I talk too much my mouth hurts

Just because we are not spoilt rotten enough already during our holiday in France, we were invited to brunch at a palatial hotel restaurant on rue de Rivoli, the famous address of the likes of the Louvre museum, Tuileries Gardens, and Angelina's.

Only a five star hotel with history can be awarded the palace class. Hôtel Meurice has been in business in Paris since 1815, first on rue Saint Honoré then moving to the current address in 1835. Its famous clienteles over the years included kings, politicians, and film stars. Salvador Dali was also a longtime regular at the hotel, of which restaurant Dali is named after. The other restaurant bears the hotel's name itself.

Restaurant le Meurice is currently headed by the celebrity chef Alain Ducasse, who is the first chef to have three Michelin stars in multiple restaurants in multiple cities: Paris, London, and New York. What an honour!

The brunch consisted of buffets: starters, charcuterie, cheese, and dessert selections, and menu items: poached eggs and a choice between lobster, chicken, and vegetarian. Guess what I chose? The Canadian lobster, without question.

The thing about buffets is that when you want to try everything but they won't all fit in your limited stomach space, it becomes.. uncomfortable. It's the unfortunate story of my life. Let me tell you, I tried my best. The brunch at Restaurant le Meurice was the one and only meal for us that day - and a very satisfying one at that!

Merci beaucoup for inviting us to the lovely restaurant!

Hôtel Meurice
228 rue de Rivoli
75001 Paris

Ah, Paris.

The buildings are old and beautiful and the view from A's new rooftop over the Parisian chimneys is amazing.

After 17 long hot and humid hours in Singapore, where we were too tired to do anything much other than to hop from one hotel lobby to another, boy, were we glad to finally arrive at our destination.

The first things we kept hearing about: the flooded rivers and transportation strikes. L'inondation and le Métro were on everyone's lips. Both are impressive, let me tell you. Tree trunks are submerged from sight so only the blankets of green bushes are poking their heads out of the great brown waters. People fight for air and space as they pile on top of each other in bus and train carriages, more so than often. Shall we call it lucky that the weather hasn't yet been as sunny and hot as we were hoping for?

Amidst the still gloomy weather and packed transports, Parisians are especially edgier than normal. These infamously unsmiley faces are just plain nasty and will try to bite you at the slightest chances. Bump into them more than once and they will call you names, "You pushed me first, no, you pushed me first, b****." Take care not to glance at them, and move out of the way quickly if you don't want to be accused as an insolent or imbécile. Always keep all pockets and bags zipped shut and even then, hug all valuables close from all wandering fingers.

Not all Paris is bad, bien sûr.

The food is excellent, exceptional. I love apéros with foie gras on tiny toasts and slivers of ham with a glass of wine or champagne. All sorts of stinky cheeses you should never touch with your fingers for dinner?  Divine. Finish off with delicate sweet treats - raspberry tartelettes, chocolate mousses, crackling millefeuilles - and you are in food coma heaven.

Would you like to move to Paris again?

Hmm.. probably not. Once was enough. I took A to le Marais on Saturday and he stressed me out trying to get us out of the crowds as soon as possible. It wasn't even that bad - he is even worse than me! There are definitely more places to see and visit before we leave but we are not big city people. Visiting Paris often, yes, despite the long hours to get here. Living in Paris, again, is unfortunately, no, thank you. For now.

Hi, Paris. It's not even been a year yet since I had left you and here I am, again. What will you have in store for me, this time?

My Parisian Angel has moved to the South of France with her baby boy. Too bad that I won't be seeing her. I know that I have to take A to the Marais for some Israeli and the Mosque for honey dripping desserts over mint teas.

I'm super excited to see my family and friends again, especially after the long, long flights to get here!

The lavender man had a shabby wide brimmed hat, dirty earthy brown, dusty coloured with age. His dark blue pants and his button down jacket were equally worn through. From the countryside, not from the city of Paris, screamed his clothes.

His lanky frame looked out of place on the métro platform. And he stank. Of lavender. Or rather, the huge crop of lavender bush on his arms envelopped him entirely, and as its perfume aired throughout the train carriage, heads turned in surprise to peer at the powerful violet bush at his feet.

