Check out Jacob's performance at the Placard Headphone Festival in Paris. http://feeds.feedburner.com/scallopshell
A big thank you to Chris
Showing posts with label paris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paris. Show all posts
Friday, July 25, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
A weekend in the country, Part II
With the rental car, we were also able to drive around the countryside of Dijon. JP had recommended a beautiful former abbey called Fontenay. Jacob, Eric and I decided to go there one afternoon. The structure was no longer being used as an abbey. It had been converted in the late 1800s into a paper mill. In the early 1900s, that the current owners acquired the land and restored the buildings and grounds to their original state. It's in excellent condition, partly because it had been used as a paper mill, which kept it from being razed as many other religious buildings were in the wake of the Revolution.
I agree with JP. There is a feeling of immense peace that you can find sitting on the grounds and in the main church.
We also got a chance to drive through the Comte region of France and into Switzerland. Jacob discovered that his paternal forebears came from an area near Bern. We spent a really nice day driving through farm fields and vineyards. We had lunch in the shadow of a large chateau overlooking some grapevines and a beautiful lake.
Afterwards, we all lounged around in the shade of an orchard.
While we weren't able to meet up with anyone bearing Jacob's last name, some rigorous Google-searching and persistence in the face of ill-marked roads did lead us to some limited success.
On the way back, we stopped at a little restaurant in a small town close to the French border and had dinner, mostly meat and various iterations of potato.
The drive back to Paris was overcast and a little rainy. Jacob and Eric were able to be good samaritans by trying to pushstart this old couple's car.
Unfortunately, the engine had locked up. So after several minutes of pushing the car around the gas station, the owner decided to take it to a garage.
Getting back into Paris was a little less hectic than getting out. We timed our return for before the start of rush hour, which we mostly missed. However, coming back into town, we did run into this large truck carrying some really weird cargo.
I agree with JP. There is a feeling of immense peace that you can find sitting on the grounds and in the main church.
We also got a chance to drive through the Comte region of France and into Switzerland. Jacob discovered that his paternal forebears came from an area near Bern. We spent a really nice day driving through farm fields and vineyards. We had lunch in the shadow of a large chateau overlooking some grapevines and a beautiful lake.
Afterwards, we all lounged around in the shade of an orchard.
While we weren't able to meet up with anyone bearing Jacob's last name, some rigorous Google-searching and persistence in the face of ill-marked roads did lead us to some limited success.
On the way back, we stopped at a little restaurant in a small town close to the French border and had dinner, mostly meat and various iterations of potato.
The drive back to Paris was overcast and a little rainy. Jacob and Eric were able to be good samaritans by trying to pushstart this old couple's car.
Unfortunately, the engine had locked up. So after several minutes of pushing the car around the gas station, the owner decided to take it to a garage.
Getting back into Paris was a little less hectic than getting out. We timed our return for before the start of rush hour, which we mostly missed. However, coming back into town, we did run into this large truck carrying some really weird cargo.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Old friends in unexpected places
The last few weeks in Paris have been a lot of fun. We've been out to a few restaurants and have explored a lot the city that I didn't get to see when I was here last. Jacob and I have enjoyed meeting up with Eric and our old roommate, JP.
JP lived with us for a year working for that National Gallery of Art before returning to France. We always told him that we would come to visit him in Paris at our first opportunity. He was one of the reasons that Jacob and I came up with the idea for a grand tour around the world. We got to meet up with him and his girlfriend, Christine, and her son, Enzo, within the first week of coming to Paris. They took us to this great restaurant near the Canal St. Martin called La Verre Vole which specializes in traditional French food and features only locally produced wines from small family-run vineyards.
We got to meet JP and Christine's daughter, Camille a couple of weeks later when we trekked out to their apartment in Sevran, a suburb northeast of Paris. She was very shy at the beginning, not wanting to even look at us. But quickly warmed up after we all went for a walk and helped her push her tricycle.
