Design Dolcezza

If you were curious, I really did have a natural child-birth.... absolutely no drugs! Thomas came out totally aware and ready for a milkshake.

well, it's my due date...and the baby is still inside of me!!

No labor pains...I guess the fruit isn't ripe enough yet!

• And where's the nearest metro and RER train (and my bus to the Louvre)?


• Why can't I get a smoked salmon sandwich for three bucks?


• Where's the reasonably priced duck or rabbit?


• Why can't I get a cheap, yummy crepe or perfect pastry on every corner?


• Why isn't fresh, delicious Escargot in the shell a hot appetizer at every restaurant (and where's the Badoit mineral water, anyway)?


• Why are all these people walking around dressed in t-shirts and shorts? (Note: we never wore shorts in Paris, nor did we see any of the French wearing them.)


• Who are all these ill-bred, poorly trained dogs trying to attack me? (Note: French dogs never barked at me, or even gave me any notice.)


• How come when I walk around town, I don't see any workers picking up the litter daily from the streets?


• How come the park isn't lined with flowers?


• Why are the sidewalks so narrow?


• And just how can I be sure of the time at night when I can't see the Eiffel Tower sparkling hourly from my terrace?

When we got back, I spent almost three full days getting my project done for the deadline, unpacking, doing laundry and housework, and dreading my return to the classroom. Not an easy nor a happy transition.

Next week, I take another graduate class, then it's two weeks till I'm back teaching....

But the wonderful thing is that our baby will be here in less than two months!

We left the city again. This time we took the long train ride to Fontainebleau.

I had said that the Loire valley castles were better than Versailles... well, Fontainebleau surpasses them all. It's magnificient, all the furniture is still there.... you could move in so easily. Got to see Josephine's bedroom, Napoleon's hat, his bathtub, and the desk where he crafted his world-changing Napoleonic Code... and where he ultimately signed his abdication before his exile to Elba. A special exhibit described how Fontainebleau actually began the modern idea of tourism."

The grounds are spectacular as well. We spent many happy hours there... all bittersweet as our time in Paris is coming to an end.

When we returned to Paris and got out our metro stop, we dined at the cafe that was right at the top (though, regretfully, we had passed it by every other time). I had calamari (the best ever!!!) and lapin provencale (tasty bunny; the special of the day). Tom had escargot (of course) and magret de canard au miel. Desserts were mousse au chocolat and tarte tatin.

School's Out! Today was my last day of class, and no my project is nowhere near being done.

We went to the Latin Quarter and got crepes to go (salmon with lettuce and cheese) on our way to Cluny, The National Museum of the Middle Ages (the largest museum of the Medieval period in Europe). It also has its own set of Unicorn Tapestries... reminded me very much of the Cloisters in NYC.

We watched our crepes made fresh... what a treat!

We visited Le Bon Marche department store, particularly so I could check out their little Droguerie inside.

Then we had dinner at L'ecriture once again.... traditional dishes (and even tastier than any I had there before): soupe a l'oignon, confit, cote de veau, fromage, and creme brulee.

After class, another lovely lunch on the terrrace...

We both had a dinner of quiche lorraine and tarte aux fraises at the same cafe we lunched at the previous day, and then we walked about twenty feet and entered la Comedie Francaise to see a performance of Cyrano de Bergerac!

It was fantastic! I saw Cyrano on broadway in high school... this surpassed it by light years. The only comparision is to seeing the Opera in Manhattan... only we had even better seats than we did when were members at the Met.

The show ended around 11:30pm so we had to book it home; luckily we made it before the metro shut down for the night... whew!

Tom met up with me at the Louvre... another long day at the musee! Before entering, we went to a cafe across the rue for luncheon: Tom had cassoulet with confit, and I had quiche lorraine with a dessert of tarte aux fraises (which the waiter informed me was the last one left!). The strawberries tasted so good... like they had just been plucked off the vine moments before.


So back to the Louvre, where we had our marathon trying to see everything we hadn't seen before.



After they shooed us out of the Louvre, we went to the Tuileries where there is was a monthlong Carnival. Almost every booth involved games of skill instead of games of chance, mostly involving shooting (yes, shooting). The rides were a little pricey... you pay for each one separately... but no ticket scam like in the US. We had a cheese crepe and a nutella one (yum!). And bid a salut and adieu to a giant animatron of King Kong (!) when we left the garden to head home on the metro.

Tom and I met at the Musee D'Orsay after my class, but it was as crowded as Disney World! Everyone in Paris has the same idea I guess: the Louvre is closed, so cross the river and go to the next closest museum.

So we decided to postpone our visit and went to St. Germain-des-Pres and explored the ancient namesake church:

We also visited San Sulpice, did some window shopping, and passed by the Old Opera House and the Senate building.

