timothy
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
As in stuffed with currants'?Current situation:
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Where to, captain?
- Thread starter Brett-EDH
- Start date
Mike - LA
TVWBB Super Fan
And don’t call me Shirley..
Timothy F. Lewis
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Or is it Pain au Chocolat?
LMichaels
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
Looked more like that
Brett-EDH
TVWBB Olympian
Chocolate. Super delish!
Brett-EDH
TVWBB Olympian
Dry busy 24 hours.
After Eiffel Tower we walked to Tuileries Garden along the Seine.
Enjoyed a croque monsieur:
Then walked the garden and found the Olympic flame:
Next day we partook in a Paris food tour. Talks about hitting a home run.
Some amazing pastries and macarons.
Chocolate sourced from around the world. Almonds from Spain. Pistachios from Iran.
I enjoyed a coffee macaron. The crème was coffee flavored. Very intense but balanced flavor.
Down the street was Notre Dame whose exterior is still under construction from her April 2019 fire where the roof caved in and her spire tumbled into the church.
Inside tour of Notre Dame comes later.
Then we headed to lunch. Wife and I shared a duck confit. To die for. I’ve always enjoyed duck confit but this was next level.
After Eiffel Tower we walked to Tuileries Garden along the Seine.
Enjoyed a croque monsieur:
Then walked the garden and found the Olympic flame:
Next day we partook in a Paris food tour. Talks about hitting a home run.
Some amazing pastries and macarons.
Chocolate sourced from around the world. Almonds from Spain. Pistachios from Iran.
I enjoyed a coffee macaron. The crème was coffee flavored. Very intense but balanced flavor.
Down the street was Notre Dame whose exterior is still under construction from her April 2019 fire where the roof caved in and her spire tumbled into the church.
Inside tour of Notre Dame comes later.
Then we headed to lunch. Wife and I shared a duck confit. To die for. I’ve always enjoyed duck confit but this was next level.
Brett-EDH
TVWBB Olympian
Next stop was Laurent Dubois Fromager.
The stink was excellent and these cheeses here are some of the best I’ve ever tasted.
Cheese tasting pics to follow.
We then ci tuned our walk to this bakery where their brioche looked amazing.
Now if you truly like baguette, this next place was cloud 9.
They bake baguettes and some are pulled earlier and some later, depending on how you like your flavors. Basil’s white, blonde and noir doneness. Small amounts of the white and noir are held aside. Blonde is the more common retail color. Pics to follow.
Next, up the street was the Pantheon where some famous French people are interred. Louis Barile is resting here along with other famous French contributors to humanity.
Then we sat down to enjoy some of our treats we gathered along the way.
Eric Kayser baguette which we enjoyed with some of the cheeses we bought.
We enjoyed some triple cream cheese wrapped in golden raisins (two plates, once for each side of the table as we were 10 people on this tour.
On the same plate was comté cheese aged around 6 months iirc. The next plate was goat cheese that was covered in ash to help it age and a Roquefort which was to die for.
The goat cheese was very dry and intense. While I enjoyed it, I could only enjoy a little bit as the flavor was very concentrated.
The triple crème was like a cream cheese, think Philadelphia brand but 1,000 times better and the raisins really complimented the cheese. Go figure, fruit and cheese.
The comté was truly enjoyable. I could eat that all day long. Such great flavor.
And that Roquefort, to die for. If you like bleu cheese then this is beyond that level and stratosphere. Salty, moldy and creamy.
We have Pt Reyes bleu cheese in CA but this Roquefort is absolutely amazing. While the two are quite different, the flavor profiles aren’t far off.
Easily you could spread this Roquefort onto a toasted brioche bun and add a quality burger atop is and really enjoy something special.
The stink was excellent and these cheeses here are some of the best I’ve ever tasted.
Cheese tasting pics to follow.
We then ci tuned our walk to this bakery where their brioche looked amazing.
Now if you truly like baguette, this next place was cloud 9.
They bake baguettes and some are pulled earlier and some later, depending on how you like your flavors. Basil’s white, blonde and noir doneness. Small amounts of the white and noir are held aside. Blonde is the more common retail color. Pics to follow.
Next, up the street was the Pantheon where some famous French people are interred. Louis Barile is resting here along with other famous French contributors to humanity.
Then we sat down to enjoy some of our treats we gathered along the way.
Eric Kayser baguette which we enjoyed with some of the cheeses we bought.
We enjoyed some triple cream cheese wrapped in golden raisins (two plates, once for each side of the table as we were 10 people on this tour.
On the same plate was comté cheese aged around 6 months iirc. The next plate was goat cheese that was covered in ash to help it age and a Roquefort which was to die for.
The goat cheese was very dry and intense. While I enjoyed it, I could only enjoy a little bit as the flavor was very concentrated.
The triple crème was like a cream cheese, think Philadelphia brand but 1,000 times better and the raisins really complimented the cheese. Go figure, fruit and cheese.
The comté was truly enjoyable. I could eat that all day long. Such great flavor.
And that Roquefort, to die for. If you like bleu cheese then this is beyond that level and stratosphere. Salty, moldy and creamy.
We have Pt Reyes bleu cheese in CA but this Roquefort is absolutely amazing. While the two are quite different, the flavor profiles aren’t far off.
Easily you could spread this Roquefort onto a toasted brioche bun and add a quality burger atop is and really enjoy something special.
Brett-EDH
TVWBB Olympian
After lunch we self toured Notre Dame.
What a beautiful church. The architecture is stunning and for its period, this really stood out with its flying buttress design.
As you know I’m no church expert but man, the art build into these buildings is next level. Truly engineering marvels of their time, 11th century, and the beauty within is inspiring.
