Good Day, Rough Night

Joy and Jake are here! Hooray! And thank goodness, because their presence turned out to be crucial during some excitement last night. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

After a fairly straightforward trip (no snow delays or cancellations, no luggage mishaps), Joy and Jake arrived chez nous around 10 AM yesterday morning. We chatted over tea, toast, and jam, then headed to Breizh Café for lunch. (We had attempted to lunch at Breizh Café once before, realizing too late you need reservations, so this time we made sure to take care of that. Also, "Breizh" means "Bretagne" in Breton.) Like Crêperie de Josselin in the 14th, Breizh Café specializes in savory Breton galettes (a hearty buckwheat "crêpe") and of course also serves dessert crêpes (lighter, made of white flour).  I got a complète (oeuf miroir - sunny side up egg; jambon et frômage), Maggie got magret de canard (duck breast), Joy got a complète with arthichoke, and Jake got lox, chives, and crème fraîche. We shared some rather bitter Breton apple cider, Maggie got a crêpe caramel-beurre for dessert, and we left very satisfied with the whole experience. Alas, we left our camera at home so there are no pictures, but my complète looked very similar to this:

I was surprised to see the squared-off edges, but I guess it's somewhat normal.

In what has become a typical walk with visitors, we perused the Jewish-quarter food offerings along the Rue des Rosiers (pausing to buy really intense rye bread at Sacha Finkelsztajn), walked through ginormous department store BHV on our way to the Hôtel de Ville (which boasted a jam-packed ice-skating rink and two carousels, one of which we hopped on for free!), crossed the Seine and walked through Notre Dame.

In contrast with previous walks, after exiting Notre Dame we crossed the square, descended a slightly sketchy-looking stairwell, and entered the Crypte Archéologique du Parvis Notre-Dame. It doesn't get any more "underground" than this: well-preserved ruins of Gallo-Roman settlements found under the square in front of Notre Dame, as well as a decent historical overview of Parisian urban development starting around the time of Julius Caesar (approx. 50 BC) through the early twentieth century. Apparently there are ruins like these just waiting to be found all over the 5th and 6th arrondissements - very cool.

Joy and Jake were meeting friends for dinner at 5, so we headed home, had a quick coffee, and they were off. Maggie and I finished watching season 4 of Entourage while enjoying leftover tuna-noodle casserole with (surprise!) sparkling red wine friends had brought over Saturday night. Joy and Jake got home around 9 (impressive), played some cards with Maggie while I talked with my mom on the phone, then we all went to bed. And that's the end of our good day.

Here's the beginning of our rough night: Maggie and I decided to watch Confessions of a Shopaholic, streaming from my mom's Netflix account (thanks, mom! and thanks, Harvard VPN!). Despite a ridiculous cast, this proved to be a terrible decision. The movie was just really bad. When we turned the lights off, I figured it was Isla Fischer's performance that had given me indigestion. Boy, was I wrong. (Warning: What follows may constitute TMI. Sorry.)

A few hours later I barely made it to the bathroom in time to be violently ill. Feeling gross, I showered, brushed my teeth, drank water to rehydrate, and went back to bed. Another hour of tossing and turning, and I knew I wasn't done, so I went back to hang out in the bathroom, and soon regretted having rehydrated. This time I only had a sip of water, and went back to bed. More tossing and turning, more feeling ill, but this time as I walked to the bathroom, I only had time to remark to Maggie, "I'm feeling a little light-headed," before passing out completely.

Here's where Joy and Jake came in handy. Jake is a third-year med student at KU and swiftly diagnosed dehydration. We didn't have any gatorade, so he concocted a tisane-sugar-salt solution and had me sip it, slowly, on the floor. Meanwhile, I have a feeling the moral support that they gave Maggie (just by being there) kept her as calm as could be expected.

Eventually Jake and Maggie walked me back to the bedroom (one in front, one behind, in case I fell again) and I only had one more episode before I finally managed to stop shivering and get to sleep. Today, while Joy and Jake hit up the Eiffel Tower and the Rodin Museum, Maggie stayed home and nursed me back to health. I'll be as good as new by tonight, promise.

Theories as to what caused this unpleasant turn of events: 1) The oeuf miroir I had on my galette at lunch. It turns out oeuf miroir isn't quite the same thing as a sunny-side up egg. The whole "miroir" (mirror) qualifier refers to the fact that you separate the white and yolk when cooking. First, the white fries very quickly, producing a sheen on top in which you're supposed to be able to see your reflection. Then, the yolk is added and cooks just a tiny little bit before being served. With the (minor) exception of the tons of raw cookie dough that I've eaten throughout my life, this was probably the rarest egg I've ever had. 2) The sparkling red wine we had with dinner. I don't think I've ever had sparkling red wine before, and I have to admit it was a little strange. 3) Confessions of a Shopaholic. Terrible, terrible movie.

Happy Chanukah!

We couldn't wait for the holiday to start, so we actually bought each other our first presents Wednesday morning, during a tour of the various kitchen stores around St. Eustasche/Les Halles. (More on that soon.) Louis got me a Chef's knife (second year running!) and I got him - drumroll, please - a crêpe pan! And of course that meant we had to make crêpes, stat.

We filled our first homemade crêpes with dark chocolate and banana. Delish!

Tonight, to officially ring in the holiday, I cooked up a menorah from scratch, using a pan, some aluminum foil, a flour/salt/water dough, and tea lights (call me Mag-gyver).

Louis surprised me with more presents - I got a butter warmer! And Louis got (himself) a book.

We had to try out the butter-warmer by making crêpes again, this time with a special filling I'll post about later. (Hint: it starts with "q" and ends with "uince.")

Can't wait to see what the next 7 nights will bring! Happy Chanukah!

Sarah's Visit - Part 2

We're still reminiscing about Sarah's visit last month. Here's some more images from a wonderful weekend:

We began Day 2 (after un café, of course) with a visit to the Pierre Soulages exhibition at the Centre Georges Pompidou:

After a lunch at home of les restes of the delicious (if fraught) quiche Louis had baked the night before, we continued our day with a mid-afternoon snack at Culture Rapide: nutella crepes for me and Sarah, cinnamon sugar for Louis!

Friday evenings at the Louvre, young people under 26 get in free. Unfortunately, Sarah and I are both 26, but just barely, so we had to pay while Louis (the young'un) got in free.

Look, ma, Soulages is in the Louvre! (An American lady behind me said, disapprovingly, "And then, there's this.")

After a couple hours at the Louvre (come on, this was our second museum of the day!), we decided it was time to eat again.We hit up Kiwizine (right around the corner) because the menu sounded utterly divine:

Gambas aux tomates et basilic sur un toast

   Filet du Jour aux épices libanais avec une sauce tarator et taboulé.

   Macaron vanille avec des fruits rouges

What a wonderful day!

If You're Craving Crêpes . . .

In the middle of an epic jaunt through Paris today, we stumbled upon a crêperie that more than deserves a blog post (and probably a medal).

The Crêperie de Josselin (14th arr., Métro Edgar Quinet), a wood-paneled, intimate, Breton-inspired restaurant, serves only crêpes (salé (savory) and sucré (sweet)). They have a 10-euro lunch menu that includes a crêpe complète (egg, cheese, ham), choice of dessert crêpe, and a drink (get the cider). This would be a deal even ignoring the fact that the cook - who is also the woman who has owned the place for 15 years - doubles over the already huge crêpe, which means you get twice as much food as you probably need. She was so friendly, and so skilled, I had to take her picture.

I could spend a lot of time describing the ambience and the food, but luckily someone else has already done the work for me. Suffice it to say, you should go here.