Unexpected Joke Candles

You know when you promise someone something “come rain, hail or shine” but it’s just a phrase? Well Paris put me to the test this week by hailing when I was in the middle of a time-sensitive work errand while woefully unprepared without an umbrella. I then repeated the same error in judgement when taking the children to their activities, tricked by the bright blue skies, and had to gently explain why we were running home dodging pellets of ice while more organised nannies competently shepherded their charges home protected with layers and hoods and prams and umbrellas.

Meanwhile in Le Bon Marché the weather is glorious and I rode the escalator a few extra times just to admire their current installation, gliding through clouds and floating Eiffel Towers as I went about my shopping. Their Paris Paris celebration is running until October 20th and if you’re in the market for a 6 foot chocolate Eiffel Tower or a croissant lamp it’s the place for you. I walked straight past the new Sezane children’s concession on the ground floor (I wanted to asses it for you but knew if I even glanced at it the monthly mortgage payment would be at risk) so instead added it to my Vinted search to catch everything once the chic kids of the 7th arrondissement have worn things once or twice.

There’s nothing quite like being invited to a cocktail party at an Embassy to make you feel like a grown up (even if it’s all a facade and your house is just as messy as everyone else’s) and the Australian Embassy was happy to oblige this week, hosting a wonderful event where I ran into old friends and new as the Eiffel Tower sparkled in the background. My friend Kath is the chef up there (check out her substack for behind the scenes cooking and lots of great info on Normandy) and she very kindly created a gluten free selection of canapés which I hoovered up in record time, stashing a good chunk of the desserts in my handbag for later.

On Saturday morning I skipped out for a tour at the flea market, which was looking an absolute dream in the sunshine, the green vines climbing all over the ramshackle buildings and weaving through the piles of plates, silverware and art on offer. My clients made a wonderful selection of luggage friendly decor and I, as usual, dreamt of a moving to a picture perfect country house.

Then it was home to decorate our apartment and cook up some food for my half-birthday party. My actual birthday remains in March where it falls like clockwork but as I never got around to celebrating it then I figured it’s always a good time for a fête so invited a rowdy crew over, plied them with margaritas and released a playlist from the early 2000s. Aforementioned Kath and I prepared a Mexican feast and got busy rolling out fresh tortillas and roasted pork al pastor in the oven while the ceviche marinated and my teenager learnt a hard lesson about habanero chillies.

My husband ordered a cake from Aux Merveilleux de Fred and covered it in 40 candles which was wonderful until we realised they were joke candles and wouldn’t extinguish (would you believe he’s made this mistake before?). As the room filled with smoke we scrambled for a solution and pulled them out with a pair of pliers (they’d melted too far to pick up normally) and doused them in a bowl of water, before enjoying the slightly singed cake.

There’s no rest for the wicked so Sunday morning I left my wonderful husband to get the house in order while I took some guests on a food tour of Montmartre. A food tour on a weekend in the most touristic part of Paris you say? I had flagged that with them while booking but still had to jump through a few hoops to manage expectations, especially as the sun was shining, a vide grenier had popped up on the streets and everyone was out to enjoy it and snag a second hand bargain. Luckily I know where to go so we managed to fit in sightseeing and a whole lot of food into our time together while they quizzed me intently on the French tax code (a surprisingly common topic visitors want to discuss) and what French people think of the upcoming US election (not sure they loved my answer 😉).

In the late afternoon I popped over to see a friend from Aus who’d bravely made the flight over with her little baby, who was introduced to the delights of fresh baguette as we soaked up the late afternoon sun on the banks of the Seine. As the rosé flowed we exchanged books, a copy of The Parisian ABCs for two gorgeous children’s books written by her talented mother (a huge hit with my kids), and enjoyed the ambience of people avoiding the Sunday Scaries.

Have a great week,

- Emily

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Cheese we’re eating this week:

• Tomme aux fleurs sauvages - a pasteurized cow's milk cheese that’s rolled in a mix of wild flowers after a few months of maturing, which gives it a gorgeous floral aroma.

• Mini-clac - a firm little cheese made from raw goat’s milk.

• Comté - a semi-hard cheese made from unpasteurised cow’s milk from the Jura Massif region of France, this one was aged 36 months.

All three cheeses were bought from Manu at Marché Maubert.

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Lime and Mango Prawns

Amazing on tacos or tostadas but also wonderful with a salad or re-jigged into a canapé.

• Fresh prawns, cooked, peeled and deveined

• Mango, cut into tiny cubes

• Shallot, finely diced

• Lime

1. Toss everything in a bowl, pour over a liberal amount of lime juice, mix together well and leave for about 15 miutes for the flavours to mingle.

Bon appétit!

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Real Life Paris Photo

If you’re in Paris in 2 weeks this is usually a great vide grenier to check out.