Un cour de cuisine 2 Paris 24 February 2012

24 février 2012
Geoffrey and I did a cooking lesson. Eight people were in the class and the chef and an assistant. It was hands on and great and the chef spoke in French. We cooked risotto aux champignons frais et parmesan. Just before the meal was ready to eat, about 200 grammes of butter was added. We couldn't believe it! The piece de resistance.

 It was at les Galeries Lafayette in boulevard Haussmann.

It took 30 minutes to cook the meal and then another 30 minutes to sit down and eat it with wine, dessert and coffee. It was just such a great experience. .

You pay extra for the wine, dessert and coffee. This meal was cheaper than going out to a bistro for lunch. The cost was 15 euros each. Of course we had the wine etc. but we were charged only 4 euros extra each.

l' addition s' il vous plaît

risotto aux champignons frais et parmesan
Les ingrédients

Quantités pour 6 personne(s)

• Riz carnaroli : 300 g
• Pleurote(s) : 300 g
• Persil plat : 0.5 botte(s)
• Oignon(s) : 1 pc(s)
• Echalote(s) : 1 pc(s)
• Champignon(s) de Paris : 300 g
• Beurre doux : 50 g
• Parmesan Parmigiano Reggiano : 50 g
• Cube(s) de bouillon de volaille : 1 pc(s)
• Eau : 90 cl
• Huile d'olive : 10 cl
• Vin blanc sec : 10 cl
• Sel fin : 6 Pincée(s)
• Moulin à poivre : 6 Tour(s)

Description de la recette
Éplucher l'oignon et le ciseler (le couper en petits dés). Éplucher l'échalote puis la tailler en fines lamelles. Hacher le persil plat. Effeuiller les pleurotes. Éplucher les champignons de Paris et les couper en quartiers.

Dans une cocotte, faire suer l'oignon avec un filet d'huile d'olive et une pincée de sel. Ajouter le riz et le nacrer, puis verser le vin blanc et laisser réduire. Diluer ensuite le cube de bouillon de volaille dans l'eau et mélanger. Ajouter le bouillon jusqu'à cuisson complète du riz (environ 15 à 20 min).

Dans une poêle avec un filet d'huile d'olive, faire sauter tous les champignons coupés en quartiers, puis l'échalote et enfin le persil haché, et assaisonner. Placer ensuite les champignons dans le riz et éteindre le feu. Incorporer le beurre pour lier et finir avec le parmesan râpé.

Rectifier l'assaisonnement et servir.

à bientôt

Spices at the gourmet section of les Galeries Lafayette Paris 24 Februa...

After we did the cooking course, in Lafayette Maison, we went across the road to the gourmet section of les Galeries Lafayette and Geoffrey took this video of the spectacular spice area, when out of the blue, a polite security person was there and said 'non'.





The gourmet section of les Galeries Lafayette is like an upmarket David Jones and 3 times the size.

Un cour de cuisine 1 Paris 24 February 2012

For privacy reasons, I wish to maintain limited access to this finished video.
To view this video, email me and request the link. However, I think you can still play it from my blog!
.

Palais Garnier Paris 19 February 2012

Brass and percussion busker group on the steps of the Palais Garnier.
On our way home from le Jardin des Tuileries, they were there playing.

Palais Garnier

For the first time, I accidentally deleted a post from my published blog. There is always the first time for everything- so here I am redoing the Palais Garnier post.

Palais Garnier 19 February 2012
On this day we decided to walk down to le Jardin des Tuileries. The route we took on this day was past the Galeries Layfayette on boulevarde Haussmann and then past the Palais Garnier in la Place de l'Opéra. It was on the way home that Geoffrey took the video of the brass and percussion group.





We also went past one of my favourite monuments in Paris -
Joan d'Arc.












We  walked along the outside of the gardens and entered from la Place de la Concorde entrance.

We often walk along the outside of these gardens and along this stretch of road. There are shops, bistros, the Meurice Hotel which is one of the luxury hotels in Paris, and there are 2 English Language bookshops, Galignani and W H Smith.  

le Jardin des Tuileries 19 February 2012

me at the lake nearest the Louvre

As you can see. even although it is very cold, people still sit around reading or just enjoying the bit of warmth from the sun.

