Eclair Tasting

Tags

blogger meetup, eclair, eclairs, expats, girls, l'atelier de l'eclair, l'eclair de genie, paris, paris apartment, paris bloggers, paris eclairs, paris expats, parisiennes

A few weeks ago, I received one of those no-brainer invitations. The gist was: “hey, want to get together with a bunch of awesome bloggers and eat eclairs for a few hours?”

Obvious answer, right?

Carin from Paris in Four Months invited me, Milsters from Little Pieces of Light, Grace from Will She Love Paris? Edna from Expat Edna, Melanie from Feed Your Awesome Machine and Sugared & Spiced to taste a sampling of eclairs L’Eclair de Genie and L’Atelier de l’Eclair for an article on the HiP Paris blog. Go check it out for details and Carin’s amazing photography!

Instagram, Lately

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food, france, instagram, paris, paris instagram, photos, social networking, travel

Are you on Instagram? Of course you are. Here’s my last month or so via our favorite square photo based social networking platform.

It’s been a month of late nights, lunches, beer, and bourbon. If you’d like to see what’s going on through the lens of my iPhone, you can find me under dianeabroad.

A Reunion

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brentwood, brunch, eggs, farmshop, farmshop la, french toast, girlfriends, los angeles brunch, los angeles restaurant, mimosas, pastrami, restaurants, reunion, westside

Things I Missed

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beer, burger, california, diner, double double animal style, father's office, hakata ramen shinsengumi, home, in-n-out, los angeles, mendocino farms, nostalgia, rae's diner, rae's restaurant, ramen, santa monica, the bruery five golden rings

Guess where I am?

My Paris, Week 23: 12 Pubs of Christmas and Frenchie bar à vins

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#12pubs, 12 pubs of christmas, bar, bar à vin, beer, christmas jumpers, drinking, frenchie, frenchie bar a vins, friends, irish pubs, paris, paris restaurants, paris wine bars, pubs, restaurants, travel, ventreche, where's me jumper, wine

This week I learned… something… about restraint… or knowing your limits… or something like that. It’s all kind of a blur really.

So what happened is that my French class partners, Tríona and Oisin, invited me to something called “12 Pubs of Christmas.” Basically, the goal was to hit up twelve different pubs in twelve hours, drinking a beer at each one. We started with a lovely brunch at Tríona and Oisin’s place, where we all looked bright-eyed and chipper in our Christmas jumpers.

Each pub had a rule, such as: you must wear a Christmas jumper, or drink with your non-dominant hand, or not call anyone by their real name. Penalties for rule-breakers included drinking shots and doing Irish dances. Keep this sober, late-morning photo in mind. We degenerated quickly.

I think part of the thing I learned was something about not starting out too strong. There were two options you could choose from to fully participate: drink one pint at each  pub (A-team), or one half-pint (B-team). Note that, in Paris, what they call a pint is really 500cl, so the A-teamers would be drinking a total of six liters total. I decided to start out on the A-team, then kick down to the B-team eventually. That decision was my downfall.

Roasted Chicken and a Robbery

Tags

break-in, chicken, cooking, dinner, food, garlic, main dish, poultry, roast, roast chicken, roasted chicken, robbery, rosemary, thyme, zuni cafe, zuni cafe cookbook, zuni cafe roast chicken

And just like that, I’m back in Paris.

I know, I had just arrived in Nice when I posted, and I had been intending to stay for at least another month. So what caused my precipitous departure from the French Riviera?

My apartment was robbed.

Yup.

It happened while I was out at a café, leeching off their wifi and posting about salmon. I came home and saw that drawers were open and things seemed messier than how I’d left them… and the windows were all open… and the closets had been rifled through… and there were muddy boot prints leading from the tiny window in the bathroom, which I saw now had a broken latch.