We also got a really nice surprise when we found out that one of Jacob's good friends from high school was in Paris. Trust the power of the Internet. Neal updated his status on Facebook before he left Paris about his upcoming trip. When we saw it, Jacob sent an email to him and his wife, Trina. We got the name of his hotel, which turned out to be located really close to our apartment. After a couple of days of leaving messages and trying to get in touch by phone, we were finally able to meet up with Neal for a few hours after his students' curfew. Neal was accompanying a group of 13 high school students on a whirlwind trip through France and Spain. The last time Jacob and I had seen him, was around the time of our weddings. Neal and Trina got married about two weeks after we did. Neal was one of the groomsmen at our wedding and Jacob was Neal's groomsman two weeks later in Bozeman. It was nice to see another familiar face in a new city.
This past week, we hung out with Eric's two sisters who decided at the last minute to visit him in Paris. Staci stayed for 10 days and Katie was here for 5. It was nice to have them here because they definitely had a site-seeing agenda that forced us to get out of the house and see some of the more classic tourist sites of Paris. Antione, who shared Eric's last apartment in Paris, got us into the Louvre for an afternoon. It was the typical first-time-in-the-Louvre-must-see-all-
the-"big"-pieces-of-art afternoons. We didn't run exactly, but it was a very quick tour through the two levels of French sculptures in the Marly Court to Napolean's apartments, cutting through the Mesopotamian art to go by the Winged Victory of Samathrace to cut through the French and Italian paintings with a stop by the Mona Lisa and out through the rooms containing pieces from one of the palaces of Darius in ancient Iran. Talk about "museum feet" at the end.
Non-stop site-seeing proved to be too much for us. So after a few days, we would just meet up with Eric and his sisters for lunch and spend some time with them in the afternoons and over dinner. The picture below was taken on top of an abandoned railway track that had been converted into park space near the Bastille metro.
JP lived with us for a year working for that National Gallery of Art before returning to France. We always told him that we would come to visit him in Paris at our first opportunity. He was one of the reasons that Jacob and I came up with the idea for a grand tour around the world. We got to meet up with him and his girlfriend, Christine, and her son, Enzo, within the first week of coming to Paris. They took us to this great restaurant near the Canal St. Martin called La Verre Vole which specializes in traditional French food and features only locally produced wines from small family-run vineyards.
We got to meet JP and Christine's daughter, Camille a couple of weeks later when we trekked out to their apartment in Sevran, a suburb northeast of Paris. She was very shy at the beginning, not wanting to even look at us. But quickly warmed up after we all went for a walk and helped her push her tricycle.
We also got a really nice surprise when we found out that one of Jacob's good friends from high school was in Paris. Trust the power of the Internet. Neal updated his status on Facebook before he left Paris about his upcoming trip. When we saw it, Jacob sent an email to him and his wife, Trina. We got the name of his hotel, which turned out to be located really close to our apartment. After a couple of days of leaving messages and trying to get in touch by phone, we were finally able to meet up with Neal for a few hours after his students' curfew. Neal was accompanying a group of 13 high school students on a whirlwind trip through France and Spain. The last time Jacob and I had seen him, was around the time of our weddings. Neal and Trina got married about two weeks after we did. Neal was one of the groomsmen at our wedding and Jacob was Neal's groomsman two weeks later in Bozeman. It was nice to see another familiar face in a new city.
This past week, we hung out with Eric's two sisters who decided at the last minute to visit him in Paris. Staci stayed for 10 days and Katie was here for 5. It was nice to have them here because they definitely had a site-seeing agenda that forced us to get out of the house and see some of the more classic tourist sites of Paris. Antione, who shared Eric's last apartment in Paris, got us into the Louvre for an afternoon. It was the typical first-time-in-the-Louvre-must-see-all-
the-"big"-pieces-of-art afternoons. We didn't run exactly, but it was a very quick tour through the two levels of French sculptures in the Marly Court to Napolean's apartments, cutting through the Mesopotamian art to go by the Winged Victory of Samathrace to cut through the French and Italian paintings with a stop by the Mona Lisa and out through the rooms containing pieces from one of the palaces of Darius in ancient Iran. Talk about "museum feet" at the end.
