around Paris, part 7

We couldn’t all fit into my uncle’s little VW, especially with our luggage. After days of intermittent planning and rearranging (these things take longer in three languages), it was decided that my younger cousin and I would take the metro to Breuillet and the rest of the party would go in the VW. Because of the “Tour de France” path my uncle had given us (he was sure our shorter path would be too complicated), it took some time to arrive at my mom’s friend’s home. And because my uncle got the wrong instructions (thanks to his son-in-law’s google printout), they arrived just a few minutes before we did.

But we were all well rewarded with a sumptuous lunch. We sat on the patio, soaking in the spring sunshine.

The weather was beautiful as we munched on the special salad with sautéed octopus. Followed by the most succulent grilled pork chop I’d ever eaten, and I’ve eaten a lot of them!

After lunch, we walked around a man-made lake in this retirement community. It was hard not to want to stop and just sigh. And maybe calculate just what it would take to move here.

Soon, we bid my uncle and aunt farewell. It had been a full and rich visit and we all promised to connect again soon (never mind that my uncle is notoriously bad at correspondence).

The following day, my mom’s friend took us back into Paris. Knowing that I had a penchant for cooking, she took us to see Lafayette’s Gourmet floor.

Gorgeous and exhorbitantly priced desserts

And plenty of first class cheeses. That wall of little packages you see on the right? That’s stacks of yogurt cups. There were lots of things I wanted to photograph like areas devoted to Italian sausages and legs of lamb hanging on racks, seasonal (and not so seasonal) fruits and vegetables, Asian foods with prepared dumplings and various rolls…

Afterwards, we headed to Les Invalides where there were several points of interest, including Napoleon’s grave and military museums.

Inside Eglise Saint-Louis des Invalides

As we left and headed towards the Petit and Grand Palais, we saw this statue of Winston Churchill in his famous stride.

That night, we were introduced to a new appetizer - tarama (a sort of fish roe spread). My mom’s friend had recently been to Greece and enjoyed this dish, so we tried it too and loved it.

“Get plenty on your bread,” we were advised, “then grind some pepper on top and a squeeze of lemon.” It was an interesting sensation - my eyes told me something this pink should be fruity, while my tastebuds communicated hints of the sea. Delicious!

Then, we dined on comfort food - pho!

And munched on these darling mini financiers that we’d picked up at the Eric Kayser counter at Lafayette Gourmet (at 33€ per kilo, mind you, which works out to about $25 per pound I think).

I’d seen recipes for financiers before, but never understood their appeal - they seemed like little pound cakes to me. Needless to say, I get it now. And I’ve just bought ingredients to try making some (though they won’t be as cute since I can’t locate molds that are quite like these).

For our final day in Paris, we decided to take it easy and walk to a nearby lake (Trévoix) where there was a lovely winding path about three or four kilometers long. We could hear choruses of frogs squawking along the banks and ducks quacking back. Lots of people were out joggin or cycling or just walking with their families. This felt like a real vacation. Sigh. You can see our final dinner on this post about crispy noodles.

And before I knew it, we were back in the air on our way home. Thanks for joining me on this visit to Paris.

spring in Paris, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6

~ by nikkipolani on May 17, 2008.