The Louvre in the background

It will be interesting to take a photo of this same area in about 6 weeks time.

l'Église de la Sainte-Trinité

l'Église de la Sainte-Trinité is a catholic church built between 1861 and 1867. It is a beautiful building and massive. The bell tower is 63 metres high, topped by a dome.
This church is in the 9 arrondissement and is quite close to our apartment.

à bientôt

La Grande Épicerie de Paris

Today, we visited La Grande Épicerie de Paris, in the 7th arrondissement. The épicerie is opposite un grand magasin, le Bon Marché on the left bank. Our apartment is on the other side of the River Seine. We are on the right bank.Today, we went via le Métro.

Métro Sèvres-Babylone





Geoffrey in a garden with le magasin le Bon Marché in the background. Le Bon Marché is a bit like a gigantic David Jones clothes store.










Geoffrey in l'Épicerie.
there is such a range of food, things to eat, fruit, vegetables, fish, meat and on it goes. It is overwhelming. The place warrants guided tours of their shelves. They even have vegemite.

à bientôt

Marché Batignolles

Produce from the Marché Batignolles

Saturday 18 February 2012
Marché Batignolles

Métro Place de Clichy/Rome
On Saturday

Le Marché Batignolles is held on the boulevarde des Batignolles, which is a very wide street. The market is on the centre divider strip. It is a few minutes walk from our apartment.

At times, at a market, we think, yes, this is the best market in Paris and then it happens; we are at another market that is just so good that it has to go to the top of the list and that is le Marché Batignolles. It is an organic market. It is a wonderful market. As good as le Marché Grenelle, except there is no l'escargot stall.

In Paris, we will buy anything from anywhere, strawberries from...., dates from......, oranges from... , but our very favourite is clementines from .....wherever. At this market, they have the best Italian stall we have ever been to with absolutely magnificent produce. We bought cheese with white truffles, a green coloured cheese, dried tomatoes etc. etc. Stalls had apples that were non-commercial varieties, two strange passion fruit, orange coloured turnips, absolutely delicious pineapple; the fruit is  a deep yellow orange colour. Everyone was buying these pineapples because the owner of the stall was walking up and down the aisle cutting off pineapple slices for everyone to taste.
Salesmanship at its best! ....of course, we bought a pineapple too.

A small squid from le Marché Batignolles.

à bientôt

Another Market in Paris - Marché Dejean

14 February 2012

Went to Marché Dejean on rue Dejean.  It's in the 18 arrondissement.

Métro Châeau Rouge

Open Tues to Sun 10 to 1 and 3 to 7.

A lot of Africans live in this area so the stall owners have a greater variety of fresh produce and of course a lot more spices available.  

Cassoulet

This video is Geoffrey in his element.



Lunch at Le Goût des Hôtes 33 rue de Constantinople 75008 Paris
As we were passing the restaurant across the road from our place, the blackboard had cassoulet as one of les Plats du Jour, so, Geoffrey just had to try it. It was alright but nowhere near as good as the one he makes.
We each had a main course and a glass of wine. It cost 45 euros.
This was on 14 February. It was the second time we have eaten out, this trip.

Lunch at Wepler 14 Place de Clichy 75018 Paris

On 7 February, we had our first meal out. Wepler's is next door to the Pathé Cinema. It's a little  bit more upmarket than your run of the mill Paris bistro. The food was very good, presentation was good, wine was good and the service was excellent. Geoffrey's chicken was on a bed of cabbage which was very tasty, so he is working on preparing something similar himself. My first course was the traditional onion soup. I like to try it every now and again but again I have not yet had one that I could say was delicious. We each had 2 courses and a bottle of wine. The cost of the meal was 69 euros.

