A Quick Trip Across The Pond

We just returned a couple days ago from an eight day/night trip to London and Paris.  Surely we should have gone to a beach destination in February instead but as we contemplated options for a winter break we chose short lines over crowded beaches.  Walking right in to the Musee d'Orsay, the Picasso Museum, Les Deux Magots, Angelina's - okay, Portobello Road market was still jam packed even in the raw wind and rain but what a difference when there are few tourists to contend with.  This post is long with lots of photos and not too much text, to make up for several weeks with nada.  This is just a smidgeon of what we did in both London and Paris, to spare you.

Portobello Road Saturday Market

We stayed at the Taj 51 Hotel right near Buckingham Palace in London for the first half of our adventure and since we have both been to London before, we didn't go to any of the regular tourist places we had done previously (except Portobello Rd - we love the street food) and we really wanted to explore multiple neighborhoods on foot and that is what we did!  Plus one show and one museum.

 We arrived in London early in the morning there dead tired so we checked into our hotel and slept a couple hours.  For what should have been breakfast if we were still on Eastern Standard time, after waking up we went to lunch at a pub called the Phoenix.  Dan had venison stew and I had a butternut squash and bean pie over mashed potatoes and parsnips.  Below is Dan at our table in the Phoenix.  We have eaten there three times before and love all their food, especially the fish and chips and the Sunday roast chicken dinner.

 Above and below, St. James Park where it is still obviously winter though the daffodils were popping up everywhere.

 It was in the 40s the whole time we were in London.  We did have sun one day which was so delightful.

 I picked out a cologne for Dan at Penhaligon's.  I love their scents and the store is so cozy.  He bought Quercas.

 We went in to a bakery, Konditor & Cook, that caught our eye because of a billboard that advertised that it offered one of the best  of 27 hot chocolate recipes in the world.  We laughed at that odd number.  Nonetheless, the hot chocolate was excellent and so were their brownies - really fudgy and super chocolately.  They had a recipe for their Boston brownies featured in the window (their basic recipe plus fresh chopped cranberries - must try!).  We bought one hot chocolate and one chocolate chip studded brownie to share.

 Not one of the typical red phone booths but a living one instead.

 I have Ben Pentreath's decorating book and I follow his blog so we sought out his store in Bloomsbury.  Way tinier than I imagined but charming.  Dan sat outside while I checked it out - didn't buy anything - nothing tempted me but a candle that cost 60 pounds - way too much.

 Adorable building squashed in among the row.

 We popped into the British Museum on our way to Bloomsbury to see the mummies and the Iznik tiles and pottery - I love the flower style and all the blue and white.

 Saturday was Portobello Road to begin with - we split this huge burger for our breakfast and couldn't even finish it.

 I adore the colored row houses in Notting Hill.  Look how dark and dreary it is outside though.  It was raw and drizzly.

 Street after street of tidy row houses in this town.

 After Portobello Rd we hopped on the subway for another market previously unknown to us called the Camden Market.  A whole different scene - a much younger crowd where very few people seemed to speak English, a little rough around the edges, and one of the best and most varied food markets I have ever seen representing so many countries.  I ate Venezuelan - delicious meat and veggies wrapped in a cornbread type soft bread.

 A small part of the very crowded food market.

 I ate from Arepa.

 Inside a cozy pub to dry off from the rain and enjoy a diet coke.

 Here at this ice cream shop, Chin Chin, they make your ice cream to order using liquid nitrogen and Kitchen Aids.  We split a very deep rich chocolate ice cream with 70% cocoa with a honey crumble on the side - outstanding!

We didn't go see this (just read the book, it's better) but instead saw Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap"

 The Mousetrap is the world's longest running play and the small theatre was lovely and the play was fabulous!  At the end, one of the actors asks the audience to not give away the ending since the play is a murder mystery.  We really loved it and the acting was superb.

 Sunday morning found us at church with the Hyde Park second ward.  The chapel and visitor's center are attached to the Victoria and Albert Museum and right across from the Science Museum.  Location, location.  This picture above is the chapel and I took it before it filled.  The ward is quite large and half the congregation is comprised of foreigners working and living in London.  No matter where you go in the world if you are a Mormon, you belong and feel very much at home even in countries where you might not speak the language.  I love that.

 We went to the Royal Academy of Arts on Sunday afternoon for the Impressionists in the Garden exhibit.  124 paintings, 21 of which were Monet.  Also represented were two Americans; John Singer Sargent and Child Hassam (whose painting was one of the Isle of Shoals in NH - I wanted to shout out - Hey, that's where I live!)

 I. Love. Nasturtiums.  I must try to paint some.

 Look at the tiger lilies in this painting!

 Child Hassam's Isle of Shoals

Another wonderful neighborhood, this one is Chelsea.  Now on to Paris!

 We took the train to Paris from London and landed in our hotel The Raphael near the Arche de Triomphe on Monday afternoon.  Here is part of our room - it was so pretty; old European.

 We immediately hit the streets to stroll and explore.  We stumbled on "my" perfumer, Nicolai, not realizing they have a store other than the one on Ile St. Louis.  And they were having a 40% sale on most fragrance because they are changing the bottle and packaging styles so we took advantage and bought a couple new fragrances - yay!  When it got dark we found this little hole in the wall Japanese restaurant on a quiet side street.  We were the only customers in there and the food was fantastic!  I had a grilled salmon with some kind of cabbage side and Dan ordered more traditional dishes.  That was half day one.  The next morning we took the subway to the Montmarte area to see the Sacre Coeur Basilica (we had never been on all our other visits to Paris) and were amazed at how hilly and steep the streets are and how different this area feels in a very wonderful way.

