike made the balance a little bit off, but I was able to ride pretty much as I had remembered.

Isabella got a little scared, since she had only ridden in a paved playground on a smaller bike. She did a fine job, though yelled every now and then because she was a little unbalanced on the new bike.

I tried to impress upon her the greatness of the feat of her riding on a dirt path and cobblestone roads for the first time in a non-playground ride. It was difficult to keep the bike stable on those roads. I know that she can handle a big bike. Now to get home and get her one!

Croque Madame, Versailles

I will admit that up until this point, I was afraid of the cheese aspect of the Croque. But, last night, Kristen ordered one and assured me it was just a mild cheese, so today, I ordered one.

To be honest, I didn't realize that the croque madame came with an egg on top. It never occured to me to ask what the difference was between the monsieur and hte madame. Boy am I happy I did.

There are probably better specimens of the croque madame, but this made my day! The oozing egg over the ham and melted cheese was divine.

I am totally going to make these as often as my waistline will permit. What a treat!

Versailles Finally

Another success for us...Versailles!

A very impressive chateau (though less of it is on display than we had hoped), with gardens that go on for days.

We got up at 7:30, walked to the Metro and this time, just took the RER (another kind of commuter train within the Metro system) to a direct train to Versailles.

This time, I bought our tickets the night before, so all we had to do was wait in the security line when we got there, around 9:45 this morning. We got into the chateau, got a map and joined the crowds going on the tour of the rooms. There weren't as many furnished rooms as we would have liked and the crowds were huge. But, we did get to see Marie-Antoinette's bedroom and Isabella was really into the chandeliers all over the place and so, it was well worth it.

The real fun began when we hit the gardens. We chose a Saturday to visit because we knew they had classical music playing in the various gardens that were supposed to complement said gardens. The fountains also went off at certain intervals to go along with the music. It was really great, and the cooler weather stayed with us, so it was a nice way to spend a day.

We probably only saw one-third of the gardens, but what we did manage to see was beautiful.

Picnic at Parc Monceau

Our lovely friend Michelle met us at Parc Monceau today. It's located in a ritzy part of town, where Michelle said there are private streets.

We went specifically to see the mini replicas of monuments that Isabella had read about in her walking tours for kids cards. The cards, though useful to some extent, overstated the monuments. Unless we were missing a large part of the park, there were only 2, a pyramid and some Roman-type pillars.

No matter, Michelle brought some wine and cookies, I brought along salami, baguette, fruit and nutella for Isabella and we had a really fun time. Isabella had her soceer ball with her so we all played together.

As the clock past Noon, many people came to the park to enjoy their lunch hours. They were there well over and hour, which Michelle said is more typical, since they usually take a two hour break midday. It was nice to see everyone spreading out their lunches, dressed for work, but on a blanket in a park.

Overall we had a good time just having a regular park day, which just so happened to be amidst some beautiful old Parisian homes!

Baked Eggs?! Really? So Good!

This picture does not do the dish I had enough justice.

Baked eggs, have become an interest of mine in the recent past, but I have not had the opportunity to make them. I was pleased to see this traditional version offered on the menu across the plaza from Notre Dame. After all those steps, I really wanted to eat (not really that hard to climb, but any excuse for a big meal, I always say).

Isabella was going to order this, but decided on scrambled eggs with bacon as a safer bet. Probably good, this dish had cream, 6 eggs (no kidding) and maybe a half pound of bacon. I thought it was going to come in a small ramekin, but take a look at that pot!

Oh, I forgot to mention, it also had 3 to 4 good sized yellow potatoes sliced amongst the goodness. I ate almost the whole thing. It was so good.

When I get home, I will recreate this dish every now and then. Not too often, though, or I will have the cholesterol police knockin' on my door.

Notre Dame: Success!

We did it!

The early morning wake-up call (ok, it was only 7:45am) was worth it because today we got to climb the steps to the top of the Notre Dame Cathedral bell tower.

