I can't believe I got back from Paris nearly a week ago .There's something about that city that still pulses inside me even 16 years after I first landed.Truthfully, when I'm there in August ...ie: the weather's balmy,
there are no traffic jams,
(Champs Elysées, one Friday night in August)
there is almost no doggie doodoo in the streets and we can grab a park anywhere, even on la rue Royale for a quick afternoon tea at my favourite salon de thé
and the service staff are all friendly and smiling! When I re-discover the artists at la Place du Tertre
in Montmartre
and the Tour Eiffel sparkles above, waving her magic wand like a benevolent good fairy over her subjects
I am once again filled with wonder and nostalgia for Paris the magnificent city of lights.
But then I remember the gruesome reality of carrying tonnes of (take your pick) food shopping/suitcases, sleeping children up long flights of stairs several times per week (seriously, they used to call me the bag lady and not for my Louis Vuitton!!!), turning for hours to find a parking spot in front of the apartment at 3am or 3pm for that matter (HORROR after finally getting back from holidays and having to lug a whole family and car full of STUFF without waking the building), Beaker always missing the first part of any opera or theatre production because he'd only allowed 1h30 to do the 15k trip into La Bastille from the outskirts and not 2h and WORST OF ALL - constantly forbidding the messies to run in the grass because of all the dog poop.
Funnily enough, those memories don't seem quite so bad now. I could almost move back there… Almost...Helmut Fritz however (below) has a new take on what annoys him about Paris and we giggled away singing this song all the way up there and back ( a mere 7 hour drive each way). It's in French, and quintessentially Parisian, but you might be able to find a translation…It appears that you'll also have to click on the link to see it on You Tube.
As Helmut says, "How annoying all those people who queue outside Ladurée just for some macarons….(I remember saying that to Beaker early on in our marriage, 'I am so NOT queueing outside in the cold just to eat a BISCUIT!!' one winter's evening. But I did, and although they only made the fabulous 'DIVA' from Banyuls and spices that year to my knowledge, I never regretted it!)
Helmut - they really ARE good!"
However, my friends, I still prefer my haven in the south-west countryside. Besides - I bought the Ladurée cookbook (in English) so I no longer have to salivate every time I think of Paris any more ;-)
You can get the recipe book too - from HERE Looking forward to catching up with you all next week.
Off to bed for me!
I have a 6.00am bike ride to compensate for all the sugar ;-)
Much love
