Ladurée...yum yum

Some more French stuff...

Ladurée, if you don't know, is a world-renowned macaroon (macaron en français) place. Apparently the macaroons that Masterchef fans know and love were invented by this guy Louis Ernest Ladurée who opened a salon de thé in 1862 (as it says on the packet). They do a few other things and some of the shops are cafes but the most famous stuff is macarons.

miam miam that is french for yum yum

So as you may have heard me bemoaning, I was horribly sick in Paris. I couldn't eat any of the good stuff. No eclairs or croquembouches, no pain au chocolat or croissants, no crepes, etc. Ok so I had a whole bunch of camembert but that doesn't really count. Cheese is practically a health food.

Anyway  I couldn't eat any of the tasty stuff with cream. But what I could eat was Ladurée. It's sweet, but not greasy. It's light and airy. The perfect food for a poor sick girl!

Also there are hundreds of Ladurée shops everywhere. There are three of them in Printemps. Also there is one in St Germain des pres which was on the way to my French class. There is one between the Madeline and the place de la concorde. There is one on the Champs Elysée. There is even one at the Chateau de Versailles. Anyway I just looked on their website and that seems to be all of them. So I just happened to go to all the places where the Ladurées were!! Although I supppose they are all pretty touristy places after all.

mmmmm me with my ladurée bag in the appartement

The macarons I had were chocolat (of course), framboise (raspberry), caramel au buerre salé (salty butter caramel), cassis violette (yummy) pistache and vanille. Maybe a few other ones. In winter they do a marrons one, yum! Will have to go back for that one. They were really good.

So this week I may or may not have gone past the Lindt cafe and thought, hmmmmm macarons....I am sure they are just as good as the ones in Paris (?).

Well they are not. So get yourselves over to Paris for some macaron magic. It's the only way!!

Or if you like, make some, masterchef-style, and get me to taste test. Will be happy to provide my services free of charge.

Inception. Weird but awesome!

I went to see Inception at the movies today. Wow!!!

If you haven't heard much about it there is a great review here. Leonardo Di Caprio is the lead character and basically he goes into people's dreams and steals stuff from their subconscious. Most of the movie is set in dreams within dreams as they show you what this whole dreamworld industry is all about.

It's a little bit confusing for some people but you just have to go with it because it is so imaginative and creative you can't try and think too much about everything that's going on. It's visually spectacular and has some really loud music that can be a bit distracting but overall it is a pretty amazing experience. There's not really another movie like it, I suppose you could say it is a little bit like the Matrix except more intelligent and much much better.

The best part about it (i think) is the cast and acting. They are all amazing. Marion Cotilliard plays Leonardo's wife, she is great. Other good actors in it are Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ellen Page and Michael Caine, as well as some other really great actors (whose names I don't know!)

Look all asleep having a dream within the dream!!

Inception - Paris folding in on itself!! Amazing.

I think some people won't get it and I am not going to even try and explain the plot but it's worth it for the creativity that you just don't get in most movies these days.

You should go and see this movie, I think it is the best of the year so far.

Got a new iPhone!

Not sure if Vesty is too impressed...

business class video

This is the video from business class that I tried to post a few weeks ago. It shows the seat I had in BA business class which was awesome and really spacious. It was really like having my own room!

Hope the video works, I tested it and it worked but I also tested it and it didn't work!! You never know with these things...

Chateau de Versailles...

I went to Versailles on Saturday. It is massive. It's easy to get to - just take the RER to Versailles Rive Gauche. I would suggest buying your ticket before you get there as the line to pay is huge!! Apparently it has something like 700 rooms, because any less than that and really you just don't deserve to be the king...

I went early to try and beat the crowds but because it was Saturday the trains were a bit slow so I ended up getting there at 10am. Unfortunately that put me in the middle of tour group hell. You can take an awesome tour in a massive group where all you do is go and stand in a clump in each of the rooms blocking the way for all the people who are trying not to suffocate in the heatwave. They seem to only go into the State Apartments - and not the rest of the parts of the Chateau that are on display! So anyway be warned to expect this - or come outside this time either earlier or later. It's the only part of the visit that is affected by over-crowding, the rest of the place was fine.

