January. We decided to take a quick trip to Paris despite it being winter and many sane folks are heading south. But here we are and despite the cold temperatures we are having a nice time. After arriving via Iceland we went to sleep it seemed for the first two days. We woke up in time trip host our friends Sarah and Scott for lunch. Sarah, better know as Chef Sarah to the Paris Cooking With Class world, came prepared to teach me how to make a simple (simple for her!) French tart with an almond cream topped with pears. We forgot to take a photo of our working together but I will attach a photo of the half-eaten tarts. I did work along side her as she demonstrated techniques for making a really fluffy crust. As one who usually leaves the crust I can tell you that I would never leave this crust. It was super flaky and delicious. I learned, too, about the different kinds of flour that are sold in France. It explains why when I tried to bake bread here last visit i failed. Unlike in the US the flour has a number on it: T45 is for pastry, T 55 is all purpose, and T 65 is for bread. I had used pastry flour for bread and it didn’t work.

I don’t have a lap top and am writing on my iPhone. Editing and getting stuff inserted where I want it isn’t easy. We’ll see how this works out.

I should add that after a lot of research and a hint from friends who travel I decided to convert George’s old iPhone to a French phone so that we don’t have to worry about data charges. It is great! We can be out on the street now and call Uber without Att getting their cut.

Yesterday we met friends for lunch at a fish restaurant called La Criee(the first e should have an accent). The food was really good -much better than what I remembered. Ladies at the table next to us we’re having lobster. Our friends told us that the lobster here is not as good as in New England despite being very expensive. They went on to tell the story of the first time they had lobster in Maine -sitting outdoors at a picnic bench the lobsters were “thrown down on the table” and everyone just dug in. They were shocked since in Paris it is served only with great elegance. We had a good laugh. George ordered a filet of bar(small white fish). However he got a whole fish after the waiter explained that he made a mistake and was it ok to serve the whole fish at no extra charge.

I had three tartines– each a different fish prepared as a salad and put on top of avocado. The cup holds ginger sauce for the salmon. All delicious. And those are sliced potatoes that have been seasoned and fried quickly.

After lunch we headed to the Musee Marmottan-Monet to see a special exhibit of impressionists from private collections. I’m showing below several from the permanent collection since you might not have seen these. They speak for themselves. All of the Japanese bridge over the Lilly pond at Giverny.