Irock5, I had to laugh about the lost corkscrew. To travel to France without a corkscrew, Mon Dieu, Quelle Horreur!

No it was one he bought in Paris and he wanted it for our home as he began a love affair with wine on that trip. We are from Texas and wine was a mid-life discovery for us. This is the land of beer. LOL

Well, then, to travel in corkscrew-less Texas without the proper implement to open a bottle of grape squeezins would seem to be an even more foolish thing to do. :-)

I am going through my photos to post and came across a couple from a patisserie on rue St. Dominique: Aux Merveilleux de Fred (94 rue St. Dominique). It was a little shop and I'm not sure they sold more than 2 items, but we were walking past it and there was a line out the door to buy the merveilleux, which I had never heard of, but which looked delicious. So we got in line. They're balls of meringue covered with whipped cream and lightly rolled in toppings such as coconut. At first we thought they were mini cupcakes. The meringue is really soft so it's kind of like popping a ball of whipped cream in your mouth. They make larger ones too. The shop itself is small and elegant -- dominated by a huge crystal chandelier. After looking them up on the internet I see they have several shops in Paris.

No fair, Vanne, I'm just starting to come down off my sugar high from Thanksgiving overindulgence.

Nukesafe --they were really good -- surprisingly I didn't gain a pound while we were in Paris eating pastries and great dinners every day. Despite my hip problem, we walked a lot and burned off the calories. A couple weeks late we went to San Diego for 4-1/2 days and didn't do a lot of walking and I gained 5 pounds. Fortunately now that I'm home and eating more like I normally do it's coming off fast.

Vanne, I have had the same experience - chowing down constantly with no weight gain - even a loss - when visiting Paris.