Non-stop site-seeing proved to be too much for us. So after a few days, we would just meet up with Eric and his sisters for lunch and spend some time with them in the afternoons and over dinner. The picture below was taken on top of an abandoned railway track that had been converted into park space near the Bastille metro.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Food in Paris
Our apartment in Paris has one of the largest kitchens that I've seen in this city. With this and the kitchen in Eric's apartments, the three of us have been cooking pretty frequently. One of my favorite activities is to troll the outdoor food markets that crop up on certain days in certain neighborhoods.
One of the first ones that we went to was the market near the Belleville Metro in the northeast part of the city. It's an area known for its Vietnamese restaurants and Chinese markets. The outdoor market, however, did not have much in the way of specifically Asian ingredients. What we found mostly were very fresh fruits and vegetables, artisinal cheeses, meats and breads. Jacob was also very happy to find a pair of jeans from one of the vendors just outside of the main market for 8 Euros. He now has two pairs of pants, which makes it much easier for him to wash his clothes.
With the ingredients from the market that day, we decided to make Vietnamese spring rolls. We got cucumbers, lettuce, mint, and cilantro at the outdoor market. Then we headed up rue de Belleville to hit the Asian groceries to buy hoisin sauce, rice papers, bean sprouts, rice noodles, and a green mango.
We also found some nice Moroccan olives and preserved lemons at the Belleville market. So a few days later, Eric and I made a Moroccan chicken tagine with green olives and preserved lemons and served it up with couscous. It was the first time I had cooked with a French chicken and I must say that it was delicious. Though the chicken was a little expensive, 14 Euros for a 4.4 lb chicken, it made an excellent stew.
Recently, I decided to try to recreate a dish that my French host mom made for me the last time I was in Paris. It was chicken breast with a creme fraiche sauce. However, I was craving pork - and Eric and I thought that pork would be cheaper than chicken after our Moroccan experience. I took four bone-in, 1/4 inch pork chops, salted and peppered them and cooked them in a thick-bottomed pan for about 5 minutes. After browning, I took them out of the pan. I returned pan to the heat and added 2 tbs of butter and then sauted some chopped garlic and chopped onion. Next, I added a little bit of white wine to deglaze the pan. And then I added chopped mushrooms to cook in the wine solution until they had soaked up all of the liquid. Lastly, I added the creme fraiche, which is a little like American sour cream, to make the sauce. I served the pork chops on a plate and spooned the sauce on top. Eric made pasta with tomato sauce and I sauted some zucchini for a bit of greenery.
One of the first ones that we went to was the market near the Belleville Metro in the northeast part of the city. It's an area known for its Vietnamese restaurants and Chinese markets. The outdoor market, however, did not have much in the way of specifically Asian ingredients. What we found mostly were very fresh fruits and vegetables, artisinal cheeses, meats and breads. Jacob was also very happy to find a pair of jeans from one of the vendors just outside of the main market for 8 Euros. He now has two pairs of pants, which makes it much easier for him to wash his clothes.
With the ingredients from the market that day, we decided to make Vietnamese spring rolls. We got cucumbers, lettuce, mint, and cilantro at the outdoor market. Then we headed up rue de Belleville to hit the Asian groceries to buy hoisin sauce, rice papers, bean sprouts, rice noodles, and a green mango.
We also found some nice Moroccan olives and preserved lemons at the Belleville market. So a few days later, Eric and I made a Moroccan chicken tagine with green olives and preserved lemons and served it up with couscous. It was the first time I had cooked with a French chicken and I must say that it was delicious. Though the chicken was a little expensive, 14 Euros for a 4.4 lb chicken, it made an excellent stew.
Recently, I decided to try to recreate a dish that my French host mom made for me the last time I was in Paris. It was chicken breast with a creme fraiche sauce. However, I was craving pork - and Eric and I thought that pork would be cheaper than chicken after our Moroccan experience. I took four bone-in, 1/4 inch pork chops, salted and peppered them and cooked them in a thick-bottomed pan for about 5 minutes. After browning, I took them out of the pan. I returned pan to the heat and added 2 tbs of butter and then sauted some chopped garlic and chopped onion. Next, I added a little bit of white wine to deglaze the pan. And then I added chopped mushrooms to cook in the wine solution until they had soaked up all of the liquid. Lastly, I added the creme fraiche, which is a little like American sour cream, to make the sauce. I served the pork chops on a plate and spooned the sauce on top. Eric made pasta with tomato sauce and I sauted some zucchini for a bit of greenery.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Paris!
