Paris In July: Paris in Black and White

Sometimes I get so "into" a color photograph and there's so much to see that I actually miss something. So, here is a tour of Paris in black and white.

Stravinsky Fountain 

 

Opera Garnier

 

Interior, Opera Garnier

 

Opera Garnier Auditorium

 

Parisian Courtyard, Marais

 

Paris Apartment View,  Marais

Notre Dame

 

Gargoyles, Notre Dame

 

The Seine

 

Medici Fountain, Jardin du Luxembourg

Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower detail 

Tuileries Cart

Tuileries Sailboat

Montmartre Street

 

Sacre Coeur

 

Montmartre Cemetery Cat, Waiting for her Next Life

 

Champagne in Montmartre

La Patisserie

Hidden in a Courtyard, Marais

 

 Thanks for joining me for Paris in July. Visit Tamara for links to more Paris and French-themed posts!

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Finally!

Welcoming our newest Baby Grand, Cameron Joseph or C.J., at long last!

I've wanted to post for a bit but Kevin and Molly -- after all the wait (including the overdue date of nine days!) -- didn't want public posts till after they announced it. All well and good.

But the last time they waited and waited (Carson was born February 27 and they didn't put anything online till March 4!). Because they never told us not to, I did a post on it -- and heard about it! So, I  waited (though some of you already know because a massive email went out the next day.)

Fortunately, this time was faster -- He was born late Monday night and today is Wednesday and I'm so excited I can share!

Actually, Rick never heard that story and posted a very oblique post about "a baby was born -- Film at 11!" with no identifying names or tags or info and Robin, Kevin's mom, whipped the tablet from his hands and deleted it! (Rick would have deleted it himself, once he understood the background, but he didn't have a chance.)

But it's our happy news too and heaven knows a whole lot of people have been waiting to hear. So finally we can say!

We drove down as soon as we got the call he was on the way -- a little over an hour, leaving about 9:30 p.m., and when we got there, waited with Robin and her husband Mick while "family bonding time" was going on. When we all finally got to see him, it was a pretty hurried up thing. We were there all of about a half hour before getting kicked out for feeding time. (And probably a well-deserved nap for Molly who did the hard work!)

There was just enough time for each of us to sit down and pose with the baby for about a minute or two each, hug the parents and leave. It was pretty rushed. Then we headed home. Actually, we felt pretty dazed and confused on the way home and sort of wished we'd waited till morning to come when everyone was more awake and there would be more time together.  But you never know. And I was a little worried about Molly. We just wanted to make sure she and the baby would be all right.

Don't ask me who he looks like. He looks like a baby. Fuchsia and little.

AKA Pantone 1765 U. (Photo courtesy tumbler)

Molly posted a photo today and he's much less pink and more fleshy. I'd be pink too if I had been hanging out in a nice warm safe place!

Finally, after not being at the lake for ten of the hottest days of the year, I am at the cottage, relieved to be out of town at long last. Waiting in Lansing during the biggest heat wave in ages was a little bit of hell, made slightly better by a blessed few days with Rick's aunt and cousins, dinners with some friends (thanks, Carol, Kate and Mike!), a movie and the pool when it wasn't too sunny. (I'm having lip issues again and pretty freaked by the sun these days, so playing it easy till I get an opinion from the doc.)

(I might add that no one forced us to stay home; it was our choice.)

So, here's this adorable little guy -- coming into a world full of awful stuff. Intolerance, violence, global warming, school shootings, potential wars, racism and xenophobia, moral corruption and a very scary national and global future. And potholes. I wish our little guy well. He will need love and good upbringing to be able to cope with these things.

My wish for him is to be kind. Kind and caring first. And happy. Being smart, charming, creative, athletic, cute, clever doesn't matter a bit if one isn't kind and happy.

And with his mom and dad, his sweet brother as a role model and all the people who love him, I think he stands a chance. A really good chance.

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An Announcement Soon!

The heat has broken, at least for now! After two weeks of oppressive heat it has cooled off to a respectable 80-something and sometimes a little cooler! And life in the hood continues!

I think I've said before that there are ten days in a year when I wish Rick or I had air. I think I've been through eight or nine of them over the past two weeks. Poor Lizzie can hardly move, except for food -- and sometimes even that isn't enough to get her to change positions.

The garden is looking great. My sweet peas have definitely morphed into Audrey Two of "Little Shop of Horror" fame and spreading out across the front of the house. Fortunately they require little maintenance.

Neither does the hosta garden. And it's like a jungle out there.

