Paris (Jan/Feb 2015) VIII - Day 5 Pompidou

Beacuse we wanted to take advantage of the free entrances, we were bold enough to go to a second museum,The Centre Pompidou of Modern Arts. Neither of us are modern arts kinda people so many of the exhibitions were...."unique". Not my cup of tea but interesting building and displays for sure.

Paris (Jan/Feb 2015) VII - Day 5 Coffee Break I

For those you know me, I always have to go to Starbucks and McDonalds in every country that I travel to. I don't particularly like McDonalds but being one of the most ubiquitous stores in the world, I always get the urge to see what local flavors and culture that's engrained in the menu. I do not mean to downgrade or hate local coffees but Starbucks will always be my number one go to coffee. Plus I always love to check out their dessert menu because it usually reflects the local culture as well. We had the chocolat fondant mi-cuir which was quite nice - it even had some golden sprinkles on top.

By the way, I gave R a hair-cut since he was scared of going into a hair salon. Looks much better right?  I even gave him the royal treatment of washing his hair and styling it. Seems like this inspired him and he went to the hair salon the next day to get it nicely styled by a professional. That look to come soon ;)

Paris (Jan/Feb 2015) VI - Day 5/6 Louvre

One of the reasons Paris is such a great place for many young people is that for many museums and anything with art there is a discount or even free if you're a student and/or under 25 years old. Since R is under 25, he can practically get into any museum in the city free any time. As a student, I should be entitled to this too...except I encountered the problem that 1) Switzerland is not an EU country, hence my student card is invalid 2) I'm over 25 y/o hence, I disqualify :T

Luckily, many museums are free on the 1st of every month, so of course we took the advantage of going to the Louvre. 

Yay Japan

Mona Lisa madness

Paris (Jan/Feb 2015) V - Day 5 Brunch

He made me brunch :) Need I say more?

昨晩の晩御飯はあたしが作ったので（とはいえ、冷凍餃子をフライパンで炒めてサラダを作った程度だけど　；＾＾）、朝ごはんはR担当。担当というよりはどちらかがメインを作ってもう一人がおかずを作るという流れ。パリというと朝はカフェでクロワッサンとコーヒーを食べて、夜はエッフェル塔が見えるレストランで食事・・・というイメージとは程遠いなんとも地味な毎日　笑笑。でも予算もないし、アパートでの自炊だったけど一緒にご飯を作るのは楽しかったので逆に大切な会話の時間。

本日のブランチのメニューはブルターニュ地方郷土料理のそば粉を使ったクレープ（ガレット）、りんご、にんじんのサラダ。ところでこのクレープの皮はRが作ったのではなくスーパーで買ったもの。なんでもフランスの家庭ではクレープの皮はうちで作るより買うんだとか。普通の小麦粉のクレープはパン屋さんで売っているそう。たしかに家庭で作るよりはプロのパン屋さんが作るもの方がおいしいし、コスト的にも安いもんね（ちなみにガレットは郷土料理なのでパリのパン屋さんではあまり見かけられないけどスーパーではどこでも売っている）。これは驚きだったけど納得。

ガレット・コンプレットは一番一般的な食べ方だそうで、なかにチーズ・ハム・卵を入れて焼くもの。
ブルターニュ育ちのR、この一品にはこだわりがあるようでスーパーでいろいろ使う素材で悩んでいるところを発見　笑

ちなみに彼曰く、味の決め手は有塩バター。フランスは無塩バターが一般的だけど北の方では有塩が一般的。有塩のほうがバターが長持ちするし、料理でも少し塩味が効いて隠し味になるんだとか。実際にあたしもパンに塗ってみたけど、格段にうまい！でもフランスのバターってアメリカや日本に比べると値段も安い上にどれをとっても本当においしい。

フランス人が一般的にバター好きなのがわかる！

Paris (Jan/Feb 2015) IV - Day 3

Another great thing about Paris is that it has one of the biggest Chinatown (or more like Chinese/Vietnamese/Cambodian town). Only in Paris will you see an open market of vegetables, illegal DVDs, and homemade wrapped rice cakes and thousand-year eggs.

The real reason why we came to Chinatown is because I wanted to stock up on Asian food - tofu, fish sauce, chili sauce, etc. Of course Asian markets do exist in Geneva but they are all horrendously expensive. Here, I was amazed to find that it was similarly priced to the Asian markets in San Francisco.

 

Dinner tonight: potstickers, kimchi, salad, beer. Surprisingly these were R's choices not mine!

Paris III (Jan/Feb 2015) - Day 2 Night time

Paris is beautiful in day time, but more so at night. It shows a new side with night life bustling and beautiful light-up of buildings. It's such a change from Geneva since it's dead quiet at night and nightlife is non-existent. R lived here for about 3-4 years and he was a hot blooded youngster (he still is a youngster) so it was quite funny to hear his accounts of his party days. Quite a change from now when we got tired at 9pm and we grabbed some groceries and wine for dinner. But that's not bad at all. After being apart from some time, sometimes the best moments are food, wine, cozy room, and some TV.

Paris II (Jan/Feb 2015) - Day 2

I don't think much more words are needed... hope you enjoy the beautiful stroll we took around the city!