Day One. Paris. Fighting Jet Lag

Bonjour! Here we are in Paris after our first full day. The sun has barely set and already we are getting ready for bed. Here's the view from our cute boutique hotel in The Marais.




We arrived early this morning at 7:30 am. We took a cab from the airport to our hotel. There doesn't really seem to be much regard for traffic laws here and, in fact, many of the intersections lack lanes, but somehow everyone seems to manage to stay alive.


We spent most of the morning staying active and not letting the lack of sleep get to us. Here are some pictures of the sights we saw...



Place des Vosges



Basilique Sacre Cœur



Basilique Saint Gervais



And of course, Notre Dame

We spent some time after gawking at the above landmarks checking out the sights, the people, and doing some window shopping. Our stomachs eventually led us to lunch at a cute bistro called La Favorite.




Kyle had 'fried' steak tartar and I had the house omelette with stewed tomatoes, ham, and cheese. We washed it down with a carafe of bracingly fresh and tangy Côtes de Gascogne blanc.

Finally the hotel opened and we were able to check in!!!! Our room is tiny and cute. The bed is comfortable and the surrounding area is clean and safe. We were quite pleased to find our accommodations so charming.




After a much needed nap, we headed out again to check out a little place I found on an iPad travel guide called Chez Moustache. It was everything you could ask from a tiny hidden gem in Paris. Here are a few pictures:



Rosé went great with the...



Crawfish salad with grapefruit and sesame vinaigrette.





In the mood to graze, we decided we needed a crépe. We headed in the direction of our hotel and stumbled upon the Cidrerie du Marais.


We shared a fantastic crépe filled with sautéed potatoes, confit shallots, and OF COURSE, bacon.

Feeling full, but not yet completely satisfied, we decided to make one more gastronomic stop... Pastries.

No pictures of the delicious caramel and chocolate eclairs simply because we ate them too quickly. Trust me... They were delicious!

Stay tuned for more adventure tomorrow!

Bon soir!

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And we are off...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I'm back...

Well hi!  I'm back to blogging.  I'm heading to Paris and I thought it would be great fun to chronicle my trip on my blog.  It's a been a while.  Looking forward to sharing my travel experiences with you!

Fabulously Fierce Friends, Deirdre

1. Who are your role models - food related or otherwise?

My mother, Suzanne is an adventurous cook. When I was a child she experimented all the time. A ferocious reader, she is always exploring artful cook books. Regardless of whether she was underway on our 31' sailboat cooking while healed on an angle or on the fly to a dozen hungry skiers my mother is unflappable, gracious and innovative.

I love Anthony Bourdain's adventuresome tour du force and enjoyed his book. And OF COURSE, Julia!

2. What is your drink of choice?
Beer on Tap: Bass
Beer in Bottle: Budweiser & Longtrail
Summer Cocktail apres Sail: Dark n' Stormy w/ Goslings
Winter Cocktail apres Ski: Bailey's & hot chocolate
AM: Orange Juice
PM: Lemonade
Tea: Rooibos
Coffee: Hazelnut
On the Go: Vitamin Water & Snapple Peach Iced Tea

3. What is your favorite cookbook or other food related book?

Love "The Joy of Cooking" and also love "New England Table"

4. What was your most memorable meal and why?

It's hard to say the most anticipated meal is my mother's Thanksgiving feast!

5. What is your favorite kitchen gadget or tool?

Popover tin & Blender

6. If you had to make dinner with ingredients at your home right now, what would you make?

Popovers with maple butter. Spinach salad with strawberries, pine nuts, pecan crusted goat cheese, craisins, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, with Balsamic Vinegar

7. What kind of music do you like to listen to while you cook?

My ipod- which varied. But I will say if I had a choice: Billie Holiday

8. What is your philosophy on cooking and eating?

Make enough for everyone especially an unexpected guest. Presentation goes a long way.

9. Are there any foods you can not stand to eat?

Canned veggies- mostly mushrooms and olives. Not a fan of fennel.

10. If you could use any super power in the kitchen, what would it be and why?

Make time stop or at least slow down so my life doesn't interfere with my cooking. I love cooking and wish I had more time to spend at the supermarket, shopping, enjoying food instead of rushing, shovelling food in and trying to fit everything in!

Pie crusts- I get the timing off all the time. I have sadly given up and (gasp) do store bought.

Fabulously Fierce Friends, Jiya

1. Who are your role models - food related or otherwise?
My grandma--she could whip up delicious meals with just tofu and not much else. and she makes her own kimchi. And she does all these with so much grace.

2. What is your drink of choice?
gerwurtztraminer, riesling, and any italian wines.

3. What is your favorite cookbook or other food related book?
"Like Water For Chocolate" because everything seems to revolve around kitchen in the book. it is a little saccharine but was so cute when i read it years ago...

4. What was your most memorable meal and why?

this is a triple tie.
(1)Meals at greg's, of course!
wonderful food and fabulous host/chef.
(2)meals my ex-roomate rahna used to cook.
Shrimp toufee(?)
she just makes everything better.
(3) I once got invited to a vip event at some tiny restaurant where they only served the meat from the cow they killed that very morning.they only kill three cows per week...the waiting list was months long)...anyway, quoting from the guy sitting across from me that day:"I never saw a girl take in so much meat."(no pun intended...?)

5. What is your favorite kitchen gadget or tool?
electric kettle to boil tea and make coffee. i only come alive after my morning cofee...and then i put on my face.

6. If you had to make dinner with ingredients at your home right now, what would you make?
umm..ok...kimchi fried rice with mozarella topping.

7. What kind of music do you like to listen to while you cook?
bossa nova. anything with fast rhythm....

8. What is your philosophy on cooking and eating?
anything in excess is poison.
except wine.(?!)
actually, a great company can make even fermented squirrel shit taste better(the squirrel being that squirrel you use to make that "special-organic(?)" coffee!!--you know where you feed the rodent some coffee beans and it poops the beans and you make coffee with the pellets..)

9. Are there any foods you can not stand to eat?
yes! please hammer don't hurt them pets!
In other words,
no dogs and heads and feet of any animal.(you know, despite the prejudice and stereotype, only few..very few Koreans actually eat dogs!!!)
anything which i can actually retrace the original form of
the meat i am eating, i do not want to eat!!
also...i hate lobsters. they look like roaches from the sea.


10. If you could use any super power in the kitchen, what would it be and why?
cleaning up after wards. sometimes i cook like an amazon going to war.