Sunday, December 30, 2012

What I ate today in Paris

 Yesterday's record of what I ate.
 
 First stop - marche President Wilson near Metro Ilena.
 
 Why can't I leave the house before 11:30? Lunch time.
 
 I've had this before. A kind of pita with thyme + sesame seeds. On top brochette of poulet + taboule + hummos = Miam
 
 Then heated and rolled up like a buche de noel or jelly roll.
The dog of the day.
 
 Nearby a stop into the Palais de Tokyo
 
 The observers look like sculptures.
 
 Further on a bit - musee Guimet with a special exhibit on tea.
 
 At the end a sniffing display somewhat like The Art of Scent.
 
 On Champs-Elysees a Christmas marche is still going on.
 
 Time for a warming cup of chocolat chaud. Not Le Meurice but still good.
 Bus 42 to rue de Rivoli for a fast stop into the Apple store - this has become a daily habit.
 
 Browsing on Rivoli a look through the window at Angelina - just a look. Too crowded to go in.
 But not to crowded to stop inside Fromagerie Laurent Dubois.
 

 A petite piece de Roquefort - bleu de Laqueville for dinner.
Bleu + apple cider + grainy bread = heaven.
That was my day yesterday.Let me know if you want more daily reports?
Bonne Journee!

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Let Them Eat Bûche de Noël

 You can not go two steps in this town
 
 Without tripping over a log
 
 A chocolate log or a bûche de Noël
 
 Which evidently extends its welcome well past Noël into the celebration of Epiphany with a French king cake or galette des rois featuring yummy almond paste frangipane stuffed puff pastry and a surprise lurking favor inside but that's for a later post.
 
  
The variations on a theme are endless in Paris. Traditional bûche is made from a genoise or other sponge cake, generally baked in a large, shallow Swiss roll pan, frosted, rolled to form a cylinder, and frosted again on the outside. The most common combination is a basic yellow sponge cake, a rolade, frosted and filled with chocolate buttercream; however, many variations on the traditional recipe exist, possibly including chocolate cakes, ganache and espresso or other flavored fillings.
  
This macaron-decorated bûche de Noël looks like a kid's choo choo train to me.
 
  
Two choo choos meetup at a crossing.
LOOK OUT!
 Most of them resemble a bed with a headboard, footboard with stuff thrown on top...
 A marron glace serves as a pillow from elegant des Gateaux et du Pain.
Inside:La châtaigne en jeux de textures, amertume d'un miel d'arbousier : biscuit moelleux à la pâte de marrons, châtaignes entières « cuisinées », caramel et fleur de sel, crème douce-amère au miel d'arbousier, mousse de châtaignes.
 You can easily buy just a slice from a boulangerie
 An Austrian bûche slice at Angelina.
 
 Complimentary colors red + green for this single slice. Pastry chefs are artistes and have a color wheel onhand I'll bet.
 There are even whole mini bûche de Noël(buchette) for mini Parisiennes.
I have yet to taste a bûche de Noël but when in RomeParis...
Have you eaten bûche de Noël? Did you love it?
Should I?

Friday, December 28, 2012

1st Day Impressions

 Carol is in Paris...
 Yes I am
 Voila on rue Royale
 As usual/comme d'habitude obsessed with boxes and ribbons in pink natch
 Pink roses on Printemps' trees
 Pink, yellow, blue new perfumes from Guerlain - Les Parisiennes
 Proof positive I'm in Paris - I ate a paille framboise and made a mess down my front. miam
 I looked. Didn't taste. Not after that paille thing!
Bonne nuit Paris and PBers!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Guess...

 Guess who's in Paris today?
 Guess who's planning on staying..? 
Guess who's happy as a clam?
on verra bien tout
Bonjour Paris!

Monday, December 24, 2012

Regifting

 This is the season of gifting...
 I gave myself these red Repettos a while back (they were on sale bien sur!) and I was soooo happy.
 But (it's a big but) these shoes are rain makers. I should have sent them to the Mid West during the drout. I wear these red shoes and $#@!, if it doesn't pour cats and dogs.
 They're in very sorry shape. Sad and decrepid would not be an understatement.
 Looking at old PB posts a bell went off. Why not cover the tired red suede with a black permanent marker?
 Easy peasy if you have lots of time to kill and are a risk taker ahem.
 TA DA!
Trouble is, after completing one shoe I didn't much feel like doing the other shoe...
 And wouldn't a nice new fat bow be an improvement like these Jaime Mascaros?
 TA DA! I did it.
Re-gifted/revised Repettos.
They don't look half bad...at least from a distance. I even got a compliment in the hair salon. Could this be an improvement?
 I tried to get my 'new' ex-red shoes into the picture but it was no go. The Plaza Hotel's magnificent Christmas tree is cordoned off with a velvet rope.
Meanwhile Bear is enthralled with Bergdorf's poodles.
Dear PBers, I hope you get all the gifts of your hearts desire.
Thanks for coming along for the ride.