Paris : Lunch at Passage 53

To celebrate finishing my chapter Stephen took me to a very special lunch at Passages 53.  This restaurant has 2 Michelin stars, and is very unusual in that it doesn't have a menu - you either get the 3 course lunch, or the "tasting lunch" (which is the same as their dinner).  You have no idea what is coming (although they do ask if you have any allergies), it is simply what the chef thinks the fresh ingredients lend themselves to. The tasting lunch turned out to be 12 courses (with 4 different deserts), and it was amazing. 

This is the front door of the restaurant - it can be easy to miss.  The restaurant only seats16 people.

Low temperature egg, Haddock mousse, topped with beet and raspberry sauce.

Inside the egg

Crab and onion pie - short crust pastry, topped with crab, carmelised onion and tomato, and vinegar mousse

Root vegetable consume with Brittany onion ravioli

Scallops, with parsnip puree, breadcrumb and seaweed sauce with black truffle

John Dory served on cabbage (and sprinkled with dehydrated cabbage powder), shimeji mushrooms, mussels, and lime zest

Green apple slices with green apple and wasabi sorbet with apple jelly

Chicken breast with crispy skin, leg gallantine with foie gras, with mushroom sauce, spinach 

This is the same chicken dish with black truffle slices

The chicken came with slices of wood fired sough dough bread - we loved this so much the waiter wrote down the name of the bakery and we went there the next day - the line was around the corner to get in, but it was worth the wait for the taste - it was sublime.

Spanish dry aged beef, caramelised onion with slices of truffle between each layer, and a jerusalem artichoke ball (this was our favourite -the beef was AMAZING)

Shortbread, vanilla pastry creme, truffle ice cream, with shaved black truffles

When we arrived they asked if it was anything special and we mentioned that we were travelling for our 25th wedding anniversary, and so one of the deserts came presented like this - it was a lovely touch.  This is lycee with lime zest jelly, sago and cream

The desert course

Chestnut with fresh banana, salted caramel ice cream, with a meringue base

Coffee mousse, with creme brulee, candied walnuts and wafer biscuit

After lifting the biscuit

Chocolate pie with salted caramel blob (with aniseed)

Espresso coffee, jasmine tea

Madelines that came with the coffee and tea

Inside the kitchen :-)

Cheers to a wonderful celebration!

Paris: working holiday

We were in Paris for a working holiday - mainly for me to work on a chapter of my thesis (which I completed - yay), and for Steve to make some contacts for a new project he is working on.  We did get to do some fun touristy things for breaks, which was great, but mostly it was work.

Paris was FREEZING cold when we were there - it actually snowed on us when we were out one day.  We walked a LOT, and that warmed us up (most of the time) and it was lovely to see all the different neighbourhoods.

We climbed the Arc de Triumph to watch the "sunset" - not much of a sunset, but it was beautiful to watch the lights come on.  

CNES is the French Space Agency

Steve and I had an enjoyable morning there talking about the future of space ethics, in particular military space ethics.

There were a lot of buskers around which was fun - this was a piano acordion on the train.  I was surprised to see a lot more homeless people this time - it seems that the economic crisis has hit some people very hard here.

We visited the Musee de Orsay one afternoon and loved getting the opportunity to watch them restoring one of the larger paintings - it was absolutely fascinating to watch.  It seems to be very slow meticulous work.  We also visited the Orangerie Museum, and LOVED just sitting and admiring Monet's work :-)

When I was in Athens I started this scarf (with Addi, who also started a circular scarf).  It rolled quite a bit, so I turned it in to a tubular circular scarf - it kept me nice and warm and toasty in freezing Paris.

This Bakery had the most AMAZING bread - the line went around the block just to get in the store, but it was worth the wait. I'm not supposed to be eating grains (or sugar), so "cough", don't tell my doctor - the diet will start properly when I get to the UK.

The Strada Cafe served great coffee, plus fed us and kept us with free wifi - for when we got cabin fever from working in the apartment :-)

Editing is hard no matter where you do it.

YES - a little happy dance for finishing the chapter

We had a lot of problems with the apartment we were staying in, and in fact a lot of problems with the Airbnb host.  This is me after I have walked on this grate, and it has flipped (it wasn't secured) and I've fallen into the hole with disgusting (hopefully only dish washing) water in it.  My foot and ankle hurt for several days after this.  We've had a friend have problems with Airbnb, and a family member - after this experience I don't think we would rent through them again - there just isn't someone to help if there is a problem - a reputable real estate agent or online holiday rental agency is much more reliable.  If you are thinking about staying with Airbnb, just be very wary - this website gives you ideas of what to look out for - airbnbhell.com 

Florence!!!

We LOVED Florence - in Paris it was freezing cold and it felt like everyone was hibernating - but in Florence people were out and about (strolling in the centre of town on the saturday night is a big deal) - we decided that Italians don't know how to hibernate :-)  Here are some of our highlights....

Sunset on the Arno River

Michelangelo's statue of David in the Accademia Museum

Nikki had a half an hour of pure bliss sketching David's hands (she was initially not keen to sketch in public, but soon got completely caught up in the drawing and largely didn't notice anyone else in the room)

Botticelli's Birth of Venus in the Uffizi Museum

They had several tactile representations of painting for people who are vision impaired - we were very impressed.

The view over Florence

A new Mona Lisa to add to my collection :-)

Enjoying the sun setting over the Arno

Steve really loved being able to stand next to a Stradivarius violin (in the Musical Instrument Musuem which is a part of the Accademia Museum)

Apparently travelling minstrels are a problem in the Uffizi gallery, so you aren't allowed to take your violin in to the exhibition areas.

This busker had a college group join in - it was heaps of fun to sing along with them to Wonder Wall

A really fun cooking class - here Steve is making Chocolate Souffle with Guy, Kevin Rudd's Canadian Doppleganger

Italian Hot Chocolate is smooth, rich and just what you need when you are cold (although I couldn't drink much thanks to my sugar issue :-( )

We saw this sign near the Duomo - we actually watched the movie A Room with a View when we were in Florence - which was a lot of fun pointing out places we recognised.

Nikki had a lot of fun in the wool shop (the max price here is 2euro for a ball of super fine Australian Merino wool - imported from Australia, then spun and died in Florence)

We ended up actually having to work one day - proof edits for three chapters we have in books coming out in 2015

In Florence we stayed in the Alba Palace Hotel which was recommended by our friend Cathy Marker - it was lovely.  We'd stay here again in a flash.  The room was small (but that is normal in europe), but the hotel is perfectly located, and the staff are lovely (and it is very quiet).  http://www.hotelalbafirenze.it/en/