Final Full Day

Thursday Sept. 13

Food tour with Wendy Lyn of The Paris Kitchen.
Freeeezing cold...my cute outfit is not appropriate for this temperature.
Got a great background on how the marketplaces came to be in Paris. She's full of really cool knowledge and obviously passionate about what she does.
First stop: Eric Kayser Artisan Boulanger
A good baguette and a bad baguette/order it "bien cuit" for well done like the French like it

Recipe idea: roast a chestnut pumpkin with salted butter, sage, walnuts, and add a dollop of creme fraiche

Oysters in France: sizes run from 0-7, we tried size 3 which was good/from Normandy--tasted like the ocean. Claires are vessels used to rinse oysters so they're not so salty.
Raw oysters=alive oysters! Never thought of that...but stopped thinking about it before I ate them.

MOF: Meilleur Ouvrier de France = best craftsmen in France (baker, chef, cheesemonger, butchers, and more)

There are 6 ways to age cheese and this Fromogerie has 6 caves under the sidewalk on which we stand to age the cheeses he sources from farms across France and other neighboring countries. Fascinating!!

Pecorino is to Italy what Machego is to Spain what Tomme de Brebis is to France


Dinner:

Our final reservation was at Pamela Popo -- what a name for a French restaurant. A tiny spot with FANTASTIC music--old soul and R&B...I could have listened all night. They had an old vintage Miss Pacman stand up game (Miss Pacman is one of my favorites!!) which I thoroughly enjoyed. Again, run by a very handsome Frenchman who unfortunately spent most of his time outside smoking on the sidewalk. This was the first time I looked at a menu and had not a clue what to do. From what I could decipher they were serving foam and puree. I joked that they got a Vitamix and decided to open a restaurant. We just took the proprietor's advice on what he loved on the menu and that was a good call. Although there was some sort of liquified vegetable in each dish, they were delicious. There was a table of about 8 girls in their early to mid-twenties celebrating something...we think maybe a pregnancy, although everyone toasted with champagne. We were wiped out and this was the perfect last supper.


~Not up for finding her French one-night-stand, Christine retired for the evening while I took one more spin around our Latin Quarter block. I wanted to soak in the energy of this incredible city. I don't know when I'll be back again, but I will be back.