Window shopping
The past few days have been busy, and I haven't had a chance to catch up on the blog. So, here are a few highlights worth remembering. On Monday, with both kids in school, Abe and I finally took care of business and got our cartes de sejour. The woman in the office laughed when we asked her to take our photo with the stamps in our passports, but she obliged. We had worked hard for those! We celebrated by going out for a 2 hour lunch at Le Cave Gourmand (the highlight of which was Abe's foie gras appetizer, the rest was only OK).
On Tuesday, after getting some work done in the morning, we explored a new neighborhood (around Place Clichy in the 17th/18th. We found a truly outstanding Moroccan restaurant (Chez Bebert) and lots of fun other shops (we both got second hand leather jackets in one place).
This morning, Abe took Jonah to school then left for Ohio, where he is presenting the final drawings and the contractors bids to the synagogue building committee. Since it is Wednesday, Ella and I had a day out on the town. We decided to do some window shopping (which then turned into real shopping) in several of the venerable Paris shops. We focused our exploring in the 8th arrondisement. We started at Au Nain Bleu - a classic Parisian toy store, est. 1836. It's just the place to go if your daughter's doll needs a stroller that costs more than our mortgage. Ella had a blast looking at everything, we held on to our willpower and left empty handed. Our next stop was Hediard - the Parisian analogy to Dean and Deluca, est. 1854. Here our willpower dissolved, and we had a great time shopping for a few choice grocery items to bring home. We next went to Betjeman and Barton's tea shop (a relative newcomer, est. 1919). They keep the tea in wonderful tin jars behind the counter. We told the shopkeeper that we were looking for something mild and not too fruity. He let us smell a half dozen or so options until we decided on one (an Indian tea called Assam Thowra). We then thought we'd like to find a tea with cinnamon. We smelled every cinnamon tea he had available, but weren't sold on any of them, so we moved on.
Next stop was Le Printemps, one of Paris' Grand Magasins (Department stores). The highlights of this stop were a walk through the toy department and lunch at the rooftop terrace restaurant. We had a view of all of Paris while we shared a roasted chicken with potatoes. We watched planes occasionally fly overhead until we saw the one we decided was Abe's. Ella waved until it was completely out of sight.
Next, of course, we went in search of some dessert. We first tried a boulangerie called Au pain bien cuit. The attraction of this bakery is that you can buy a loaf of bread in the shape of a bunny rabbit, a horse, or the Eiffel tower. Despite these cute shapes, the desserts looked only so-so (what food snobs we are becoming!) so we decided to wait. We went on to Jadis et Gourmande, a chocolate shop most known for spelling out words in chocolate letters. In the shop window they had displays of gift boxes spelling out "Joyeux Anniversaire" and, surprisingly "Chana Tovah" (Happy Jewish new year). After a good 20 minutes considering every possible option, Ella settled on a vanilla caramel square for dessert that was simply perfection.
Exhausted, we came home to drop off our shopping bags before heading out to pick up Jonah at day care. He had a great day and has apparently fallen very much in love with his teacher, Veronique. He talked about her incessantly all evening. If the conversation would drift, Jonah would prompt, "I talk about my day?" which actually meant "I want to tell you more about Veronique," down to the last detail of the hangnail on her thumb (no joke), which she bit, and which Jonah plans to kiss tomorrow to make it feel better.
My plans for tomorrow include getting both children to school, going to work, and then figuring out how to order in a pizza in Paris!
On Tuesday, after getting some work done in the morning, we explored a new neighborhood (around Place Clichy in the 17th/18th. We found a truly outstanding Moroccan restaurant (Chez Bebert) and lots of fun other shops (we both got second hand leather jackets in one place).
This morning, Abe took Jonah to school then left for Ohio, where he is presenting the final drawings and the contractors bids to the synagogue building committee. Since it is Wednesday, Ella and I had a day out on the town. We decided to do some window shopping (which then turned into real shopping) in several of the venerable Paris shops. We focused our exploring in the 8th arrondisement. We started at Au Nain Bleu - a classic Parisian toy store, est. 1836. It's just the place to go if your daughter's doll needs a stroller that costs more than our mortgage. Ella had a blast looking at everything, we held on to our willpower and left empty handed. Our next stop was Hediard - the Parisian analogy to Dean and Deluca, est. 1854. Here our willpower dissolved, and we had a great time shopping for a few choice grocery items to bring home. We next went to Betjeman and Barton's tea shop (a relative newcomer, est. 1919). They keep the tea in wonderful tin jars behind the counter. We told the shopkeeper that we were looking for something mild and not too fruity. He let us smell a half dozen or so options until we decided on one (an Indian tea called Assam Thowra). We then thought we'd like to find a tea with cinnamon. We smelled every cinnamon tea he had available, but weren't sold on any of them, so we moved on.
Next stop was Le Printemps, one of Paris' Grand Magasins (Department stores). The highlights of this stop were a walk through the toy department and lunch at the rooftop terrace restaurant. We had a view of all of Paris while we shared a roasted chicken with potatoes. We watched planes occasionally fly overhead until we saw the one we decided was Abe's. Ella waved until it was completely out of sight.
Next, of course, we went in search of some dessert. We first tried a boulangerie called Au pain bien cuit. The attraction of this bakery is that you can buy a loaf of bread in the shape of a bunny rabbit, a horse, or the Eiffel tower. Despite these cute shapes, the desserts looked only so-so (what food snobs we are becoming!) so we decided to wait. We went on to Jadis et Gourmande, a chocolate shop most known for spelling out words in chocolate letters. In the shop window they had displays of gift boxes spelling out "Joyeux Anniversaire" and, surprisingly "Chana Tovah" (Happy Jewish new year). After a good 20 minutes considering every possible option, Ella settled on a vanilla caramel square for dessert that was simply perfection.
Exhausted, we came home to drop off our shopping bags before heading out to pick up Jonah at day care. He had a great day and has apparently fallen very much in love with his teacher, Veronique. He talked about her incessantly all evening. If the conversation would drift, Jonah would prompt, "I talk about my day?" which actually meant "I want to tell you more about Veronique," down to the last detail of the hangnail on her thumb (no joke), which she bit, and which Jonah plans to kiss tomorrow to make it feel better.
My plans for tomorrow include getting both children to school, going to work, and then figuring out how to order in a pizza in Paris!
posted by M-E Family at 10:07 PM
2 Comments:
you have become SUCH food snobs, I love it. Perhaps we could still entice you to enjoy Rob's chocolate cake. Its shaped just like a...........chocolate cake.
This morning I did the mundane suburban stop at dunkin donuts, an american eatery most well known for serving donuts, and bought my coffee. Wow. See, if I had a blog, it would SUCK.
I'm sticking with your delicious tales!
Hi Honey,
I'm not so happy on this side of the blog. The meetings went well. I'm ready to go home.
Tell Ella I was waving back. Tell Jonah I can't wait to hear all about Veronique.
I love you,
Abe
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