 Yeah - you have to walk up stairs like these to get from one street to another - hooray!

 It's a good thing we walked for miles because one of our first stops in Montmarte was the chocolatier Arnaud Lahrer.  Incredible chocolates - we bought some for ourselves and a gift for a friend back home and a chocolate pastry called Moelleux.  Oh my gosh - we died when we bit in to it - shaped like a muffin and molten, decadent, dark chocolate that just melts in your mouth.  I looked up a recipe for it later that evening - must make soon!  Two days later we found another one of Arnaud's shops and bought 4 more moelleux which we wrapped tightly and put in our hotel room fridge and they are now in our NH kitchen freezer.

 Look at this charming house in Montmarte!

 And this vineyard garden right in a neighborhood.

 The sun came out finally!  Art Deco posters.

 In the town square, artists had their easels up and art was everywhere.

 I took this picture because I love the look of the peeling shutters.

 We went in to the Sacre Coeur which is glorious inside and then Dan waited for me while I climbed the 300+ stairs up to the dome so I could get some cool views of Paris.

 These are some very photographed stairs that lead you down from the Basilica to the commercial area below it.  There is also a funicular if you don't want to climb up or down or you can wend your way down less steeps stairs in the Square Louis Michele.

 For lunch we went to Buvette in the Pigalle, a well known restaurant that we got right into because it's off season. The owner is an American and she also has a Buvette in NYC.  Look at the interior window displays.  We had cream of mushroom soup to start served in bowls so huge that neither one of us finished ours.  They were probably meant to be meals in themselves but we had ordered salads with chicken as well.  Good food!  I can't wait to try to one in NYC and see how it compares.

 We left Montmarte/Pigalle and walked to the 2nd Arr. to Rue Montorgueil, a wonderful, colorful, very long shopping street with delightful shops, cafes and bakeries.  One in particular we were searching for, Stohrer, one of Paris's oldest, and it was stuffed full of sweet and savory goodies.  We bought an eclair and shared it later in the day - worth the walk!

 Montorgueil.

 Then we continued walking block after block to reach Chocolaterie Pralus on Rue Rambuteau for their to die for pink praline bread.  We bought a small and a large - the large is frozen in our NH freezer, the small was eaten over a few days.  Then we headed for the Picasso museum.  No line!  Beautiful building and of course, the art.

 I took pics of a few of his lesser known paintings instead of his more famous women with mismatched and misaligned eyes and nipples.

I ordered a salad in the evening to go with my omellete au fromage and was given an entire head of butter lettuce with dressing on the side.  It was tender and tasty but I couldn't eat the whole head.  Now if it was pink bread …….

 Hot chocolate for breakfast at Chocolaterie Jacques Genin on Rue de Turenne in the Marais!  When you order hot chocolate, you have to order a pastry as well and with it comes a plate of chocolates.  We shared hot chocolate and paris brest.  This hot chocolate is one of the best - hot, thick (but not pudding thick), bittersweet and made with bar chocolate not cocoa powder.  Heaven!

 Stained glass in Sainte-Chapelle.  Stunning - you just can't believe how huge these windows are until you see them in person.

 Monet at the d'Orsay.  No line to get in!

 I just love paintings of flowers and water.  Below is the part of the d'Orsay where the sculptures are.

Look at the close up of these brush strokes - and the color!

 Look at the light on the cow's back and the girl's head scarf in this painting!

 Of course we had to go in to Poilane for our huge wheel of bread to schlep home.

 Tarts being set out for the day at La Theiere.  We went there for breakfast on day three to try their hot chocolate.  This shop is in the Marias on Rue Rosiers.  The hot chocolate was good but not as bitter and thick as I like it.  If you enjoy sweeter and milkier, this place is for you.  They proprietor's son told us his dad makes 45 tarts per day for this shop and a few in the neighborhood.

 Cour Damoye in the Bastille area - right near the monument.

 Hot chocolate from Patisserie Viennoise in Saint-Germain.  The bitterest one of all, barely sweetened, I loved it!  Dan used all of his sugars and mine to sweeten his - I drank it straight and "black".

 Hot chocolate from the famous Cafe Flore.  Outstanding!

In this old theatre we saw the Audrey Hepburn film from 1957 called Funny Face.  The experience was fun but the film was one of the silliest, most painful films I have ever sat through.  Only Audrey's clothes kept my interest; the plot and acting were ridiculous.  

 Our last morning in Paris, day four, before heading to the airport, we stopped in at Angelina's for her world famous hot chocolate for breakfast.  I didn't take a picture of it though it was picture worthy and we enjoyed every drop of it (I even scraped out the little pitcher with my little spoon).  Many will say it is the best hot chocolate in Paris.   My favorite is Dimanche, in little shot cups - really cups of hot ganache.  Angelina's is second.

 Hers is made from dutched cocoa powder and ground bar chocolate with sugar and some milk powder too though you cook it with milk.  We bought a box for home use.  Sunday mornings!

The Poilane getting ready to be cut in quarters for home use and 3/4 of it in to the freezer!

Okay, I'm done!  Whew!  My next post is already in the works - butterfly paintings - a series of four and perhaps some thoughts on sugar consumption and balance (hypocrite - you are thinking - ha!!)