My blog

The Christmas cups are here!

And so is the Lafayette Christmas tree!

No knocks on our door yet, and it’s almost midnight, so I guess all this candy is for us!  To be honest, I totally forgot it was Halloween today - it’s not that big here.  But I’m making up for it now by eating these yummy marshmallows (or “shamallows” as they’re called here).  Yummy!

My newly married friends are famous!  They got published in a wedding magazine.  Here they are keeping me company on my desk at work.

Last weekend we went out to eat at a restaurant that specializes in south-western French cuisine called Chez Papa.  This region of France is famous for dishes like magret de canard (duck breast), cassoulet (a sort of bean stew), and my fave, confit de canard (duck cooked in its own fat…I know, sounds greasy, but it’s really good!).  I had the cassoulet to see what it was like (very filling).  And for apéro, a sangria seasoned with espelette pepper (another specialty of the region).   It pretty much tasted like a normal sangria.  As did the chocolate espelette pepper ice cream I had for dessert.  But the main dish was really good, and the ambiance was cool.  A little restaurant with long tables.  A couple of guys ended up sitting at our table, and we could hear everything that they were saying, so when they started talking about Brittany, Simon put in his word.  And we even shook hands with “Papa”.  Or at least we think it was him.  He looked somewhat like the guy in the restaurant window, and he went around to shake the hand of everyone in the restaurant.  Thanks for letting us know about this place Mr. Wu!  It was great!

I tried to take up a new hobby - making baskets.  But it takes a lot of patience, so it only lasted about a week.  Here are a couple of the baskets that I was able to make.  So I need to find another hobby.  Any suggestions?

An entire room full of cheese!

I miss home. 

You never know when you might need a bunch of eyeglass frames!

Meet Fauchon’s Printemps/Eté 2008 eclair collection!

These cakes look too good to eat!

And for information, the store at place de la Madeleine has been newly redesigned. Gotta love the trademark pink!