Our Ryanair flight arrived a few minutes early in Beauvais, which is an airport that is 55 miles north of Paris, around 10:30 PM. From there, we caught a bus into the outer edge of the city near the Porte Maillot Metro Station at midnight. It was a little disconcerting once we were out of the bus. Even though I had lived in Paris for a while, I had not ventured to this area. So Jacob and I had to collect our bags and follow the great load of people to the Metro. With our roommate Eric's help, we had rented an apartment in the northeast part of the city. The apartment's located right next to one of the city's largest train stations, the Gare du Nord.
The next morning, we met Eric at one of the cafes for breakfast and walked. A lot. From the Gare du Nord, we walked down to the Chatelet-Les Halles area. Jacob was on the look out for some plug converters. We stopped at this household goods store called E. Dehillerin, which I thought might have something.
E. Dehillerin turned out to be this amazing kitchen store. It was this large store house of anything and everything you've ever wanted in the way of kitchen supplies. I was enthralled and spent some time wandering the aisles. I think I might go back for a nice knife.
Jacob did manage to find what he was looking for at FNAC, an electronics store in the underground mall in Les Halles. They were even cheaper in the outdoor markets in Belleville, the next day.
Because of the length of our trip, we're on a pretty tight budget for expenditures, particularly in Europe. We're trying to cut down on eating out too much. It was pretty easy to fall back into the habit of cooking food with Eric. We had a brief tour of the Marche St. Quentin near the house and spent 45 minutes beneath the Gare du Nord trying to find the supermarket, Monoprix. The train station is huge with trains, metros lines and commuter rail lines running through it. In the end, I think we jumped the turnstiles twice, once to get in and once to get out of the Monoprix.
So our first meal in Paris was steaks with pasta and tomato sauce accompanied by a nice bottle of red wine and a baguette from one of the local bakeries. The kitchen in our apartment is easily the largest I've seen in Paris. The woman we're renting the room from cooks a lot herself, so it's also packed with plenty of nice pots, pans, silverware and plates. After stocking up on the basics (olive oil, butter, garlic, onions, jam, yogurt, juice, eggs, pasta, canned tomatoes, mustard, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper) and the ingredients specific to the meal, we were all set to go.
The next morning, we met Eric at one of the cafes for breakfast and walked. A lot. From the Gare du Nord, we walked down to the Chatelet-Les Halles area. Jacob was on the look out for some plug converters. We stopped at this household goods store called E. Dehillerin, which I thought might have something.
E. Dehillerin turned out to be this amazing kitchen store. It was this large store house of anything and everything you've ever wanted in the way of kitchen supplies. I was enthralled and spent some time wandering the aisles. I think I might go back for a nice knife.
Jacob did manage to find what he was looking for at FNAC, an electronics store in the underground mall in Les Halles. They were even cheaper in the outdoor markets in Belleville, the next day.
Because of the length of our trip, we're on a pretty tight budget for expenditures, particularly in Europe. We're trying to cut down on eating out too much. It was pretty easy to fall back into the habit of cooking food with Eric. We had a brief tour of the Marche St. Quentin near the house and spent 45 minutes beneath the Gare du Nord trying to find the supermarket, Monoprix. The train station is huge with trains, metros lines and commuter rail lines running through it. In the end, I think we jumped the turnstiles twice, once to get in and once to get out of the Monoprix.
So our first meal in Paris was steaks with pasta and tomato sauce accompanied by a nice bottle of red wine and a baguette from one of the local bakeries. The kitchen in our apartment is easily the largest I've seen in Paris. The woman we're renting the room from cooks a lot herself, so it's also packed with plenty of nice pots, pans, silverware and plates. After stocking up on the basics (olive oil, butter, garlic, onions, jam, yogurt, juice, eggs, pasta, canned tomatoes, mustard, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper) and the ingredients specific to the meal, we were all set to go.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
