This weekend I had a bit of a rendezvous with sassy friend Angie. Location: Paris!
We had lived in Paris for a month about 10 years ago during a summer language course. I didn't learn much French and I accumulated a debt that took YEARS to recover from, but damn it was awesome. It was my first taste of living in a foreign country and I am truly grateful for the experience.
Flash forward many many years and Angie's doing a bit of a tour of Europe and we thought since England is only about a 2 hour train ride from Paris, why don't we have a sort of reunion?!
Sometimes I forget what I lucky bitch I am.
This first write up will concentrate on the food consumed. Oh the food!
I left after work Friday and by 10pm I was greeted by Angie at Gare du Nord. We hopped on the Metro and went to the little studio apartment that Angie found for the weekend (surprisingly cheap compared to a hotel and Angie treated me for my birthday anyways, thanks darling!) Then we had dinner at Chez Denise.
A few things to note as I didn't take any pictures (Angie has them on her camera):
It was a gorgeous day which was a perfect backdrop in search of the perfect ice cream from Berthillon. I had never heard of it but Angie assured me it is world famous and it has been on her list of places to go "for years". And dudes, the stuff is amazing. I had a scoop of apricot and a scoop of grapefruit and Angie had banana and caramel. They taste exactly like what you expect those flavors to taste like except fresher and more intense. Honestly a-m-a-z-i-n-g and if you're ever in Paris it is well worth hunting this place down!
For dinner we had made reservations at Itineraire and at this one I was able to take some discreet snaps on my phone.
Our entrees:
Angie had a mackerel starter which included some mussels. Isn't it so pretty??
My starter was a carpaccio (ie very thinly sliced) mushrooms with clams (I now know what clams are supposed to be like) and shaved fennel with a very simple seasoning that made all the ingredients come brilliantly together. I would have licked the plate if I was not in a restaurant.
Our plates:
Angie's main course was salmon, courgettes, beans with a parmesan sauce. Again the presentation was beautiful.
I had cod with on a bed of cooked vegetables. I can't make it sound fancier than that and there isn't any need to because that's what it was and it was brilliant. It tasted so fresh and vibrant, simplicity was the perfect choice to let the main ingredients shine.
We split the dessert which was some kind of cheese (I wouldn't be surprised if it was homemade or at least locally made) and it had a very very subtle goat cheese taste. I was especially impressed with the olive oil drizzled on top, Angie and I first mistook it for honey.
Much to our lament we were so full by this time we couldn't finish the cheese (we really really tried).
Before I left for home the next morning I had just enough time to grab a couple of pain au chocolats aux amonds to share with Craig (the poor man was left in the home alone studying for his PM certificate) (well he also went to a bbq, watched the FA cup final and went to a few pubs so he wasn't suffering too bad from my absence). They were really greasy but still delicious with a hot mug of tea and a perfect way to wind down my Parisian excursion.
We had lived in Paris for a month about 10 years ago during a summer language course. I didn't learn much French and I accumulated a debt that took YEARS to recover from, but damn it was awesome. It was my first taste of living in a foreign country and I am truly grateful for the experience.
Flash forward many many years and Angie's doing a bit of a tour of Europe and we thought since England is only about a 2 hour train ride from Paris, why don't we have a sort of reunion?!
Sometimes I forget what I lucky bitch I am.
This first write up will concentrate on the food consumed. Oh the food!
I left after work Friday and by 10pm I was greeted by Angie at Gare du Nord. We hopped on the Metro and went to the little studio apartment that Angie found for the weekend (surprisingly cheap compared to a hotel and Angie treated me for my birthday anyways, thanks darling!) Then we had dinner at Chez Denise.
A few things to note as I didn't take any pictures (Angie has them on her camera):
- We sat down to eat at midnight. We didn't make reservations and when we arrived we were almost turned away. Now, I thought it was because they were almost closing but:
- We finished our meal at around 2AM and the place was BUMPIN'. Midnight was when the dinner service really picked UP and we were fortunate they let us sit even though we had to share our table with another party (not a problem, they were lovely to share with).
- We had the cote de boeuf which is a shared platter and it comes with steak, fries, and roasted marrow.
- When they set down a plate of steak we both thought: "Oh that's the perfect portion for us to share this late at night," and then they plunked down ANOTHER plate with an equally big steak in front of me. It was divinely cooked (England usually overcooks their steaks).
- The fries were magnificent. Every fry was perfectly seasoned. Every. single. fry.
- I'd never had roast marrow before and I'll be honest, the texture takes getting used to. But it was great!!
It was a gorgeous day which was a perfect backdrop in search of the perfect ice cream from Berthillon. I had never heard of it but Angie assured me it is world famous and it has been on her list of places to go "for years". And dudes, the stuff is amazing. I had a scoop of apricot and a scoop of grapefruit and Angie had banana and caramel. They taste exactly like what you expect those flavors to taste like except fresher and more intense. Honestly a-m-a-z-i-n-g and if you're ever in Paris it is well worth hunting this place down!
For dinner we had made reservations at Itineraire and at this one I was able to take some discreet snaps on my phone.
Our entrees:
Angie had a mackerel starter which included some mussels. Isn't it so pretty??
My starter was a carpaccio (ie very thinly sliced) mushrooms with clams (I now know what clams are supposed to be like) and shaved fennel with a very simple seasoning that made all the ingredients come brilliantly together. I would have licked the plate if I was not in a restaurant.
Our plates:
Angie's main course was salmon, courgettes, beans with a parmesan sauce. Again the presentation was beautiful.
I had cod with on a bed of cooked vegetables. I can't make it sound fancier than that and there isn't any need to because that's what it was and it was brilliant. It tasted so fresh and vibrant, simplicity was the perfect choice to let the main ingredients shine.
We split the dessert which was some kind of cheese (I wouldn't be surprised if it was homemade or at least locally made) and it had a very very subtle goat cheese taste. I was especially impressed with the olive oil drizzled on top, Angie and I first mistook it for honey.
Much to our lament we were so full by this time we couldn't finish the cheese (we really really tried).
Before I left for home the next morning I had just enough time to grab a couple of pain au chocolats aux amonds to share with Craig (the poor man was left in the home alone studying for his PM certificate) (well he also went to a bbq, watched the FA cup final and went to a few pubs so he wasn't suffering too bad from my absence). They were really greasy but still delicious with a hot mug of tea and a perfect way to wind down my Parisian excursion.