Anyway this bit is explaining why I took quite a few shots of the ceiling as it was impossible to see anything else. The ceilings are pretty amazing though.

After the State Apartments are the History of France Galleries where they have busts of all the French Kings but also important historical French historical figures. It's a lovely hall and one of my favourite parts of the Chateau.

This is Voltaire.

Charlemagne

Descartes

The Dauphin's apartments have some amazing furniture. You can't really see this but it's an amzing light green colour. And they had footstools back then too!

Next I headed over to the Grand Trianon, which was built for Louis XIV as a bit of a retreat from court life over at the Chateau. It's made from pink marble and v. fancy.

How'd you like a sitting room right out the front of your bed?? There are a few of these. This one is the Empress's bedroom (for Empress Marie-Louise). A bit weird!!

This is the Gallery with views of Versailles along it.

Given it was so hot I gave the Petit Trianon a miss and headed into the gardens.

Wow is really the only word. The gardens are huge and are full of amazing sculptures and fountains and formal plantings.

The view from the top of the stairs outside the Chateau looking back towards the gardens.

What an amazing place. At the same time it's completely ridiculous and over the top. It's no wonder they had a revolution. Imagine being a poor old peasant trying not to starve to death and the King is building something this extravagant just to show off his wealth and power.

Catacombs of Paris ooooh spooky

This is a story about the time I went the the Catacombs in Paris. I know, two posts in one day!! But I have a very long wait in the airport for my flight so I may as well do something useful.

So as I have mentioned there has been a heatwave in Paris. Was not pleasant at 34 and humid. Anyway being all innocent about the ways of Paris I set off for my trip to the catacombs at 2.30 pm on Friday all excited about going on the Metro - have been making myself walk everywhere to try and get over jetlag which worked exceptionally well (that is code for not at all).

So being all wide eyed and innocent I didn't realise that heading to the Metro on a heat wave day was maybe not a good idea. In fact it was so far from a good idea that it was a really, really bad bad bad idea.

I don't think those of us in Sydney who complain about public transport have as much to complain about as we think. Ok so it completely sucks, but at least they have acknowledged the possibility that in Summer, it might be hot. And introduced airconditioning, not on all the trains and buses, but a big proportion. So in Paris from what I could tell (from boiling alive on the Metro) it hasn't occurred to anyone that it might be hot down there!!!

You know when people use the term 'hotter than hell' they are just being all metaphorical and descriptive...but I am pretty sure that is what I experienced on Friday. I caught the metro from Opera to Denfert-Rochereau which ended up being 15 stops of feeling as though I was being boiled alive in my skin. Even when the train was moving and the breeze came into the cabin it didn't make the slightest difference.

Staggering above ground I walked across the road to the long long line of people waiting to get into the catacombs. We all stood there like turkeys for 45 minutes in the sun and 34 degrees only for the people to inform us that the last entry was 4pm and it was now closed so could we all please go away.

Angry scenes at the catacombs as the crowd tries desperately to convince them to open the doors back up. Yes, this was all I saw of them!!!!!!!!!!!!! After that metro trip!!!!!!!! and feeling like I was going to die.

The only good thing about this kind of experience is that it can't get much worse. It did get better, or perhaps worse depending on your point of view. I discovered that I could catch the RER from Denfert-Rochereau to Auber (entrance 5 metres from my hotel) in only 4 stops, and that the line from Les Halles to Auber was AIR CONDITIONED!!!!!! Kind of good to have a better trip back. But horrible to think I could have saved myself from this particular Paris experience.

I suppose we all have to learn something from our experiences. Mine was that taxis are a good thing.

The Louvre...

Ahh the Louvre...

I came to the Louvre in 2003 so it's great to come back and look at some of the art that I didn't get to last time. It's so big that you can't do it in one go or you will go mad, I hear.

I went first thing in the morning to beat the crowds which was a great idea. Most of the time I was wandering around in almost-empty rooms until it got nearer to lunchtime.



