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Posts from the ‘Paris’ Category

Nov 30

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No. 62: American Christmas or French Thanksgiving

The French have reluctantly taken on a few of our American holidays and traditions…Halloween, bachelorette or hen parties, and lavish weddings, for example. Luckily, Thanksgiving is still a mystery to them. As it should be, given that the history of the holiday is exclusively tied to America.

They don’t have a good handle on what it is all about (and I might add, neither do our dear British allies…).

As I set out on my annual scavenger hunt to find all the necessary ingredients for our feast, I watched several shop keepers have their “AHA moments”, when I told them I needed so-and-so for le jour de grâces.

I even tried: le jour de l’action de grâce.

After repeating it several times, a smile would spread across their faces, and they would say, “Madame, vouliez-vous dire Noël américain?”

“No, kind sir, I don’t mean American Christmas! I mean Thanksgiving.”

“Humph. Noël américain.”

So this year, I decided to celebrate American Christmas in a very French Thanksgiving-ish way. I chose to host a wine tasting Thanksgiving chez nous. Complete with foie gras and strange French farce (stuffing).

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foie gras
farce (meatloaf-like stuffing)

My precious friend and wine expert Hélène chose a yummy menu of four wines (two white and two reds) and a bubbly magnum of champagne to sample over the course of the evening. Who knew wine could taste of grass and honey, dirt and mold, black berries and grapefruit. It was a hoot and a delicious way to remember to be grateful for the wonderful group of international friends we have in Paris…

…and to enlighten a few of our French friends on the finer points of American Christmas Thanksgiving.

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Vocabulaire

le jour de grâces / le jour de l’action de grâce: Thanksgiving

“Madame, vouliez-vous  dire Noël américain?”: “Madam, do you mean American Christmas?”

Noël américain: American Christmas.

 

Autre Vocabulaire (curtesy of Laura K. Lawless, www.French.about.com)

autumn, fall   l’automne

colony   une colonie

family   la famille

feast   un festin, un banquet

football   le football américain

grateful (adj)   reconnaissant 

harvest   la récolte

horn of plenty   la corne d’abondance

native (adj)   indigène

(Native American) Indians    les Indiens (d’Amérique)

November   novembre

parade   une parade

Pilgrims   les pèlerins

settler   un colonisateur

to share   partager

thanks   les remerciements

Thursday   jeudi

tradition   une tradition

traditional (adj)   traditionnel

treaty   un pacte

tribe   une tribu

Some traditional dishes served on Thanksgiving:

food   la nourriture

bread   le pain

corn   le maïs 

cranberry   la canneberge

gravy   la sauce au jus de viande

mashed potatoes   la purée

pumpkin pie   la tarte à la citrouille

stuffing   la farce

sweet potato   la patate douce

turkey   la dinde 

yam   un igname

 

Nov 30

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No. 61: The Other Eiffel Tower Park

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Affiche-Expo Solidaire copie

Nov 26

4 Comments

No. 60: Châtaignes grillées on an open fire…….

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It’s chestnut time of the year in France, and I love roasted chestnuts. In French they are called both châtaignes and marrons…I haven’t figured out the difference between them, or when to use which word. Most signs around Paris say “marrons chauds”, but a French chef friend of mine always says “châtiaignes”. Which ever it is, they are all over town these days…at the top of every metro stop, by all the major tourist attractions, and even on the bridges.

At 1-2€ for a newspaper cone filled to the brim, it’s the perfect healthy snack for a cold day.

Nov 25

4 Comments

No. 59: 29 avenue Rapp, Paris

29 avenue Rapp is one of my favorite buildings in Paris. How lucky I am to live right around the corner from it and pass it nearly every day when I’m out and about. It’s one of those building though, no matter how many times you see it, that still catches your eye and makes you wonder….

And wonder I have until today when, after years of wondering, I decided to find out the 411 on this whimsical piece of eye-candy.

