Moving on to Switzerland

The Paris phase of the trip is over and we are on our way to Switzerland via train.

Our last full day in Paris

We began our day by hopping the Metro over to St. Sulpice to catch the organ prelude at 10:15. It is a marvelous instrument and the ethereal music was sublime ... probably a Faure.

Then we made a last walk through the Sunday Bastille market. It was like visiting an aquarium.

Signs of Christmas

More delicious French food

We were treated to a lovely afternoon in the western suburbs of Paris. Isabelle is from Bordeaux and these little morsels are a specialty of the region called cannele.
The cheese plate was divine. Starting with the blue cheese and moving counter clockwise around the plate their names are Saint Agur, Lou Perac brebis, Comte, Camembert, Chevre frois and Saint Felician. Each one just sang with flavor.

And I did not even photograph the first course of duck foie gras salad or the main of duck breast.
And on the RER ride back to Paris, Genevieve taught me the secret to the Parisian scarf tie.

...right down Santa Claus Lane ...

Now let me be clear from the outset ... I am not terribly proud of what the US has done to the image of Santa Claus. He is used crassly to sell toys to children in department store settings. But I do think that we can all hold on to the Clement Moore image with pride. The Dutch show a certain reverence to their Sinterklass, a bishop, riding a white horse and carrying a big accounting book of children's behavior over the past year. And he also has the intriguing behavior of disappearing back to Spain long before Christmas Day itself which saves him from having to join in the crass commercialism of Christmas.There is the problem of the Zwart Piets, but I won't go there.

But the French don't seem to have the same image of Santa. For example, I was at Galerie Lafayette and saw this sad site. Somewhere near the toy department they had pulled out a naugahyde chair for Santa to sit in. He was wearing thick black glasses and seemed genuinely uncomfortable holding this baby.Miracle on 34th Street this was notAnd in more than one place I caught this version of an inflatable Santa hanging off a balcony

And then painted on the side of a building in the 11th was this

The new word for today is "bette"

I was wanting to make a panade with my left over stale baguettes, but I could not remember seeing any Swiss chard in the market. Hunter said it translates as bette but when I saw it I did not think it LOOKED like Swiss chard.

But is DOES taste like Swiss chard and it added a nice sweet flavor to the panade.

razor clams

and even with a falling Euro, lobster at $40 a pound is no bargain

Yesterday we wandered along the banks of the canal ...


Later in the afternoon we walked along the Promenade des Plantee, Paris's version of the NYC High Line. It gave a new feel to the city being up near the rooftops.

click picture to enlarge

Sur la Seine

Monday we headed off to the 6th to see a Cezanne exhibit about his time in Paris. Much of the exhibit focused on work he had done on the tributaries of the Seine, the Oise and the Marne. Paris did not fit his temperment ... Provence is where he bloomed. But is was here in Paris where he had to sell.

We cooked in on Tuesday, and I took on that massive frisée I had purchased at market on Saturday. Remember that?

The recipe called for bacon, but all I could find was lardons ...

The recipe was titled Warm Chicken and Frisée Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette

http://events.nytimes.com/recipes/9869/2000/03/05/Warm-Chicken-and-Frisee-Salad-With-Bacon-Vinaigrette/recipe.html

Using the remains of the poulet roti from Sunday's market, I went to work in the kitchen.

I had Isabelle Boulay playing on the iPad, and a glass of vin blanc. Life is good

Sunday in Paris

Sunday morning we were out bright and early to catch the action at the marche Richard Lenoir that is practically at our doorstep. We bought some flowers for our Sunday dinner hostess and some fresh pate.
While standing in line to get our poulet roti, a gentleman rolled up with a kind of player piano organ grinder. Into one end he inserted a cardboard player card which played music as he turned the handle on the box. He used it as his accompaniment .



We then took the RER out to Saint Maur des Fosses for a lovely afternoon with friends. It was my first journey onto the Parisian suburbs, and I think I started at th top of th list. Here is a welcoming bottle of Champagne and nibbles.

After a splendid meal we all took a walk along the Marne.

Markets and morsels

I got a little carried away with the frisée at market this morning.  That is a LOT of frisée.  We wandered up to Blvd Charrone for their Saturday morning market.  In addition to the greens we picked up some Reblochon and some Brie de Meaux.  The first smear of it on a Parisian baguette and I felt fully arrived.  

I was a little more subdued at Gerard Mulot.  I only bought nine macaroons.

Plat du premiere jour

So our first meal in Paris was at Cafe des Anges. It was a buzzing crowd, most of whom it seemed ordered the famous burger. I chose the hanger steak with a tasty scoop of gratin potatoes that was perfection. That's horseradish sauce there on the side.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Take off

This was one big bird and we were on the top tier.  First time I walked UP hill  on a jetway.  This is Air France's premiere voyageur class btw business and coach.  There is a real difference in comfort and space.

No sleep on the plane ... A much too early flight for sleep, but we were in our Paris apartment by 10 Paris time and slept well into the afternoon.  Headed out for dinner and a night time exploration of our Bastille neighborhood with the time lag at our back pushing us bright eyed into the Paris night.

Preparing for Paris

I am hoping to leave my laptop at home and to blog from the flight deck of my iPad. This is easier said than done. It is the thorny question of how to upload photos. As promised in the reviews BlogPress is a bust (*note to self BELIEVE THE REVIEWS in the app store) , but if it DID work it would be sleek and wonderful. So now I am thinking about emailing my posts.

I'll be leaving the "books" behind for iphone maps of the Metro. I've even loaded a movie for the flight since my recollection of Air France's inflight screens is less than stellar.

I remember on my very first trip to Paris, Genevieve loaned me her hard cover Plan de Paris par Arrondissement.

Now I will be staring into a small screen as a venture forth.

Libros Para Pueblos

The Oaxaca Lending Library (OLL) was established in 1966 and is the oldest English language library in Mexico. Ten years ago members of this library began a program called Libros Para Pueblos in an effort to bring the joy of reading to children in primary grades in the remote villages surrounding Oaxaca. Today there are 41 libraries in remote villages. We went to visit two of them yesterday.

Our group of eight gathered at the OLL at 9 where we were met by three volunteers and a van. Our first destination was the library at San Lucas Tlanichico. The small village is outside of the market town of Zaachila. Emblazened over the door in both Spanish and Zapotec is the motto of their library .... Casa del Saber ... and yuu nan ... house of knowledge.I was unprepared for what happened upon our arrival. The local school emptied out and and each child came and shook our hands and went into the library and chose a book to read to us. We spent the next forty minutes listening to these young readers read to us. I let the pictures speak.About a 15 minute drive from San Lucas is the school that serves children living in more remote parts of the foothills. The school is named Margarita Maza de Juarez and even this short distance we could see the difference the added remoteness made in the opportunities for these children. If a child who attends this school wants to attend secondaria, there would be a 2 hour bus trip that costs $2 each way. That cost is prohibitive.

We were greeted by the principal and the children and the women who are the officers of the PTA. Again the children were eager to read us their favorite books, and before we left asked us to send them more. We have decided to sponsor a library located in San Pedro El Alto. Like this school we visited, San Pedro El Alto serves remote mountain villages. Interested in how Libros Para Pueblos works? Click here.