Tonight’s dinner was at a Basque restaurant near our apartment called Pottoka. Le Pays Basque straddles the border between France and Spain. The Basques are independent sorts who have their own language, which bears no resemblance to any other Indo-European tongue. They were horribly suppressed by the Franco regime in Spain; as a partial result, a Basque terrorist group with the acronym ETA was formed. The organization finally disbanded earlier this year.
Basque cuisine is similar to its Spanish and French neighbors. It’s primarily based on fish, seafood, and lamb. Fresh vegetables are also a big part. Some of the best restaurants in the world are in the Basque city of San Sebastian. The Basque country has been on my bucket list of places to visit for years, so I was looking forward to this dinner ever since Julian made the reservation.
Julian and I both started off with a salmon and apple appetizer, while Bruce got a huge bowl of razor clams with minced tomato and pepper. Our main courses were lamb confit and scallops with chanterelles and Israeli couscous. Everything was well prepared and very tasty. This was probably the best restaurant meal I’ve had in a year.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/13/basque-ing-in-goodness/
Today’s adventures involved looking for the woodworkers near Place Bastille. Since our woodworking friend Bruce is joining us on this trip (see the post, Our Wine Cellar), we were looking for power tools.
We ran across one wood shop that had this gorgeous chair in the display window:
Made from a single block of wood.
Side view. Sure beats chainsaw carved bears.
After lunch, we walked up to the BHV Department Store. This store is famous for its hardware section on the lower level. Bruce and Julian were drooling over all of the tools. Meanwhile, I bought a plaque for our home, “Chat lunatique (crazy cat)”.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/13/power-tools-of-a-different-type/
Marks & Spencer is an upscale British grocery chain that’s established a beach-head in France. Today we dove into one to warm up on our travels near La Place Bastille. This is one of the first items I ran across:
Gluten-free. A fine offering if you can choke down mincemeat.
I saw several more shelves of gluten-free goodies.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/13/seen-in-a-marks-spencer/
Tuesday night there was a mass shooting at the Christmas Market in Strasbourg. By Thursday morning, there was no mention of it on the CNN, Washington Post, or New York Times websites. I guess they’re waiting on the next shooting/bombing.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/13/a-curiosity/
The cascade of cute shoes!
My friends in the Cult of Cute Shoes have been waiting for this all year. The only animated items in this window are the assorted monsters.
Since I belong to the Cult of Shoes that fit, my purchase this year was two round-neck cashmere sweaters: One coral (the color of the year, according to Pantone), one baby blue.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/13/seen-at-galeries-lafayette/
We’ve had some scheduled items on this year’s trip. However, we’ve had plenty of chance encounters. On our first full day we went to the Church of St. Denis. This is a very old church that’s the burial place of much of French royalty, from Dagobert and Charlemagne to Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. St. Denis was the first bishop of Paris. The Romans beheaded him in the 3rd century. Then he walked up Montmartre Hill, head in hands, still preaching. His bones are in a reliquary behind the chapel.
On Monday we went to the Les Halles neighborhood to visit the holy shrines, Librairie Gourmande and Dehillerin. I walked out of the former with three cookbooks. We didn’t get any cookware at the latter.
Recipes from Syrian exiles.
The one on the left is from a well-known blogger. I bought the one on the right to mollify Julian when he saw the title of the one on the left.
On Tuesday we went to Place St. Michel and Ile de la Cité. On the way out of the Metro, Julian looked at a boquiniste along the Seine and saw a vintage 1930 cookbook. (No, I didn’t coax him into buying it.) Lunch was at the Café St. André, where we had hot drinks last year
The score from the banks of the Seine.
.
We went to St. Chappelle with about 5000 of our closest friends. Our friend Bruce left us to get ready for his night at the opera. Then we FINALLY got into Notre Dame. In previous years the line to get in was too long. The church was decorated for the holidays. The side chapels were interesting. We took the train back to the apartment and got some takeout at a traiteur around the corner.
More adventures to come.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/13/paris-promenades/
So we were at a café in Paris this afternoon people-watching. The vast majority of passersby were wearing black or gray. We figured that anyone who walked by wearing bright colors had to be a tourist. Now this was a Monday. Come Saturday, yellow vests will be de rigueur.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/10/noir-est-le-noir-nouveau/
We’re used to seeing ducks, cormorants, geese, eagles, and herons fishing in the river behind our home. Today I saw something completely different. I saw some ripples near the shore, indicative of some bird looking for lunch. What I was not expecting was to see a crow surface with a minnow in its beak. I told Julian about what I saw. As usual, he was skeptical – until he saw it himself. Crows are known to be extremely intelligent, but this bird had to have learned it from watching the other birds fish. Nature will always surprise me.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/08/diving-crows/
As with applesauce apples, I have strong opinions on eating apples. The latest fad in apple varieties is super-sweet. Witness the popularity of the Honeycrisp variety. I bought some Sugar Bee apples a week or two ago, and they were even sweeter than Honeycrisps. I prefer my apples crunchy with a tart edge. Perhaps tastes will swing back my way – eventually.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/07/how-do-i-like-them-apples/
We’re traveling to Paris for a quick vacation. This was a spur-of-the-moment decision and came together surprisingly fast. Julian made the plane reservations and rented the apartment we were in last year within a 48-hour span.
Going to Paris this year may be a little different, thanks to the “yellow vest” riots. President Macron increased taxes on fuel. These, combined with reduced buying power, have mobilized the citizenry to protest. So these developments have forced us to pack alternate items in our suitcases. Julian had these suggestions:
- Swim goggles, to protect eyes against tear gas;
- Bandanas, to protect the nose and mouth against same;
- My glasses, since tear gas and contact lenses are a bad combination;
- Nothing that could be mistaken for a yellow vest. (Julian has a yellow and silver rain jacket.)
And my mother is worried about terrorists?
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/07/paris-packing/
Load more
Recent Comments