la fin s'approche...
Monday, 7 July
Since I didn't have to work Monday, I spent a few hours in the morning putting the finishing touches on my putain de rapport de stage. Luckily I had enough done at this point that what was left, formatting etc, was not tooooo onerous. (just rather onerous). When I finished, I went for a walk through the third and into the fourth.
I love the juxtaposition here of old in the foreground and modern in the background :
For lunch, I returned again to rue des rosiers :
But no falafel this time! Much at the end of the street, 3 rue des rosiers, is my favorite restaurant :
The name, if you couldn't guess from the picture, translates to "The dormouse in the teakettle." The interior is as homey and intimate as the name would imply :
The tables are very close together (as in any restaurant in Paris), the furniture doesn't all precisely match, the walls are painted and plastered with posters for events around the city. I had been here once before, a few weeks earlier. Today, I decided to go with a tarte salée au chèvre, au tomate et aux capres (a savory tart with goat cheese, tomato, and capers) :
It came with a small side salad (it's interesting - the word "salade" not only refers to salad, but also to greens, and frequently, when you get a side salad in Paris, you get the latter interpretation of the word.... just greens, with a vinaigrette, generally) and a basket of bread, which is the norm in pretty much any sit down restaurant, from what i have seen. This tarte was good, but not as good as the oignon rouge et tomate (red onion and tomato) tarte I had had on my first visit.
Of course dessert at le loir dans le théière is a must (actually, for me, it's a must at pretty much any restaurant...) I ordered the clafoutis aux abricots :
A clafoutis is an eggy, custardy dessert, with pieces of fruit strewn within it. Delicious.
After lunch, despite the fact that it was my day off I didn't have a lot of time because I had my final atelier de rapport de stage... I was glad to finally be done with those! I had about an hour or so between the end of my atelier and the beginning of my class, so I walked a few blocks to get to another bakery recommended in my patisserie guide, le moulin de la vierge. I had a "clafoutis" aux cerises, but it wasn't really much of a clafoutis... Much more like a cake, not nearly so eggy. Still very tasty... And much easier to eat on the go than a real clafoutis!
After class, I headed back to chez moi to put the final touches on my rapport de stage and begin studying for my final exam on Thursday.
Tuesday, 8 July
With only a week left in Paris, I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss out on any culinary experiences.... So I came here for breakfast on the 8th - du Pain et des Idées (With Bread and Ideas) :
I had been here before. It is only a 7 minute walk or so from my apartment, but in a direction I never would have gone without the recommendation by Jamie. I hadn't noticed this sign in the window before :
Evidently he has won the award for the best baker in Paris. I have no idea how this is decided, but it certainly must be quite a feat. And I must say, this bakery is worthy of the title. They make the best croissant I have tasted, and their chauson à la pomme (a pastry filled with a baked half an apple) is crispy yet light and flaky and absolutely unparalleled. Everything that I tasted from the shop, in my several visits, was incredible. It may be a little out of the way, mais il vaut la visite! (It's worth the trip)
For lunch, on my last lunch that was on my own for work, I visited another favorite bakery, Au Lavain du Marais, and got this quiche lorraine :
So good. Also I got a flan, which was also delicious. For my last week or so I was definitely all about the flan and clafoutis... Now I just have to figure out how to match the texture here so I can make it for myself!
Walking home from work, I passed this little group :
This is the Paris I love... the Paris of the reoncontre inattendu... the unexpected encounter. You never know when you're going to pass the Marché des enfants rouges and see a film crew working with a mime...
Tuesday evening, I had my last dinner with my host family. My host mom had spent the weekend at the beach, and there she had picked up spreads made of several different fish, so we had small biscuit-like cakes spread with salmon or sardine or tuna, as well as cucumber sandwiches, and salad, and pains aux poivrons (small savory muffins with bell peppers) and cake au poulet - chicken "cake", a savory loaf with pieces of chicken. A rather diverse spread! The pains aux poivrons were especially good. For dessert, Lili, the youngest daughter of Catherine and Jacques, made a cake with chocolate frosting on the outside and a layer of her mom's home-made gelée aux grosailles - currant jelly - as the inside frosting. It is called un gateau d'août - an August cake... I'm not sure why. Lili just graduated from college, and is now living with her parents while she looks for work. She does not want to stay in Paris; instead, she would rather head to the country to get work with a parks or gardens service.
So you could certainly say I ate well on Tuesday.... And this was a trend that was certainly to last the rest of the week! Hopefully I will write about all of my fabulous culinary adventures soon.
