Moigny

I've fallen in love with France again.  Actually, I've fallen in love with the countryside.  On the Saturday before I left, I joined Emilie at her childhood home, with her mom,  Claude and cat. 

I met E at a metro stop in the 14th where she picked me up in her little "go-getter" and we were off to Moigny.  Unfortunately it was around 7:45 when we were zipping along the little country roads, so I wasn't able to see much of anything, (other than the car coming at us on the one lane road).  We arrived in her town and she pointed out the school she had gone to as a little girl, the church in the center, the farm (her grandparent's house) and Josiane's house (her aunt).  

She clicked the gate opener and the gate started to open, revealing the beautiful stone country home. We pulled into the gravel driveway.  The chimney was smoking like a Parisian and the lights lit up the small kitchen inside.  We unloaded our small suitcases and brought them into the house where Claude, and their cat awaited our arrival.  

I had met Claude once before, 6ish years ago when my family was in Paris. My parents were good friends of Emilie's grandfather and used to stay with them on their farm when my mom was studying in Paris (around my age).  Our family history goes back a long time, but I had only met Emilie last summer when she came to stay with us in Los Angeles.  We have our own "exchange program", and I am hoping to go spend some time with Claude at her house.  

Claude is a beautiful, svelte woman who may have the biggest heart of anyone I know. It explains why Emilie is so kind and gentle. Claude welcomed me into her home with open arms as if I was going home for the weekend.  She made me feel as if I had a French family. She has a bed and breakfast next to her house that is perfect for the traveling family.  http://www.gralon.net/chambres-hotes/essonne/chambre-hote-4-personnes-moigny-sur-ecole-56704.htm.  

When we arrived, E and I decided to eat a little.  Claude had prepared some bread, cheese, beets (I usually HATE beets, but for some reason, there they tasted incredible), and couscous.  

She asked us if we wanted some beef and we both said yes.  E took me up the stone steps to the upstairs where she showed me around.  We went back down and sat in front of the fire.  Claude came through the front door with a pan with two cooked hamburger patties.  We sat around and talked for a bit.  Emilie got a few photo albums and we snuggled on the couch while looking through them. 

I felt so special to be able to see part of her childhood.  There aren't many friends that I would call my sister.   We both got into our pajamas and we sat against the wall that encases the chimney, for warmth.  She introduced me to all of the dolls she had when she was little.   I fell in love with her bed so she let me sleep in it.  I felt like a princess on the small loft.   

The morning came and it was time for church.  I looked out the window and it was foggy and beautiful.  I walked downstairs only to be surprised by a beautiful bounty of breakfast delights. E had gone out early to a bakery in the next town and brought back p.a.cs, croissants and bread.  I think that p.a.c may have been the second best, but maybe that's because I was so happy to be in the countryside. We ate up and headed to church. 

The morning mass was in part honoring E's grandparents, whom my parents were close to.  E and C had chosen to read something to commemorate them. E and C had recited their small passages many times the night before.  E called her brother to tell him what it was about and she had a hard time keeping a straight face while reciting the part about the fat sheep.  In church E and C read beautifully. 

After church we went to her other grandmother's house to visit for a moment. 

We walked up the road to the quaint stone building and in through a gate. She had the television on some game show and was baking an apple tart.  She hadn't been feeling well so E made sure to tell her to rest.  We walked back down the small road past the church to Josiane's house where Josiane, Claude, Celine, Celine's husband and son, Gules were waiting to eat. 

I had been to J's a few times before. I walked with Celine and E outside to the backyard where my cousin Adam, years and years ago had injured his foot while riding barefoot around the yard on a little motorcycle. 

J remembered that day when I told her that it was one of my memories from her house.   After sitting in the living room drinking champagne, we moved to the dining room where we feasted. Other than the slight language barrier, I felt like I was at home.  J and Claude sat around telling stories about my father. They were especially fond of the story about my father running around the farm, arms flailing, running after the rabbits screaming, "I got it, I got it!"

We all laughed as our stomachs started to hurt from the mass amounts of food we had all eaten.  There was chicken and bread and asparagus and  beets and cheese and potatoes, then two apple tarts, one avec cinnamon and one sans cinnamon.  At the end of the meal, before I left, J gave me a large jar of honey from the bees on their parent's property (the farm). 

