PatrickLondon,

Thanks, but it's not an artichoke. It's definitely part of the broccoli/caulflower family. It looks like a really pale head of broccoli, but instead of the rounded flowerettes, they come to a point in a swirly pattern. I'll work on getting the picture downloaded.

MCP = Male Chauvinist Piggie! My imagination was trying to come up with something much worse, lol.

Here's the mystery vegetable:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/s...;sm=1&sl=1

Any guesses? I'll get some more photos downloaded later.

Also, what are those things in the bottom left hand corner?

Jocelyn, it looks like a Romanesco Cauliflower and it could be small pieces of ginger to the left.

I agree....Romanesco Cauliflower and small pieces of ginger.

Hi Jocelyn,love your report,it reminded me of my first trip to Paris.
We are going back for the 3rd time on mar 3rd to the 9th and I can not wait,the last two times we had stayed on the 5th,this time we are staying on the 9th;we are planning to visit Reims and Chantilly and Senlis,the rest we are going to the museums we did not visit the other times and explore different neighborhoods and eat,shop and walk some more and maybe do the St. martin canal cruise.

It looks like a Chia-Head gone awry ;-) Seriously, it is one of the more fascinating veggies I've ever seen!

Yup, I agree also that to the left is ginger and the green veggie is Romanesco Cauliflower. Here is a link that gives a description of the vegetable...just scroll down toward the botton to see a picture.

http://www.deliciousorganic.com/reci...auliflower.htm

Pretty neat!

great photo of the alien cauliflower! hurry up & give us more!!

Jocelyn. We are staying at Les Degres de Notre Dame, we can see Notre Dame from our place. It's a smaller hotel. Thanks for all your tips. Counting the days until we leave on March 2.

Yes! It's definitely a romanesco cauliflower. I'd never heard of those. About the other squiggly things: it crossed my mind that they could be ginger, but they seemed almost translucent and I had never seen them in that particular shape. They looked like big bugs to me so I didn't get too close and put it out of mind until I saw them again in the picture, lol.

I haven't gotten to the other pictures yet. I will as soon as I can!

Jocelyn,

Just got back from a business trip and read your report. I love Paris, so I'm glad you had a great time.

Tracy and I stayed at Hotel Abbatial in the late 90s, and had similar experience. Rooms OK, but I still remember how nice the front desk people were.

Welcome back and don't forget to root our Padres on this year from Oklahoma. Au revoir for now.

Glad you had a brilliant time in Paris. It is too bad you couldn't visit in May, when everything is in bloom, and all the sidewalk cafes are filled with people. Just walking down the street in Paris in May makes you feel so lucky to be alive.

Cheers,
John G.

TG, DH and I are planning to go together next year, and it looks like late May will work well. I can't wait to see Paris in full bloom.

Tom, my friend! I can't wait to hear about your next Italian adventure. Tell Tracy hello and have a beer at a Padres game for me.

Okay, here are a handful of pictures:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/s...;sm=1&sl=1

Becky has some good ones, but it's up to her if she wants to share.

What, no one likes my pictures?

I liked your pictures Jocelyn!! I leave in a little under 6 weeks and I am getting very excited. Your pictures were great....can't wait to see Ste. Chapelle. Post more!!

"Message: What, no one likes my pictures?"

They are trés lovely. Sainte Chapelle is one of my all-time favorite places to visit on earth.

I <b>loved</b> your photos!!
The color was great, very atmospheric and increased the number of butterflies residing in my stomach greatly- not long til we are there too!

Jocelyn,

Thanks for sharing your photos. I couldn't get them to open up in a bigger screen, but from what I could see, they looked lovely.

Great trip report too. Makes me wish our trip to Paris next summer would get here that much sooner.