One orange, half a lemon. The golden ratio for your daily morning juice. It's essential for breakfast at Villa Montabord, 3, Cité des Fleurs, Paris 75017.
Villa Montabord sits near the entrance of a private alleyway in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. A couple of necessary side notes: the alleyway is named, literally, 'City of Flowers', and, true to its name, is a lovely passageway to stroll through, admiring the beautiful houses, or rather mansions, and the glimpses of their gardens. Once they apparently had to follow strict rules to keep their front gardens looking immaculate and reasonably uniform, but it seems the rules did not altogether extend to dictating the styles of the houses much. 17th arrondissement is characterised by their elegance. Villa Montabord sits neatly in line with the standard. Bourgeois, ladylike, with her chic red pout. Ready to welcome chic travellers to rest their heads in her luxurious yet cosy rooms inside.
I was lucky enough to spend a weekend in one of Villa Montabord's four rooms - Chambre Charlotte. Plush red carpet lined the staircase up to my room. To the left, two double French doors let in light through its white curtains. On the other side a deep wine red wall resided over a double bed dressed in white. My first night in that bed was one of the best in a long time. The plush pillows were a dream! Swoon! My next favourite thing about Chambre Charlotte was the bathroom, just was warmly lit as the bedroom, and almost as spacious. I loved the huge mirror reflecting the light.
After a good night's rest, a hearty breakfast. As much as my small stomach would allow. Croissants, tartines with butter and jams, homemade yoghurts, coffee, tea, you name it. Plus the orange/lemon juice. Don't forget the juice.
A few itineraries for the weekend included catching an open air opera near Hôtel de Ville and strolling through Palais Royal, Jardin du Tuilleries, etc. From Villa Montabord, a bus stop just across the street and a Metro station only a block away means easy transport. Around the B&B there are also heaps of restaurants, bars, fruit and vege shops, and supermarkets, so you are spoilt for food choices if you ever need a rest from exploring the City of Lights.

Like that will ever happen.

Villa Montabord, I will be back soon, please.

Villa Montabord
3, Cité des Fleurs
Paris 75015
+33 6 14 88 74 06

We are on our way down South from Paris to Bordeaux. In our train coach everyone is in a tired slumber while the rain beats past our fast moving carriage. Everyone except some young kids who won't go to sleep just behind my dad, who can't fall asleep with their chatter.

All I hear is people deep breathing and the big black lady next to me lightly snoring with her eyes half shut and dad sighing in exasperation from the lack and want of sleep, from time to time. Poor daddy, still jetlagged from the long flights from the other side of the world. Wait until you get your grandchildren visiting you for the holidays. Though that won't be for a great long while.

We pass greenness after greenness on grey canvas of wet drizzles. These lush plains are the French countryside I know and love. I have spent recent weeks travelling around Italy and the UK, and coming back, I realise just how much France feels home to me. The kids chatter are familiar, the train system is familiar, there is no time wasted trying to figure out each coloured coin's worth at counters.

I just showed my parents around my old street from four years ago. My old Metro stop has cleaned up. It has blue lights now. There are shops on 'my' street I don't remember. The scary church with the weird Michael Jackson memorial apparently is no longer a church. It has shut down, its cross taken down. Coming back to a place that once used to be home, and seeing it with a different eye, aged eye, experienced eye, is a weird experience. I think I crossed an old acquaintance at my old supermarket. Should I have said hi? Maybe she wouldn't have recognised me, any way.

Slumbering in and out of consciousness towards Bordeaux. In a few years' time, this little city I learnt to love will surely have changed, too. The next time I will have come back and see it in a different eye, at my old neighbourhood that is still as familiar as it is newly unfamiliar. Not just yet, though..

Oh dear, soft shelled tacos, how I miss thee. It's really hard to get good soft shelled tacos in France, especially Bordeaux. So when I went up to Paris one time, I made a special request to my friend M to take me here. I first fell in love with soft tacos in California, and this is the closest thing I've tasted to them here. Taco shells are really particular. They need to be firm enough to hold all the lovely fillings inside without breaking and tearing mid mouthful. Tangy fish, braised pork, marinated chicken... I love them all. I'm making myself so hungry right now.

Cantine California 
46 rue de Turbigo 
75003 Paris 
ph. 09 81 15 53 13

Three years ago I lived every little (and grown up) girls' dreams. 

