Some last thoughts on Paris

It is strange creating this post at home instead of in Florence. I will be creating another post to successfully conclude my summer travels blog after this one. For now, I hope you enjoy my last tastes of Paris.

The pizza dough defrosting. Unfortunately, I did not get to see K make the pizza dough. However, it made the process of creating the pizza much faster. 

Smoothing out the tomato sauce

Second ingredient: mozzarella

Some dried tomatoes and parmesan is added 

Out of the oven, deliciously hot and ready to eat!

The pizza had about five seconds of breathing life as a whole pizza before K quickly cut it up and divided it evenly between the three of us.

Dinner and movie! I rarely use flash, but I thought it gives off the theme of it being a movie atmosphere. We watched My Fair Lady which was pretty awesome even though I found out later Audrey Hepburn's singing was dubbed out.

Above is one of my favorite scenes from the movie

On one of my last days in Paris, S took me to the Orsay and Rodin museums, as well as a tiny museum dedicated to Monet's waterlily paintings. 

According to S, the man who started this chain restaurant/cafe used to work at McDonald. This probably helped him come up with the idea of affordable yet heathy express food. We got eggplant paninis and apple juice to drink.

Later, K showed me how to make these cookie biscuits which apparently can be stored for a long time.

Crunching up some almonds

Yummy thick cookie dough

Rolling the dough into thick strips

Apparently my exhausted self took a little nap so I missed some of the cookie making process. Here, K is flipping the cookies so both sides are evenly baked.

All done!

K and S took me to a bistro where Obama went to when he was visiting

This was okay. It kept reminding me of an odd mixture of mexican food with the french cuisine.  The top was a thick and sour cream like, while the bottom was a variety of vegetables.

K and S's appetizer of leaks. This was the only food item I could not shallow.

S's colorful platter

K's foie gras. Yum?

My happy salmon

And for dessert was this awesome dish called floating islands. K showed me the recipe in his recipe binder, saying it was one of the only recipe he could not repeat. This dessert was simply lovely, the "island" was light and fluffy and was an explosion of heaven delightfulness when dipped into the sauce surrounding it.

Mochi! I mentioned to S and her mother that I love Japanese food, especially mochi. The next day, S whisked me to a Japanese bakery/cafe called Toraya. It was one of the most beautiful and cutest cafes I have seen. I had such a difficult time picking out two pastries, or specifically different kinds of wagashi. 

My favorite of the two was this little guy, which was mochi with bean paste in it. 

This lovely flower was almost too pretty to eat. I think, now that I am past from eating it, I should've left it alone since it was more prettier than it actually taste. Not that it was bad, just different. Mine had apricot jelly in it, while Soyo and her mother opt for a yokan wagashi without the jelly since apparently theirs was named after S mother's dog.

It would not be fitting to eat these delightful Japanese pastries without some green tea!

Very cool plaza

The French have all these different transportation systems in hopes to get more people to stop using their cars. One of the coolest was this bike systems. Basically, an individual rents a bike for an amounted time and has to put it back into the specific ramps located all over Paris or the bike will lock up. Now that is pretty awesome.

Inside the Norte Dame de Paris

View of Paris from the white ferris wheel! I begged S to go with me since I heard it is the best way to view the landscape of Paris.

Another view. Apparently the skyscrapers are from an area outside of Paris which focuses on business.

View of the Eiffel tower's tip from S and K's apartment

That concludes my fantastic stay in Paris. I will be posting one last post soon.

My first few days in Paris with Karl and Soyo

I have been staying with K and S since leaving Florence last Saturday. The moment after stepping off the plane and gathering my luggage, I was greeted by a smiling K holding a sign covered with my name in different styles. Since than, I have been receiving an overwhelming flow of generosity from K and S who have been insuring I have a successful stay here. 

Right after dropping off my bags, which K and I had to hurl up five levels because the elevator was broken at the time, I was whisked to one of S and K's favorite cafes. 

Straightway, I could foretell I was about to be exposed to foods presented and made in a way I never seen or tasted before. If you haven't guessed already, these little scoops are butter!

Scrambled eggs! Just enough yummy eggy-ness. 

I was completely awestruck by the brilliant and vibrant colors of the macaroons. As I can recalled the flavors were: coffee, raspberry, dark chocolate, cherry, and carmel.  The carmel was my favorite.  The texture was smooth and the flavors made specific flavor family proud. 

I currently have a tiny addiction to hot chocolate. For some reason, the hot chocolate in Europe is ten million times better than the states. The Italian hot chocolate was very sweet and thick, which made me curious to see the French version. The French style consists of serving hot chocolate in a little pitcher and when poured looks like chocolate lava. Lets just say it was probably the best hot chocolate I ever had. 

