Lula Belle's Pickles

I'm looking so forward to launching my business, Lula Belle's Pickles.  The company is named for my maternal grandmother.  The flavors are really great.  Stay tuned.

FINAL POST FROM MY PARIS TRIP

I'm behind in my blogging.  My last week in Paris was busy, so very busy.  Not only was French school kicking my *&!, but I got to be so very close to the new group that we were on the streets until late! Oh yeah,  I guess that means that the verdict is in!!!  My class rocked.  I'm on Facebook with each and everyone of them.  They are fabulous!!!

Having said all of that, on Thursday I decided to get a "good" lunch in a local restaurant.  For that particular pleasure, I went back to my old hood, rue Cherche-Midi.  I happened upon this little joint and the outdoor menu board looked interesting, not to mention the white table cloths and starched waiters.  I ordered the prix fix lunch including a cold chick pea soup with mascapone and lemon.  After that I enjoyed the salmon with sesame seeds and seasonal vegetables.  Delicieux!  Finished up with coffee and lot's of conversation with a truly cool waiter who had spent a year in London.  And so, . . . his English was great, but he appreciated my need to speak French.  His boss gave me French and English menus so that I could compare and translate any food items that I didn't understand.  I would go there again, AND AGAIN.  No tourists.  At least not any without a backbone.

After class on Thursday most of us headed to Luxembourg Gardens.  We had gelato, coffee, sorbet, and most important, CONVERSATION, . . . in FRENCH!!!  Crazy, I know!  Anyway, a few of us hung out late and grabbed some food.  Just fun with great folks.

On Friday I decided that I should have a party, a petit fete, if you will.  I had this great apartment, and I thought that my class should come over and hang.  They did.  It was memorable and a blast, at the very least.

There are several people who touched me in a very important way.  Carmen, the instructor for my three weeks at Alliance Francaise  made all the difference in my school experience.  She taught me not only about language, but about culture, and, in my particular case, patience!   Hsiang Chieh Lo (pronounced "Chantier" in English) an AMAZING translator from Taiwan and Gianluca Musatti, a young chef  from Italy became my very closest friends.   Hsiang Chieh is just plain special.  Not sure.  Just special.  That's all.  Gianluca is the same age as my Graydon.  Sometimes you just connect with people on a level that is hard to explain.  I hope to have them in my life, . . . .ALWAYS!!!  On our last day of class Gianluca couldn't be there because he was taking a patisserie class at le Condon Bleu.  He showed up at my apartment with a box of homemade macaroons (yes, he made them) and an apron that said, "le Cordon Bleu Paris".  The macaroons were too good to be true, and the apron was FOR ME.  I'll cherish it always.   Afterward, Maria (beauty from Valencia, Spain), Martin (some kind of genius physicist from London), Martina (cute girl from Norway), Gianluca, Hsiang Chieh, (coolest people ever!) and I ran around Paris trying to find GOOD CHEAP food.  Oh, did I mention that it was raining cats and dogs?  Ended up at some dive, but steak frites is always a good bet.  We were so hungry that it didn't really matter.  ALTHOUGH, I did see that they had "horse steak" on the menu.  Didn't really work for me.  Not at all!

I got homesick, although I absolutely appreciate the opportunity and don't regret the choice for a minute.  I gained some cherished memories and lifelong friends.

The trip home was okay other than about six hours of delays.   I was pleasantly surprised by American Airlines.  They were polite and helpful at every turn.  However,  I can't say that for all of the travelers.  Sorry to say that all of the rude folks were AMERICANS!!!  Not sure what that was about.

All that said, I was smiling so big when I got to Chicago that the customs agents were kinda laughing.  When they asked what was up, I said, "just glad to be back in the US".  That's true.  At the end of my second week of French class, we had a little Q and A from all of the students to each student, taking turns.  They asked if I preferred Paris or Austin.  I said (in French),  I LOVE PARIS, but AUSTIN IS MY HOME, and I can't wait to get there!!!

