A Parisian Weekend

Weekends in Paris are great because there is a plethora of things to do, not one of which is the same as the next. To prove that to you, my dear reader, below I have pictures and a video montage documenting my weekend with a now non-jetlagged husband. From delicious meals at restaurants to even better street food, museums, and an 80 year old woman dancing the night away, we were constantly entertained in gay ol' Paris.

The weekend started with a lunch on Friday at Au Bascou, a Basque Country restaurant. The food was good and the dessert was the best in Paris yet. If you are in Paris and happen to be in the 3rd arrondisement, stop by for a lunch that gives good insight into the culinary tastes of Southwest France.

Au Bascou
3rd Arrondisement
38, rue Réaumur
01 42 72 69 25
http://www.au-bascou.fr/


B's dish: Pastilla filled with salmon and codfish over a bed of salad greens.



My dish: Cheese encrusted shrimp (Gambas) over veggies.



As you can see, the dessert was so inviting that we started eating it before I could snap a picture for you. A crispy chocolate cookie, topped with chocolate ganache and accompanied with homemade vanilla and almond ice creams. Yum!

Friday night found us on a bridge over the Seine.

With the lunatic that set up this interesting concotion (and I mean luncatic in the most endearing sense because without lunatics, what would a Friday night in Paris be like?).

We then found this bar, which I highly recommend for two reasons: 1) During Happy Hour, you can get a huge beer from Holland for just 4.50 Euro. 2) They actually have a real martini menu. I think I have previously discussed the complete lack of French understanding regarding a martini. It's so bad that B and I gave up on attempting to order one since we usually get a bottle of Martini and Rossi liqueur brought to the table with a glass and a little bowl of olives to eat instead of a dry martini up with olives. However, this bar knows what a real martini is and even has cosmopolitans (imagine it! Cranberry juice in France - I never thought I'd see the day).

La Panfoulia

4th Arrondisement

7, rue Ste Croix de la Bretonnerie

Saturday morning took us to a market (shocking, I know). Apparently, Lorenzo the fish man was selling Langoustines that also double as an acrobatic act.

The fish was so fresh it was amazing. This is one of the markets to see in Paris.

Marché President Wilson

16th Arrondisement

Wednesdays and Saturdays

8am-1pm

On to the Museum of Modern Art in the City of Paris. It is across the street from the Marché President Wilson and has some really cool art work.

B and a random big red dog on the rain-soaked streets of Paris.

Ah...The ultimate hot dog. A perfect late afternoon lunch on Saturday.

Here I am shamelessly chowing down with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

You can find this delicious hot dog on Place de la Concorde at the entrance of Jardins des Tuileries.

Saturday night brought a bottle of wine named "La Font Louisiane."

And Sunday morning brought church at the American Church in Paris.

Sunday evening, we headed to a park a block or so from our apartment. The back drop was Notre Dame at dusk - a perfect ending to our weekend in Paris.

Below is a video montage from the weekend. Click play and come along with us on a whirlwind weekend tour of the sights and sounds in Paris. Please note the dancing old lady who is definitely young at heart. She danced nonstop while the band played. An amazing sight to see, especially when contrasted with the hip hop dancers later in the video. I'll let you decide which dancer was the most captivating and thus deserving of our spare change...

Anniversary in Paris

B and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary in Paris this week, which is quite fitting because 3 1/2 years ago we got engaged in Paris. We braved the rain to walk along the Seine to Bar 228, a bar in the Le Meurice hotel. It was magnificient. It is a very classy place with deep leather chairs, live piano music and a drink menu with prices that would even shock the Sultan of Brunei. However, when celebrating a special occasion, it is the perfect place for a bottle of champagne and quiet conversation. So, the price is worth every centime. If you are in Paris for a Romantic getaway, I highly recommend it.


Bar 228
1st Arrondisement
228 Rue de Rivoli
http://www.lemeurice.com/restaurants-bars



Walking along the Seine on our way to Bar 228.



Bar 228



Celebrating with some Veuve Clicquot!




