Le Cul de Poule (The Hen's Ass)

My brother, John, found this yummy little basque-gourmand restaurant in Pigalle last year that we all went to and loved.  Katy and I just returned tonight.  Katy started with spinach soup while I had smoked haddock with mashed sweet potatoes and dill.  Then we both had a 450g pork chop with polenta and leeks.  We washed it all down with an "assez fort" rhone.  Now we're back at our apartment finishing off last night's champagne and La Duree's macarons.  My favorite flavor so far is orange blossom.

Tomorrow we're off to Reims to sample as much champagne as we can and have lunch at Les Croyeres.

Breakfast

Katy and I made poached eggs on toast this morning.  The egg yolks tasted as sweet and mellow as green grass.  We had no butter so we just sprinkled some salt on top and it was perfect.  I'm also going nuts over summer strawberries and cherries.  

H'ors d'oeuvres

Katy and I had h'ors d'oeuvres at our apartment before dinner at Allard.  We bought a vintage champagne at le Bon Marche and three cheeses - brie, tete de moine, and chevre (the cheese monger told us this is the season when chevre is at its best) - and had all this with some duck rilletes and bread.

Our dinner at Allard was superb.  I had melon and jambon to start and Katy had a frisee salad with lardons.  We both followed with grilled turbot with beurre blanc.  Then for dessert we asked for sorbet.  What they presented was princess pink and tasted like bubblegum.  Quite disturbing.  Katy and I both just let it melt in it's little silver bowls and finished up our white burgundy.

Tomorrow we will pay a return visit to my brother's great find, the basque restaurant le Cul de Poule.  For lunch though we'll visit Katy's favorite falafel dive and do more shopping.  

Restaurant Drouant

Katy and I just had our first dinner in Paris at Drouant near Opera. The menu was a bit confusing at first but hors d'oeuvres were presented as a grouping of four tiny dishes of either legumes, fish, or meat. Katy chose the legumes and I chose the fish. I got fried marlin, sardines, tartare of dorado, and crab with avocado and fish jelly. Everything was fabulous. We drank it all down with a chablis. For our plat we both chose the pork belly which came with four side dishes that we shared: cream of spinach (with insanely thick cream), orzo, fennel puree, and homemade potato chips. We finished dinner off with ice cream and sorbet.


When I left to go to the bathroom our waiter, Andre, leaned over Katy and told her she was a sublime beauty. He was sad when we left. "You're leaving? Already? You're tired? You'll come back though, right?"

"I love Paris in the Springtime..."

I finally arrived in Paris after a chaotic transfer through Joburg. Why did I think it wouldn't be a big deal to travel during the World Cup?

I sat next to a French lady living in South Africa. We started chatting (Almost always a mistake. I hate chatting to strangers on an airplane.) and she asked me, "Why do you like Paris?" I was a bit flustered because I thought it was universally accepted that Paris is a lovely place to live or visit. I stammered on about food and wine not really knowing how to convince someone of an obvious fact. She delved into my past and came up with the idea that I am an artist and that is why I love Paris. I kept on telling her I was not, in fact, an artist but she wouldn't accept this. "You must do something artistic..." As if only artists could possibly love this place. But before we took off she sent a text message to a man named Roy and I spied a bit, sneaky-sneaky like. Suffice it to say they are going through a rough patch and this lady is feeling "drained" and "depleted" by Roy and doesn't know if she can continue seeing him. So perhaps her love-loss clouded her mind from any joy in returning to the land of plenty-of-fois-gras-and-croissants-and-beauty-everywhere.

I'm just waiting for Katy to arrive. I want to pick up some croissants and coffee for breakfast when she arrives.

Kuki's Pub

We enjoyed good German beer at Kuki's pub.

Dune 7

The climb was steep!