The bunnies are loving it. Some have settled into the woodpile (courtesy of the tree-cutters last spring -- all pine and not burnable).

I haven't seen any babies, but Wrennie keeps stuffing things into the Bed and Breakfast. I even caught this photo of her -- a tad blurry as I shot it through the screen.

The hydrangeas are rocking it, too. I love them white but even more when they turn that wonderful shade of chartreuse in the fall and dry so well!

I don't know if this is last year's nest or if all have flown (no signs of egg shells) but it was a nice find in the bushes.

And of course guess who figured out where the bird seed is. I don't mind him nearly so much as the squirrels.

I've been harvesting loads of oregano, dill and thyme and had a good batch of pesto from the basil. The tomatoes are blooming (no fruit yet) and soon there will be blooms on the black eyed Susans and the cone flowers.

In an attempt to get a bit of cool, Rick and I went to "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" -- the Mister Rogers movie. Heartily recommended. It should be required for every parent or anyone who is ever around a small child but it wouldn't hurt every adult in America to see it as well. David Brooks had a wonderful take on it in his recent New York Times  piece HERE.

It reminded me again of meeting Fred Rogers at a PBS meeting in the long-ago. The line went the length of the ballroom, following his lunchtime speech and there were sessions after. I feel for those who were in those sessions -- the attendance was probably dismal.

He greeted every person in that line (which isn't that big a deal). But what was is that he took time with every person in that line. Direct eye-to-eye communication. He asked us about the kinds of things we did, not just at the station but in our real lives. I remember telling him about the work I did for Ele's Place, a children's grief center where I worked as a facilitator for ten years as a volunteer. It was a conversation. And it was like that with anyone in the line, at least those I saw.  I will never forget it.

As I write this, we are still waiting for our Baby Grand Two to make his appearance. He was due July 1. By the time it posts, perhaps we'll have our little guy and once his mom and dad make his presence known, I'll be eager to share with you.

Till then, we are biding our time. And waiting with baited breath!

Paris In July: Favorite French Cookbooks

Of course I love to cook! So, of course I love cookbooks, even though I have some I've never used! Still, some of my favorites are French cooking -- and in several cases, not because of the recipes!

Of course there are Julia's books. They should stand alone. The recipes are so well researched that it's difficult to fail (though they may take awhile!). I stand by her Boeuf Bourguignon recipe and that of her French Onion Soup, the latter of which is a winter staple in our household.

Another I cook from often is Clothtilde Dusoulier's "French Market Cookbook."

This one is such a hit! Wonderful fruit and veggie dishes and fabulous desserts. I've tried this one as a moulton cake, chocolate mousse and even made little mini tarts with it. Easy and no-fail.




Of course, some books deliver more than food and I love those, too. I adored Rachel Khoo's "Little Paris Kitchen" TV show. So when I saw "Little French Kitchen" on the sale rack at the book store, I had to have it. (If you aren't familiar with her, check out this article on how she turned her Paris living room into a French restaurant!)

In addition to being a Cordon Bleu trained cook, she is also a delightful artist and one reason why I love this book is because of the recipes and background information.

Each region of France gets its due, with photos and illustrations to help tell its culinary story. You learn loads from this one (and one day, I'll be making something, too!)

Do you recognize this dining room?

It's one of my favorite rooms in all the world, far more than those in grand palaces. It's Monet's dining room at Giverny. And this is his kitchen.

These fabulous photos and well written biographical sections are just one reason why I love "Monet's Table," a yard sale find!

Recipes from Monet's own collection and others of the day have been modified for today's kitchens. I had good luck with their madeleine recipe (although I now have another favorite -- I think the problems I had with this one were my own off-kilter oven temp and timing).

Even if you never cook a single thing with it, the photos and text alone make this one worth having, especially if you are a Monet fan and have warm memories of Giverny.

By now you've figured out I love recipe books with more than recipes because you just can't try everything. But a good text makes it worthwhile, even if it never sees the kitchen. Like this one!

Anne Willan has a resume as long as your spatula handle. For 32 years she founded and taught at Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne in Paris and Burgundy. Her "La France Gastronomique" does much as Rachel Khoo's "Little French Kitchen" does -- provide delicious sounding recipes with beautiful photos and a good look at the various regions of France.

One may never pull off a meringue that looks like this...

...or a salad presented so beautifully.

But with a good French cookbook you can have a lot of fun in the kitchen (and maybe learn something about France too!) Or, as Julia would say...

"Bon appetit!"

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