I cannot believe that it has been almost two years since I have been in my beloved city of Paris. Time has gone so quickly since I graduated from Le Cordon Bleu and in my mind, it was only yesterday that I was strolling along the Seine, scribbling in my journal with one hand and balancing a cone of Berthillon sorbet in the other.
It seems that so much has happened in this time, but it hasn’t really. I’ve worked on and off at the High School and mastered many recipes. Since my return from Paris I have perfected the chocolate macaron and now consider my recipe to be the best one outside of Paris. I can also make the best croissant both east and west of the Mississippi. I have worked diligently on my novels and am nearly finished with one. I have lost about a quarter of the person I used to be. I know a fair bit of Spanish and have come to love spinach.
It is time to go back, though, of course, because to me, Paris is my second home. I consider myself a native Floridian at heart, so living in Iowa almost all year fills me with a constant sense of homesickness. It is terrible to have to suffer through the winter with so little to do that is culturally stimulating. There are discussions of a Whole Foods coming to Des Moines, so that does make life seem worth living…a bit.
Anyway, anyway, anyway, Jessica seems to have enjoyed Paris much more than I ever expected and she decided that she and I should go ourselves for a month. Obviously, I had no issue with this plan as she volunteered to pay for the apartment, so after a month or so of searching, we bought our tickets at a great price and are going to be leaving from Chicago on the eighth of May!
Since we clicked the “CONFIRM” button on Expedia, I have been thinking and planning all sorts of things to do while I am there. I recently bought a new camera that shoots high-definition video, so I thought that it would be neat to do some video blogging. I want to take you on visual tours of my favorite places in Paris like the Louvre, Cimetière Père-Lachaise, along the quays, and anywhere and everywhere that I find intriguing. I’d also like to visit a new bakery each day to look for new treats to make at home and to see how good the bakeries are. I will do my best to try every chocolate macaron in the whole city!
Over the past two years, I have compiled a list of all the places that I want to see and I thought that I would list some of them here to give you a sampling.
- G. Detou
- Blé Sucré Bakery
- E. Dehillerin
- Ladurée
- Pierre Hermè
- MORA
- Poilâne
- Swan Island
- Puces de Saint-Ouen Flea Market
- Musée Fragonard d’Alfort
- Des Gateaux & Du Pain
- Barbès Market
- Japanese Embassy Gift Shop
- BioCoop
- Macaron Class At Le Cordon Bleu
- Mitsukoshi (I just read that this store closed last year and I couldn’t be more devastated.)
And so many other things!
Benjamin Phillips 