From 228, we again got out our trusty umbrellas and made the short walk to Le Soufflé, where we ate a late dinner. As you can probably guess from the name, the restaurant specializes in Soufflés. So, naturally, that is what we ordered. We both chose the "Menu Soufflé" which entails 3 courses of soufflés. By the end of the third course, after having tasted 6 different soufflés between mine and B's, I was souffléd out. I'm pretty sure I won't have the craving for a soufflé for at least a year. That said, everything was delicious and I think it would be a great place to pop in just for a dessert soufflé or to have a one course meal of a soufflé and salad. Otherwise, it's a bit too heavy and perhaps monotonous to have course after course of just soufflés. If in Paris and you want to see how a truly good soufflé is made, I suggest making a reservation at Le Soufflé. Perhaps lunch would be ideal.


Le Soufflé
1st Arrondisement
36, Rue du Mont Thabor
01 42 60 27 19
http://www.lesouffle.fr/



My first course - spinach soufflé.

B is ready for his first course (and first soufflé ever!). A cheese soufflé.

My main course was heavenly. A crawfish soufflé. They poured a crawfish bisque into the soufflé. Can it get any better than that for a girl from Louisiana? Absolutely not.

B's main course was salmon and avocado soufflé. It was also very good, but I think it's safe to say that I detected a slight bit of food jealousy regarding the crawfish soufflé.

My dessert course - Grand Marnier soufflé. This was recommended by the waiter. It was brought to the table with the huge bottle of Grand Marnier you see. They poked the soufflé with a fork and then doused it with the Grand Marnier. Unfortunately, there was a little too much alcohol and it overpowered the soufflé. That's ok, because B had a delicious dessert soufflé and I wasn't afraid to make him share. :) Isn't that what marriage is all about?

B's chocolate soufflé. Divine!

Les Fleurs

I have to admit that I am a sucker for flowers. They are just so beautiful that I can't help but stop every time I see some and just stare at them. Paris is, thus, a flower haven for me because it is full of beautiful gardens and markets alike, so I get the best of both worlds - fresh flower gardens and beautifully cut flowers. Most of the time when I run across either I take about 400 pictures of them like a stereotypical Japanese tourist before moving on to another batch of flowers that equally catch my eye.

Tonight, I thought I would share with you some of the gorgeous flowers I have found while in Paris. Enjoy.

Why Call a Crêpe a Pancake?

The question I often find myself asking is why the French feel the need to translate the word crêpe into pancake. It just is not necessary in the least. Here's a newsflash France: in the U.S., we call a crêpe a crêpe. The pancake translation is just wrong on so many levels. For example:

1. As I mentioned, the quintessential French dish called the crêpe is known around the world. It needs no translation.
2. A pancake, at least by American standards, is typically fluffy. Considering the fact that Chef claims a crêpe can never be thin enough, I'm pretty sure pancake is not a good description.
3. Pancakes are usually smothered with syrupy goodness and eaten for breakfast. They certainly are not rolled up with ham and mushrooms, covered in béchamel and served as dinner. Nope, that's called crêpes.
4. No one in the States really wants to have an actual pancake for dessert at a restaurant. Nor does he/she want to walk up to a random stand on the street and be handed a hot pancake that is rolled up in a napkin and then try to walk around eating it.

My point is that, well, crêpes should not be called pancakes under any circumstances. So, listen here all you Parisian restaurant owners who are oh so kind to have English menus: don't list your crêpe dish as a pancake; simply list it as a crêpe. I'm fairly sure the word is well known enough that any English speaking person will instantly know what you mean. If not, he/she should not have the privilege of eating the deliciousness that can be a good crêpe. Actually, said person won't order it anyway because I am certain he/she would not be interested in a smoked salmon "pancake" with a caper sauce.

Why am I ranting about crêpes? Because I had to make over 20 of them today. Here are the photos of that adventure.


Making the simple batter.



Before allowing it to rest, we added a small amount of French beer to the batter. Oh, you didn't know the French were known for their beer? Me neither. Because they aren't. However, it did make the crêpe batter delicious.



While the batter rested, I duxelled some mushrooms and cooked them with shallots and butter.

When you don't have a brush to brush the oil onto the crêpe pan, simply grab a "forkette" as Chef calls it and stick it into a cut potato. Works like a charm!

See?!

Final crêpe batter.

Here goes nothing...

Turned out pretty good, I have to say.

We took some ham and piped out the mushrooms for the crêpe.

Then, we rolled the crêpes and put them in this fun copper pan.

Covered it with bechamel and cheese.

And put under the broiler.

Now, no one in his right mind can call that a bunch of pancakes.

Case Closed.