Tea Cakes

Once we were seated, I had a chance to catch the song they were playing. It was "Rum and Coca-Cola" by The Andrews Sisters. Gran Fran and Joe must have put that request in.

The tea service was different than what we are used to, as, in general, we've gone to English tea. The teas were all listed out on a seperate menu (2 pages long).

We chose sweets instead of sandwiches. Here is what we got:
* creme brulee that Isabella proclaimed as her favorite ever
* a little pound cake (like the size of your thumb) which was green for some reason but didn't have much flavor)
* the tiniest madeline i've ever seen
* a tart berry coulis
* a canale (not sure I spelled that right, but it looks like a muffin but fluted)

The tea choice for me was, of course, Lapsang Souchang and for Isabella, also of course, Earl Grey. I took mine hot even though it was 92 degrees here, hers was cold.

We would like to go back and try other food, since none of it was that memorable except for the creme brulee, but the tea is what is bringing us back.

Slurpee...Wait, its Fancy Tea

Check it out. Isabella got herself the largest, most delicious iced tea at our fancy ladies tea today. It was seriously as big as a Big gulp, only far superior.

Mariage Freres makes some of the nicest teas I've found and the place is beautiful I have posted the pictures I have from tea on flickr, but I want to go back and take some shots of the shop, too. IT's like stepping into a 1930's spy movie. I kept waiting to be passed some kind of instructions for my next mission, but alas none came.

There are huge wood shelving units behind the counter, where all the tea is stored in giant tins. The staff, all men as far as I've seen except for the cashier, wear white linen suits, white button downs and white bow ties. They measure out your tea to order, hand you a slip from which the cashier rings you up and then gives you your tea. So nicely done!

Next time, we will go in the morning, so the caffeine has time to work its way out and not keep us up until 1am!!

Yum...Macaroons

We took the train today to L'Opera Metro stop. Isabella's walkig cards for kids outlined a walk for the Glamour Trail, so we thought it in our best interest to take the walk.

 

But, as usual, I got us a little further down the road than we wanted, and so we had to do some good map reading (and I even asked a magazine stall guy in French, whether or not we were on the correct path), but we found our way.

 

Our final destination was Laduree, the famous and fancy maccaroon baker. Along the way, we came across some beautiful boutiques and all the famous names: Chanel, Gucci, Prada (under construction), Dolce & Gabbana.

 

We went into quite a few high end shops, where we didn't touch, just looked, but boy was it nice to see all that beauty. There was a Japanese department store where we spent some time and got a few items. They had a nice assortment of small accessories, from different French desingers all in one place.

 

Lunch was at a nice French bistro, where Isabella ordered the Poulet Roti (not enough skin for her liking) and I got the Escargot and a Salade Nicoise. Isabella helped herself to the Escargot sauce again, which made her less than exciting chicken acceptable.  The Nicoise had rice instead of potatoes, which I didn't love, but the flavors were good.

 

Finally, we found our way to Laduree. A quick survey of the flavors on offer, and we ended up with 6 total: coffee, chocolate, caramel and a dark chocolate one. The texture was amazing and the flavors just right.

 

Totally worth the trip!

PointWC

Remember how I mentioned that you have to pay for publice toilets here?

We found the top-of-the-line of pay toilets in the mall below the Louvre (which happens to be at a central Metro station for the past few days' adventures). It's called PointWC.

It costs 1euro for each person (yes, this includes strollers or toddlers who need their parents help). There are about 3 attendants on duty at any given time. One takes your money, the next holds the line and the other one is busy wiping down each stall after each use.

These stalls are like no other. The toilets and all the fixtures are for sale. It's like going to a Kohler showroom and being able to test-drive the toilets and sinks. There is mood lighting in each stall, and they are impeccably clean. And, a Dyson hand drier extraordinaire is situated just behind the bank of custom sinks.

I'd say it's well worth our money for the fanciest toilets in Paris!

Cite des Sciences

Today was a trip 40 minutes from home to an interactive science museum. First up, a 3D iMax movie about prehistorice sea monsters. It was really cool and they even had headsets that gave us the story in English.

The complex is as large as any NY state university campus I've been on. I could not believe how vast it was. There was even an actual submarine on-site.

After lunch, which was from a fast-food pasta stand, we went upstairs to see the exhibits. Our first hour was spent trying out a lot of exhibits that were very similar to the Exploratorium in SF. A little disappointed, we went back through and found a few more fun and different exhibits.

The best of which involved learning all about food and how to determine the best kinds to buy, where food comes from, etc. There were lots of hands-on activities that Isabella loved.

We also spent some time in the math area, though the English translations were not quite clear enough for us to grasp (yes, us, I, too found it confusing, no surprise there, what with my math-challenged background and all), but enough of it made sense to Isabella that she figured out what infinity means.

The last stop on our tour was the space exhibit which again, was huge, and a little hard to grasp, but very interesting.

After our ride back, we really needed a crepe. Good thing the stand downstairs was open and a Nutella crepe was available immediately!

Happy and Pink

After our huge day in the amusement park, we went out for pizza. Yes, it is France, not Italy, but we've found a good place just a block or two away, and it makes both of us happy.

To be fair, we've had some ordering challenges. Since Isabella only likes plain pizza, the margherita is our pizza of choice. But, the description seems misleading, because it lists tomatoes as one of the ingredients, not tomato sauce. So, we have ended up the last two meals with just cheese on crust. Pretty good, but odd.

The wine pictured here is one of my favorite styles of rose, from Tavel. It made me happy to have this petite bottle all to myself.

After dinner, we took a nice walk and looked at all the windows and all the people still out well after 9 just waiting for their dinners.

Oh, not only am I afraid of heights, I'm also petrified of roller coasters and water rides.

So, after the ferris wheel, what did we do next? The log ride.

Can you see my expression in the photo? Yes, we bought the souvenir photo since it is unlikely you will ever find me on one of these things again.

Isabella was very proud of herself for going on since she was afraid. And, so was I. She delighted in telling my dad that not only did I scream, but that I also used some choice curse words.

But, I'm good on dry land for the forseeable future.