Paris!

After our culinary adventure in Ireland, my husband, Andy, and I decided that since we were already on the Europe-side of the Pond, why not venture over to Paris for a few days? So we spent a week prowling about the City of Light, enjoying the vibe, the views and the food. We stayed in a marvelous bed-and-breakfast in Montparnasse—essentially we had the flat all to ourselves, occasionally visiting with our great hosts who lived a block away. Following are some photos from our jaunt . . .

Our first baguette was hot and perfect—crispy on the outside and delicate on the inside, flavorful and satisfying. It put all other bread to shame and illustrates why the French take their bread so seriously.

This was our first meal in Paris. … A bottle of wine and a round of camembert awaited us in our flat. We had only half a baguette left by the time we returned from the boulangerie, learning quickly from Parisians that you should always buy DEUX baguettes—one for dinner and one to eat on the way home!

A couple of photos from what we call our Arms-Length Studios collection, taken at Notre Dame and at Sacre Coeur.

This is the best steak tartare I’ve ever eaten.

Not so much a plate of raw beef as a religious experience . . .

. . . and this is the tiniest elevator I’ve ever ridden in, going up to our flat. The sign says it holds three. Actually, I think that’s three French or two Americans!

Oh well, you can’t read the name on the tombstone in this photo, but I visited the grave of Careme, King of Chefs and Chef of Kings, as they called him. I call him Big Daddy of Haute Cuisine. It’s impossible to get through culinary school without learning his contribution to food as we know it today.

Every time we had duck, we just had to break out our worst, most exaggerated French accents to deliver that line from Steve Martin’s L.A. Story—“You cannot have zee duck!” But boy oh boy, did we ever have zee duck, again and again . . .

Some people take decorating with copper cookware a little too seriously. The entire entryway of this restaurant was covered in copper sauté pans. Even the door handles were made of them! Personally, I’d rather cook with them . . .

I’m not much of a shopper, but hitting the stores—especially food markets like this one—is fun, as you try to decipher the labels and figure out what you have at home and what is new to you …

What a city! In Paris, wine with your meal costs less than a soft drink.

Can’t resist putting in a shot of a remarkable sunset over the Place de la Concorde.

© 2006, The Hungry Passport