Eddie Spaghetti and the Sauce

I had a few extra days off towards the end of May so Jens and I decided to take a little weekend trip to Paris to visit with our good friends Patrick and Fabian - you have surely seen them in a previous blogs - if you haven't, shame on you. You have got a lot to catch up on.

We had an early afternoon flight which worked out well with Jens’ medicine times and gave us time enough to drop off Bounty at an all girl doggy summer camp. Jens and I are cracking up because every time I try to take a picture of us, my eyes always come out Chinese – I snapped about 10 pix of us on this flight and this was the best I could do. Then I tried to make big open eyes and it looks like I’ve seen a ghost – Asian style.

Patrick’s sister was visiting and she was leaving late Saturday afternoon. We were arriving Friday in the middle of the afternoon. We decided to make our 1hour, 50 minute flight as easy as possible by booking a room at one of the very many airport hotels. I got a half price deal with one of the SAS owned hotels – The Radisson. But upon reading the description of the hotel from guest comments on Tripadvisor.com, I became so unsure and decided to cancel the reservation the day before departure. I ended up instead, finding this new spa hotel. It's so new, the pool and spa area were not even completed yet. What attracted me to the hotel was the balcony. At The Radisson you could not even open the windows and you had to rely on a musty air conditioner – which according to user comments, was pretty smelly. Anyway bla bla bla about the Radisson and when we walked into our room I was totally taken by surprise with the size, super modern bath with separate glass shower and large bathtub and wowed by the kitchenette with microwave oven, stove, fridge, double cappuccino maker, electric tea kettle with selection of coffees and teas and so on and so on. It had a huge closet with electronic safe and the smartest layout for desk and baggage space.

Jens kept saying it was just for one night so let’s not make a big deal about which hotel to choose. But I was sooooooo glad that I had spent the extra time on the web looking for the right place. We found it and I was very happy with our choice.

Then we decided to get some dinner in the hotel bistro. The prices were not cheap but could I tell from all the on-line descriptions that basically all the hotels in the area are pretty completive plus or minus a Euro or two.

We ordered wine and the meal and when the appetizers were placed on the table, the first thought that came to my head was “we should have come to this hotel instead of the cruise.” The food was beautiful to look at and delicious on the tongue. Both Jens and I agreed that this is what we had imagined that the food on the ship, was going to be like this.

We ordered a cab and told the driver to take us into the center of town. When we arrived, we wheeled our carry-ons to the café next to Fabian and Patrick’s apartment, ordered a Perrier and sent a text message to Fabian: “we’re here….” In just moments Patrick and Fabian came down and greeted us with big Parisian hugs. They grabbed our bags and up the stairs to the apartment we go. Patrick and Fabian know of a café where they make great burgers. So before you know it, we are on our way to a very delicious American burger lunch in the middle of the most amazing swamp – more commonly known as Le Marais.

Patrick is on the phone explaining to his sister where we are having lunch – she’s out shopping and will soon be joining us.

After lunch we all had to go to the toilet. Well………… actually Patrick needed a new toilet seat so we followed him to a huge multi-level hardware store. It was several levels underground. For those of you who like DIY stores, this one had lots of goodies to check out.

We’ve been to Paris a number of times but this is the first time our tourist itinerary took us too an underground toilet isle. Before we know it, we are back to the apartment and while our burgers are, as the French would say, “en route” to the lower intestines, we are now already making dinner plans – Indonesian food.

I’ve had it only a few times and I love it. My friend Patrick from Canada took me to a little dark and dimly lit Indonesian restaurant in British Columbia. I ordered something hot. I love hot Mexican food so I knew that I would love something hot from Indonesian. It was the hottest food I have ever eaten - so I knew what to expect tonight at this wonderful outdoor Indonesian restaurant just around the corner and down the street from Fabian’s and Patrick’s apartment.

The following day the weather is so beautiful (and later too hot and sticky) we decided to take a little walk into town and play tourist. Our tour starts underground looking at some ancient ruins of the old city walls. They’ve been incorporated with the underground access to the metro along the way – all of it leading to the entrance for the huge Louvre Museum. Underground there is Starbucks, designer shops, book stores, museum store and so on. There is as well, a long line that everyone has to go through for security reasons for the safety of the art. But for some strange reason we just walked through the exit line and nobody questioned us – thank goodness cuz it was a long line of dumb tourist. We didn’t actually go into the museum; we just went as far as the entrance to see the glass pyramid.

I was in the Louvre 25 years ago. My main goal was to see the Mona Lisa. Shock and disappointment to find 1000 tourist in front of a painting about the size of a postage stamp and behind a 25 cm/10 inch thick plate of plexi-glass.

After the underground guided tour and taking in the sites of the huge, enormous and magnifique building of the Louvre Museum, we stopped for lunch at a nearby café.

a very cute metro entrance between the Louvre and the café

Underground was cool but above ground, the sky became hot and sticky. With a full stomach we crash back at the apartment and Jens and I catch a few Zzzzz’s

Later that early evening we went shopping. Jens wanted to buy me a present. He bought me this fantastic statue of a male figure that has an Olympic gymnast style to it. From the window of the boutique, it looked like it was made of metal but upon closer inspection we can see that it is made of plaster – in China. But never mind that. It is so cool and so sweet of Jens to want to buy it for me. It goes well in our apartment too.