The Cooking is Still Good

12 February 2012

Le Marché Grenelle
Métro: La Motte-Picquet Grenelle.
It is open Wednesdays and Sundays. It is one of the biggest markets in Paris.  It is an open air market on the boulevarde de Grenelle under the overhead Metro bridge.
This is one of our favourite markets. There is a wide choice of produce and the quality is high.

When we went on Sunday, we were absolutely freezing. During this trip to the market and especially on our way back, we both felt the cold more than since we have been here. We don't know why that was. The temperature was -6 degrees and we have been out walking when it was  -9 degrees. For the first time, our feet and hands were chilled to the bone.

This is  un hors-d'oeuvre of black Russian bread with Béarnaise sauce, Lotte (Monkfish) and des oeufs de truite (caviar) and chives.

la paupiette forestiere and la paupiette provencale from local the butcher

the finished delicious  product with potatoes, onion and frozen peas

Geoffrey is interested
in Cassoulet, even if it is tinned.




Please watch the video on cassoulet.


à bientôt

Parc de Monceau

12 February 2012
The Parc de Monceau is about a ten minute walk from our apartment. It is one of the most picturesque parks in Paris. Beautiful trees, curved walkways, large grass areas that you can actually sit on. The pathways are lined with benches. Its informal layout, curved walkways and randomly placed statues distinguish it from the more traditional French style garden. There's a number of scaled down features including an Egyptian pyramid, a Chinese fort, a Dutch windmill and Roman style columns
It will be good to visit this park often and see the changes of the seasons.
This was our first visit there. It was about 5pm and it was -6 degrees. We entered from a side entrance through huge iron gates decorated with gold.

an entrance to Parc Monceau

There is a huge lake, which
on this particular evening,
was frozen.
These are Roman style columns
that go around part of the lake.
Apparently this colonnade was
from the never completed mausoleum of Henry II at
Saint Denis.

Mallard ducks walking on the iced over lake.

Geoffrey at the caroussel in the park.

A frozen waterfall in the park.

This video is of the partly frozen waterfall in Parc Monceau.

à  bientôt

More Landmarks

8 February 2012

We are trying to recognise the local landmarks and their relative positions so we can wander around without maps and without getting totally lost.
There was another fall of snow during the night, but not as heavy as the last lot on Sunday morning. However, it was still very cold, something like -8 degrees during the day.

I planned our walk for the day which was supposed to be the quickest route to the River Seine from our apartment. A trip which was supposed to take 20 minutes, one way, but after a wrong turn, it took a freezing hour but it was worth it (from our apartment last year the walk to the River Seine took less than 5 minutes).

On a walk like this, the landmarks we passed or walked through included l'Église de la Madeleine, le Palais de l'Élysée, le Grand Palais, le Petit Palais, the Obélisque and la Grande Roue de Paris at la Place de la Concorde, le Jardin des Tuileries the Colonne at la Place Vendôme. These are all places we visited last year, but now they are a good bit closer to the current apartment.

Le Petit Palais

Le Grand Palais

Me, looking at le Grand Palais just before reaching la Seine at le Pont Alexandre 111 which is just behind me.

La Grande Roue de Paris at La Place de la Concorde

In the photo of la Grande Roue, you can see the Obélisque and La Tour Eiffel in the far background. I am standing just past the entrance to the  Jardin des Tuileries with Jeu de Paume on one side of the entrance and le Musée de l'Orangerie on the other side.

La Grande Roue de Paris is 60 metres tall, has 42 gondolas and is is transportable. By a specialist team, it can be erected in 72 hours and dismantled in 60 hours.
It was originally erected for the millennium celebrations. Since then, it has been to Birmingham, Manchester, Gateshead, Geleen, Amsterdam and Bangkok. Perhaps it could go to Melbourne!


At the entrance to the Jardin des Tuileries is a toilet block come cafe come tiny lounge room, staffed by two friedly and efficient young mesdemoiselles who were quite happy to help us with our French.  They apparently work there all day.  It cost 50 centimes each entry to the toilet parts.  The whole place was spotless  and warm and welcoming.  Unexpected things like this are highlights of our stay in Paris.


