Farewell my Love - June 7, 2009

Paris put on all her finery; she draped herself in peach, mauve and pink as the night sky approached, finally putting on her diamonds.  Oh, she was lovely.  We sat in a little seating area on Pont Neuf as the sun was setting and watched her show. As I watched I felt tears well up in  my eyes.  Joey was teaching Courtney the Electric Slide in the background and Jodi was caressing the bottle as she imbibed in the last of her “big” bottles of cider. 

Today we drove back to Paris from Avrranche.  We got up, all had breakfast in the breakfast room at the hotel and were on our way.  I failed to choose a major road, and my excellent “map reader” did not correct me!   It seemed to take us forever to get back to Paris. We would just gain speed and hit another small town and have to slow way back down!  I just wanted to get back so we could do a couple of things before we left.  Joey wanted to see the “Thinker” and I failed him there too!  At least there was a mock “Thinker” in the Varenne Metro station! 

We drove back into Paris without major incident, argument or strife!  We both think it was our place of sincere prayerfulness as we approached Paris.  Regardless we also both felt very blessed at our simple return.  We returned the car with relative ease and found a taxi quite easily as well.  Our Hotel was one that had been recommended on a list serve I haunt.  It was the Hotel Palais Bourbon, it had a family room and breakfast at a reasonable price for Paris.  It is not a do over, but it was not horrid.  It did have a bidet, which was cause for some discussion with our two adolescents.  We dropped off our stuff as quickly as four people can and headed out to do some ultimate last minute souvenir shopping, dinner at Boullion Racine (Joe wanted Steak Tartare and I was thinking him wise) and to watch the sunset over Paris.  We wandered near Notre Dame and along the Seine, getting a chance to hear this band playing and goofing off there just as a person approached, they packed up and split.  One has to have a license to play street music in Paris and apparently they did not.  We encountered them about a half hour later not very far away near boulevard St. Michele.

Dinner was another good meal, Joe and I did have steak tartare, Jodi and Courtney and I had some raviolis that were actually an appetizer (I had the prix fix), and we all shared the dessert that came with my Prix fix.  My food was all very good, this restaurant, unlike Bofinger gave us the same good service en familie as I got when I was alone.  We hit up a few more shops on our way to Pont Neuf.  We sat down and relaxed just in time to see her last seduction.  I was ready to go home, to see my people, to see how my garden had fared, to take a bath in my tub, even to go back to work.  But I was also sad to be leaving Paris. My long awaited trip was now memories rather than anticipation.  Au revoir freedom, gastronomy, activity and new friends.  Au Revoir Paris, That translates literally into “Until I see you again”! 

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!