In an effort to catch up on the past month and a half which I've neglected to write about, I decided to do a "Top 10 Things In Paris Since February." I'll go in chronological order from Febuary till now, so I guess that makes it more like a list than a true "top 10," but oh well- you get the gist.
10) Bup and Gary came to visit me in Paris! I took them to a couple of my favorite spots, including Les Papilles, my boulangerie, and La Cerisae. I think, however, the highlight of their trip was our night at the Opera. We didn't plan in advance, so we had to wait for the last minute "upstairs" seats. When the french say "upstairs," boy do they mean UPstairs! We were seated so close to the ceiling that even short little me had to bend my back so as not to hit my head. Inspite of the definite lack of comfort, it was worth it because the Opera house is truly magnificent.
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| Dinner at Les Papilles |
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our seats
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| the opera |
9) Normandy. After my visitors left, I took a day trip to Normany to see Deauville and Trouville, two quaint sea-side towns. We took the train from St. Lazare and 2 hours later ended up by the ocean. We spent the day strolling and eating oysters. Not bad for a random Tuesday...
8) Paris is my boyfriend. One Thursday in early March, Ali and I found ourselves free from class. Although it was a bit chilly, the sun was shining and we decided to spend the day roaming this beautiful city. As a result, I fell in love. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
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| I have a thing for boats... |
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| Guitarists. |
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| City of light. |
7) Pommes Dauphine. Not much of a story aside from saying that pommes dauphine are so incredibly delicious. They are a mix of choux pastry (which is used to make profiteroles) and mashed potatoes. I like to think of them as french tater tots. Yummy!
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| Before cooking. |
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After cooking.
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7) I gut a fish for the first time. If you thought I was grossed out by filleting a fish way back in January, you should've seen my face on this day. We had to take a fish in it's entirety- I'm talking fresh outta the ocean! - and take it apart completely. Remove its fins, scales, gills, guts, and eyes, fillet it, and then chop up the bones to make a stock. Gross. I won't go into great detail about the goriness of it all, but let's just say I pulled that poor fishy's guts out of his mouth.
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| Ali was smiling, I was on the verge of crying/vomitting. |
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| The top of a vegetable peeler has more uses than you know. |
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| Finally, the gross part is over. |
5) Last day of cooking. On our last day cooking for the semester we made a traditional french favorite- Canard A L'Orange. Ali, Alex, Dani, Lee and I took home our food that day (and from the day before - veal cutlets with fresh made pasta) and prepared an end-of-basic-cuisine feast. Anna had arrived the day before and got to partake in the fun. We sat down to a delicious meal with a ton of wine and ate our faces off. It was no slope day, but it certainly wasn't a bad last day of class.
4) Anna and Ali's visit. This trip was pretty much a food tour of Paris. We went to Les Papilles, Entrecote, Chez Janou, drinks at Georges on top of the Pompidou, Chez Marianne, and L'as du Falafel, to name a few. I'm pretty sure they brought the warmth and sunshine because as soon as they arrived the weather turned from 40's and gray to 50's and sunny. We enjoyed a boat ride on the Seine and hours outside at cafes. Ahh Paris. (Anna has the pictures so I'm waiting for her to share them...)
3) Final Exam. At the end of our first semester was the rather daunting final exam. A few weeks before the end of term we were given a list of 10 dishes. All were things we had cooked before, and we would be tested on 2 of them. I didn't have much time to study since my guests were in town during the exam, so I was pretty nervous. I arrived at school and learned that our dishes were Daurade and Duckling. I would have to draw out of a hat to know what I'd be cooking. Duckling was a fatty mess and daurade was the fish I had to gut!! Neither was a very appealing choice. I ended up picking the fish. It wasn't so bad the second time around and I passed. Woohoo! On to intermediate...
2) Home. After exams I went back to NY for some tlc, WallE, and oh yea, my visa. The French Consulate made it as much of a pain as possible, but at least I got a few extra days to snuggle with my booboo!
1) Rob's visit. I left Paris in winter and returned a week later to spring. The sun felt warm and people were walking around in t-shirts and sunglasses. I may have loved Paris in the winter, but I LOVE Paris in the spring. Magic! A few days after I got back, Rob arrived for a visit. I tried my best to show him my Paris, which obviously revolves around food. We went to eat Les Philosophes, Academie de la Biere for moules frites, Chez Janou, and Entrecote. We went out to La Perle, Le Connetable, Prescription, and Pointe Ephemerale. (Again, waiting on pictures from my guest to add to this one...)
Phewf! Despite slacking for the past several weeks I'm finally caught up and ready to jump back on the blogging wagon! I'm now in Intermediate Cuisine and it's spring time in Paris, so if you're wondering if there are things to write about, the answer is... Oui, Chef!
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