à bientôt

Our Local Landmarks

7 February 2012

From our apartment, we walked along the Boulevarde des Batignolles which becomes Boulevarde de Clichy into the Montmartre area, the 18th arrondissement. Restaurants, cinemas, theatres and nightclubs make this the centre of the Paris night life.

Place de Clichy

Place de Clichy

Place de Clichy is one of the few places 
in Paris where 4 arrondissements
(the 8e, 9e, 17e, 18e) meet at a single point.
(You needed to know that!)

The statue at Place de Clichy is dedicated to the Maréchal de Moncey who resisted the Russians in 1814 from taking over the area de Clichy

le Moulin Rouge

Continued along and passed le Moulin Rouge. We were then  about 15 minutes from our apartment.
It looks very tatty at this time of day.

le Moulin de la Galette

We walked up the hill from there to le Moulin de la Galette, built in 1622. This is a windmill and associated businesses situated near the top of the district of Montmartre.
We were more or less lost at this stage.

le Sacré Coeur

From there, we continued to walk upwards
and across to la Place du Tertre, the main
square of the original village of Montmartre, where this big church appeared -
le Sacré Coeur.

View from Sacré Coeur

.

Carrousel Venitien

Down past the Funiculaire de Montmartre and the 18th Century Carrousel Venitien at Place Saint-Pierre and then home.

On this walk I found the Pathé Cinémas at la Place de Clichy, so that afternoon I went and saw 'The Descendants'. This was the first time I have gone to the pictures in Paris. Last time here, I always felt a bit anxious about taking myself to the pictures. It was so easy, especially since the girl at the box office spoke perfect English and helped me along. The subtitles were so well timed and translated I could read the French and listen to the English. Excellent.




I saw 'Moneyball' on the plane over here. I am putting my money on George Clooney to win the Oscar.

When I do things like this Geoffrey takes himself into le Marais  to the 'The Red Wheelbarrow' or over to the Left bank to 'Shakespeare & Company' which are a few of the English language bookstores.

à bientôt

La Neige à Paris!!

Yes, that's right, it was snowing yesterday morning! - Sunday 5 February 2012.  It was great to be here, inside and very warm, and watch the snow falling. The parked cars in the street were covered in it. A few centimetres deep.

view from our balcony on rue de Constantinople 8e

Our street, looking out the living room doors.

This is a view of the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur from the intersection of our street and the Boulevarde des Batignolles. Le Sacre-Coeur is a 30 minute walk from here.











This is an avenue of trees down the middle of the Boulevarde des Batignolles. We will look forward to seeing the difference in the avenue with the changing of the seasons.

 Sacré Coeur in the background

We are in the 8th arrondissement. It is very different to the area where we stayed last year. This is very much a residential area, very quiet and not a lot of people around. Last year, in the 1st arrondissemnet we were in the hub of everything happening, especially on weekends. Being alongside les Forum des Halles, there were lots of people around, also entertainers in the street and it was also a meeting place for the young African French kids.

Our local métro here, is called Villiers. There is an open air market street a few minutes away from our apartment called rue de Levis which is just as famous as rue Montorgueil in the 1st arrondissement. Rue de Levis is just great. It is so good to shop there for fresh produce and anything else we may want. This area is also the centre for musicians, as we are near the Paris Conservatoire de Musique. There are lots of musical instrument shops and schools of music. 

On Saturday, we walked to les Galeries Layfayette on bld Haussmann, It and au Printemps, les Grands Magasins are a 15 minute walk from here and the winter sales are on.  Whereas, last year, I would have been walking to BHV, Bazaar Hôtel de Ville. I had to buy another scarf. At times, it is incredibly cold. This evening when we were out, it was  -3 degrees and I can assure you that is quite mild compared to walking around in -8 degrees. Geoffrey is wearing 3 singlets, a shirt and 2 jumpers. His whole wardrobe at the one time.

We have pretty well settled into the apartment now and familiarising ourselves with the area and time is allocated each day towards improving our French. This time, absolutely everyone is speaking French to us. It is a big challenge and we are loving it.

à bientôt