Friday, August 27, 2010

On Mini-Bios and a Moment in San Francisco

You know how sometimes, when you read a book on the topic of travel, or food, or love - or travel, food and love - you flip to the back cover to read:

"Susan Smith grew up in rural Vermont and studied International Socioeconomics at Harvard University. She met her husband in London and now lives in Paris with her 3 beautiful children and a dog named Bart."

Those little bios bug the heck out of me on MANY levels but mostly because they fail to mention the red tape, hundreds of documents and thousands of beads of sweat that go into a life (and love) lived abroad. Perhaps there is a limit to the amount of letters or words used. Or maybe that part just isn't that romantic.

I say all this because I have been back in the US this past week, wrestling with the French Consulate in San Francisco to obtain my Visa de Long Sejour - which will allow me to stay in France following my marriage to Mr. Yann. The good news: I WON. They gave me the visa!!!! The sort of bad news is: This is just the beginning of the paperwork process! YAY!

The last week has been a bit of a blur. I was able to see some dear friends and revisit American life - pizza and delicious IPA at Delphina Pizzeria, veggie burgers, amazing coffee at Four Barrel in the Mission District and breathing the clean, crisp, ocean air.

Here are a few photos of my time in San Fran. Yes, they have more to do with food than anything - come on, what did you expect?





Now I can take a deep sigh and look forward to the week ahead - the week that Yann and I get married. Woo hoo!
































Monday, August 9, 2010

Just me, Mario, Patricia and Ina

These past few weeks, I have been basking in the splendor of having a big kitchen. For the first time in my life, I actually have room to chop, stir and make an even bigger mess than usual.

Who would have thought it even possible in a Parisian apartment?

Like a baguette in a dish of olive oil, I have been soaking up the thoughts, cooking tips and recipes of my dear friends
Mario Batali, Patricia Wells and Ina Gartner and I have never eaten better.

I can't lie, it does help having a daily farmer's market just down the street with the freshest of summer's bounty.

And as Mario shared with me just last week as we were sharing a glass of Viognier together, 'A chef is only as good as her ingredients.' Such words of wisdom that man speaks.

With all the delicious tomatoes on hand these days, I decided to make this recipe: Scalloped Tomatoes with Croutons - orginally created by Ina but readapted by SmittenKitchen.com. Instant love. The pictures do not do this dish justice, but I promise you will be back for 2nds, 3rds...

Scalloped Tomatoes with Croutons

- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups bread from a French Boule or Italian bread, cut into 1/2 pieces or smaller (really, any fluffy fresh bread will work)
- 2 1/2 pounds of whatever delicious tomatoes you can find, cut into 1/2 inch diced pieces. (Make sure to keep all that yummy juice!)
- 3 gloves garlic (or 4 if you like more...), minced
- 2 tbls sugar (I put in just 1 because tomatoes are already so sweet)
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

As a sidenote, Yann called the dish 'Very American'. I called it 'Very Delicious'.

The view from the kitchen...






























Friday, August 6, 2010

The New 'Quartier'

As promised, here are are few photos of my new neighborhood - the Village des Batignolles.

For a brief history (and a quick glipse of my nerdyness), the name Batignolles is a mash of the latin words 'bastillole' and 'bastidiole' meaning 'small country home'. Hmmm...I guess I could see small country homes tucked away in this small corner of Paris say, 200 years ago. As I found out from further research (ahem, Wikepedia) this area of town was actually its own independant, rural quarter until Paris bought the land in 1860 under Napolean III.


And to that I say, "Thank you Napolean III for replacing dusty farm land with quaint cafés, refreshing bars and delicious bistros!!"

Today, the Village still has a sense of separateness about it. Many of the shops here remain independant, 'artisanal', specialty shops - from private booksellers to frame and antique shops - shops that have unfortunately become fewer and farther between in Paris as more expensive, trendy chain stores have taken over the city in the past few years.

To compare this area to Seattle (what can I say, a girl can leave the city but the city can't leave the girl), I would call it the Ballard of Paris. Without the locks :)











Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Going to the Chapel...

...OK, or maybe just City Hall for now BUT the big news is that Yann and I finally have a marriage date set!

On Thursday, September 2 at 4:30 in the afternoon, Yann and I will say 'Oui!'.


After much paperwork, stress, more paperwork and more stress, we went together to City Hall in the 9th Arrondisement to deliver our 'dossier' to the mayor. After initial inspection from a woman with a very discerning eye and a rather constipated look about her, we received the lackluster 'OK, c'est bon' which is French for 'Ok, it's fine,' and silently gave each other a high-five as we talked over what date, what time etc.

As most things go here in France, everything takes much more time than planned. I knew this from previous experience, but my American ways have made the adjustment more difficult than I'd expected.


Just as baking here calls for different degrees of measurement compared to the US, so too should timetables be adjusted to take into account the French way. Here are some examples:

UPS delivery? Count on donating at least 12 hours of your life to waiting for that brown truck to pass as you sit helpless, stuck in your apartment because they can't call you, nor can they provide an ETA. I kid you not. Oh and no, my package never even came.

Post Office pick-up? At least a half-day to wait in line with 30 people and 1 post office worker.

Internet Set Up? Give it roughly 4-6 weeks before your request is even processed.

Marriage Date? You will certainly be missing at least 1 document plus City Hall will undoubtedly request a 'justification' of some sort that was not included on their original list. So I'd give setting a marriage date at least 2 months.

But I digress. The important thing is that the marriage date is set! We can now look forward to celebrating with friends and family with our hearts full and our minds at ease that Yann and I have passed the first of many tests together.

And for that, we will not only say 'Oui!' but give each other thunderous, both hands in the air, jump-across-the-room-high-fives on September 2. Chest butt may or may not be included.