Pretty soon it was time for Emilie to take me to Fontainebleau.  Before we made it there, we went to the farm where E's grandparents lived. Claude gave me a large bag full of walnuts from their trees as well. I was lucky, because I had gotten rid of all the food in my apartment.  

E drove us to Fontainebleau and the drive was even more spectacular than the castle. 

We arrived at Fontainebleau and it was mind blowing.  I couldn't seem to grasp the necessity to live on such a grand scale (and yes, I've been to Versailles).  I was stunned by the green space. It was very beautiful. E and I walked around admiring the "backyard" and pretending we were princesses on our property. 

On our way back to Moigny I asked E to stop at the bakery that she had gotten the pastries from that morning. It was a hole in the wall, but a great one. 

I was very sad to leave Moigny. Claude came to drop us off at the RER station that would take us into Paris.  I had such an amazing time in Moigny.  I cannot wait to go back and stay with Claude and Emilie at their house.  On the RER E and I had an interesting time people watching and eating the walnuts that Claude had given to me. 

We got off the RER station and I hadn't gotten my ticket from E so I had to sneak out behind someone.  As I snuck through, the panels shut on my arm, leaving my purse stuck on the other side.  I ducked my arm down to slide it out of the grips of the evil metro exit door. I got up to the Rivoli and enjoyed the cool night as I walked across the bridge to my apartment. 

Thank you Emilie and Claude for giving me such a wonderful Moigny experience.  I cannot wait to come back. 

Bisous. 

More Photos

Photos From Last week

I'm working on a new post, but for now I will just show the pictures I have been taking.  

My family left last week so I've been feeling a bit lonely and not like blogging, but I'm back at it as my last week starts to come to a close.

Pips Brought Us Flowers

Armistice Day 

Mid-Convo Crispy Crepe

Family Time

My sister is here now, so my days are full of sleep, playing and really crappy movies that no one should have to see.
Movie time

Bisous

I Came, I Ate, I Conquered.... Basic Pastry

My blogs are so out of order now! I  started to write my birthday post, but I got lazy.  It will come soon, along with the rest of this past week. 

First, I must make a quick shout out to Narges for being #1. The girl was number 1 in the entire basic class (not just our group).  I could not be more proud of her.  She sat in her seat moping about her grade (we all did) but her "shitty grade" was the best.  It makes me think these French are, well, interesting. 

She was genuinely shocked!

As you may recall, I mentioned how Chef Hottie said he would be at graduation, well, he wasn't. All of my 7:30 am effort to look cute went straight down the drain when he didn't show up. I was devastated.  Tawni suggested that I give her a note to give to him and I might just do that!  What if I have a question about pastries? What if need a guest chef one day?! 

There is nothing more to be done on that. The bottom line is that I graduated! I'm actually completely unsure of what this certificate actually means and what significance it holds. 

After graduation, they had a wine celebration with a bunch of nasty savory petite fours.  I thought I might upchuck some of them.  I think the cuisine people should have just made each one of us a meal. 

Narges is going out of town for a few days.  I suppose I will get a lot more blogging done, but I will miss her and her #1 status. 

Now is a good time to do some back up blogging. 

Everyday on my way to school I pass (used to pass) a small Italian restaurant Le Cherche-Midi, that I had read about and many people had told me about. Mom and I passed it while on our way to the Raspail Market the first day she got here.  

Having been there in the past she suggested it for dinner.  We went  that night just to be surprised by nasty food. Daddy and I ordered the same mushroom pasta and my mom had an arrabiata pasta, with a rocket salad to start. The salad was good.  How can you go wrong with putting mountains of rocket on a plate and drizzling it with balsamic.  The pasta was homemade, and I generally appreciate that, but it was a thick spaghetti (is it still spaghetti if its thick?).  Nonetheless, there were far fewer mushrooms than I would have liked and much too much pasta. 

Mom's sauce was pretty good but nothing great.  Over all, it was a huge disappointment.  Although, I was just happy to be with the rentals in Paris. 

Here is a photo of the sticky, gloppy mess!

I must say, we did have some amazing meals in Paris, but most of them were made by Mommy.  On my birthday we went to the Maison Du Truffe where we got a beautiful truffle for two truffle dinners.  Yum!

