Paris Revealed

 As part of our new anti-jet lag regime, Bear and I got to CDG 5 hrs early and spent time browsing and vegging. We discovered Stephen Clarke's Paris Revealed - why ever didn't we get this terrific book on arrival instead of at departure? More to be revealed later...

 If you want an easy trip home book your AirFrance flight at 7:15 pm on a Tuesday night in November. Nobody on board.

Bear Onboard,
stretched out over 4 seats for a good 6 hour snooze - unheard of in the past. *Note Bear taped up his Backjoy and it never got lost and surely came in handy for long plane rides.

 

 Before we knew it, it was time to descend into NYC.

 Au revoir AirFrance for a lovely flight home!

 First thing this morning, rather than get up and face bills and reality, we dipped into Paris Revealed - our kind of book. You can dip in anywhere and start reading and laughing and yellow-underlining.

 British author Clarke, by lucky chance, turns up as a judge in the Grand Prix de la Baguette de Paris in 2010, a sort of 'Oscars' judging panel much to his surprise and all shennigans are revealed.

 Clues to judging good bistro fare are revealed by testing a classic dish like

 La salade de chevre chaud over and over until you can tell instantly it has not been pre-prepared ahead and then popped into a microven on demand.

 Where to see great art and not have your view impeded by hundreds of other tourists heads...

 Like at musee Marmottan for the Monets.

 I love it that Clarke dishes on each of the 14 Metro lines (the fun stops to get off and on) and Paris' 20 arrondissements describing their character and ambience.

 Clarke has lived in Paris for 2 decades and written a series of books like A Year in the Merde, yet I just discovered him in a recent Telegraph article. Once I'm done reading Paris Revealed (which only seems available on Kindle in the US so far), I'll be on to the rest. Read a few pages here.

 This book is both entertaining and informative in just the right ways to aid you in your pursuit of a faux Parisian transformation. *Be sure to check out the bread in any restaurant. The Euro starts and stops there so to speak by it's quality.

Bear and I will return soon to our Wheat Belly regime, but for the 1st morning back on home turf we indulged in madeleines from Boissier (bought as a gift for someone else, ahem).