le taxi jaune avec mademoiselle madison

I took Madison to Taxi Jaune as a thank you for being a lovely friend. Look at the jolie fille.

I love restaurants that open to the street.

A fresh salad with chilled cucumbers.

A hearty osso bucco over fettucine noodles.

I will miss Taxi Jaune with my whole heart, see more of it here, there, and everywhere.

du pain et des idees

Du Pain et Des Idees has the nicest boulanger owner. She lets me take photos of her little creations, she answers my questions regarding baking, and she is always bubbling with excitement. This world needs more people like her.

How is everything so perfect and delicious?

Perfectly baked buttery brown flaky goodness.

Look at that huge air bubble!

Nom, nom.

le bon marche macarons (+macaroons)

Le Bon Marche is handsdown, the most luxurious grocery store in the world. Yes, the world. It puts all other grocery stores to shame. If I were Parisian, and had all the money in the world, I would spend it all on food here. I got yelled at, per usual, for trying to photograph all the goodies in this food heaven so you will just have to admire the corner shop front.

I came here specifically looking for shredded coconut to make Linnaea's chocolate macaroons for miss Julie's birthday. Here is the recipe:

Preheat oven to 325 (170 C). In a stainless steel bowl, over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate.  Set aside. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, cocoa powder, sugar, salt and vanilla extract.  Stir in the coconut and melted chocolate, making sure the coconut is well coated.  If the mixture is too soft, refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Place small 1 tablespoon mounds of dough on parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing several inches apart.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.   

12 oz semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
9 large egg whites
¾ cup cocoa powder
2 ¼ cup granulated white sugar
¾ tsp salt
3 tsp pure vanilla extract
7 ½ cups sweetened coconutPlace small 1 tablespoon mounds of dough on parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing several inches apart.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.  

But just thinking about American macaroons got me craving some French macarons, so of course, I ordered three from the classy dessert bar at Le Bon Marche.

I will never get enough of these little guys.

marche aux enfants rouges

Marche aux enfants rouges....probably one of my best foodie finds. I literally found it one day because of the alluring smells, it's a good thing I have such a large nose otherwise I would have never stumbled upon it. It's a well-hidden market in Le Marais exploding with permanent vendors each serving exotic, interesting, flavorful dishes. Go, eat.

catacombs

AHHHHHH!!!!!!! I don't know how this happened, but it did. I went to the underground Parisian catacombs and clinged to Greg like there was no tomorrow.....

What morbid person put these skulls into a heart?! Ek!!!! If Sarah worked here back in the day she would have done this.

Gaaaahhhh just look at the femurs, they give me the eebeegeebees. 

I. was. the. most. scared.

The only reason I got this close was to photograph it for you Sars, so I hope you appreciate it. 

eclairs et religieuse

one chocolate eclair + one coffee religieuse = bliss.

le taxi jaune avec gregoire

Le Taxi Jaune! I love this establishment. If I lived permanently in Paris I would frequent this place at least thrice weekly. I love the butcher diagrams of the animals.

And the minimalist stone walls. And the chalk board butchered maps of French regions. And the antique map of regional fruits. And the lighting fixtures.

musee de l'orangerie

Today Greg and I went to Musee de l'Orangerie, with so many museums in Paris I think this one is my favorite thus far. 

You enter this oval shaped room with panoramic views of Monet's les nympheas, his famous water lilies. 

Seeing it in real life is really breath taking. 

So elegant and fluid.

!!!

Another great aspect to this museum is that they ask you to be very quiet in the oval space, view the paintings in silence, reflect and take it all in. 

Simply wonderful.

The murals are so much larger than I had originally anticipated.

Click here to view it virtually. 

The provide benches in the middle of the space.

This is the rest of the museum:

PSYCH! This is a miniature model:

Did I fool you?!

I like this:

This is really what the rest of the museum looks like:

Here are some paintings that strike my fancy:

Greg appreciating art:

This reminds me of this place in Prague:

The French sure do know their art museums.