We left the apartment, got some excellent pain au chocolat and headed across the bridge to wait. We had to wait about an hour plus, but the weather cooled down drastically to 75 degrees or so, so it was pleasant.

The only people ahead of us were another group of Americans (one of whom lives in Greece the other three being some kind of relation of hers and hailing from the Chicago area), and one guy who lives in America but was from Panama originally. How did we find out this much about them? They had a lot to say. We sat quietly so as to not be invited to discuss the topics at hand (mostly complaints about what they didn't like about Europeans) and listened.

In the end, my snarky attitude should be put in check, because when the door opened it said we needed exact change (8 Euros for me, free for little missy). I was short by 50 centimes. The woman heard this and gave it to me. So, I take back some of my opinionated remarks, but only some.

The stairs are stone and very narrow and curvy. The first stop is a forced layover in the small gift shop for 5 minutes. Since we were in the first group to go up, it seemed silly, but they do it to stage the number of people up on the parapet at any given time. Next up, the first panaromic viewing level. Absolutely amazing!

There was a tiny wood door (which even Isabella had to bend down to get through) that led into the original bell tower. Wood stairs led up to the bell. Think "High Anxiety" (ok, "Vertigo" for you movie snobs) and you'll get a good idea of the kind of structure we were in.

I am very afraid of heights, but Isabella usually isnt. She had a really hard time up there, got very shaky, but was determined to do all of it. In the end, I had to help her, thus, was unable to be afraid myself, so it worked out well for me to be able to finally experience some high flying sites. She was amazed by all of it, it was just hard for her.

Next up, the top level, which I think was somewhere in the neighborhood of 400+ steps up from ground level.  There are passageways that everyone has to go through that I had to turn flat to fit through. I was unclear of how the general non-shorty population was making their way through, but everyone did.

Overall, it was amazing to see the interior workings of the tower, and the views of the city. There was some cool grafitti up there, too, check out the flickr stream for today to see some of it.

Form up high, we spotted a promising looking brasserie, so as soon as we dizzily hit ground level, we headed across to it.

Bastille Day!

Not only did we go to the Champs-Elysses for the Bastille Day Parade, but we also got to see some of it right down the block from our apartment on the Rue du Rivoli.

We went up to the parade route, with me vaguely aware of the fact that it was probably going to be pandemonium.

Yes, I was right.

The biggest issue we had was our height, or lack there of. I had forgotten how hard it is in huge crowds and events it is for me to see, let alone my little lady. We did our best.

The planes overhead were awesome, got some video of them, too. We heard the music of the marching bands, and saw the members of the band coming off the parade route.

And, we did manage to see a bunch of horses and their regiment dressed up ready to go. As they were preparing, the skies opened up and there was a huge downpour.

At this point, we were right near the Franklin Roosevelt Metro stop, so we ran inside. Our size here was an asset, since we had our tickets and could wiggle our way in between the crowds.

Once back in our neighborhood, we noticed the military out in the street and that the big thoroughfare was shut to traffic. As we walked around, we started seeing crowds gathering on the corners. It occurred to us that the parade was coming down our way.

And, so it did. We saw many tanks filled with crisply outfitted military men (only one or two women in the bunch). They were not slowly going down the route. No, they were booking down the road towards the Bastille where presumably parade ended. We have video of this, too, which I will try to post soon.

The skies opened up again somewhere around when the first tank appeared. We stayed put with a completely unobstructed view of the parade. But, eventually, we had seen enough and it sure felt like we were being pelted with hail, so we went home to have a crepe and dry off.

Velib' Bike Rental

Look at that bike! Isn't it cool?
These are for rent all over the city. They cost only 1 euro or so per hour and can be taken from location and dropped off at your destination. It's the greatest system.

We wanted to rent them, but did not. I let Isabella sit on one to get an idea of the size, which seemed ok. But, we started talking about it, and realized cobblestone roads, no helmets and the fact that she has never ridden anywhere but the basketball court in the playground led us to decide it wasn't the best idea for this trip.

And so, enjoy the visual and image Isabella with a baguette in her basket riding down the road.