My Life - My Torn Calf

My boot.........I call it "Iron Man"

Dinner - Grilled steak, onions and mushrooms

Made our first home cooked meal since we have been back....grilled marinated skirt steak, grilled sweet onion and grilled portabella mushrooms.  Really simple and really tasty.  I took a throw away cup and put in it olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  Then brought out a silicone brush.  I brushed each piece of meat with just the oil (by not stirring up the cup) and then stirred it up and spread it on the shrooms and onions before putting it on the grill.

Looks so good - doesn't it??!!??

My life - Paris

On our trip, we also went to Paris.  We took the Eurostar.  It takes less time to get from London to Paris than it does to get from my house to Madison, WI.  I am SOOO jealous!!  I wish we could travel this easily.

We asked the concierge at the hotel to set us up for dinner.  Since we were travelling on Sunday, it made supper time somewhat tricky because quite a few places are closed on Sundays. He set us up at L'Aidoise (The Blackboard).  It was right behind our hotel.  Great service. Small place. Reservations needed FOR SURE.  We saw quite a few people turned away.  The menu was set....you had 5 choices in each category.....starter, entry, and dessert.  Very reasonable price as well.

 These were shittake and foi gras raviolis.  Such thin raviolis....that the insides were so tasty.

 These were crab bites with spicy avocado.  Not so spicy, but very light crab cakes and I would have never thought to combine them with guacamole.

 I am not sure what this was....inside the flaky roll here was ground lamb meat, but in that was a sausage like thing that bust open when I cut it open.  Not sure what it was....I think there was tripe in there....all I know is that there was A LOT of flavor, just not sure when it was.

 Here was my dish cut open.....the lady (a couple was from Ohio) next to me asked what I was eating.  I told her I wasn't sure.  She said she couldn't eat anything she didn't know what it was.  All  I know is that it was tasty.  Enough for me.....

 This was some kind of caramel and custard dessert.  My husband said it was delicious, but the liquid caramel on the bottom, not so good.

Chocolate mousse....I had to have it in Paris.  So light and tasty.  Not too rich.  Just right.

We got a "package" that included the hotel and Eurostar tickets.  The hotel was the St. James.  It was amazing - right on the Rue de Rivoli, right across from the Louvre, right by the Sienne, Champ de Elysee.  Incredible - and since we were there for such a short time, short travel time was imperative.  These are views from our hotel room.

Looking to the left

Looking to the right

We ate breakfast at the hotel.  It was just ok.....nothing really to show for it.  Oh well.....

But we did have something I must try to recreate.....at a tea place, I had a Mojitea....get it.....green tea, Perrier, mint and limes.  So fresh tasting.  I am going to grow some mint this summer, so I will try to make this cool drink.

As far as other meals, we grabbed things here or there.  Gelato, biscuits (cookies).  One special place we went to was Angelina's.  It had the old world Paris feeling to it.  There was a line to get in, but it went quickly.

 This was my vanilla eclair.  It was very light with a delicious light filling. On top, there was white chocolate with vanilla beans seeds.

I am not sure what this was called, but it was great.  See the shine stuff?  It was a hard, caramel shell in this light pastry, with wonderful whipped cream on top.  Very special.

Here are some more pictures from Paris.

The Louvre

Michaelangelo's Slave.  See the movement, the angles??  Power and beauty.

Caravaggio - Death of the Virgin - 1605.  He is my favorite artist.  Can you see the intense light drawing your eye to the main subject?  This was not done before.  Prior to him, artwork was equally lit - less dramatic lighting.

 Very typical French cafe. When daughter looked at this picture, she thought it was interesting that no one faced each other, they just faced the street.

We stood on the Sienne and watched the sun go down and the Tower light up.  This is my forever memory of Paris.

This trip was better than ever our honeymoon because we have been through so much together and and grown so much alone and as a couple.  Standing on the Sienne crying with his arm around me, watching the sun go down and the Tower light up....memories I will never forget.