Where Do They Keep Them?
Monday was a public holiday in France for Armistice Day so we spent it enjoying the variable weather in Jersey before packing up to head home. The drizzle started as we set out on a beautiful coastal walk from St Brelade’s to Beau Port Beach and kept up the entire time as we trudged along sopping wet, the clouds only magically clearing as we arrived home. We made up for it with lunch at El Tico in St Ouen’s Bay and then it was time to catch the ferry back to St Malo, sit in a cold train station for a bit then doze on the train to Paris. With the kids in bed after midnight Tuesday morning was a struggle but eventually everyone got where they needed to be for the day.
Like any smart Aussie in Paris on Wednesday night Mum and I headed to the Grand Rex to see comedian Hannah Gadsby, who had us in fits of laughter in between dropping some home truths that had us all sighing with realisation (eg “is it anxiety if it’s rational”?). I’d never been to the Grand Rex before but can only imagine it’s a great place to see a movie as the chairs are so comfy the couple next to me fell asleep.
On Thursday I had the chance to pop past Galeries Lafayette to admire their Christmas windows and enormous tree with 20 000 lights and topped by a fiber-optic fireworks display (not my favourite but you can’t win ‘em all). Then it was swiftly onward to lunch with my friend Roxy (who writes What’s Up Paris and knows all the spots to try) at Bien Élevé, a little place in the 9th that pays particular focus to their relationship with suppliers and des terroirs français. For anyone gluten free they were helpful and it was pretty easy to find something suitable on the menu.
I spent the rest of the afternoon frantically rearranging a long awaited trip to Tromsø to see the Northern lights after a wild storm warning was announced and our tour guide admitted there’d be zero chance of seeing them during our stay. I thanked the travel gods for a little loophole that allowed me to change our inflexible flights and was pleased I’d somehow booked a refundable hotel. We’ll try again next weekend.
I suddenly had a craving for a deep dish Hawaiian pizza so on Friday night put my reputation on the line with my family by proudly presenting them with ham and pineapple toppings: 2 refused it, 1 picked the pineapple off but happily ate it separately, 1 grudgingly ate it reminding me they don’t like pineapple, 1 said it was “fine” and I loved it. I was happy to learn it actually originated in Ontario by Greek-born Canadian Sam Panopoulos, who named it Hawaiian after the brand of canned pineapple he used.
On Sunday morning I met up with a friend to check out a local vide grenier and armed with coffee we nipped over to hunt for treasure. We struck gold with a man selling old stage costumes and the outrageous collection of a wardrobe supervisor, with long flowing silk gowns all priced at €15. I guiltily broke my clothing pause to buy 2 dresses but they were just too good to pass up, and now I need a chaise lounge to recline on and possibly an old school glass of scotch to hold while I pose.
To get the kids to nap I bribed them with the promise of dinosaurs in the afternoon so we headed to the Jardin des Planets where their new festive exhibition Jurassique en Voie d’Illumination is all set up in advance of the opening on November 20th. As we strolled through the long lanes of sculptures I realised we probably don’t need to get tickets to return and see them lit up so mentally diverted that money to my Christmas tree budget. On the way home we stopped at Monoprix to let the kids choose a decoration and an advent calendar while my disinterested husband tried to hurry them along and I dared him to even think about encroaching on my festive activities. Bah humbug.
I was kicking myself Sunday night when I realised we’d missed the annual Sausage Dog walk down by the river. As I was due to be away I’d accepted we couldn’t attend and when the trip changed forgot all about adding it back on the schedule. So I went home and baked myself a tarte Tatin with extra caramel to cheer myself up, Noisette in her usual position next to the oven and none the wiser she’d missed a prime opportunity to bark all morning.
Have a great week,
- Emily
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.
Bleu de Gex - a mild, creamy, semi-soft blue cheese made from unpasteurized milk from Montbéliard cows in the Jura region.
Comté - a semi-hard cheese made from unpasteurised cow’s milk from the Jura Massif region of France, this one was aged 24 months.
All 3 cheeses were from Manu at Marché Maubert.
Pavé Savoyard
I made a brilliant discovery at the market on Saturday of Pavé savoyard, which is basically a way to wrap sausage mince in cheese and bacon which when roasted in the oven creates the most delicious sauce, that we ate over rice with a light green side salad. The recipe below is per person so just adjust accordingly.
200g sausage mince (I just buy my favourite sausages and empty them, but you can also buy pork, veal or chicken mince and season yourself.
2 slices of bacon
2 squares of Emmental cheese
Heat the oven to 180°C.
Shape the mince into a flat square, approximately the same size as the squares of cheese.
Place a slice of cheese on the top and bottom, and wrap the two slices of bacon around it. You can secure with a toothpick but it sort of stays together without it.
Roast in the oven for around 20 minutes, until the mince is cooked and the bacon is well browned.
Bon appétit!
Real Life Paris Photo
This photo was sent to me on Instagram (thanks Kirstin) and I’m hoping I’ll get my own final sighting before the end of the year. Where do they KEEP THEM??
The 9th edition of the Australian Aboriginal Film Festival is taking place in Paris this week and is honoured to welcome Carte Blanche: ‘RESIST’, by Tara June Winch. Considered one of the greatest contemporary Aboriginal writers, Tara June Winch has written 3 critically acclaimed novels. Her latest work, The Harvest, translated by Actes Sud (2020) and winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award (the Australian Goncourt), is currently being adapted for the screen. Tickets are available here and I highly recommend it. See you there!
Loved our little lunch! (Still thinking of those melt-in-the-mouth potatoes!) 🤩 Fab newsletter, once again 😘
After recently returning from Norway and Arctic circle, I want to be sure that you are more prepared than we were. We'd been told that you could only see the colors with a smart phone, preferably Apple. BUT it turned out that ours were too dated and did not have a "night" setting. No pictures for us! Some friends we made on board airdropped some of theirs to us. With the naked eye you can watch for the white wisps of clouds that form vertical lines and move more quickly than real clouds do.