Tradition!

First night in Paris and I followed my usual routine. Had dinner at Brasserie Les Cascades, kitty-corner from my hotel (Hotel de la Porte Dorée). Started with my usual Kir Californien, served with wonderful marinated olives, and ordered up the 'vin du moment', which was a St. Chinian 2011:

Plat principal was the Croque Poilâne Provençal (jambon, emmental, tomates, oignons, herbes, served on the tasty pain Poilâne) with a green salad:

Dessert--what else but crêpes Nutella?

Un déca avec speculoos:

All for a mere 22 euros! Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours on a rainy 'April in Paris' evening.

Not Egypt: Macaron Whimsy

More on macarons--in the January 16 issue of Bonjour Paris (The Definitive Guide to Paris) is this article: "The Whimsical World of Macarons", complete with a recipe for pistachio macarons from the master/maître of macarons, Pierre Hermé. I, however, will not be making that recipe. I "learned my lesson" when I took an evening class in the making of macarons at the École Ritz Escoffier in Paris. I now, to paraphrase something my ex-husband once said, eat macarons not make them!

Moi trying to make acceptable macarons!

Been there, done that, got the certificate! And now let someone with more skill and access to the right ingredients make them...

Not Egypt: Jardin Pamplemousse

The first of Pierre Hermé's "Jardin" collection of macarons for 2013 is Jardin Pamplemousse (grapefruit). It is described on the website as "Pamplemousse, Clou de Girofle, Muscade, & Pamplemousse Confit" (grapefruit, clove, nutmeg and crystallized grapefruit). Miam-miam!

Les Incontournables Macarons de Noël de Pierre Hermé!

Les Incontournables Macarons de Noël from Pierre Hermé:

Boîte de 12 macarons composée des saveurs suivantes :
ÉGLANTINE, FIGUE & FOIE GRAS
CHOCOLAT & FOIE GRAS
INFINIMENT MARRON GLACÉ 
PX - Pedro Ximenez et raisins blonds macérés

One of the macarons in the assortment--the PX:

Miam-miam!

Inbound: Part Four

Just over a month since I arrived in Luxor and I'm finally getting around to my final post about the process of arriving! In April of this year I made a small donation to the fundraising campaign for "Trésors du Caire". The project revolved around restoring two treasures for installation in the new "Arts de l'Islam" department of the Louvre: a mashrabiya and a Mamlouk porch. Here is a video from the Louvre that was produced to encourage donations to the two projects:

Here is a another video from the Louvre which discusses the restoration process for the porch (in French, but you'll catch the drift):
Louvre Museum: In Search of a Mamlouk Porch from ikono tv on Vimeo.
For more videos including this one, all with English subtitles, click on the following links:
The New Islamic Art Department: Behind the Scenes
The New Islamic Art Department:The Collections
The New Islamic Art Department: The New Department
The New Islamic Art Department: Architecture
And in August I received an invitation to visit the Louvre and particularly the new department gratis between it opening date of September 22 and December 15. Well, guess who was going to be in Paris in October and thus able to take advantage of the offer?
Here are the front and back of the invitation:

October 13 was a rainy Paris day, which made it perfect for visiting a museum:

I spent over three hours in the department and I barely scraped the surface of the two levels of extraordinary items. While the layout is a bit confusing, the displays themselves are excellent. And the design of the space really works. Here are just a few examples of both architecture and displays:

And here are photos of the Mamlouk porch which has been installed as a passage between two sections of the display space:

My name on the video display of the list of donors!

Here is the fully restored mashrabiya:

By the end of my visit I was suffering from the MEGO (My Eyes Glaze Over) effect, but I shall return as often as possible to be able to examine individual items and sections more thoroughly.

On my way out of the museum I caught this interesting juxtaposition:

The old encompassing the modern surrounding the recent--an untitled piece in laser-sculpted stainless steel by Belgian artist Wm. Delvoye. The whole a fitting image of the Louvre itself!

Jardin d'Antan

Oh to be in Paris and visit Pierre Hermé to get a taste of this, the last of his special "Collection Éphémère" macarons--Jardin d'Antan (violette and anis)! Miam miam!!

Inbound: Part Three

After our visit to Chinon, Bette and I stopped in Amboise on our way back to Blois to attend a meeting of Loire Connexion, a international group of people who get together on a monthly basis and speak English. We arrived in Amboise at that wonderful time of day when the light on the buildings and the Loire is rose-gold.

Here's a nice shot of the town from the island where the get-together took place:

And a nice sign to add to my collection:

And finally, a view of the Loire through an arch of the bridge leading back over to Amboise:

Bette was making a presentation on American musicals to the local chapter of an organization called France-États Unis a couple of days before I left to return to Paris. We met at a restaurant on the south bank of the Loire and these photos were taken from an upstairs window looking back at Blois.

The bridge you can see in the foreground behind the hedge in this final photo is the bridge in the photo that won me a blue ribbon at the Yolo County Fair.

UP NEXT: Inbound: Part Four--back in Paris, my visit to the Louvre, specifically the newly-opened Islamic Art Department...

Inbound: Part Two

The next afternoon I was off by train to Blois to visit with my good friend Bette, who lives in the town of Villebarou. This visit was a much-needed opportunity to get some rest and to catch up. Bette also makes sure that I have my fill of pork products, enough to tide me over for the six months in Egypt!

In Bette's garden (she asked me if she should paint the flamingos pink and I advised against it!):

Pastries from Feuillete:

We did make a day trip to Chinon, which neither of us had visited before. Had lunch in town and then toured the fortress. In town I stocked up on doors:

It's a lovely old town but the fortress is fascinating! Great views over the Vienne River:

At the fortress there was a fascinating exhibit about Jeanne d'Arc (600th anniversary of her birth):

Of course, Chinon is famous for its wines:

On our way back to Blois, we stopped in Amboise for a gathering of Loire Connexion, but this post has gone on too long, so to be continued in Inbound: Part Three...