Day Four in Paris

Another fun day in Paris.  After our late night last night, we got up and headed out relatively early, for us, about 10:45 AM.   It was raining when we got up, but by the time we headed out the door, the blue sky and wind had arrived.  First, we took the metro, the train, and the bus (in that order) to the Fontainebleau Chateau. 

This chateau was much larger than Vincennes and further out of Paris.  Fontainebleau was the home of kings.  My head was swimming by the time we left with names like Napoleon, Marie-Antoinette, and all the kings of the 16, 17, and 18th centuries.  Here are a few rooms to give you an idea.  First, a bedroom.

Next, the throne room.

The Fontainebleau chapel.

Proof that Kim and I are traveling together.  Also proof that we have to concentrate hard to take pictures of ourselves and can't smile at the same time!

The gardens and parks surrounding the chateau were beautiful.  I was playing with the panorama feature on my camera here.

Look at those beautiful skies.  It was really windy though the fountains were blowing sideways!

After the visit it was time to get a quick lunch before catching the bus, back to the train, back to the metro.  We each had a Cafe Creme (coffee with cream) and a sandwich.

This evening we went to a fun event that I had found on a blog site I watch, David Lebovitz's living the sweet life in Paris.     The event was raising money for a charity called SOS help.  It's an English speaking helpline for English speakers in Paris.  There was wine and appetizers, but most fun, David Lebovitz spoke and there was a lovely Canadian folk singer called Cat Jahnke.  It was a really nice evening.  We both enjoyed it.  It was fun learning a little bit about American and English ex-pats and what it's like to live in Paris as an ex-pat.

On our walk home, we crossed the street to drool at another Chocolatier window display.  I'll leave you this evening with a view of this display.  I think we'll have to go back for the Candied Orange Slices dipped in Dark Chocolate.

Day Three Paris

Wow, day three was a long day.  We left the apartment a little before 1 PM and got home about 12:40 AM.  Here's how a long and very satisfying day in Paris goes.

First, we are headed to the Montmartre area and we hear loud chanting near the Opera.  Oh good, a demonstration!  It's almost fun to watch, once you know demonstrations are common in Paris and they are not scary.  The police and demonstration people probably plan ahead the length of the demonstration; what will happen; and when it will shut down.  This one was small, but loud, and as we watched, the police came out of the van, the demonstrators stopped chanting and that was that.

Next, we continue our wanderings up the hill to Montmartre and I had to take a picture of this Chocolate Shop window.  Really?  We Americans apparently have no clue what size real chocolate Easter eggs should be.  We could learn from this window.  These were over a foot high.

Next, I find a row of bikes to take a picture of for you.  These bikes are for anyone to use.  You can pay to use them for a day or more, or just 1/2 hour.  Your choice.  You take them and leave them parked anywhere else.  I'm too chicken to ride a bike in Paris.  But I see many people riding bikes.  If they are Parisian women they are doing it in high heels, so I know it's a fine method of transport.  Please note, I have not seen these bikes anywhere other than being ridden or safely parked in their stalls.  In Green River, WY we tried providing free bikes for people to ride on the Green Belt and they ended up wrecked, in the river, or stolen.  Here, people pay for their bike, ride it, and return it - not a hard concept.

One gets hungry quickly when you are walking by all the cafes with people sitting and eating.  At this point, we were in Montmarte, so it was time for lunch.  We used a book I bought, Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris to choose this restaurant, Coquelicot. It was packed and we were very happy with our lunch. They made their own breads of all kinds.  I had the pizza of the day and a green salad and Kim had the quiche of the day with salad.  It came with another basket of bread and une carafe of water for only 8.80 euros.  Pretty awesome for a well made lunch.  And for those that think $11 is too much for two lunches remember, that includes tax and tip.  When you look at a french menu the price includes tax and tip so you know exactly what you are spending when you order!

When we came out of lunch it was raining, so we opened the umbrella's and finished the climb up to Sacre-Coeur.

