Food Diary #5 Paris

Whew...it's been a while since I wrote. Well, only about a month, but it feels like forever...in the meantime I got married and the husband and I ate our way across Paris. Of course I chronicled it all...though we were crippled by the nasty euro/dollar exchange, we still managed to gain about ten pounds each despite walking all day every day for two weeks. I digress...

Wed May 21

Lunch - Chez Germaine, Montparnasse area

Beef tartare, lentil salad, Marinated herring and potatos, roast duck and a cote de rhone

Ate on patio, perfect in every way

Dinner - Le Gymnase, Montparnasse

Escargots, croque monsieur, pommes frites and a cote de rhone

Ate on patio, read our books, best snails ever, watched Chelsea/Manchester game

Thursday May 22

Lunch - Au petit bar, Champs Elysee

Camembert, Bleu de Auvergne, Saucisson plate and a cote de rhone

Ate at a tiny bar inside, extremely expensive neighborhood, this was a little gem. The bleu

cheese was amazing...and as we found out auvergne and camembert are on every menu.

Dinner - Sucky and not worth mentioning

Friday May 23

6am - Our hotel, Montparnasse

A bottle of champagne

Lunch - Forgot to write the name down, somewhere near Les Invalides

Veal, steak, beer, pommes frites, cappucino, creme brulee and cognac de Napolean

A very nice lunch at a table on the cusp of outside, watched little girl feed the pigeons, the PBR of beers served in France, Kronenberg, is rather sweet and fruity. The owner couldn't make their credit card machine work so the husband trekked to the nearest ATM, only to return to an apologetic owner who then bestowed cognac on us and bade us relax. Very nice people.

Dinner - Restoration Bar, Montparnasse

Nutella and Bannana crepe, Chevre and Potato crepe, many many beverages.

The only time we hung at a bar for hours. Bizarre combo of american seventies love ballads alternating with modern hip hop for music. Had a wonderful conversation with a Moroccoan gentleman in stunted french. He was thrilled and surprised that we neither threw our cigarette butts on the street nor were offended an older gentleman declared he did not like americans at all.

Sat May 24

Lunch - A Gyro Stand near Notre Dame

Gyro and Falafel sandwiches rolled up and stuffed cone like with fries

Ate partially standing and then crouching on rocks in the street. Really tasty and cheapest thing there...though crepes are pretty cheap too.

Dinner - Our hotel/La grande epicerie

Grocery store dinner of caviar, creme fraiche, bread of course, camembert de calvados, lives, terrine sud-ouest and echine des porc seches with champagne...all laid out beautifully on our bed and ate with a pair of scissors and our sugar spoons while watching CNN.

Sunday May 25

Lunch - A repeat of last night's dinner! "Aw ma...caviar and champagne...AGAIN!"

Dinner - Le Bec Rouge, Montparnasse

An alsacian brasserie - Foie gras, salmon tartare, flamekueffe ( a sort of piece of cheese baked), lamb shank, veal kidneys, champagne and a kir alsacian, cherry, vanilla and cafe sorbets.

Everything was good, thought the kidneys will not be visited again by me...just not my style. The sorbets were excrutiatingly flavorful. There was a cheese plate as well, but we had to take it and some lamb home we were too full with the evening's prix fixe.

Monday May 26

Lunch - Le Bruant, Pigalle

Smoked salmon, eggs with homemade mayonaise and salad, spaghetti bolognaise and the fish of the day, which I took to be sea bass and a pitcher of rose...

Ate on super cramped patio and followed lunch with a visit to Sacre Coeur and a Peep Show...good times.

Dinner - Leftover cheese plate and lamb andd bread!

Tuesday May 27 - Normandy

Lunch - D-Day Museum, Caen

Steaks, pommes frites, apple tart - quite nice for museum fare

Dinner - Gyros before we jumped back on train in the rain!

Wednesday May 28

Lunch - La Coupole, Montparnasse

Our most expensive meal

A huge silver tray on an ice pedestal with raw oysters, sea snails, mussels. clams, oysters, and shrimp

Salmon and eggplant wrapped in a roasted eggplant "sleeve"

Lobster ravioli

Fois gras escaloppe

Crepes suzette flambe and ile flottante with cappucinos
This was a beautiful long lux meal in a lovely art deco restaurant that was massive in size. The sea snails were delightful...everything in fact, was delightful.

Dinner - Grocery store Fixins

Lentil salad, bananas, bleu cheese, bread, champagne

Thursday May 29

Lunch - Versailles

Bad and expensive paninis followed by a very bad snack later of gross potatoes

Dinner - La criee, Montparnasse

"Crisply prawns", Prawn and Sea Bream rolls, moules mariniere, moules creme and pommes frites

All was fantastic...I think they served us 5 pounds mussels each...I have never gotten stuffed on mussels till then...french fries included for dipping in the delicious broth...we waddled home

Friday May 30

Lunch - Place de republique

Grapefruit and avocado puree with crepes and dill (to die for), baked goat cheese, escalope to veau with leek and anisette, "salade orientale" with a bottle of sauvignon blanc...a wonderful "last great meal"

Dinner - Montparnasse

Goat cheese and potato crepe from outdoor stand and a "speed rabbit" pizza which the husband enjoyed with a bottle of champagne while wearing no knickers...we finished our grand french trip by watching the new "King Kong" in french...neither of us had seen it before, both of us cried horribly.

It was a good eating time...some bad, some good, all very expensive...I will keep USA and the ability to have a fabulous meal at $10 or $200. God Bless America!

We are grateful for: each other, and our love which has lasted so long now.