We dined at the well-known and rustic Polidor. We both had creme of lentil soup and beef provencal and tarte tatin (much better than the one my professor made for my class in French 101). This was to also be our first (and, hopefully, my final) experience with a Turkish toilet!

Rainy Monday, of course!

After class, I met up with Tom at Jules Verne, one of the most exclusive restaurants in the city, for lunch. They say you need to make reservations six months in advance, and even our concierge couldn't get us in, but Tom made me call anyway, and... voila! The best part of all... it's way up in the Eiffel Tower with it's own private elevator!

It's the first time in my life I received a menu that actually had no prices on it (only for the ladies, of course; Tom's had them... gentlemen are allowed no illusions)! And the forks were tine down, as I had learned about in my French studies so long ago. There were so many people on staff to assist you... I think we were under the care of five including the sommelier who kept our bottle of Loire Valley wine somewhere safe and brought it all the way to our table only as needed.

So here's what we had (amuse-bouche are, of course, always gratis):

an amuse-bouche of cheese puffs
lobster gelee with foie gras and diced vegetables
an amuse bouche of foie gras with fig
pork belly with young vegetables
an amuse bouche of tiny pastries
coconut-caramel bars
complimentary chocolates

Oh it was so yummy, and lest I forget, we had a window table, too!

Chenonceau (that's Tom on the bridge)...

and Chambord...

They are all gorgeous (more interesting than Versailles, too!), but we think Chenonceau is the best. We must go back someday and see more. In Amboise, we lunched on gallettes (savory crepes) with some local cider...

Thank God, we made 10:00pm mass at Sacre Coeur (front pew). Very dramatic by night!

We ventured out of the city today for the first time taking the train to Versailles. I must say the train ride was a highpoint of today, as well as cutting the long line (at my dear husband's insistance) because I'm pregnant.

It's my third visit to this place and I really didn't remember much... I just knew Tom had to see it because of it's of such historical importance. The thing that nearly destroyed our visit was the sheer number of people there. It was like you were at Disney. And they were all part of tour groups, so there was always a mass of people coming towards you to destroy your view of the place. It did thin out as the day wore on, and by the time we got to the awe-inspiring Hall of Battles, the crowds were waning.

We watched the fountain water displays from the windows of the Hall of Mirrors.... we probably had the best view!

Promptly at 5:30pm, everyone was herded out due to the closing of the palace; what we didn't expect was that we couldn't go in the gardens!

We had to exit, walk for a couple miles before we could re-enter the park near Marie-Antoinette's compound. I must say this was the true highlight of the day (all kinds of labyrinth-like footpaths, waterfalls, temple-like gazebos, and intriguing grottos)... at least until the light rain began. We scrapped our plans for Eau Nocturnes, luckily grabbed the very last bus, and headed to the station for home

After class, another sunny picnic on our terrace.

Then Tom and I visited the churches of St. Merri and St. Eustache and Les Halles (where the largest outdoor market was in Roman times, it's now a mall).

I indulged and drooled at LaDroguerie, a chic craft store... everything was so beautiful and elegantly presented... unfortunately the prices were a little to steep, so I had to be content to leche-vitrine. We headed to the river for our dinner cruise with the rest of my classmates from the Louvre.

It was a bit colder tonight than usual, or was it just being on the river? Out boat was the Caliphe. Wonderful at last to actually sail down the river and see the sites at night. It was spectacular to see the Eiffel Tower lit up from close...

It looks a bit bigger than it does from our balcony.

One of only two photos of Tom and me together that Tom did not actually take himself!

We took the bus to the Pantheon (the former cathedral of St. Genevieve, patroness of Paris, confiscated and secularized by the government); today we made sure it would be open. Initially disappointed that we couldn't go up to the tower (just a second too late), we got over it once we found out it was a tour and that we wouldn't have the freedom to roam and photograph. Foucalt's pendulum inside was interesting as was seeing the tombs of the famous Frenchmen like the Curies, Rousseau, and St-Exupery, but impressive though it is, we found it to be a bit of a let down in comparison to the other great buildings we've seen (especially considering the hype). For example, the Dome Church with Napoleon's tomb, though not nealry as popular, is far worthier of the time.

Today was my very late day at school. Tom had his own adventure walking (yes, walking!) the whole length of central Paris to meet me at the Louvre. He took some great photos on the way with his cell phone...

I literally spent the whole day and evening at the Louvre (the museum closes at 10:00pm on Wednesdays and Fridays), except for my two meal breaks (lunch at Pomme de Pain, a chain of sandwich places, and dinner with Tom at the Louvre's cafe). Quite exhausting even if you're not 28 weeks pregnant!

I got to play tour guide for Tom and showed him all the masterpieces I had learned about.