A Fork And A Suitcase

As a huge fan of food halls, I needed to visit the renovated Gourmet Hall of the Maison (Housewares) building of Galeries Lafayette.  I felt that a nice breakfast there before tackling the crowds across the street at Galeries Lafayette would be a perfect opportunity to check it out.   We got there shortly after they opened at 8:30 in the morning, some of the vendors were still setting up, but the bakery was ready for business and that is all we cared about at the moment.  We got a few lovely viennoiseries at Benoit Castel bakery and enjoyed our breakfast while standing at a small counter.  We shared a smaller version of this delicious chocolate bread.   The well-designed food hall was very impressive and offered a great variety of products. There were plenty of sweet and savory choices to take home or enjoy while sitting at a table. Pierre Herme, the king of macaron has a stand with macaron, cakes and some chocolates, no pastry at t...

Whether you aspire to, or already do cook like Julia Child, you can shop where she did while attending Le Cordon Bleu, the culinary school in Paris.  E. Dehillerin is a store for the sophisticated chef in all of us or a true chef in a world-class kitchen.  It is only fitting that Paris, a city which is home to chefs like Alain Passard, Joel Robuchon, Guy Savoy, Pierre Gagnaire to name just a few, would have a store worthy enough.   One can sense that this is a very special place shortly after entering through its large green doors.  E. Dehillerin has been open since 1820, and every old, creaky, and worn out inch of it shows its age, but in a wonderful, museum like way.  This iconic institution has everything I would need to outfit my dream kitchen, the one from "Ratatouille", the animated movie about a rat who dreams of being a chef.  Oh, that La Cornue range! Mine would have six burners, French top, one power burner, and it would be brown...

 Bastille Day, La Fete Nationale, is celebrated each year on the fourteenth of July.  It commemorates the July 14, 1789, storming of the Bastille, a prison, and a symbol of the absolute power of Louis XVI's regime.  By capturing this symbol the people signaled that the king's power was absolute; it was a turning point in the French Revolution.   My husband and I were in Paris for the festivities a couple of years ago, and really got to see the city in a different light.  First of all, there is this nice excitement in the air, the city is decorated with blue, white and red flags, most shops are closed, and families are out enjoying the day. A fun tradition that takes place on July 13th and 14th, are Bals des Pompiers, parties organized by firemen at fire stations around Paris.  Sometimes a small admission fee is charged, or a donation into a barrel is appreciated.  Parisinfo.com has a list of the fire stations, which participate in the event....