Sophie at the Cabane

Sophie's passage in Paris would not be complete without a visit to the Cabane à Huîtres. Too bad Nathalie couldn't join us; she was home writing papers.


Sophie prefers red Bordeaux with her oysters, and Francis brought out a special wine just for us. I had some with our cheese course.


Régine, Francis's wife, is in Paris this week. Here is a picture of Régine and Sophie.

Another wine class

Meredith called yesterday afternoon with a last minute cancellation for the wine class entitled The Great Everyday "Wine-Off" - a blind tasting of ten different wines at affordable prices. Whew, it gets confusing tasting and smelling so many different wines - especially since most of them I didn't recognize at all. But I always learn something and enjoy meeting new people.

Here's a picture of instructor and wine master Tom Boothe


The class finished late, and as I walked back to the Charles DeGaulle-Etoile metro station, I just had to stop and take a picture of the moon setting behind the Arc de Triomphe. You can also see the eternal flame on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier underneath the Arc as well as the Grande Arche de la Défense in the background.


Incidentally, the Grande Arche looks like this up close

Goat cheese

Another of my favorite vendors in our twice weekly street market is the goat cheese guy. His cheese is delicious and he's fun to talk to. He mentioned that visitors are welcome at his farm. Too bad I didn't realize that when Cindy and I were visiting the Loire Valley. The farm is not too far from Cheverney and Bracieux. It's also near the region of France known for Sancerre wines which are a perfect match for these goat cheeses.

Ducks, geese, and guinea hens

Have you ever eaten a goose egg? I hadn't - until yesterday. I went to my favorite duck lady to buy some more of her delicious terrines. I noticed that she had some very large eggs. "The geese have started to lay," she said.
I've never tasted a goose egg - so I decided to try one. It has a giant yolk with a taste much richer and silkier than a chicken egg. Yumm!


I served some of her artisanal terrine de canard (duck) and terrine de pintade (guinea hen), plus some of her duck saucisson (salami) at a party recently and got loads of compliments. But all the compliments go to Cécile. She makes all of the products herself and then drives from her farm in Normandy to our Paris street market once a week.
I suppose this isn't much different than those of you who support your local farmers' markets - but I never tire of these discoveries.


Want to practice your French and see the farm for yourself? Check it out here:

Dilemma

Should I go out with a married man? I always promised myself that I wouldn't - especially after being on the wronged side of that equation for too many years. But I was flattered by the attention. And I have been spending a lot of time alone these days. . .

I agreed to spend Sunday afternoon with M. We planned to take a bike ride, an innocent enough pastime, but the rainy weather called for a change of plans. We went to a concert instead - a nice alternative. Maybe I'm being naive or judgemental - but his kisses in the middle of the sidewalk felt desperate. Whoa. Too much, too soon. And my intuition says No. Not just because he's married. Just because. No other explanation needed. I need to listen to my feelings. I don't need to explain myself. But it's still hard to tell the truth when he calls back wanting to see me again.

Olga's birthday

Parties are common at the Cabane à Huîtres, and almost everyone you meet there has been there before or will certainly come back again.

I was there last Friday for lunch and was chatting with Francis when a couple came in. Francis immediately recognized them from a previous visit (he has a prodigious memory for names and faces.) Sure enough, it was a couple from Belgium, Olga and Andrzej, visiting Paris for a few days.

After oysters and foie gras and cheese, and yes, a few glasses of wine, Olga asked permission to stand up and sing a song. But what language was she singing? It was very difficult to identify. Maybe Russian? No, not Russian, she is Greek, a sculptress from Naxos, Greece. And it was her birthday.

We sang Happy Birthday (in English) and Francis broke out a favorite wine for a birthday toast.

Everyone joined in for the singing and the toast, including Madame Blomet, another regular, shown here with Francis. Mme Blomet is 91 years old - but she certainly doesn't look it!


Olga told us more about her sculpture, and the differences between Naxos marble and Carrara marble (larger crystals, higher luminosity.) She finished by inviting everyone to come and visit Naxos. I haven't been to Greece since 1972. I just might take her up on her offer and go for a visit! You can see Olga's work here. Andrzej is also a sculptor, and you can see his website here.

Brassens

After leaving the Lang Lang classical music concert at the Cité de la Musique, I noticed the George Brassens exhibit just across the hall in the Music Museum. Brassens, who died in 1981, is considered one of the best known French singers and poets of the 20th century. I enjoyed learning more about the artist, his life, his music, and especially his poetry. You can listen to some of his best known songs on youtube.