Little Paris Kitchen

Cooking for one isn't much fun, so luckily I've been able to eat a few meals with friends. When I am at home in my little 'chambre de bonne', I'm armed with 2 hobs, one of which can't be used whilst the small oven is switched on. Nevertheless, here are some filling lunches that I've been able to rustle up while I'm home alone.

Vegetarian Bagel Pizza

Spicy quesadilla, Stuffed pepper, Chicken and tomato salad, and my first ever poached egg on a crumpet - yum!

Apart from baking brownies with the girls from Durham, I haven't yet attempted anything sweet - but I'm really itching to make cinnamon buns as the nights draw in. Perhaps as a 5th November treat! My lovely sister has promised that she'll send out some of her brownies with my Dad when he comes to see me in a few weeks. They're made with a custom recipe and have been causing quite a stir at home so I'm pretty excited.

Sarey's famous brownie

 Something nice to look forward to whilst I plough through (stumble through) 'Chatterton' by Alfred de Vigny - huh! 

À Bientôt !

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Paris from my Phone

À Bientôt ! 

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A Very Happy Birthday

It was my 21st birthday whilst I was out in Paris. The girls who I have befriended out here invited me to go to an Olly Murs concert with them - and when they told me the date I spluttered out - "that's my 21st birthday!" Nonetheless, I booked my ticket and decided to embrace the whole experience with 3 of the loveliest girls I've met out here. The day passed without too much excitement, apart from a brief chat with my Mum on the phone and a smile & a wave from the cannoli-seller in the "Da Rocco" Italian bistro on my road to send me on my way to lectures. At lunch-time, a kind man changed his order so I could have the last walnut and berry flute. I said thank you - but I wish I had told him that it was my birthday!

I got home exhausted, but wanted to share the little food package of English goodies with the French girl who lives in my building. We had a little English tea party where she gave her blessing to Marmite but rejected the crumpets as looking like sponges!

Clockwise: Dairy Milk Chocolate, Golden Shred Marmalade, PG Tips, Marmite, Warbutons Crumpets, Fox's Party Rings and in the middle, some Shortbread Scottie Dogs

I zipped round to the girls' house to have a quick drink and to be presented with the cutest little chocolate gâteau & some cards. They were very sweet & also insisted on buying me a glass of wine at The Trianon, where we eagerly awaited Mr. Murs. 

Cringey, mainstream and the polar opposite of edgy - he may be, but he can really sing & really appreciated his audience. Mr Murs was a real crowd-pleaser, insisting on wearing an awful beret throughout as it was his first gig in France, much to the delight of his Parisian fans who showed their support by shouting "Oll-eeeee, Oll-eeee" at regular intervals!

Afterwards, we bought nutella crepes and sat outside Madeleine, chatting for hours. No one sums it up better than Miss Ford on her Tumblr: 

À Bientôt !

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Paris-New York-London

So the day finally rolled around where I had to say goodbye to Sarey and Tommo :( ! After an incredibly brief trip to the Musee d'Orsay which had queues snaking all over its courtyard, we headed to Paris-New York. It's a burger restaurant near to Strasbourg-Saint-Denis, whose 'Morning California' burger I'd already had the pleasure of trying with a certain Miss Aggie Ford.

Round 1 of Paris-New York, The Morning California

Round Two - I didn't get round to taking many photos, sorry!

This time round I went for the Smoky Blue which I think pipped my first burger to the post in terms of taste, and we shared some loaded fries (with cheese & bacon - so decadent!) and ordinary chips. It's a very hip kinda place (if Urban Outfitters opened a restaurant, this would be it). Here's the menu:

 

Before long it was time to say goodbye at the Gare du Nord. I'd had the best weekend where I was with people I loved, and I didn't have to always think hard about what to say or put on a winning personality to try and fit in. I miss them so much but I'm so glad they came! It was with a heavy heart that I got back onto the Metro, bereft of my two partners-in-crime. 

Really good chocolates I bought for pudding for  the three of us - you've got to try them!

Luckily, I knew a friendly place where I would be welcomed - The Église Paris-Villiers. Such a warm, inviting church - their evening meeting happens twice a month and is more of a discussion platform for those who want to think about things beyond the mundane, hum-drum white noise of daily life. This week it was about why people pray. If you're anything like me, you've got big questions about your 'raison d'etre' and what life is all about. I won't pretend to be an expert, but when we studied Philosophy for a year at university I didn't find any answers there. Even if you are mildly interested or just looking for a warm welcome - please think about going along! I was greeted with take-out pizza after the short talk and, full of burger and missing home, I hesitantly ate a slice. 