A bientôt,
Since I didn't have to work Monday, I spent a few hours in the morning putting the finishing touches on my putain de rapport de stage. Luckily I had enough done at this point that what was left, formatting etc, was not tooooo onerous. (just rather onerous). When I finished, I went for a walk through the third and into the fourth.
I love the juxtaposition here of old in the foreground and modern in the background :
For lunch, I returned again to rue des rosiers :
But no falafel this time! Much at the end of the street, 3 rue des rosiers, is my favorite restaurant :
The name, if you couldn't guess from the picture, translates to "The dormouse in the teakettle." The interior is as homey and intimate as the name would imply :
The tables are very close together (as in any restaurant in Paris), the furniture doesn't all precisely match, the walls are painted and plastered with posters for events around the city. I had been here once before, a few weeks earlier. Today, I decided to go with a tarte salée au chèvre, au tomate et aux capres (a savory tart with goat cheese, tomato, and capers) :
It came with a small side salad (it's interesting - the word "salade" not only refers to salad, but also to greens, and frequently, when you get a side salad in Paris, you get the latter interpretation of the word.... just greens, with a vinaigrette, generally) and a basket of bread, which is the norm in pretty much any sit down restaurant, from what i have seen. This tarte was good, but not as good as the oignon rouge et tomate (red onion and tomato) tarte I had had on my first visit.
Of course dessert at le loir dans le théière is a must (actually, for me, it's a must at pretty much any restaurant...) I ordered the clafoutis aux abricots :
A clafoutis is an eggy, custardy dessert, with pieces of fruit strewn within it. Delicious.
After lunch, despite the fact that it was my day off I didn't have a lot of time because I had my final atelier de rapport de stage... I was glad to finally be done with those! I had about an hour or so between the end of my atelier and the beginning of my class, so I walked a few blocks to get to another bakery recommended in my patisserie guide, le moulin de la vierge. I had a "clafoutis" aux cerises, but it wasn't really much of a clafoutis... Much more like a cake, not nearly so eggy. Still very tasty... And much easier to eat on the go than a real clafoutis!
After class, I headed back to chez moi to put the final touches on my rapport de stage and begin studying for my final exam on Thursday.
Tuesday, 8 July
With only a week left in Paris, I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss out on any culinary experiences.... So I came here for breakfast on the 8th - du Pain et des Idées (With Bread and Ideas) :
I had been here before. It is only a 7 minute walk or so from my apartment, but in a direction I never would have gone without the recommendation by Jamie. I hadn't noticed this sign in the window before :
Evidently he has won the award for the best baker in Paris. I have no idea how this is decided, but it certainly must be quite a feat. And I must say, this bakery is worthy of the title. They make the best croissant I have tasted, and their chauson à la pomme (a pastry filled with a baked half an apple) is crispy yet light and flaky and absolutely unparalleled. Everything that I tasted from the shop, in my several visits, was incredible. It may be a little out of the way, mais il vaut la visite! (It's worth the trip)
For lunch, on my last lunch that was on my own for work, I visited another favorite bakery, Au Lavain du Marais, and got this quiche lorraine :
So good. Also I got a flan, which was also delicious. For my last week or so I was definitely all about the flan and clafoutis... Now I just have to figure out how to match the texture here so I can make it for myself!
Walking home from work, I passed this little group :
This is the Paris I love... the Paris of the reoncontre inattendu... the unexpected encounter. You never know when you're going to pass the Marché des enfants rouges and see a film crew working with a mime...
Tuesday evening, I had my last dinner with my host family. My host mom had spent the weekend at the beach, and there she had picked up spreads made of several different fish, so we had small biscuit-like cakes spread with salmon or sardine or tuna, as well as cucumber sandwiches, and salad, and pains aux poivrons (small savory muffins with bell peppers) and cake au poulet - chicken "cake", a savory loaf with pieces of chicken. A rather diverse spread! The pains aux poivrons were especially good. For dessert, Lili, the youngest daughter of Catherine and Jacques, made a cake with chocolate frosting on the outside and a layer of her mom's home-made gelée aux grosailles - currant jelly - as the inside frosting. It is called un gateau d'août - an August cake... I'm not sure why. Lili just graduated from college, and is now living with her parents while she looks for work. She does not want to stay in Paris; instead, she would rather head to the country to get work with a parks or gardens service.
So you could certainly say I ate well on Tuesday.... And this was a trend that was certainly to last the rest of the week! Hopefully I will write about all of my fabulous culinary adventures soon.
A bientôt,
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