Loved Paris, loved the experience, love my new friends.

Glad to be home ya'll!!!

Getting ready to tear up my kitchen, a little.  I'll blog about that.  I'll need an outlet.  Before that, however, going to NYC to see the kids and then the Cape to  . . .?????  Afterwards, heading to Marietta, Ohio for the Sternwheel Festival with my folks for some family time, and working on my pickle recipe.  Stay tuned.

FOOD!!!!

Generally, there's not a ton of restaurants open on Sundays in Paris.  Last night I was craving a steak, and no real grocery stores within walking distance were open either.  I took a little stroll through my quiet neighborhood (particularly quiet on Sundays) and happened upon a bistro with people and FOOD!  

People are a good sign.  If a restaurant is dead on a Sunday, you can bet that you'll be dead if you eat there.  Anyway, I got my steak, and it was delicious.  The service wasn't so good, but it didn't matter.  I was in my own little world.  Gorgeous weather and amazing people watching added to the experience.  I'm not big on bearnaise sauce, but I tried theirs.  It was the real deal.

Although I wasn't all that hungry, I decided that a good lunch before I started my final week of French school was in order.  Taking the safe route, I chose the Brasserie Lutetia at the Hotel Lutetia for lunch at their outdoor tables.  The waiters are friendly and professional, and the food . . . terrific!  I ordered a haddock dish with risotto.  Good idea all the way around!


I've stayed at the Hotel Lutetia several times.  I would stay there any time.  The art deco palace has a lot of its own history.  The Hotel was home to Jewish refugees before the Nazis invaded Paris in June 1940.  And . . . General de Gaulle spent his wedding night there.  Besides, I'm a Left Bank girl all the way.  The Lutetia (Rue Raspail) and L'Abbaye (Rue Cassette) are my two favorite hotels in Paris.  


This is my last week at Alliance Francaise.  There are only four of us left from the previous class, but now we've grown to about a dozen, fourteen, or so.  It takes a little heat off of me, because there are so many other people for the teacher to be concerned with, not to mention different strengths among us.  Our teacher Carmen is still the bomb, but the verdict's not in on the personality of the newly formed class.  Stay tuned.  Gotta go.  I've got SO MUCH French homework.  

STELLA

Got a picture of Stella.  Not a good one, but it's her.  I miss my dogs so much, thinkin'  I need a pet.  She flies around the courtyard.  Not a bad life.

ST.- SULPICE

I took a little walk through my neighborhood.  Jardin Catherine Laboure is a sweet little spot down the street from my apartment.  Inside the walls is a community vegetable garden.  Although there are signs posted everywhere saying "no dogs allowed", I spotted this little fellow at the entrance gate with his owner.  Seems to me that a common thread between Texans and Parisians is that they LOVE their dogs.

Since the weather has cleared up, as well as my allergies, a stroll to St. Sulpice seemed like a good idea.  The square, well all of Paris for that matter, was bustling. 

St.-Sulpice is a Late Baroque parish church.  It's now more popular than ever with tourists because of its prominent role in the novel  The Da Vinci Code.  The Church of St.-Sulpice was founded to replace a small Gothic church.  Various architects contributed to the design of St. Sulpice over a century (1646-1745) which explains the different design styles within the same structure.

What a sacred place.  I lit a candle and said a prayer for Graydon and Raquel in one of the small chapels of the cathedral.  

Since most grocery stores aren't open in Paris on Sunday, I decided to stop at La Grande Epecerie.  That place is heaven for anyone who likes good food.  I go there EVERY DAY.

Each and every section of the store is a visual feast.  They have such a rockin' wine section that I wanted to send you a shot or two of it.  When the manager saw me taking pictures, he said, "Madame, you can take a picture of me, but not of my wine!"  I apologized, and he was very nice about it.  Don't know what the rule is exactly, but I had already taken a few shots.


