Snapshots: 4.30-5.06

First of all, just want to say thanks for all the shout-outs and emails and such in response to my beckoning forth in the darkness to know if my friends are still there.  You are, in fact, there, and my heart is WARMED by it!!  WARMED I say!  Seriously, I love it, it makes me feel like we're having a conversation or I've run into you and we got to say hey, even if you're in D.C. or Nashville or Dallas.  So thanks.  

On to a couple weeks ago, starting with a layover in Madrid...

Monday, April 30th

My day-of-Spanish-eating begins with a cafe con leche & Spanish tortilla (egg & potato omelette).  Perfection.

And ends with what I was craving most...churros con chocolat!

Which was just okay, as you can see.  Never one for moderation, I scraped the bottom of the cup, as if anyone needs to consume that much chocolate in one sitting.  After spending the day eating delicious things, I hopped on a flight back to France.  Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful weekend trip.

Tuesday, May 1st

May 1st is a huge holiday in France.  It's basically their Labor Day, and everything is closed and everyone is off work, and if you DO work in France on May Day, by law you get paid THREE TIMES your regular rate!! (Unless you're on salary like me. Booooo).  The French were out in full force because the SUN, our long lost friend, also knew that it was May Day and decided to make an appearance.  It was glorious.  I needed to have a meeting with one of my guides, Hayley, who was moving to Scotland in a few days about her upcoming schedule, and since she told me she'd be at the Champs de Mars, I thought, "Let ME come to YOU."  And we had the best meeting in the world, at 5pm on a picnic blanket, with wine, under the Eiffel Tower.  Important things were discussed as the sun shined forth.

On May Day, it's tradition to buy lilies of the valley to give to someone for good luck.  I bought one for myself and said, "Good luck!"  Not really, I just bought it because you HAVE TO.  Since I was on bike and didn't want them to get smashed, I tucked them into my messenger bag and rode around with a baguette in one hand and my tiny May Day flower packet sticking out of bag on the side and smiled about how awesome France is.  

THEN my roommates decided to make a freaking huge and delicious sandwich masterpiece!!

Let's get a good look at it from the side.

Oooh...ahhhh.  Polaine bread, toasted in the pan with olive oil, whole roasted garlic, kale, cabbage, avacado, sweet potato and buffalo mozarella eat your heart out people!!  We should probably start a sandwich shop together.  I'll be the tester.

 Wednesday, May 2nd

This is just my little lily of the valley reminding me that spring is here! And even though it's still cold and rainy mostly every day, warmth is surely around the corner!

...RIGHT?

 Thursday, May 3rd

Okay, I don't want to give away all the goods yet, because this will certainly be its own little report.  But I went to Chez l'Ami Jean on Thursday for the first time since February!  Jillian had two friends in town, and let me tell you, the face that Shannon is making right now - the face that says, oh please pour that straight into my mouth and forget these formalities of bowl & spoon - This is a face that accurately describes the entire meal.  So this is just a little preview of what shall be a more detailed picture fest.

Baby scallop shells that we all wanted to bathe in.  

Nearly every course required a synchronized smelling of incredible aromas wafting forth like the scent of angel wings, if angels were made of pork or scallops.

Eiffel Tower bike gang unite!

Friday, May 4th

Carl keeping the haute Paris fashion even in the rain.

Saturday, May 5th

Eating at the Martinique restaurant, Chez Lucie, while Carrie & Brandon are in town.  Here I am having a peanut.  I couldn't possibly have more.

Afterwards, we headed to Montmarte, the adorable Bohemian area of town where you can find the basilica Sacre Coeur, the Moulin Rouge, and most scenes from the movie Amelie.

For years, I've wanted to go to this place, L'Apin Agile.  It's been around for 150 years, and Picasso and other artists used to hang out here, discuss "What is art?", and listen to artists sing and play instruments.

This is the performer I fell in love with for obvious aesthetic reasons beyond his natural talent.  This place was like stepping back in time, a la Midnight in Paris.  And this guy brought the Cole Porter moment.  More on this later.

Sunday, May 6th

I don't do this very often anymore, because rather than having a bakery right out the door of my apartment, I have to walk 5 WHOLE MINUTES and it's REALLY HARD.  So I don't usually.  All the better, really.  But this morning, I was craving my favorite, chouquettes! And they were delicious.

A new president is elected!  Sunday night is Hayley's goodbye soirée at Dernier Metro, and the place actually went silent while Sarkozy was giving his "I lost" speech.  Could've heard a pin drop!  

My guide Marcus rolling in the 5€ bills!!  Those are like gold in the office, and he's been holding OUT.

This concludes the first week of May.