Work began to build Sacre-Coeur in 1875, but it was not finished until 1919 after World War I.  This is a church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Christ.  No pictures were allowed of the inside.

Montmartre is known for its artist community and we enjoyed the streets of the area.

There was much wandering in the rain that afternoon, in and out of artist shops, past the Moulin Rouge, the Montmartre Cimetiere (Cemetery), and more.

Finally we were hungry again.  We headed back to a cute restaurant we took note of earlier, Le Basilic Restaurant.  It is so quaint inside, there must be some history, but since google is only allowing me to search in french right now, I'm clueless.

In Paris, they don't eat dinner until later, usually after 8 PM, so it benefited us to be the first in the restaurant around 7 PM and watch it fill up.  Which it did!  Every table was full when we left after a lovely 23 euro menu that included a first course, main course, and dessert. 

I enjoyed the below Salmon Tagine for a first course and every course was lovely.

But our day wasn't done yet!  At that point we headed to Au Lapin Agile, having no clue what we were getting ourselves into.  After another good walk, which included more hills, lots of stairs, and beautiful early evening views of Sacre-Coeur, we reached"The Frisky Rabbit" as it translates, to find a line.  I had read a description of this as "Paris's oldest and strangest night spot" and ""the hangout of painters like Picasso, Vlaminck, and Maurise Utrillo".  We made it into the show even though we didn't have a reservation to find a log of people packed solid into a very small room with cabaret music.  Live singers mostly singing what I would describe as French folk songs for 2 1/2 hours.  We were served a small glass of brandy and brandy soaked cherries as we sat and took it in.  The night was indescribable, so I won't even try.

At the end of this show, about 11:30 PM, we walked home.  Montmartre is pretty far from where we were, so it was still an hour walk home, and we were tuckered out when we arrived but very happy with our day.

Paris Day Two

It felt like a slow start today, as I didn't get much sleep last night, I guess that happens when you move eight time zones, but we still managed to get in 8 hours of fun today.

We left the apartment and headed to the Tuileries metro stop, stopping for a quick salad on the way to the Vincennes Castle on the outskirts of Paris.  It was an easy metro ride and we arrived in another time and place.

Around 1350, John II initiated work on the below Keep, both a place to live for the king and keep prisoners.  The Keep was completed by his son Charles V around 1370.

A protective wall with 9 towers was then built around the Keep.

Vincennes housed kings through the 16 and 17th centuries, until Louis XIV moved to Versaille in 1682.  Below is the Queen's pavilion "or really big house" and opposite it, across the courtyard was one that looked the same and was the King's pavilion.

Started by Charles V, the below chapel was also built and modelled after the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.  This chapel is also called Saint Chapelle.  They are called sister chapels.

After riding the metro back in toward Le Arc de Triumphe, we realized we were hungry and needed sustenance.  This consisted of coffee, beer, bread, and cheese and we were ready to hit the pavement again!

We will be going up in the Arc de Triumphe later in the visit, but just walked around and under it this time.



We had a great day, it was gray, but it didn't rain.  One thing you can't help but notice in Paris is the large amount of motorbikes, scooters, and motorcycles.  They are so interesting.  The French really are full of contradictory paradoxes.  They smoke everywhere.  Kim and I are starting to feel peer pressure to smoke (just kidding).  But I have yet to see a person on a motorcycle or scooter without a helmet!

Tonight as we were walking back from dinner, we came across this metro exit.  Yes, this is where people come out of the Metro at a stop near us. 

Don't mind the fuzziness, that happens after a couple glasses of wine.  Au Revoir.

Paris Day One

It's been an amazing first day in Paris.  Paris will take over this blog for the next couple weeks, but I will try to keep a foodie twist! 

I got into Paris a little after noon (Paris time) yesterday and navigated the train with a connection to the metro to meet my friend Kim at the Tuileries metro stop.  We then walked to the apartment she's been in for a week and I'm sharing with her for two weeks.  I only slept two hours on the flight over, but did pretty well.  At the apartment I freshened up and then we headed out into the rain for 3 -4 hours to walk and get something eat.  When we came home and I finally went to bed I slept for a glorious 12 1/2 hours.  Yes, the Eiffel Tour is still impressive in the rain.

