Fat and Sassy

When people at work ask me how I am, I often say “fat and sassy”.   I can not imagine a more apt way to describe how I feel right now!  I just finished dinner at the Hidden Kitchen in Paris and it was a fabulous experience!  I got to eat an exceptional ten-course meal with 15 other phenomenal people from all over the world.  I have a huge satisfied grin pasted on my face as I type.  But let me begin my day properly.  I got up and bounced out to the local patisserie for an almond croissant, followed by a trip to the Sunday market.  

I purchased a small fennel and an orange (We shall see if I can recreate that lovely salad!), a melon, some lovely maroon peonies, cream, rhubarb yogurt, and some salami. I also spotted a potential new purse, but I will have to think on it!  After that back to the room for some breakfast and then off to Notre Dame for an international mass. I found this one had much more spoken Latin and French that other languages I know.  But the trade off was that there was much more singing, which was nice.  There is always a trade off, isn’t there?  I then buzzed across town to a market I know that had lovely shawls and I wanted to see their selection before I began purchasing elsewhere.   I succumbed to a lovely new black and gold one for myself.  And then back to the 5^th er for a stroll through a small part of the Latin Quarter and on to coffee at Le Fleur en Isle.  THEN I walked back to the apartment.  I have done SO much walking and the interesting thing is that while my feet are killing me, my foot is no longer numb!   Hmmm….  My friend Pat may have something there.  I decided on a nap because I was going to dinner at the Hidden Kitchen and the e-mail I got from Laura stated that petit fours were to be served at 11:30 PM!  So nap I did.  I got up and was getting ready and could not find my dress!  I looked high and low and still have not found it.  Jodi is off on a mission to look when she goes to my house next time.  So I settled for a black top and baggy black pants with my new shawl.  If I am not careful I will have to buy some plaid boxers to wear under my pants!  Which by the way I have seen here.  There seems to be quite a large Goth contingent that hangs out near the Bastille Opera. 

Dinner was an excellent experience and may rate right up there in the top five.  It is a dinner for 16 served in Braden and Laura’s home in the 1^st er near the Louvre.  They had set up a table in their living room and it was a lovely setting.  The food and wine were even better; Servings were small (Thank God) because it was a 10-course meal and wine to go with nearly each course.  If you follow the links you can see the menu we had tonight. I tried things I would ordinarily NEVER try, just because it was there, I had paid for it and if I did not like it, I did not have to eat it.  I tried mackerel, beets, and fava beans. I could leave the mackerel, but the others in the right conditions may well be do overs.  And I thought beets were just for looks.  The photo is of dessert, and it was to die for: rhubarb mint sorbet with shortcake and strawberries! 

The company too, was excellent.  I sat near two couples from Australia and three Asian American women from California.   We had so much fun.  Coming home was a bit of a concern for me alone, but Laura assured me that it is safe on my line and to be honest, I feel relatively safe in the gates street I am on, it is less then 30 steps from the metro.  My new Aussie friends offered to ride the metro this way with me, but it was in the opposite direction and I felt badly so close to Metro closing time.  So here I am safe and sound and yes, I am fat and sassy!