I head to the Richelieu wing as I seem to recall not going in this one last time (I think either Sully or Denon is the one with Mona Lisa in it although I might be wrong as I don't have the map in front of me). It seems to be one of the less-busy areas which is very welcome.



The first part of it is French sculpture, which is all lovely. It ranges from about the 17th century on so quite varied stuff.

Next is the Mesopotamian stuff. I love these statues (there are quite a few of them) although they do make you think a little bit that it's a shame they are not in their natural state in Mesopotamia-land (I think it is kind of Iraq, Iran and Syria now) but of course none of us would see it if it was there...Anyway this one is called the winged bull. v nice.

This looks like Egyptian writing although I suppose it must be Mesopotamian as it's in that section. Anyway it could be a shopping list for all we know but it looks awesome!!

Another one that maybe should be in its original spot but I suppose there is some reason for it not being there!! Don't mind a bit of stained glass though.

Up on the first floor it's the collection of French decorative arts from the middle ages to 19th century. Some really great stuff here, this is the kind of thing that is my favourite. This is Charlemagne in one of his earliest known representations (according to the tour guide I eavesdropped on).

Next it's on to Napoleon III's apartments which are beautifully laid out. This room is for his wife or girlfriend or something, some kind of salon or waiting room. This room really struck me as it looked so modern, although it is from the very early 19th century.

So I somehow find myself in the Sully wing in amongst the Egyptian stuff which is great. They do have a great collection here although maybe not quite as good as the British museum.

Look it's Akhenaten!! Remember him from 3 unit Ancient History anyone?? Oh well I do anyway, as I recall he was Tutankhamen's dad and made everyone change their religion to follow only one god Aten rather than the traditional polytheistic model of Egypt that we know and love. Very scandalous at the time and he was one of the ones where they scrubbed his name out in lots of the stones. You may know his wife Nefertiti more...

Horus...so cute! I suppose it is bad calling a god cute but I really love this one.

I accidentally stumble into the room with the Venus de Milo and work out where all the people are, they are all in this room. It's a bit horrible to think that for some people this is their only experience with the Louvre (as well as standing in front of the Mona Lisa and exclaiming about how small it is!). You know there are other things in here people!!!

I also went through the top floor which has a whole bunch of 17th and 18th century European paintings but they are the ones that are all dark so you can't see anything, or overly religious and just go over my head. Some nice Van Dycks though.

Also went down into the medieval Louvre for a glimpse at the original building...very insignificant compared with the massive building of today!

I was able to get out of there by lunchtime so it was a pretty good experience and not completely exhausting. Next time I go back I will be looking at the Denon wing for the Ancient Greek stuff!

Heat wave!!

In case you have missed it there has been a heat wave in Paris this week. Has been 33-34 all week. I know that's not really a heat wave to our standards but they aren't really set up for it - the airconditioning is terrible everywhere!!

Anyway the place I have been staying has fabulous airconditioning which is the main thing!! Here it is on the left with the Galeries Lafayette right across the road.

Also the Opera Garnier is on the other side of the square. Very noice spot!!! I would highly recommend the appartements, they are Orion International in Paris. A great location, very nice inside and VERY reasonable prices.

So as you can imagine I have done lots of shopping :) Have been to Laduree quite a few times, yum!!

But I have also been very sick (I would call it horrendously sick) so I have decided to come home early (not joking).

The whole thing has been really crap and I am a bit disappointed but I am looking forward to a bit of winter after this week!!

I've done some other good stuff so I will post some photos and details about it when I am back. Eg the Louvre, Catacombs, Versailles.

Also the French classes were really good and my French has improved a lot. Have been going into shops and asking questions in French and they have answered me in French and not just replied in English like other times I have been here!!!! Will come in handy for next time.

And alas, no First Class!! But I will get all my points back (moins 5000) so will save them up for First Class next time!

I will miss watching the Tour de France live but it will be good to listen to some commentary that I understand!

It's so weird that it's summer...when 5 days ago I was absolutely freezing in Sydney!! Paris put on a great display on Sunday (after raining for my arrival on Saturday).