Much of the roof and upper walls were destroyed in the April 2019 fire at Notre Dame.
The rebuild effort really shows and the interior just reopened to the public in December 2024.
Truly this church is an inspiring place. And the restoration work is stunning. Minus the color differences in the old and new stones, you’d be hard pressed to see any differences in the workmanship.
I believe $850m has already been raised to rebuild the church. That’s quite number from worldwide fundraising efforts.
What a beautiful church. The architecture is stunning and for its period, this really stood out with its flying buttress design.
As you know I’m no church expert but man, the art build into these buildings is next level. Truly engineering marvels of their time, 11th century, and the beauty within is inspiring.
Much of the roof and upper walls were destroyed in the April 2019 fire at Notre Dame.
The rebuild effort really shows and the interior just reopened to the public in December 2024.
Truly this church is an inspiring place. And the restoration work is stunning. Minus the color differences in the old and new stones, you’d be hard pressed to see any differences in the workmanship.
I believe $850m has already been raised to rebuild the church. That’s quite number from worldwide fundraising efforts.
Brett-EDH
TVWBB Olympian
Dinner was in our Airbnb. We were tired and didn’t want to eat a lot. So we enjoyed some cheeses and baguettes from the day plus some dessert.
Around $55 statewide, this is a fine bubble, dry fruit champagne with a crisp and clean finish. You can’t go wrong with this selection and it’s priced for reasonable consumption without breaking the bank.
The difference between a noir and blonde baguette. I prefer the noir as it has more developed flavors.
Apricots atop laminated dough (think croissants). Not sugary in taste. You really taste the natural fruit and the pastry was so flaky.
Off to another day’s adventure.
Hopefully you’re enjoying this condensed version of our travels.
We’ve really just begun!
Around $55 statewide, this is a fine bubble, dry fruit champagne with a crisp and clean finish. You can’t go wrong with this selection and it’s priced for reasonable consumption without breaking the bank.
The difference between a noir and blonde baguette. I prefer the noir as it has more developed flavors.
Apricots atop laminated dough (think croissants). Not sugary in taste. You really taste the natural fruit and the pastry was so flaky.
Off to another day’s adventure.
Hopefully you’re enjoying this condensed version of our travels.
We’ve really just begun!
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Timothy F. Lewis
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Your day looks like it was great fun! Excellent way to complete your day, baguettes, bubbles, pastries! My evening snack!
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LMichaels
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
All looks incredible. I hadn't realized Notre Dame had re-opened. I know it will be an ongoing repair job. Last time we were in Cologne the family we were staying with there had incredible knowledge of the history and and especially the Cologne Cathedral and she was able to point out parts repaired due to WWII and which pieces were restored or had to be "duplicated" and which stained glass windows had been removed for safe storage. During WWII I guess we were very civilized and prior to bombing runs letters were sent to city officials ahead of time allowing them to try to protect the "treasures" of the cities. But yet even then all those years after WWII they were still repairing exterior damages and such.
So I anticipate that ND exterior repairs will be an ongoing labor of love
So I anticipate that ND exterior repairs will be an ongoing labor of love
Brett-EDH
TVWBB Olympian
We spent the 12JUL at Musée d'Orsay to see the Impressionist paintings. Monet, Renoir, Degas, Morisot, Pissaro, Manet and of course Van Gough.
To be able to see these paintings in person is quite amazing. I’m no artiste extraordinaire but these painting are renown the world over. And in person, you can feel the passion the artists had as they made each brush stroke.
The museum itself is a converted train station that the French government elected to repurpose than to tear down. The recreation of this space is truly beautiful. They made it work and it really shows as there are extremely large format paintings and you can see how art has evolved and changed over time.
I’ll post a few of the paintings so as to not overload this post. If you appreciate art, this museum should be top of your list. It’s the largest exhibition of impressionist paintings in the world and the Van Gough collection alone is worth over a billion USD. Let that sink in.
To be able to see these paintings in person is quite amazing. I’m no artiste extraordinaire but these painting are renown the world over. And in person, you can feel the passion the artists had as they made each brush stroke.
The museum itself is a converted train station that the French government elected to repurpose than to tear down. The recreation of this space is truly beautiful. They made it work and it really shows as there are extremely large format paintings and you can see how art has evolved and changed over time.
I’ll post a few of the paintings so as to not overload this post. If you appreciate art, this museum should be top of your list. It’s the largest exhibition of impressionist paintings in the world and the Van Gough collection alone is worth over a billion USD. Let that sink in.
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Brett-EDH
TVWBB Olympian
Continued
After the museum, we headed directly to dinner.
Wife had a Caesar (no pic) and I had a grilled sausage and mashed potatoes.
This was a great sausage. Not greasy at all and well seasoned. The mashed pots were super creamy and the jus gravy complimented it all. It was also served with a roasted garlic clove which really added a nice flavor to the mashed pots.
And when is Paris, one must enjoy a true crème brûlée! This was fantastic!
Today we’re up super early. We’re heading to pay respects to the Boys of Pointe du Hoc. Pics to follow later.
After the museum, we headed directly to dinner.
Wife had a Caesar (no pic) and I had a grilled sausage and mashed potatoes.
This was a great sausage. Not greasy at all and well seasoned. The mashed pots were super creamy and the jus gravy complimented it all. It was also served with a roasted garlic clove which really added a nice flavor to the mashed pots.
And when is Paris, one must enjoy a true crème brûlée! This was fantastic!
Today we’re up super early. We’re heading to pay respects to the Boys of Pointe du Hoc. Pics to follow later.
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