S insisted I get whip cream as well to have a successful French hot chocolate experience. K recommended not to mix the whip cream and instead let it float on top of the chocolate like tiny fluffy clouds. 

Well hello there. It was not as dark as the picture depicts. 

While walking around, we stopped in one of the bakeries which receives a "K approval". These cannolies remind me of Cafe La Boulange at home. My mother and I always have one when were there.  

S's salty treat from the same bakery as the canolies. I was very full from brunch and was quite amazed I was able to stuff this little swirly down.

Olives! A nice refreshing start to dinner.

S's appetizer

Snails, yum! My mother's friend introduced them to me and I have loved them ever since. There always served with this lovely sauce which is awesome for bread dipping.

K's main entree. I'm guessing its salmon and cucumbers. 

S's dinner of fish and potatoes

Mine! Fish wrapped in prosciutto.

Watermelon for dessert. K felt there was nothing special on the dessert menu at the restaurant since I refused to eat anything with gelato.

K and S are enormous tea drinkers. I was completely taken back when I saw they used actual mint leaves for their evening tea.

On Sunday, K and S decided to take me to their usual Sunday cafe they have been going to for the past twenty years.

My drinks, orange juice and hot chocolate. K and S insisted this place would have good hot chocolate. It wasn't good, it was fantastic. 

There is no better way to start the morning with fresh croissants and slices of baguettes served with butter and jams.

Very happy flowers

K liked these

There are a ton of cheese vendors here

It has been overwhelming hot here in Paris to the point where its not even fun to walk outside. Therefore, even though I have sworn off Italian gelato for a while, I was convinced by both K and S to try French ice cream. I am happy I did because it taste strangely much different than the Italian gelato.

Mine: Raspberry and rhubarb! I never had rhubarb sorbet before and it was shockingly very good.

While walking back to the apartment, we ran into an outdoor bird market. 

I took this while waiting in line to get tickets to a night bot tour

Outside the Louvre. They wanted to show me the palace before the museum (which I eventually went into the next day with S). Still, it was fun seeing the glass pyramids and all the hot tourists splashing their feet in the fountain.

I helped K make dinner a couple nights ago which was breaded salmon with a salad. 

Taking out the yummy centers to make crumbs. I felt bad for wasting the crust and kept trying to eat them when Karl was not looking.

Some dried tomatoes added in

Apparently life is better with cheese added in

Unraveling the salmon. K was not too happy about the size, but it turned out fine in the end.

Lathered the salmon with mustard  

Once breaded, put into a frying pan and cook for a couple of minutes.

Yummy salad. I learned its important to let the dressing sit an hour before being used, taste so much better.

My yummy dinner made by K

For dessert, we had fresh apricots and pineapples with a strawberry sauce on top. A perfect way to fill the stomach rather than an enormous gelato or pastry. 

View before we headed out towards the Eiffel Tower

Hi again! I never knew, but I noticed names written on one of the levels. Apparently their famous French scientists. 

One of the bridges

S and I pestered K to wait in 20 minute line to get a very expensive rose shaped gelato. So worth it! I got passion-fruit and nutella. 

Soyo's gelato: carmel and chocolate

The next day, S and I woke up early and went to visit the Louvre starting from the time it opened. Even though it was awesome to see the Mona Lisa, as well as some beautiful paintings, overall I was a little taken back by the overwhelming amount of rude tourists there. 

So cool. I had to touch the tip because I am a dork.

For lunch we went to a famous cafe called Angelina which is well known for its hot chocolate. This was S's salad... we had to laugh a bit about it before she ate it.

Mine: Greens with Goat Cheese

Apparently Angelina's not only makes the best hot chocolate, but this little chocolate delight as well. I have to find the name from S later, but inside was cream, whip cream, and a merginue.

The heavenly hot chocolate! I actually liked my earlier two hot chocolates better, probably because it was so hot in the restaurant it felt like I was sweating every where. 

After a nice long break and walk, we went to dinner at one of K and S's favorite places, a Bistro. The radishes were tangy and spicy. 

Besides two, I ate all these snails. For some reason I feel slightly evil for doing so.

One of the best fish dishes I have had. I had the sauce on the side which pretty much made the dish.

Dessert was an interesting chocolate fluffy thing. K was disappointed when he found out they ran out of his strawberry dessert.

 I have a couple more days here in Paris and hopefully it will continue to be filled with good food and fun times with S and K. Expect more posts soon.