j'aime la nourriture à Paris, Lord Help me.

So this week has been very interesting, I am actually starting to get to know my way around the city. Unfortunately, my current apartment which is lovely and wonderful ....is under construction and I have spent the majority of the last 2 weeks looking for a new place to live due to my allergies from the construction dust )-: Makes me sad because I already feel at home in this place and neighborhood. So apparently the real estate market in Paris is an "owner's market". I have literally had to interview for apartments,  send my work resume, detailed information about my visit, then meet with the owner or property manager for them to size me up in person as to whether or not I am a"fit".  I was turned down on the last interview, I can't tell whether to be offended or take it as a compliment. She said that she preferred to rent to someone "older"....a "Canadian retired man beat me out on that one"???? I am still looking but if I don't find a place soon my allergies are just going to have to deal with the dust.

After full days of apartment scouting, I have spent my evenings venturing out for dinner and let me just say, Please Lord,  help me from stopping at every pastry shop on the corner. The food here is magnifique. Here are my two favorite restaurants this week.....I can't say enough wonderful things about the following places, I hope my photos will do them justice.

First off, apologies in advance to my vegan/vegetarian friends.....I have been really good about eating plant based until my arrival in Paris (-: I was introduced to Verjus by my friend Jennifer who knows the two chef/owners. I have been there 3 times....it's that good. I ended up talking to the chef/owner Laura during my last visit and (after several glasses of wine) invited her and her husband over to my apartment for an Italian dinner .....just a little bit of pressure, cooking for these two amazing restauranteurs. www.verjusparis.com

Truffle poached egg, fava bean hummus, fava beans, green goddess, frisee

Skillet cooked duck, red cabbage kraut, orange, rye, smoked celery root.

Honey and cardamom panna cotta, strawberries, braised rhubarb, walnut biscuits. 

Dark chocolate sorbet, tonka bean and parsley cream, oranges, grapefruit, crumbled biscotti.

After diner I decided to stroll through Les Salons du Palais-Royal which is right across the street from the Louvre Museum. I was told buy a local that this is a great area to buy french perfume. I walked into a beautiful store Serge Lutens - Les Salons du Palais Royal to sample a few fragrances. The sales lady was so kind,  she walked me through the history of the perfume and all the fragrances. I decided to pick up a bottle to try out (thinking it was a spray bottle) pulled off the top and half the bottle spilled on me and the floor.....so embarrassing, oh well. I ended up smelling great the rest of the day and purchased a great bottle called L'eau (which means water).

With the rain the full force for the last 7 days straight, I have not spent a lot of time walking through the city. Last night, I did venture out for some Italian food. I was told there was a charming Italian restaurant around the corner, so I called and the manager said they had No reservations and that I could not walk in.......I decided to go ahead and show up in person anyway thinking how can this little Italian joint not have one single table free?? LOL. To my surprise it was an extremely fancy place, I should have known with the policeman standing outside the door. This is the one night I decide not to doll up for dinner, I mean no make up, jeans, at least I was wearing flats and not tennis shoes. I thought for sure they were going to turn me away at the door but the owner of the restaurant was so sweet, kind of mafia style. She was probably in her late 80's, and she was sipping on brandy at the main table when I walked in. They gave me a great table and all of a sudden they put a big basket of tomatoes and fresh vegetables on the table with at least 10 different plates of (cheese, olives, olive oils, spices, etc). I did not get a chance to take photos of the spread but it is worth a look on trip advisor
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187147-d719132-Reviews-Le_Grand_Venise-Paris_Ile_de_France.html
The evening just got better, they tailored their menu/pricing for me since I was just one person because a lot of their dishes were served family style. I was told I had to try the dessert, I did manage to get photos of the dessert, I had to take three photos because there was so much to it.....it took up my entire table. At one point the manager decided that my sparkling wine had been sitting too long and was too warm for me to drink, they promptly brought me a new glass and refilled my drink for free.....this was the best service and some of the best food I have ever experienced.

Le Grand Venise Restaurant

To the left, sugar coated almonds, almond waiters, fresh vanilla cream, brandied apricots. 

Fameuse glace caramel...which I forgot to photograph before eating, candied figs, candied prunes

My favorite candied fruit, cherries.