• Palais de Tokyo
• Le 104
• Catacombes
• Musée Jacquemart-André

• Start from Arc de Triomphe on Champs Elysée and walk straight towards the Louvre museum.
• There’s another museum next to it on rue Rivoli called Les musées des Arts Décoratifs that has design and fashion exhibitions that are less crowded.
• Also on rue Rivoli is Angelina’s, a very popular café with the best hot chocolates and desserts. Have lunch at St. André des Arts, it’s a street with lots of restaurants.
• St-Chapelle on Ile de la Cité is amazing, and worth the wait to get in. You can also visit the Notre Dame Cathedral, Shakespeare & Co (a famous bookshop) across the street, and have a wander around the Latin Quarter. Another great church is the Sacré Coeur in Montmartre.
• Have a picnic dinner on Friday nights on Pont des Arts with the Parisians! Rue Mouffetard on the 5th arrondissement also has many bars and lots of Parisian students and tourists come here in the evenings.
• Still in the 5th arrondissement, you can enjoy mint tea and Arabic desserts at the Mosquée de Paris on 39, rue Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire. This is the place shown on the movie, Je t’aime Paris. On Saturday mornings visit the Bastille Market (Bastille metro station). It’s one of the biggest markets in Europe, selling fruit and vegetables, bread, flowers, clothes, etc.
• If you want crêpes from the streets, make sure they are 3 euros or less. If there are more than 3 euros, they are too expensive. One good crêpe restaurant is L'Ebouillanté, on 6 rue des Barres. It’s in the 4th district, which is also le Marais and is the Gay district. It’s teeming with hipsters. There are lots of interesting shops here, especially op shops for second hand clothes.
• Best falafels can be found L’As du Fallafel on rue des Rosiers, which is the Jewish part of le Marais. There’s always a queue but it’s not that expensive.

• The two most well-known macarons shops are Ladurée and Pierre Hermé. Ladurée is more girly and has more traditional flavours. I like their smaller shop on rue Napoléon, which is less crowded than their Champs Elysée shop. Pierre Hermé is more modern and has experimental flavours. They are around the same price wise.
• After notes: Rue du Cherche-Midi also has many restaurants for lunch (the street name literally means ‘find-noon’, because it’s where the Parisians can be found at noon). Musée Rodin has a garden at the back with lounge chairs that not a lot of people know about. It’s a great museum, as well.

A came back from Germany for a couple of weeks and brought back this sweet treat for me.
I delved into these thinking of our picnics together at les Invalides in Paris two years ago... :)

I didn't really know him, and I was only there for two semesters, but it seems like Richard Descoings was dear to many at SciencesPo. Thank you for all you have done for ScPo, Monsieur,  it's probably due to you that I was able to spend a wonderful year at your school and in Paris.

Adieu.

This is my Paris of 2011. I cannot believe the year is over already. So much has happened, and I have experienced so much. I am so thankful for all the things I have seen, done, learnt... Tomorrow is my last day in Christchurch before I fly up North to Auckland again, to continue my studies at Summer School. Packing, and repacking, again...

Hope your year has been full of happenings too, and here's to another fulfilling year, 2012!! Cheers!

• Ladurée has classic flavours and colours. Lovely, soft pastel colours, for both the macarons and the packagings. It's more girly, and calmer. My favourite Laudurée place to go is in the 6th, on the corner of rue Bonaparte. It's smaller, but not as crowded as the one in Champs Elysées. Can buy with card easily, with no minimum amount.
• Pierre Hermé is more experimental. Macarons with olive oil or white truffle flavours. You often find mixtures of flavours, like lemon and ginger. So, the colours can be two toned, or speckled, and many times I find my fingers covered in metallic-like dusts. I don't know what they are, though. Their packagings are clean, and young. They had a shop just a block away from my place, near the Pasteur station (Métro lines 6 and 12), so I got to try a lot. One thing was that they had a minimum charge for paying by card.

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This is my last Paris eats post for a while. Do come back, still, though, please. As well as eating/drinking places in New Zealand (in Christchurch and Auckland, and also have a trip to Queenstown planned for in February, where they have an amazing burger place, apparently), I will also be posting more cooking entries, for you to try out. See you soon! :)

from here

Wedding table place settings

Le Malongo Café
50, rue St André des Arts
75006 Paris
Mon-Sat 9h-20h30
Sun 10h-19h