Man With Frog

This was a new one for me.  A man.  Riding one-handed on a bike.  Navigating through the Place de la Concorde.  Holding a giant green frog.  Really?  It was much weirder until we saw the huge county fair-esque "Fete des Tuileries" taking place just off to our left.  I wonder how much he had to spend on the "games of chance" to get that sucker?  And I have to say I can't really see a huge green frog as decor in a parisian apartment.  Perhaps he lives in the 'burbs. 

And speaking of the Fete, it is a wonderful place if you want to spend crazy amounts of money to please your children.  And should you desire, they are ready and willing to provide you with what I'm sure is very low calorie diet food:  Churros, Nutella crepes, kabobs, all sorts of ice cream, cotton candy, you get the idea.  Thank goodness we had just eaten lunch at Bugsy's or the kids would have been begging for treats.  Instead they just begged to go on the "I'm pretty sure that hasn't been properly inspected and maintained" carnival rides.  Which all seemed to have been manned (and womanned) by surly toothless people.  Hey!  Just like in the US!  They rode the carousel three times, two kinds of mini-rollercoasters, jumped on the trampolines, and they were planning their next few rides when the adults called it quits. The kids kept saying, "When we come back tomorrow we'll go on that ride 8 more times!"  Um no.  You two small people just burned through at least 50 euros.  Tomorrow we're feeding the ducks!

Crispy Lemon Thyme Roasted Potatoes

Here's the recipe Michelle!  All quantities are approximate.

2 lbs small "baby" potatoes, rinsed thoroughly (I'm partial to the small Yukon golds)
1/2 to 1 head garlic, whole cloves separated and peeled
1/3 cup olive oil
3-5 sprigs lemon thyme, leaves separated and chopped if desired (Fresh sage works well too...about 2T chopped)
1 lemon, juiced
Salt and pepper to taste (I like lots of both)

Boil potatoes for just 5 to 7 minutes in well salted water.  The goal is not to cook them through, just soften them up.  While still warm, cut them in half and throw them back in the pot.  Put the lid on and bash them about until potatoes look smashed on the edges.  Toss with the olive oil, lemon thyme, lemon juice (and zest if you want it really lemony), and plenty of salt and freshly ground pepper.  Oil a baking sheet and place all the potatoes cut side down, tucking in the garlic cloves here and there.  Roast for 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven, then check to see how golden they have become.  Wait until they are good and crispy before turning them over.  I find this usually takes about 30 minutes in my oven here, but only 25 minutes in my VA oven.  Roast them until they are as crispy as you like them, sometime between 45 and 60 minutes total cooking time, depending on the size of your potatoes.  I love lots and lots of chopped flat leaf parsley to garnish, but I usually serve it on the side for the boys.  Neither of them are parsley fans.

Enjoy!

And we have a winner!

Thanks to chrissoup who guessed passionfruit!  Passionfruit?  In the middle of Paris?  It looks like it is technically Passiflora caerulea so a close cousin of Passiflora edulis the "real" passionfruit.  And I did brave being yelled at and grabbed one off the vine.  My specimen was a little shriveled, but when cut open looked pretty cool.  I did taste it, and it was passionfruity, but again, it was getting old so I'll just have to guess the ripe ones are better.

So now to figure out the prize!  I know it will be something good...with yummy French sweets!  (And Belgian too because I have something delicious in mind.)  Now if you would please you big winner, can you email me at parisreally at gmail dot com?  I'll make sure to get your package off ASAP!  

THIS WEATHER SUCKS!

Seriously, if I could go a single day without getting rained on this summer it would be really nice.  Like REALLY nice.  The kids love it.  The Boy gets to wear his sweet North Face rain slicker and Arsenal hat and hold a huge umbrella, and the Girl gets to sit all comfy and cozy in her stroller with her awesome fancy schmancy rain cover, while usually telling me I'm going too slow.  I however, get to hold a too small umbrella while trying to push said stroller, keeping an eye on "the Boy who can't see anything but his umbrella" with one hand while watching my fashionable but totally inappropriate sandals get soggy.  This whole Paris thing in hard.  I would be more than happy to wear my own sweet rain slicker with my bright white running shoes, but I can't!  I'm still pretending I don't stick out like a sore thumb as it is, but I know I will if I dress "all Virginia mom" on these people!  It's a learning curve, and frankly when it rains I just want to be comfortable!  We'll see how that goes.  And no surprise my friends...no pictures.

OK...This is Pretty Cool

We were doing one of our favorite things the other day and found something pretty amazing swimming in one of the lakes of the Bois de Boulogne.  We save all of our stale baguette ends and all of The Girl's toast crusts and bring them down to the lake to feed the ducks.  We always have your garden variety ducks, but also some neat black ducks with white heads and black ducks with red heads.  Pretty cool.  (Which reminds me, I have to put a French Birding Guide on my Amazon Wish List.)  On this particular day there was a family of geese that joined the other birds, shoving the little ones out of the way.  Then this guy showed up.

All the birds gave him a WIDE berth, but he didn't seem interested in anything other than our baguette.  We were not alone wondering what the heck this was!  A small crowd gathered round, and only one older gentlemen know what it was, but of course it was the French word, and I didn't have anything to write the word down, and I have a horrible memory, so essentially it was a mystery.  


We thought beaver immediately, but it didn't have a flat tale.  Maybe an otter?  And what's with the orange teeth?  Our friends Google and Wikipedia shared with us that this little guy is an Israeli coypu, also know in English as a nutria or in French, a ragondin.  Evidently they are low in cholesterol.  


The things you learn when you just keep your eyes open...and save your crusts.

Name That Vine Fruit!

What is that?  Really!  I actually want to know!

We saw this crazy looking vine with strange orange fruit growing on it while walking in our neighborhood.  I think I've figured out what it is, but I thought I'd see if anyone else actually knew what it was.  


For our first ever contest, please submit your answer (factual or crazy creative) to our "Name That Vine Fruit Official Contest" in the comments section.  Vote early and often for the chance to win an exciting gift basket (likely a USPS box) from Paris filled with random stuff we like that we don't think you can get in the US. 


We haven't decided how to choose the winner.  Perhaps we'll pick our favorites and draw the winner out of a hat.  Or maybe we'll consult the Magic 8 Ball.  


Happy voting!

TV

We miss TV.  A lot.  We've let the kids watch some Sesame Street and Thomas DVD's on the laptop, but there is something about watching your favorite shows on something that you don't have to sit 12 inches from.


Our neighbor downstairs moved out a week ago, and we've been benefitting from the pantry items, paper towel holder, small radio, craft paper, and other random things they put up for grabs in the lobby.  They were the ones that offered us access to their WiFi that worked in half our apartment, in the rooms we actually live in.  (We miss them.)  We ran into them the day before they were leaving, and the Dad told us that he had a TV he was planning on giving us.  We're like, "Wow!  A TV!  Even if we don't have cable our prayers will be answered as the kids will have somewhere to watch DVD's until we move to our new place at the end of August!  Woo hoo!" 


We were very happy to see the TV at our door the next morning.  He had placed a sign on it that read, "Just wanted to ask, if possible, to pass on the TV to my colleague moving into our apartment in two weeks.  If not, don't worry about it."  Um.  OK.  So you're basically telling us you told your friend that we were going to give him the TV when he got here and we'll be jerks if we don't show up with the TV.  So we have a TV for two weeks.  Guess it's better than nothing!