paris me manque

If you hadn't noticed already (and how could you not?!) I am a complete Francophile - through and through, red white et blue, dyed in the wool, cut me and I bleed, erm, crème anglaise or summat.
At the age of five, my mother asked me what I wanted to do with my life. I replied 'I want to live in Paris, have a flower shop and drive a red Ferrari'. The bit about marrying a wealthy Francais clearly wasn't articulated at such an early stage, but there's not much money in petals, so how else was I going to bag those wheels?!
Since then I have simply adored learning and speaking French, eating French and meeting French. I'm not sure where all this came from but it's been there since the word go. My family and friends are quite aware of my deep rooted amour for the frogs, and tend to get a raw deal when I'm out and about and happen to bump into a Frenchie. I think the record was a 3 hour chat in the smoking area at Fabric - they almost just gave up and left me there, I was such a language limpet...
So what is it that appeals to me? Well, everything. The language is beautiful - sexy and cute in turns. I mean come on - pamplemousse? Barbe à papa? Amazing! The fashion, the food, the landscapes, the elegance, the arrogance... It's all so very French. Don't get me wrong, I love London. But Paris is where my heart really belongs. As soon as I step off that Eurostar and set foot on French soil, I honestly feel like I'm home. The view from Trocadero over to the Eiffel Tower, or clambering up the steps to the Sacre Coeur and gazing out over the sparkling spread of city lights... it's good for my soul. When I get back from Paris (even if I've been on a mad one) I always feel revitalised. I alwyas wanted to move to Paris, but reflecting on my most recent trip I now feel that maybe part of the reason I love it so much is because I don't actually live there. The little things always start to grate on you (slow service? dog merde?) so maybe for now I should just stick to my weekend love affairs...
Here are a few photos I took at the weekend using the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone...

As a little cochon, a weekend away in Paris mainly means a weekend of gorging...  and as this blog is about food and music, it would be foolish of me to not give you a run down of a few of my favourite French food fancies...

Confit de canard - duck melting off the bone, served with the classic accompaniment of potatoes cooked in duck fat and garlic. I had a fantastic example of this dish in a cute, reasonably priced resto called Le Poulbot, just off Place du Tertre in Montmartre.
Croque madame - basically croque monsieur (toasted ham and cheese sandwich) with a fried egg on top, but when done well and served with salad dressed in vinaigrette the combo is just delish!
Crêpes - and no not those limp pathetic excuses we serve up over here. Proper delicately thin almost see-through crêpes sucrée (my favourite served belle Hélène style - sweet crepes with pears, chocolate sauce and chantilly cream) and the more robust, wheaty crêpes salées (perfectly folded into a square with a fried egg, ham, cheese and mushrooms inside. Yum.) Find a decent crêperie away from tourist hotspots, or grab a Nutella and banane to go from a takeaway stand.
Cassonade - this is just soft, crumbly, unrefined sugar but absolutely gorgeous on top of yoghurt or porridge. Try and buy a bag when you're next in northern France or Belgium.
Pâtes de fruits - sugar coated fruit jellies. Not the chewy kind found in the back of Granny's drawer. Really fruity soft squares, packed full of flavour and moistness. I found a great food blog on sweet things written by a guy called Sam, and you can find his recipe for homemade pâtes de fruits here. I'm not a fan of playing around with gelatine so I think I'll stick to buying mine but I can imagine the results would be divine... if you buy pâtes de fruits from expensive chocolate shops it costs a lot, but is well worth it. Select your favourite flavours.
Mille-feuille - a kind of vanilla slice, made up of layers of ultra fine pastry with custardy cream. The top is usually glazed with icing. Go to any patisserie and stock up! To sample some delicious French pastries in style, take tea at somewhere fancy. I adore Meert in Lille, or Fauchon in Paris.
Petit Ourson Guimauve - these are awesome bonbons, sold in all supermarkets and corner shops. Marshmallow shaped bears covered in chocolate. On one trip to Paris, I found about 5 different varieties (own brand vs established) plus some quirky spin offs (hedgehog shaped with rice krispies mixed in?!) Had a field day in the office taste testing!

I am a fan of anything apple based. For that reason, I was delighted to stumble across a wonderful restaurant in Paris called Pomze. Yes that's right. Every single dish on the menu had some kind of pomme element. The waiter was extremely knowledgeable and helped us choose a cider to complement each separate course of our dinner. Apple heaven.

proper chocs

plaisir sucré

l'heure de l'apéro

It's not just the food itself I love, it's the French attitude to it. People take time to prepare, cook properly and savour what they are tasting. A lot of French food is packed with butter, cream and sugar, yet the French do not have problems with obesity. That's hugely due to their healthy relationship with food. They don't overeat. They eat slower. They eat better. They understand food. You won't see an office worker grabbing a pre packed sarnie and packet of crisps to eat at their desk.

During my weekend in Paris, I stayed at my Parisienne friend Clara's place. We grabbed a bottle of wine to drink before going out on the town. Clara popped into the kitchen and threw together an apéritif - some salty pretzels, rustic bread, sundried tomatoes and salami. We sat drinking, eating, chatting like civilised people. And this is what young French people do, even students, yes even 15 year olds illegally drinking their cider in the woods will probably have a soft cheese on standby. We still went out, got tipsy and danced around to cheesy music, but the whole tone of the night revolved less around chinning your body weight in spirits. Why are English people incapable of doing such things? In England as a student you're more likely to down a washing up bowl of punch and have a cheeky pre-lash vom in the corner than look a bit of rustic bread in the eye.

I remember catching my last Eurostar home when moving back to England from France. I was sat behind two families. at two separate tables in front of me - one French, one English. The English family were overweight, clad in football shirts, munching on crisps and Haribo, swigging Coke and not speaking to each other. The French family were chic, bright eyed, having a good chat while nibbling on some homemade chocolate biscuits in the middle. Stereotype central I know, but je suis désolée, there's a reason they exist!

In other news, I've just booked tickets to Lyon (also known as France's gastronomic capital) for a weekend away in April... Watch this space!