That is all for now. I am meeting a few friends in Croatia and Bosnia tomorrow morning. Au Revoir for now.

"The future projects light, the past only clouds."-Eileen Gray

I saw this quote on the wall of an Eileen Gray exhibition at the Centre Pompidou and thought it was funny since my trip has consisted of clouds thus far. I am starting to feel like I am in London Town with all of the rain here in Paris...hope we are getting some rain in Texas. Here is my week in a nutshell:

On Thursday, I found Le Cordon Bleu, met some other students who are currently in the program. All the students were carrying out their beautiful pastries. 

This is a photo of one of the desserts that I will make toward the end of my program, a mouse cake with raspberry icing.

Thursday was a beautiful walk to the 7th Arrondissement to see one of the most recognizable structures in the world, the Eiffel Tower....weighing over 7,000 tons and according to Frommer's only exerting abut the same amount of pressure as an average sized person sitting in a chair. Apparently , the lights twinkle a few minutes on every hour, caught that beautiful sight on my walk back from an amazing dinner at Cafe Constant www.maisonconstant.com

Per a recommendation from my friend Melissa, I opted to spend my Friday visiting the the Latin Quarter, located in the 5th Arrondissement. This is one of the oldest areas in Paris, it was the center of the "Roman Paris" during the time France was under Roman control. It is known as the Latin Quarter because back in the Middle Ages, most of its residents were students or clergymen who spoke Latin. Most of my time was spent eating at this really great little cafe called La Jacobine located on a cuttle little street tucked away behind the main street. Then I headed on over to the Hotel d'Aubusson for some great live jazz music www.hoteldaubusson.com

I have no shame, I ordered a French 75 Hotel d' Aubusson, it was pretty good. 

Saturday-I decide that it is time to learn the Metro, it's an unavoidable situation. I thought maybe I could just walk everywhere but as much as I love walking, it's not possible. I met a incredibly nice Parisian who walked me through the process, I am now comfortable getting around town. First stop was a visit to Center Pompidou, not the most attractive of buildings but it contains impressive Musee Nation d'Art with other interesting exhibitions...see below.

Centre Pompidou 

Amazing work by Architect Marc Fornes

Sunday was a visit to the American Church in Paris, my new church home while I am in town. I also managed to find a gourmet grocery store called Hediard on George V Avenue next to the Four Season Hotel...LOL. So when you walk in you have a personal grocery attendant who picks out your fruit, etc. I like the idea, not sure there is a market for this in Austin yet but I am mentally filing the concept.

American Church in Paris

Posh grocery store

They hand pick your fruits, at first I was offended because I thought that they thought I was gong to steal them...Lol. Then I realized what was happening.

Managed to get a photo in front of the Arc de Triomphe

First Day of My Paris Life

Okay friends, some of you expressed an interest in keeping up with my new life in Paris so today is my first official day to keep y'all up to date on happenings in my world (I plan to update every Sunday). I have to admit, the first thing I did when I got here was panic like I normally do when I leave my beloved State of Texas (it usually goes something like...."what am I doing with my life, why did I take this long flight across the world and why am I living like a gypsy?" but I had a great friend walk me through my short lived panic attack and now I am A-Ok!  I arrived at my cute little apartment in the 15th arrondissement this afternoon, the 15th is on the south-west side of the city on the left bank of the river Seine. This  part of the city is very residential and quiet, not a lot of tourists here expect yours truly. My street is called Vaugelas, named after Claude Favre de Vaugelas born in 1585-1650. I will post photos of my place tomorrow, too lazy and tired to take photos of the apartment today....but, I do have my priorities in line.....as you can see below I managed to take photos of my local cheese shop and of course the bottle of wine I plan on downing tonight (strictly for sleeping purposes). I did make my father proud and I hit up the local hardware store to buy an adapter and duct tape.....I am a Vitera, what can I say.

This is my local cheese shop, great prices and friendly staff. Walked out with a local french brie....working my way up to the stronger stuff.

Great bottle of red from the Burgundy Region of France...picked it up at my local wine shop called Nicolas.  I plan on taking my mom to the Burgundy Region of France for a wine tasting in September.

A little light reading before bed, courtesy of my dear friend Martha who decided I was the perfect person to read this book about Hemingway's first wife. I will take all the help and advice I can get at this point.