It turns out to be the masterpiece of Jules Aimé Lavirotte, a famous French architect who, working in the early 1900s, designed nine (still standing) buildings in Paris, most of them in the 7ème arrondissement. Obviously he was a master of art nouveau. All of his buildings feature natural but stylized forms, arcs, oval and parabolas, wood, metal, glass, ceramics—mythical and ordinary creatures, realistic but abstract and unexpected.

29 avenue Rapp has all of the above and more. Lavirotte designed this madly decorated facade in 1901 along with his pal Alexandre Bigot, a ceramist. Together, and with the aid of Jean-Baptist Larrivé, a sculptor, this outrageously extravagant building came to life.

And one hundred and twelve years later, it is still teeming with life. The lavish entrance watches the avenue with two huge bug eyes, while a bust of a maiden with an animal pelt wrapped around her neck looks on. The green ceramic, oval windows, and balconies pulse. The shiny bronze lizards scamper and the wooden door sighs. This building has a rhythm—it’s hard to define—you must see it to feel it.

So the next time you are on your way to the Eiffel Tower, take a 10-minute detour and experience 29 avenue Rapp.

Nov 22

No. 55: Macaron Cakes!

Sloshing home from school today in the rain. I spied these:

Really, what is not to love about a cake-sized macaron?

Nov 19

9 Comments

No. 52: Les Macarons

IMG_8650I love the French macaron. And to think, 4 years ago, I had never even heard of this whimsical creation. If you’ve never seen one, these charming double-deckered dots, look impossibly similar to multi-colored miniature hamburgers buns that you might find in your daughter’s dollhouse. They are gorgeous from top to bottom.

While I like the unusual and trendy flavors (this season Ladurée is featuring les baies roses—pink peppercorns) and the fanciful colors, when it comes to macarons, it turns out I’m a plain-Jane-vanilla kind of girl.  J’adore le parfum vanille—that, and the pistache.

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During my time in France, I have probably eaten at least one hundred of these colorful, cream-filled confections. Don’t tell Superman, but at €2.25 a pop, that’s roughly $300 worth of cookies. It’s my guilty pleasure, so sue me.

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There are several ways I like to eat them. I savor them in a cozy salon de thé with un café noisette, or depending on the flavors I order, a cup of chocolat chaud. I also love eating them on a park bench at lunchtime watching the world go by. Often I bring them home to the family as a special after dinner treat. This is my preferred method for enjoying les macarons. We usually share a box of 6-8, cutting them in quarters or halves, so we can all taste a bit of each. Sometimes I make the family close their eyes to try to figure out the flavor, other times I make them wait while I meticulously set them up for a photo shoot. I always suggest a sip of water to clear the palate between tastings. But the most important thing I have found to enjoy this indulgence is to make the time to relish every tiny bite…the taste, the smell, the texture and the view. Les macarons are scrumptiously edible art, exquisite and very, very French.

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Vocabulaire

chocolat chaud: hot chocolate

J’adore le parfum vanille: I love vanilla flavored

pistache: pistachio

salon de thé: tearoom

un café noisette: an espresso with a small bit of steamed milk

Nov 17

6 Comments

No. 50: The Sparkling Tower

Christmas_Eiffel_tower_sparkling_2009.jpbThose of you who know me well, know that j’adore la Tour Eiffel. No matter how many times I see it, it still sets my heart a flutter. I love it morning, noon, or night.

But what I really love about MY tower, as we call it chez nous, is when it sparkles every hour on the hour from sundown to midnight. Not only is it plain lovely to see, but it always makes me smile to hear the crowds who are seeing it light up for the very first time.

The communal “Ooooooh!” and gasps of surprise and awe make my evening trot around the Champ de Mars with Taz so happy, and reminds me that I am the luckiest girl in the world to live in the City of Light and Sparkles!

Vocabulaire

Champ de Mars: the expansive green area at the foot of the Eiffel Tower extending to École Militaire (literally the field of Mars)

chez nous: at our house

J’adore la Tour Eiffel.: I adore/love the Eiffel Tower

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