An apartment in Paris??? This is why...

January in Paris is without saying,,,freezing cold. We (my husband and I) love it at this time of year. The Reason??? Nobody is here that doesn't really WANT to be here. And Berthillon,what some consider the best ice cream ever, is still doing a brisk business...

We love to cook and have leased houses in the south of France and did the 2 days in Paris thing before we left...... This time we rented an apartment in the City of Lights and stayed 7 whole days......If you do that, be prepared to "Shlep". This is me Shlepping on Ile St Louis avec le baggage: sauccison, Bleu D'Auverne, the requsite bagette, vin du pays, etc. Ist rule...THIS IS WHY WHEN YOU ARE LOOKING POUR" UNE APARTMENT "YOU READ THE FINE PRINT. DO NOT LEASE THE 6TH FLOOR OF A BUILDING WITHOUT AN ELEVATOR UNLESS YOU ARE LANCE ARMSTRONG, JACK LALANE, OR JUST GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE!
NO MATTER HOW CUTE OR INEXPENSIVE IT IS!!!!



Oh the other things in the bag were a DECENT corkscrew, and of course Les Fleurs.

Now, we all have some form of take out or take away food available to us. But this is the ultimate. A shop called Giraudet (I'm assuming it is from renowned Swiss Chef Fredy Giraudet) that specalizes in Quenelles. You can pick your quenelles with a selection of fillings and sauces, from Lobster, to Champignon etc. It is in St Germain at 5 Rue de La Princesse. For those of you who are not familiar, a quenelle is similar to a large almond shaped polenta like dumpling. I had to try one and got there late so even though it was slim pickins we tried the plain ones with the lobster sauce.....Poor us.



This is a bakery on the Rue De L'ile on Ile St. Louis. I love savory tarts and baked things even more than the sweet ones...We absconded with a piece of these, filled with cheese & saucisson and it was incredible! The Fromagerie is on the same street, just the smell is enticing. We bought a Bresse chicken to roast, and some cheese.......Yes it is France more cheese! The chicken is special it has blue feet, white plumage, and a red comb. (like the French flag) The shopkeeper was delightful....

Anemones, we brought home...




The finished Bresse Chicken not bad considering the limitations of the kitchen facilities....We would have liked it more brown on the outside......




A well-earned bottle of Carianne Cote du Rhone, a bouquet of radishes and accroutrements..