Today we walked for 8 1/2 hours with very little resting.  A few small bites to eat, but probably less than 1 hour total sitting.  It was a glorious day with only one brief rain shower.  We covered a lot of ground.  In the area of Les Halles, look what I found.  It was like a cooking hardware store!

It had every thing you could want.  You should have seen the collection of rolling pins, whisks, tart pans, and more!  Below you see every possible size of cheesecake rim hanging.

I can only possibly share a small number of the pictures I took today.  Below you can see the ceiling of Saint Merry church.

How cool!  They have whole blocks where only electric cars can park!

On the Ile De La Cite, the island in La Seine that houses Notre-Dame, is a year around flower market.  It was beautiful.

I need to play more with the Panorama feature on my phone.  Isn't this a cool picture of Kim?!!?  We are constantly taking pictures of random very cool buildings. 

This is Saint Jean XXII square behind Notre-Dame et moi.

The flowers are very pretty, especially the tulips right now.  But there are never "just" tulips.

As we headed up toward the La Sorbonne, unknowingly as we thought we were Ile St. Louis, we saw this amazing row of specialty shops.  It is amazing how you get your cheese, meat, bread, chocolates, pastries, fish and more all at individual shops.  It means the variety and quality of what you are buying is exquisite.  Because if that boulangiere's baguette is not up to snuff you can go around the block!

The Patisserie windows are amazing!  We have not gone past window shopping yet, but no doubt that will come soon.

Dinner tonight consisted of two glasses of wine and sharing an appetizer of crusty goat cheese with an endive salad.  They brought the bread and bowl of thinly sliced sausage just because.  The selection of charcuterie (ham, sausages of all different sizes and variety, pate, etc) is amazing here.

And finally the sun was setting on La Seine and Eiffel Tour as we walked home.

Bonsoir!

A Weeknight Stir Fry

This may not happen to you, but every now and then I will start craving red meat.  And when I realize it, I'll think back and think hmmm, I guess it has been a few weeks since I've had red meat.  I've never been vegetarian, I grew up in a meat eating family, what's this about?  Well, I think there are a couple reasons, but mostly I just love vegetables so much, that when I'm traveling or out, I steer straight at the vegetables on the menu and when I'm home I desire more fish and chicken, now that I have natural chicken in the freezer.  So, that's a long introduction to tonight's weeknight meal.

First this morning, I thought I wonder what red meat is in the freezer.  I went and looked and found some of my parents amazing stew meat from their farm-raised Fallow Deer.  Score!  Hmmm, what to do with the stew meat?  It didn't take me long to think stir fry?  Yes, stir fry!

I decided on a basic recipe out of a cookbook I got when living in Dayton, called Causing a Stir, fabulous food to get people talking: A Junior League of Dayton Cookbook (2000).  I must say this cookbook has never disappointed. 

The recipe is below as written, but of course I used the vegetables I had on hand and jazzed it up just a bit, my changes are in italics.

Thai Lemon Beef
1 (1 inch thick) boneless beef top round steak (Even better, steak or stew meat from local farm raised venison!)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
2-3 teaspoons dried red pepper flakes (I only used 1 teaspoon as dear hubby can't handle that much heat.)
4 cloves garlic (I used 2 cloves, again garlic bugs the hubby.)
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1/3 pound snow peas
4 green onions, cut into 2-inch pieces
4 carrots, julienned (As you can see below I used celery, carrot, and the stalks from swiss chard for my veggies tonight.)

2 teaspoons cornstarch
Hot cooked Oriental noodles or rice (I'm working on clearing out my well stocked pantry and used some whole wheat egg noodles I had.)

