April in Paris: The Food!

Petit déjeuner à Ladurée, Avenue des Champs-Elysées, Paris

Paris in April is something special. It's special any time of the year, and one of the things I will remember most is the food. Il était incroyable! 

At the hotel, luscious apricot nectar

We stayed at the Marriott on Avenue des Champs-Elysées, a lovely place with a full service bar and seating in the lobby, plus indoor and street cafe dining.

Ladurée is famous for its macarons, sumptuous, sweet little cookies

Just across the street was Ladurée, serving some of the most gorgeous pastries I'd ever seen. We loved it so much, we went there five times. Each time we had something different. On our last visit, I had the Ladurée version of Eggs Benedict. 

It was kind of like Eggs Benedict meets Toad in the Hole-- with soft boiled eggs nesting in thick rounds of buttery toast, covered in Hollandaise sauce. There was no jambon, or ham. The dish was rich enough without it!

Mom enjoyed her perfectly cooked omelette at Ladurée

gorgeous pastries at Ladurée

We had several other food adventures, such as Croque-Monsieurs at Le Deauville on Champs-Elysées, buckets of mussels at another nearby cafe, wine and hors-d'oeuvres at the top of the Pompidou, charcuterie plates and wine at a side street brasserie, and tea at Hotel Le Bristol.

Tea at Hotel Le Bristol, Paris - I had a double espresso and cookies

charcuterie plate at a little brasserie off Champs-Elysées - yes, please!!

With fresh memories of the delicacies in Paris, I will have some new ideas for things to enjoy at home. The food and wine is incredible, but it was more than just food and wine-- it's a way of life.

With David Nemitz, classmate from the Peddie School Class of 1984. "Red" lives in Paris

Food also has a magical way of transporting us to far away places. When I get home to Portland, Oregon, I will visit France often in my own kitchen. Maybe I'll even figure out how to make the Eggs Benedict, but if not, I'll cozy up to a long sandwich baguette, avec frommage et jambon, et buerre au lieu de la mayonnaise; et un verse de vin rouge.