Clio...See...not the same flight at all. We are out of TPA at 6 pm, EWR at 10 pm. I thought I would try the 10pm flight this time so that we might actually try and sleep. I can never manage sleeping on the earlier flights. You will get there first. Wave to the Eiffel for us!

Gracejoan....Looking forward to hearing about your dinner at Au Gourmand.

Our dinner at Au Gourmand was as good as the last visit there.

I had a sweet potato soup..very good...pan seared scallops(giant ones) with mixed vegetables, Granddaughter had a fish that she really enjoyed and her husband had beef that he said excellent. I had a mango dessert that was very fancy. Nice place, atmosphere and ambience.

Weather a bit warmer...it showered while we were dining.

Off to meet a small forum get together at Mollard for lunch on Saturday. Kids will go to Montmartre.

a bientot.............

Ooh. Can hardly wait to hear about Mollard...we are staying near there in July and was wondering if the price is worth the food/ambiance.

Mollard is the only (I think) idependently owned belle epoch left. The food is not that great, and it is best not too try to order anything too fancy...stick to their simpler things.

Probably the fanciest of the belle epochs is Le Train Bleu. Made dinner reservations there for Monday evening. Same goes for the food there.

Chilly here today and grey outside.
A late Spring this year..last year it was hot,,never know about the weather...but we are in Paris!!

a bientot....

gracejoan - dinner was a smashing success! I took some poetic license with your meal. Heres how it went. Plating was on antique wedgwood service plates that have a seafoam green and gold border. Using metal rings I bought in Paris, the center of each plate had a circle of jasmine rice topped with a large pinch of dried organic coconut. Around it I drizzled the mango sauce (pureed mango, butter and armangac). I grilled sea scallops and fresh pineapple and placed them around the rice and on top of the sauce. Dusted the whole plate with chopped Thai basil. Lot's of flavors, which made me nervous at first, but it worked well..... I told our guests a friend in Paris had just sent the recipe.... thanks for the inspiration!!!

Seafox, I want to have dinner at your house.

And I'll tag along with you, Nikki!

I think we should all join Seafox!! Now, she sounds like a real cook!!!

An update.... I had a forum group get together of 7 people for lunch and the kids were off doing their thing, so I had just called Allard and made areservation for dinner, Nearby and fom what several had said a must do is their duck and olives!!

This place was a disaster!! The duck must be for 2, so granddaughter joined me..it was terrible..the whole meal was terrible. To top it all off..and really annoyed me...when you enter this place, it is a narrow hall facing kitchen and dining rooms at opposite ends...they take all the American(maybe others)tourists to the shabby room and the French to the other much niceer room!!

So, IMO, skip Allard!!!

We had 10:30 tickets to see the Chines Terracotta Soldier exhibition this morning. We had breakfast near there and did it. We had previously decided to go to the Marais area for more Sunday openings. Left the umbrellas at apt. as I had checked online and it said showers late tonight. Why am I so stupid as to think that French weathermen are any smarter than our weathermen!! It started raining. Granddaughter spent a bundle at Occitane and we went in to the Carnavalet Museum..that was enought..took the Metro down to Tuileries exit..granddaughter did some shopping along tourist row and then I took them in Le Meurice Hotel to nice new bar area wherre we had croque Meurice sandwiches and their club sandwich, soup and salad, beer for one, a Bailey's on ice for me and 140 euros later we headed homeward!!!

I think I forgot to tell you the best news..you will all be soooo jealous...Carolyn from Paris Perfect sent me an email that they were upgrading me to a 2 bedoom, 2 bath, 4th floor with Eiffel view apartment beginning
Wed. when my granddaughter and her husband leave. It rents for 3710 euros weekly..that is euros,not $'s!! Needless to say I am pleased!

Madelyn PP owner) is joining me for lunch at Spring on Friday.

My granddaughter checks the miles walked each day...We walked 6 miles today....don't know how much more of that this old lady can take!!!

We all feel stuffed...will see what we might do this evening..not much....

Tomorrow is Le Train Bleu so they can see what is probably the best of the Belle Epoques....don't expect great food, as I don't think it exists!

a bientot.............

Do you suppose Le Train Bleu has updated and has A/C?
We normally enjoy La Durée on the Champs for a meal, but the last 2 times have been stifling hot and made the experience unenjoyable (darn hot flashes don't help!). I was thinking it would take be fun to take my two sons who have never experienced Belle Epoque to LTB instead.

Thanks for relaying this report-as-you-go, gracejoan. Makes the fun last longer.

I will check re A/C..I don't travel in the summer, but A/C is needed other than the summer. Will check tomorrow!!

Grace- how was the Chinese Terracotta Soldier exhibit? I thought I might be in London for work at the end of June and nip over to see it. Unfortunately my boss said he needed me here.

Seafox-I read your scallop description to my husband who is an armagnac fanatic. I will be looking for mangos in the market. Any tips on preparation?

AGM

If you try for the exhibit you better get online and get your tickets ahead of time.

It is not large in Paris. I would imagine the same for London. You will see a number of staatues and horses along with pottery etc....

Some may enjoy more than others. You will probably be out within an hour.

Hope this helps.

AGM - I never measure (clearly I'm not a baker). So let me guess at this one. I would say I melted about 4 TBS of butter in a heavy skillet. Added about 1/4 cup of armangac. flamed it very quickly and I actually doused the flame before it was done, by adding the puree of two mangos - I made it ahead and warmed it quickly in the microwave before plating....

gracejoan, love your report! I really appreciate it when you post the prices of a meal, snacks - it gives me an idea of what to expect.

Joan, I read that the food has improved at Le Train Bleu!

Update....we went to a local spot for coucous last night..the kids probably enjoyed it more than I did!!

Kids are off this morning to another day at the Louvre.

I had a late breakfast at Paul's...had some places to go, and made some various arrangements for rest of week.

I went to lunch at Leon's for some moules...what more can I say!!

Met a nice French gal ther. We exchanged business cards with email addresses. I told her of some good Paris restaurants!! She is going to give them a try!!

Le Train Bleu tonight...will check out food quality and if they now have A/C..

a bientot............

I will be interested in hearing what you think also, as I didn't know whether to just try to go there for drinks or also food.

gracejoan3 - My neice is Grace, my sister-in-law Joan, so whats with the "3" in gracejoan3??

Very interested in your Le Train Bleu experience. We 5 gals had a super time - the waiter at our table presenting each of us with a menu as a momento afetr the bill (and tip) were paid!
We skipped the starters and I went for the Roast rib of breeder's "Foyot" veal, with mushroom lasagne.
My friend adores Sauce Bernaise so she chose the grilled Prime Fillet, Be`arnaise sauce Cinderella with potato quenelles in Parmesan.

The deserts were Rum Baba! The waiter presented us with an entire bottle of Kirschwasser to re-anoint our Babas as we desired. What was the man thinking? The pud was so spiked we left absolutely cross-eyed!
Can't wait to hear if you had a good meal.

re name..just my name backwards and the 3 needed for their requirement..

re A/C Train Bleu...I could not see any signs of it but when asked, I was told that they definitely had it..so how helpful is that!!

re food Belle Epoques are not known for their food. Just came from Train Blue and the "kids" enjoyed theirs..I thought it only acceptable or less. I'm fussier!

a bientot