1. Cut steak across the grain into 1/8 inch thick strips and place in a medium bowl.
2. Combine soy sauce, lemon juice, water, pepper flakes, and garlic.  Pour half of mixture over steak; reserve remaining half.  Cover steak and marinate in refrigerator for 1 to 8 hours.
3. When ready to cook, drain steak, discarding marinade.
4. Stir-fry steak in oil in 2 batches.  Using a large skillet or wok over medium to medium high heat for 1 minute, or until outside of beef is no longer pink.  Remove from skillet. 

1. Add vegetables to skillet; stir-fry 3 minutes, or until crisp tender.

1. Whisk corn starch into reserved marinade.  Stir into vegetables until thickened, add steak and stir-fry until heated.

I jazzed this up by adding a spoon of Black Bean Paste to the sauce, so I could empty that jar in the refrigerator, but I think it would have been good as is.  Also, I added chopped peanuts on the top.  I mean really, when aren't chopped peanuts a good idea?

Ode to the Ski Season

We are at the end of another ski season.  If luck is with us, we'll have one more weekend this year.  While it hasn't been a stellar ski season in Utah or Colorado, there have been plenty of days to enjoy the good life of blue sky winter days and fresh air.

 In the above picture you can see me in the background, arms spread, loving life.

Some days are gray, some are snowy, some have clouds, and as you can see, some ski days are topped off with the most brilliant blue ever.



We'll ride up the hill on chairlifts that are slow and chairlifts that are fast; some have cushions and foot rests and some are just a hard seat, without even a safety bar; some hold 2, 3, 4, even 6 people.



But, if there is no chair lift and we need to get to the good runs, we'll even take alternative means of transport!



It doesn't matter how we get there or what color the sky is, skiing keeps us active all winter.  It helps make sure we get some vitamin D, at least a little bit on our nose, and it clears out the hours of sitting at a computer with much needed fresh air.

We are always hungry following a ski day and if we think ahead the crock pot provides us with amazing meals.  This past weekend we enjoyed a pork roast, with dilled baby red potatoes, salad, and sauteed green beans.   Don't forget the red wine. Yum Yum!



If we are lucky, we can even start out our days right with something like this Green Bean, Potato, and Feta Cheese Frittata.



Whether the ski season is filled with tons of new snow or just great blue day groomers, we are always a little sad to see it end.  Our skis will wait patiently for next season, perhaps more patiently than ourselves.  Next September I'll already be thinking about the pre-ski season workout to strengthen my knees and the upcoming great ski days with friends, followed by well deserved meals and laughter. 

Thanks to all our skiing friends for sharing in yet another ski season!

Braised Short Ribs

Recently dear hubby was gone for a week and I wanted to make a nice dinner for his first night back.  But, I had to plan ahead since I was going to be out of the house the whole day before he returned.  So down to the freezer I go and the Short ribs from the happy pig we purchased last year jumped out at me.

What to do next?  Head to the Internet to look for the perfect recipe!  What should I find but a Braised Short Rib recipe from Tom Colicchio on the Food and Wine website.  Now I've seen Tom comment on short ribs multiple times on the Top Chef show, so I think, surely this is an excellent recipe!  It has many steps, but that's ok, I had the time throughout the week, just not the day of dinner.

You can find the Braised Short Rib recipe from Tom Colicchio by clicking on the link in this line.

You must start this recipe at least one day in advance.  First, brown the short ribs - they already look and smell yummy!

Next, saute the vegetables and mix with wine and thyme.  Pour over the ribs and refrigerate overnight.

Next day, add the chicken stock and cook in the oven.  I followed it through this step (step 3 in the recipe) and then refrigerated it again.  Also, before refrigerating it again, I took the sauce without the thyme sprigs and pureed all the vegetables into it.  Yum!

Finally, I baked it again until the meat was falling off the bones and the sauce had reduced (maybe a little too much), but it was amazing.  I set this out with a bottle of red wine, a salad with homemade blue cheese dressing, and egg noodles with buttered breadcrumbs.  A great way to catch up after a week apart.

What's your favorite relaxing "catch up" meal?