It turns out that prayer, pizza and friendly people were just the cure I needed for a little bout of home-sickness.

Birthday gifts: Cute alarm clock and candle. DVDs - landlady's own ;) 

À Bientôt ! 

x

Jewels

After Angelina, it was a short walk to 'The Musee des Arts Decoratifs' which hides nestled inside the Louvre's vast façade. Under its wing are "Arts Decoratifs", "Mode et Textile" and "Publicite". Given my love of old retro posters, my sister's interest in a career in intellectual property (ooh) and my brother's Madmen addiction - we really enjoyed the Museum, and all the more so because it was free for European students under 25 years old. Just take along your passport/proof of identity for free access!

I really liked the fans - which, as they were dipping out of fashion amongst genteel ladies of the aristocracy, became a major tool for advertising - given out free at events. Savvy huh?

 

The jewellery department was all dramatic lighting and crisp cut diamonds - rather imposing and majestic rather than beautiful. There were also some oddities like a necklace made out of beanie babies and a bracelet made out of golden articulated shrimps!

"The day will come, have no fear, when many of these works which you now consider as mere products of industry...the day will come when many of these works will take their place in museums." Victor Hugo, Actes et Paroles I (1841-1851)

Still a little full of Angelina hot chocolate, we hopped on the Metro to Hugo's, a restaurant near to the Gare du Nord. Down an unremarkable street (cutely named 'Butterfly Street', or Rue Papillon', Hugo hides a cute and cosy interior which feels just like eating supper in someone's home. 

Amazing duck salad and goat's cheese toast! 

We may have splashed out on eating out but we made up for it with free museum trips and about 5k of walking!

Our adventure continued on Sunday morning - read all about it tomorrow!

À Bientôt !

x

Saturday Fun

We left off outside Angelina, where the short queue to get in only serves to build anticipation. There was a table waiting for 3 so we cheekily bypassed the waiting couples and were seated in the slightly quieter area at the back of the salon. The atmosphere is very luxurious with muted colours, thick creamy table cloths and soft pink lighting. Thinking about it makes me want to snuggle up and go to sleep!

Angelina is an experience - sickeningly decadent and very chocolatey. Like roller-coasters and scary movies, you start to wonder what you've let yourself in for, and yet immediately afterwards you'll be wanting to go again.

Despite having been once before and unable to finish either my hot chocolate 'à l'ancienne dit Africain ' or my cake, I of course nonetheless believed that ordering a chocolate pâtisserie alongside my drink was a good idea.  

The result was a serious chocolate overload as I chose the 'Choc Africain' chocolate mousse-y gâteau to go with the molten chocolate drink. Tom more sensibly plumped for a kind of vanilla choux pastry - the "Paris-New York", whilst Sarah got the Tarte au chocolat praline. Find the menu to see them here! The waitress kindly told us that all the chocolate was good for our health due to all the magnesium!

We wandered back through the Tuileries and headed to the Musee des Arts Decoratifs - which I'll have to write about another day.

Sadly, my university books have arrived which means I may have to begin reading them (!)

À Bientôt !

x

Steeped in History

Anxious to make the most our time, I hurried Sarey & Tommo out of the door & onto the Boulevard St. Germain, where we spent some time peaking into the windows of classy shops.

Beautiful old original posters - I don't want to think about the price!

Before long we had reached "Les Deux Magots" and were seated outside. Whilst I naïvely baked in the lingering glory of the literary heavyweights who frequented the cafe, Sarey & Tommo more realistically begrudged the lack of pain au chocolats and pain aux raisins. 

Unembarrassed, the waiter shrugged     

off this disappointment as I guess that the combined fame of Hemingway, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Picasso, Camus and other famous guests is more than enough to keep this cafe's good reputation alive..! 

The nearby Musee du Moyen Age.

Continuing down the Bvd. St Germain, we ended up at The Sorbonne where I am studying this year. I was worried that we wouldn't be let in as tourists are sometimes turned away, but luckily my student card was enough for all 3 of us to be let in with a wink and a smile from a cheery security guard.

Inside the Sorbonne - I'm so lucky! No one would look twice at the university buildings back in Durham! Was particularly chuffed to see the statue of Victor Hugo who I'm studying this year :)

Back on the banks of the river, we headed towards The Louvre where the promise of sickeningly decadent hot chocolate at Angelina beckoned. I'll leave you there, the rest of the story is for another day!

 À Bientôt ! x