Outside of my apartment windows there is a gorgeous courtyard.  I'll post a pic, but I'm waiting until I can get a shot of Stella.  That's the name that I gave her.  She's this groovy bird that lives in a nest nearby, but it appears that there's a nest under construction on my bedroom window.  I never open that window.  I don't want to disturb her work, but more than anything, a visit from Stella while I'm asleep would give me a heart attack.  She won't hold still for a picture, but I'm not giving up.

Weather is Gorgeous in Paris . . . Finally!

Hi gang,


Sorry that I haven't blogged for two weeks.  The rain has stopped, and French language school is kicking my #*&!!!!!  Really, I just gotta tell you that four hours a day of intensive French is just that . . . INTENSE!  Having said that, it's the way to learn.  Our teacher Carmen refuses to speak English unless it's ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.  When I say absolutely necessary, I mean practically life or death.  She is an amazing instructor.  Talk about patience!  When she told me that she was a Fulbright Scholar, I was at a complete loss for words; English or French.  We are so very lucky to have her as our teacher.


My class is small.  There's only one guy, and I can't spell his name.  He's a customs officer from Brazil.  At the moment we now have a darling young woman from Taiwan, two young and very cool Japanese women, the guy from Brazil, a Slovenian dentist (she's FUN!),  a cute Vietnamese doctor from Australia, and me.  It's kinda sad.  I'm the only person who came into the class speaking only one language fluently.  I don't know who else they'll put in our class next week, but there will be a few at least.  We lost one or two at the end of last week.  Anyway,  IT'S SO HARD, but I am actually learning to speak French.  I'm starting to think in French.  My sweet little real estate agent put French subtitles on my tv, so now I'm addicted to French game shows. It's a good way to learn.

Let me back up to last weekend.  I went to one of my favorite restaurants.  It's the little bistro at the Hotel Montalembert.  I had a delectable crab entree that was served two ways:  as a crab salad with ginger mayonnaise and also crab tempura.  The dish was accompanied by a green salad with a sweet and sour dressing.  Wow!  Actually, as I looked around the room, most folks were ordering it.


The real reason that I went there was for my very favorite dessert: molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.  So there's no picture.  I know.  I got so excited when it arrived that I forgot about my camera and woofed it down tout de suite!!!


I have sooo much making up to do on this blog.  I'll write tomorrow to tell you what I did on the weekend.  A bientot!

Hey Ya'll! Made it to Paris!

So, I made it to Paris!  It's as beautiful as I remember, although the weather stinks.  Rain, overcast, rain, overcast.  No problem.  The folks at the Hotel Lutecia are as nice as can be.  It makes me wonder.  Could they be Texans?  No way.  Parisians can be SO COOL too!  

Anyway, had dinner at this great little restaurant in St. Germain des Pres, Les Jardins de Saint-Germain.  Couldn't decide what to order, but the server, Isabelle, gave me more than a hint what to try.  I had the prawns and rice.  Wow!!!  Just what the doctor ordered.  After really gross airplane food, and a complete jet lag hangover, that was the dish that I needed.  I fully intended to take a photo of my food for this blog, but . . . when I saw it, I dug in so fast that I forgot all about the pic.  Anyway, here's a photo of Isabelle.  She was not only polite and beautiful, she was well-versed in the entire restaurant menu.  Right up there with the best service that I can remember.

Really wanted to watch the Women's World Cup Soccer match, so I headed to a local "North American" bar advertising the game.  Seemed like a good idea at the time.  A couple of not-so-nice girls started shoving me at the bar, and it wasn't pleasant.  I held my own, but decided to leave. Who needs it?  I've never had that happen, and just haven't EVER seen that in Texas.  Wow!  Bad manners all the way.  A VERY BRIGHT spot in the evening was the chance to see several of my son Graydon's friends.  Charles was in the bar with his friend Tim. Ben and Shelby Barnes were making their way up the street as I headed back to the hotel.  They are absolutely darling, and it made up for the crazies to see all of them.


Tomorrow I start back to French language school at Alliance Francaise.  I'm nervous.  I don't really remember what I should.  I'll give it my best shot.  Details to follow.