First 3 days in Paris

My neighbor asked me how I managed to ‘arrange’ two months in Paris – I told her I was celebrating 20 happy years of marriage – and, I add solemnly ‘I got cancer’.  We laughed and she gave me a high five, after all I have overcome and am cancer free!  Yasssss.  I am the luckiest girl alive.

3 days after arrival I have fallen in love with ‘my’ Paris.  It is a city where people sing and dance in the streets.  I feel I am home, surely I belong here?

The majestic old buildings, the shutters adorning the apartment windows, the cars on the street parked so close together that you can’t squeeze between them, need to be gently bumped out the way to be able to drive off.

The little shops with their produce spilling out onto the streets and delicatessens specifically dedicated to Cheese, seafood, meat, tea, chocolate and all manner of delicacies.  I happily wander the streets salivating, wide-eyed with wonder.

I am somewhat ashamed to admit that despite the vast array of specialty shops I am smitten with the ‘supermarkets’.  Here you can find anything your heart desires.  Beautiful cosmetics, soaps and perfumery, most made in France.  Tables displaying fabulous champagne and the best of French wine.  It is as if the fruit and vegetables have been waxed and polished to a high shine.  Vegetables I have never seen before adorn the shelves, carrots come in ‘rainbow’ packs.  I had heard tell of purple carrots – now I have seen them.  The tomatoes are a thing of beauty, they come in many colours, shapes and sizes, their skins glossy and taste more ‘tomato-y’ than anything I have ever experienced.   There are vats of live crabs, fridges dedicated to fois-gras, others to salmon, entire isles to hams and other ‘charcuterie’ (no “French” polony in sight).

We have been eating well, our little Paris kitchen being tested to the limit.  We have bought Tim an apron – after all every chef needs one.

Breakfasts so far have been wonderful.  ‘Bacon’ (in France this translates to sliced pork belly), with eggs and the most delicious fried tomato.  We have also enjoyed smoked salmon and scrambled eggs and the most gorgeously creamy full fat plain yoghurt which makes a fabulous breakfast for those days when a cooked breakfast just seems too much.

Lunches have been a treat – we found a tasty broccoli soup (Brand Name;  Green Shoot) which is absolutely divine!  Paired with a tantalizing selection of cheeses: Comté, Gruyere and Morbier together with Serrano ham – a treat for the taste buds.

Tim made a gorgeous Parmentier de Canard.  Being a good ‘banter (LCHF) the potatoes were replaced with the rather fascinating (and new to us) Romanesco Broccoli.  The result delicious.  The crispy sheep cheese giving the meal a crunch and an extra flavour and richness.