Meow

Hello Kitty strawberry ice cream, anyone?

I know. You can make fun of me. It's okay. It was actually pretty good.

My French Grammar Classes

took place here.


Just down the street you'll find Notre Dame.


Right next door is this great park. I spent a lot of time in that park.


Ahhhh, Paris. I miss you already.

T Minus 28 Hours

I'll be headed out to the airport around one tomorrow afternoon. My flight doesn't leave until seven, but I have three suitcases to check, which means I'll have to not only check in, but actually pay fees. The cost of checking one extra suitcase with both Air France and Delta is about what it would cost me to ship all of the stuff home. But instead of taking a month or so to get there, I'm banking on having it a couple of days after I get home.

Look at me being all optimistic--I'm working on the assumption that at some point all or part of my luggage will get lost. I'm just bracing myself so that I don't crumble in the middle of JFK or the Salt Lake airport when I don't see my suitcases.

Air France lost one of my bags when I arrived in Paris, and they lost ALL of Amy's luggage when she arrived. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it was just a fluke.

It's also going to take me forever to get my suitcases to the ground floor of my apartment--the elevator broke this week.

(Everyone just keep your fingers crossed for me--maybe the elevator will be fixed by tomorrow).

38/101 - Cooking Terms, Tips, and Tools

#38 on my list of 101 Things to do before December 6, 2011 is:

Learn 100 new cooking terms/tips/tools.

I learned a new term/process yesterday. It's a bain-marie. Which I guess can either be a double-boiler-type item, or just a simple process of dumping a container filled with food into water to be boiled and therefore cooking whatever the contents are without actually exposing them to the water.

This is how I heated a package of pre-cooked quinoa, spelt, lentils, and red beans I bought at a health food store by the Hotel de Ville. On the package it said to cook by bain marie, and showed a pot of boiling water with the pouch floating inside.

So. There's one term. Only 99 to go.

So, how about some help. What is your favorite cooking word, helpful tip, or appliance/utensil that you would hate to live without?

Mother's Day Flower

I got a peony at the end of Sacrament Meeting last Sunday, because I am a future mother and it was Mother's Day in France on the 7th.

I'm relatively certain I missed US Mother's Day. That makes me kind of lame.

Giving peonies makes my ward really cool, though. Peonies. Not carnations, and not even roses, but beautiful, beautiful peonies.

I'm also a fan of ranunculus,

Anemone,

and Poppies.

What are your favorite flowers?

Peony photo = me. Other photos all from him.

American Food in Paris

So, sometimes during my stay in Paris I just felt like it was time for some food that didn't require me to think too hard or translate the menu too much. I wanted something familiar, easy, and laid back.

Enter Happy Days Diner.

Just behind the Place Saint Michel on rue Francisque Gay, it's a 50's-style diner offering American classics like burgers, fries, onion rings, and sundaes. And a bottle of Heinz 57 on each and every table.

The food is similar to what you might find at Iceberg drive-in in Utah. No one's throwing awards around, but it's tasty enough if you've got kids who are looking for something "normal" to eat in Paris, but you just can't bring yourself to go to McDonald's.

I also really love the decor.

Yep. That was a Coke with lemon.

Paris "Drinking" Fountains

In Paris, you will have a rough time finding drinking fountains. I have only seen one. Ever. It's in the place Saint Michel on the north side, towards the river.

But unless you're planning to spend all of your time hanging out by Place Saint Michel, having access to water is helpful (without having to pay for a new bottle every time).

Save Money. Use fewer plastic bottles. Refill your own bottle at one of these lovely fountains.

They are all over the city, and they are (warning: information received from an unreliable source) supposedly the only fountains in the world where the water flows straight down rather than bubbling out of the top and then trickling down.

So, rather than experiencing what my father did (buying a 1 Euro bottle of water, only to find it was an unsealed bottle that the vendor had probably picked out of the trash and refilled), or going without water until your next meal, just make a pit stop every now again by the green fountains o' plenty.

You're welcome.

I'll try to get a full-fountain shot on here so you've got a better idea of what you're looking for... but for the time being, this is all I've got.