(photo from the Les Madeleines website)
Doesn't it look so flaky and crunchy and airy and beautiful! I can barely contain myself.
In addition, they sell Madeleines (hence the name) and macaroons. I have been drooling over macaroons on the Paris Breakfasts blog for months now....this will be an opportunity of a lifetime for me....well at least until I get to Paris.
I am also reading a book by Patricia Wells and her husband Walter called We've Always Had Paris....And Provence. I am three chapters into it at the moment. They met at the New York Times in NYC and moved to Paris on a whim for Walter's job. My favorite chapter thus far is called Rules, Rules and More Rules. It's referring to all the rules that the French live and breath by. Here are a few from the book:
1) The Orange Juice Trick: when the large crystal and silver pitcher filled with chilled orange juice would appear, it was time to go home. The host and hostess did not have to say a word.
As a side note, the Vitamin C helps counteract the alcohol and may even prevent hangovers, for it speeds up the metabolism of alcohol by the liver.
2) Parisian women do not wear bleu marine or Armani.
3) Do not have second servings of the cheese platter, because you are insulting the host's cooking. You may only have seconds of the first course and main course.
4) Women never pour their own wine.
5) And who gets served first? In this order: the women, then the guests of honor, the hostess, the men in order of descending age, the host, and finally, the children.
6) A woman's rank at the table: widows first, followed by a married woman, a divorced woman, a single woman. And single hostesses must never seat a man, either married or single, directly across from her. Single hosts must never sit across from a married woman if her husband is absent.
There it is folks. I gazed at my husband and asked him if it was even remotely possible to remember so many rules along with the language before our trip. He confidently assured me that we can........but......he cannot even aim him dirty clothes in the laundry basket, so I have my doubts.
(picture of Patricia Wells' cooking class in Paris...from the Patricia Wells site)
If I had $5000 to take a cooking class with Patricia Wells, I would in a heartbeat. She is booked solid a year in advance. Life turned out pretty sweet in Paris after all.
I have taken the next step into my "Francophilia" and subscribed to France the magazine. They claim it's the next best thing to living there....we'll have to see about that. All the research is tempting my husband and I into retiring somewhere in Europe........
Apres Vous is about Antoine saving Louis from committing suicide and ends up "adopting" him. Antoine gives him shelter, a job, and the spirit to go on even though Louis has been dumped by the love of his life, Blanche. In the process, Antoine falls in love with Blanche, while trying to convince her to go back to Louis.
A cheesy (no punt intended) romantic comedy that made me giggle at times. My favorite part was getting glimpses of Paris and the French countryside, along with the scrumptious dishes served in between scenes.
I wish you all a Bon Weekend!
My 1 1/2 year old.
My 4 1/2 year old.
My 6 1/2 year old."That was where the other children of Paris were-never scattered in the street but enclosed in leafy green spaces where you could admire them, as you did the outdoor sculpture ringing the periphery. I stood by, watching the little girls in starched white dresses, patent shoes, and ribbons in their neatly plaited hair, little boys in seer sucker shorts, knee socks, and handsome cotton vests worn over their linen short-sleeved shirts."
"...I let the children run wild. I forbade them to read out of the doors. I dressed them in T-shirts and shorts. We looked like vagabonds, loitering around the large fountain pools, making smacking noises at the large gold carp swimming brightly beneath the surface. Christopher once threw a handful of sand into the pool, eliciting stares and hissing sounds."
My children's pediatrician got wind of the fact that we are planning to go to France and her suggestion....stay in Paris a couple of days and then take your kids to the beach in Nice or the Provence countryside. Fodor's France 2009 also recommends only 2 days of Paris with the rascals. I'm sorry but I will not be saving for 2 years to go visit Paris for 2 days.
Should I enlist my kids in an etiquette academy?
Should I send them to school in starched shirts and trousers?
Should I start sending them to bed during daytime so the time difference doesn't make them impossible?
Should I teach them to play an acoustic guitar and recite poetry simultaneously, so they feel at home in the artistic Parisian cafes?
Should I sign them up for oil painting classes in order for them to appreciate the works of Monet?
If I can conjure up the perfect balance and come back from Paris feeling successful, I will definitely write my own book called
Mini-Paris: A Child's Point Of View.
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