i've been in paris for 4 days now and i have consumed (literally) so much that you'd think i was doing nothing other than eating and drinking. but that's not the case! in fact, i don't know how i've managed to eat and drink so much while already visiting the palais de tokyo, the seine, the tower, the champs elysees, the arc du triomphe, place de la concorde, montmatre and sacre coeur, the luxembourg gardens, st. sulpice, shopping through part of the marais and st. germain-des-pres/the seventh. what's crazy is that there is SO much more to see and do still. a couple of friends came to visit us for two days from london and they just left, so i'm taking this rare moment of pause to post more pictures of food and drink because there's already tons to share. but i'll have to be brief to get through it all.
the picture above is of chez jeanette at night, a great little neighbourhood bistro in the 10th where we're staying, near the (shady) chateau d'eau metro. no tourists except us, and a mix of artistic-looking young adults and business men and women on long lunches during the day. dark and chill at night with just the locals drinking until 2 even on this monday night.
this is the lunch we had there earlier–we ordered way too much. it was so cheap and light-sounding that we ordered an entree and plat each. but the portions were very generous and everything was so full of flavour that we could have been happy with only the entrees (top), which were a plate of girolle mushrooms (which i only ever seem to have in europe) and the best caprese salad we'd ever tried–super-fresh mozzarella (almost as good as buratta, i swear) and a rich basil oil, then prawns and scallops on zucchini ribbons for my companion and what they call a salad vert for me–a deep and wide bowl of fresh lettuces, rocquette, roasted artichokes, asparagus, long radishes, parmesan, and a great french dressing. i was so happy and grateful for every bite. ok, i'm describing things too much–this is going to take forever. moving on…
dinner at elegant yet cozy cigale recamier in the 7th. they specialize in souffles and everyone gets them for their plat and dessert as well. i had the buckwheat souffle with wild mushrooms in cream, and my partner had the green vegetable souffle with a poached egg inside. perfect delicate crust on the outside and the softest, airy flesh inside. mine was savoury and rich–and i was also impressed with the other…it's hard enough to perfect a poached egg OR a souffle. how good are you if you can do both at once inside of one another?? for dessert, we shared (had to. too rich. no room for two desserts) the caramel and fleur de sel souffle. another PERFECT souffle but this time subtly sweet, the warm caramel was dark-tasting and i swear i could describe the taste of the fleur de sel as sparkly. with a red sancerre to wash it all down and a coupe of pink champagne to start. happy happy happy…