What was funny about this evening is that we bumped into Hans and Per. Just a day or two before going to Paris we passed Hans and Per’s apartment. Jens and I commented on how we never see them anymore. They are always so busy. They spend all their free time traveling and own a home in Thailand. And now here we are in the middle of Paris introducing our Danish friends to our French friends. It was so funny. But we had a schedule to keep and we just spoke for a few moments.

Later on that evening, Jens and I took another 10 minute rest but we had fallen asleep. While Jens and I are in dreamland, Patrick and Fabian are whipping up a wonderful meal in their kitchen. We are snapped out of our dreams, back to reality which includes a pre-dinner cocktail – no wait! I must still be dreaming – cocktails in Paris and a home made meal about to be served!!! Why can’t every day be as real as this ?!

The creamy blob is home made mayonnaise – it’s French, you know - (google “origins of mayonnaise” and see what it says on wikipeadia – pretty interesting) - so they just whip it up in a matter of seconds. Talk about “bring out the Best food” it was sooooo tasty! White asparagus on a blade of Endive and some out of this world pâté made with the best of spices of France and some very taste meat. The pâté was soooooo delicious, I really wanted to take some home with me but it needs to be kept cool. ((( Pat and Fab – send me the correct info on this and I will put it in. It was so delicious, I really must give it the honor it deserves.))) All the appetizers were to be nibbled with the fresh boner-bread from the corner bakery.

Patrick’s sister works for a large wine distribution center. She was able to get a great deal on this very special wine. Patrick bought several bottles and serves it on special occasions. Don’t pinch me – I don’t ever want to wake up from this dream.

The main course was cruise “ship risotto”, roasted veggies in individual mini casserole dishes and filet mignon – it’s French, you know - and it was soooooooooooo tender you could “chew it with your eye lash.”. That’s what Jens says when he gets tender meat.

Oh but we were just too stuffed and we couldn’t eat one more bite. That was until Fabian brought out his home made flan. According to Fabian, it’s very easy to make. But don’t over cook it or it will be too firm. And that was what happened because he used his old, fail-proof recipe on his brand new oven. But that didn’t keep us from letting the delicious flavors slide down our throat; served with a dash of whipped cream and a dribble of maraschino cherry. Patrick and Fabian had a good laugh because we kept trying to scoop up all that cherry sauce. It turns out that the bottom of the plate is painted and not sauce.

Dinner was amazing and the wine and conversation were flowing but to our surprise the evening came to an abrupt end. It was midnight and Patrick had his first patient already at 8 the next morning.

The following day I wanted to see the glass dome at Galeries Lafayette. It’s a huge nutso, coo coo shopping center with gazillions of shoppers and tourist. Under the glass dome, we were about 50 tourists, all with digital cameras pointed up at this amazing work of art. I snapped a few pictures and then we got the hell out of there. Thank god Fabian was guiding us. We would have never found it without him and we would never have found our way out of shopping hell on our own.

From Galeries Lafayette we got back on the metro and headed in the opposite direction beyond from where we came. Fabian wanted to show us Arènes de Lutéce which is one of Paris' only remnants of Roman civilization, a 1st-century amphitheater where circus acts, gladiatorial contests, and theater productions took place.

Tonight we are going out for Thai food. I just love Thai food – it’s hot and spicy but not as hot as Indonesian food. Patrick and Fabian know one of the owners of the restaurant. Again – it’s just a 5 minute walk from their front door. Patrick recommends fish for Jens. I know Jens is not particularly fond of fish so I would never have recommended that dish but Jens assumed that the guys knew what they were talking about. I tell the guys that I want hot food. And they recommend I take the green curry dish with extra power if I want it hot. Well of course I want the extra power. I know Thai food and though it is hot, it’s not going to be at all like the Indo food. So the waiter comes and Fabian and Patrick do all the ordering in French and the waiter looks at me as ask with raised questioning eye brows, “You want extra power?” “Yeah”, I said, “Gimme all you got”.

Well………. somebody lied to me. It turns out hot Indonesian food is like Jell-O compared to Thai food with extra power. I just barely dipped the tip of my spoon in my sauce, put the spoon gently on the tip of my mouth and started chocking, eyes watering, my bald head beaded with pearl drops of sweat, steam shooting out of my ears. All the while Patrick, Fabian and Jens are laughing at me. Wait guys! It’s not funny! I think I burned a hole in my esophagus! My larynx!!! What happened to my larynx! Whose tongue is this? Is somebody missing a tongue – oh wait! 911! Somebody call 911 !!! Call the fire department!

I can hardly wait for my next trip to Paris cuz I’m gonna order another serving with extra power. As hot as it was, it was damn delicious. And surprise surprise, Jens loved his fish.

We didn’t order any dessert. Instead we went back to the apartment where home made crepes flambé awaited us. This is the best dream ever! I was too slow with my camera but these dishes, when served, were glowing in a blue and orange silent flame.

Finally on the next day, it is the day we had to return back to the airport. We still have almost a full day in Paris so Jens and I do a bit of lazy wandering on our own before finding our way to the back to the airport. Here are a few pix I took on the last day and throughout our journey. If you are interested you are welcome to see all 134 photos via shutterfly – click here