A friend, Elyse Walker, got me this really cute book about the good patisseries in Paris.  I'm not exactly sure how the author found the bakeries that he used, but I think he cheated some of the really good patisseries in Paris. But we found some real gems in there.

My mom and I went around the city going to some of the patisseries mentioned in the book.  I must say that Mom picked out the best one.  A corner bakery in the 10th. Du Pain des Idees.  It has a great bread that comes out of the oven around 4:30 pm.  Mom, Dad and I showed up around 5 and got the best of the bunch. There wasn't a line so we were lucky to take our time photographing the breads and pastries. 

Its a very old, rustic looking boulangerie with old tins and baking books in the window. 

The pain des amis is what we went for.  When it comes out of the oven, its a supple inside covered with two thick, crunchy crusts. The bread isn't leavened too high, it's just about the thickness of a focaccia, with no other similarities. The flavor is soft and subtle.  We also got the brioche. That too was exquisite. Its flavored with a hint of fleur d'orange, just enough to smell it when you hold it to your nose. 

My dad fell in love with a bacon wrapped flakey crust pastry. I don't know if it's because it was cold out or if it was because it was really good.  I tried their p.a.c which looked amazing, but it didn't turn out to be that way. They also call it a chocolatine.  

My mom loved it so much that on the last day I went to get her some to go with dinner.  

We made it to another bakery in the 5th that's know for it's marthmallows. I got a vanilla mallow, but the piece was about 11 inches long and it split in the middle and it was just too sweet. Eek. They looked pretty, but I think I'll stick to Jet Puffed

Mom, Dad and I ended up trying a restaurant that Mom and I had both found, but separately, Bob's Kitchen. I met the rentals there after my exam.  I couldn't wait to eat there.  I don't remember where I read about the little hole in the wall, or I'd credit it. It reminded me of a Rose Bakery, a fresh produce type of restaurant so I needed to check it out. It was pretty good.  There are two long slabs raised 4 or 5 feet off the ground with tall stools (It could be 2 or three feet, I'm not good with measurements). And like my favorite part of Rose, the tables are communal. The menu is a board on the wall with magnets with veggie names on them. They have rice and veggie bowls that change seasoning daily (Italian, Indian etc.). They also serve maki rolls with great flavor combinations. We got one with mango, beet, cucumber and avocado.  I could eat them everyday for the rest of my life. The rice bowl was not as great as I had imagined it to be and the lentil soup was under salted and lacked bold flavor. 

I must mention the other restaurant that Mommy and I discovered on our way to a farmers market near Invalid. It was unlike Parisian restaurants with an open warehouse feel and glass doors and windows that open into the street. By the time we got to the market it was like walking through a circus that had packed up and left. The bones of the market remained and the last vendors were packing up their trucks. We backtracked and ended up at the restaurant, Coutume.

We waited a minute to be seated but generally there's a line (like there is for any good restaurant in Paris that doesn't serve butter as a main course).  My mom ordered an espresso. Generally she'd have a coffee with Rice Dream when were outside the states, where she can get almond milk.  I'd say she's a coffee connoisseur. She likes the best and she found it in a friendly French coffee roaster at Coutume. He came to our table after Mom bought coffee that had been roasted at 2 am that morning. He began to describe the beans used in that particular blend, his hands moving gently, reflecting the notes in the coffee. 

We ordered brunch.  I had a delicious breakfast burrito.  I used to make them for a certain someone when he slept over.  I've also been craving a burrito so I figured it was the closest thing I would get. (Unless my sister really smuggles one onto the plane with her). It was so delicious, I didn't even mind the bacon in it (generally a YUCK for me). It was filled with something like cheddar, eggs and juicy bacon. It was really to die for.  I went back the next day and got it again with the rentals and Narges. 

My mom ordered a salad with walnuts. The next day they even made her an egg white omelet, which Rose now doesn't do. 

My dad loved his smoked salmon with eggs and toast.  The vote was unanimous, it's better than Rose.  But I might recant that statement. Its different than Rose, but the service is better than Rose's and so is the smoked salmon, apparently.

I think it's time I make a to do list for my sister's arrival. 

The book also informed me that my favorite boulangerie has two other locations! Hopefully my sister will be able to taste that p.a.c and banana!

Bisous