On the one hand, I was grateful that I wasn’t home when the break-in happened. Intellectually, I knew that the last thing a robber wants is for residents to be home when he’s about his thievery. On the other hand, I was still scared. Scared that whomever it was would come back for more (since I’d taken almost all of my electronics — anything of decent value — with me), and this time I’d be around for them to hurt. I called the gentleman and the friend from whom I was renting the apartment, packed up my things, and found a hotel room. Only after I got into the room did I see that my mascara had run and I looked like the star of a bad 90’s music video featuring a pop star with a no-good cheating boyfriend.

I felt violated. I had started to make a home for myself there, albeit a temporary one, and good homes are extensions of ourselves. I had even roasted a chicken in the kitchen the day before. Is there anything more homey than roasting a chicken on an Sunday?

So now I’m back, sooner than expected, trying to create some normality around me. Maybe I’ll roast another chicken tomorrow.

My Paris, Week 18: Salon du Chocolat, Tasting Menu at Verjus, and a Party

Tags

apartment, autumn, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, chocolate fountain, cuisine, fall, food, friendship, fromage, nougat, paris, paris restaurant, party, salon du chocolat, salon du chocolat paris, sherry, spices, tasting menu, tea, travel, verjus, vin, wine

This week, we visited the Salon du Chocolat, a huge chocolate expo at the Porte de Versailles. It was a chocolate, and people, overload — perhaps we should have expected it, since there are very few foods that people are more passionate about than chocolate.

My Paris, Week 17: Kotteri Ramen Naritake, Café Verlet, Verjus, Au Caveau Montpensier, Amanda Fucking Palmer at La Maroquinerie

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amanda fucking palmer, amanda palmer, amanda palmer paris, cafe verlet, food, kotteri ramen naritake, music, paris, paris bar, paris restaurant, ramen, rock, travel, verjus, verjus bar a vins, wine bar

Kotteri Ramen Naritake
31 rue des Petits-Champs, 75001 (Pyramides)

“And I have already spent too much time
Doing things I didn’t want to
So if I wanna sit here and write and drink wine
You can bet your black ass that I’m going to

Yes I come here often
Sure I’ll have another one
Yes I come here often
Sure I’ll have another one
But I don’t have to talk to you”
– Amanda Palmer, “Do You Swear To Tell The Truth The Whole
Truth and Nothing But The Truth So Help Your Black Ass”

My Paris, Week 14: Le Siffleur de Ballons, Nuit Blanche, Candelaria, Verjus Bar à Vin

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beer, beer bar, buskers, Candelaria, cat, champagne, chatelet, duff beer, flower shop, flowers, food, le siffleur de ballons, louvre, mexican food, neil gaiman, neil gaiman quotes, Nuit Blanche, paris, paris at night, paris bars, paris beer bar, paris restaurants, pikachu defibrillator, pont des arts, quai de seine, restaurant, sandman, sandman quotes, seine, street art, travel, verjus, Verjus Bar à Vin, wine, wine bar

Le Siffleur de Ballons
34 Rue de Citeaux, 75012 (Faifherbe-Chaligny or Reuilly-Diderot)
01 58 51 14 04

If a city has a personality, maybe it also has a soul. Maybe it dreams. That is where I believe we have come. We are in the dreams of the city. That’s why certain places hover on the brink of recognition; why we almost know where we are.
— Sandman #51: “A Tale of Two Cities”

My Paris: Week 11

Tags

arancini, au passage, bar a vins, beer, beer bar, biere, cantillon, friends, kale, la fine mousse, oysters, paris bar, paris restaurant, parisariane, tartare de boeuf, the kale project, verjus

It’s been a week full of friends and lots of good food and wine and beer. First, Au Passage with Ariane and Antoine. The menu was varied and everything we got was superbly fresh and well-sourced. Just look at that tartare de boeuf! We’ll definitely be going back.

Then to Verjus for a kale party thrown by the wonderful Kristen of The Kale Project, who’s been working tirelessly to bring kale to France.

The arancini and the salad (which I failed to get a photo of) were to die for. Thanks for the invite, Kristen, and thanks for the excellent wine and service, Laura!