I went to the Jardins des Tuileries which were really lovely. I never really got them before, with all those gravel paths that just get in your sandals/thongs/other open toed shoes. But I hadn't actually strolled all over the whole thing and sat in the comfy green chairs to have a real look at the whole place. Was very relaxing and a nice way to spend Sunday afternoon. There were lots of people there but somehow it didn't feel overwhelming or busy. I think my main issue is seeing all that lovely grass go to waste and no-one being allowed to sit on it!

Although there are a few gripes I have to put to you Paris. First of all can everyone please stop smoking?? It's really gross and hard for the poor tourists who aren't used to having so many smokers around. Next - crazy drivers, please stop trying to kill each other. I would suggest learning the road rules but there don't seem to be any so that might not work. The third one - what is with the shops not opening on Sundays??????? Everyone was pretty much at the Jardin des Tuileries or in the queue for the Musee Dorsay but the shops could have been packed! Just saying...

Monday wasn't great, I had my first French class so I was very tired, which I was expecting. But I've also had a few disturbing jet lag incidents where I have started waking up at 2am (because 2 is the new 6!) so I have tried to fit in extra walking so I should be exhausted enough to sleep through the night :) Let's hope it works.

Today I walked down Boulevard Housemann to the Arc de Triomphe then back to where I am staying (Opera/Galeries Lafayette). It was a nice long walk, about 2 hours and 10 minutes, some bits were really nice and the other bits with the massive shopping strip on the Champs Elysee not so nice! They've started setting up the stands for the final of the Tour de France as well, exciting!

Am planning on heading to the Louvre tomorrow...fingers crossed! Hopefully jetlag will be all gone and it will be nice.

Well I am finally in Paris after what seems like forever. Maybe I shouldn’t book holidays so far in advance!! Anyway I very excitingly travelled business class this time so I have done a bit of a review.

I am very glad to be on holidays after pretty much running around like a chook with its head cut off for the whole of June. Which explains why no blogs for ages...


The first leg was BA Sydney to Bangkok, then Finnair Bangkok to Helsinki and Finnair Helsinki to Paris. Since last time I went overseas they’ve changed the Qantas club at Sydney Airport to be business and first class lounges only...so I’m glad I was going business or I would have been very grumpy!!

The business class lounge is ok, kind of like normal Qantas club but with better food. It had some really good showers although it’s not really at the start of the trip that you need them...

BA Business class was pretty awesome I have to say. I was on the upstairs deck, which I love. It feels like you’re on a private plane of 20 people!! They have a bit of an odd setup where you are in a bit of a pod thing and the person next to you is reversed so until you put up the screen you are looking directly at each other. A bit strange. But it does give you heaps of room, and for the person on the window it’s like your own room. So awesome! I have taken a video but for some reason it doesn't want to upload...will try another time.

The beds go down completely flat to 180° and there’s a footrest so you can stretch out your legs if you are just sitting around. The food is great, I had a tomato and bocconcini salad for entree, trout salad for dinner and the pistachio tart for dessert. Yum!

The only negative was that the light above where I was sitting wouldn’t go out so I was lying in a blaze of light trying to get some sleep. They couldn’t work out what was wrong with it. It was very frustrating as I am the kind of person who can’t sleep in the light and can’t sleep in a mask!!

The movies I watched were Valentines Day and one with Ewan McGregor, The Ghost Writer, that was quite good, although it had lots of atmospheric dark scenes that you can’t really see on an aeroplane screen.

So then we arrived in Bangkok and I had to walk about 35 mins and stand in a massive security queue to get onto the next flight, which was more of the old style of business class. I have to say most of it was lovely, but it was a tiny bit disappointing next to the BA flight. The food was delicious, I was able to select a seafood meal (which was a bit weird at breakfast when I got prawn noodles with an omelette) and the quality was great.

It was a fairly new plane but it had just the seats next to each other with no dividers or anything, and the seats only folded out to about 190 degrees. It's so much more comfortable than economy but I spent most of the time feeling like I was just about to slide down the seat. I got a few hours of sleep but not like a proper night's rest. I didn't really watch any movies as I was trying to sleep but I saw a great documentary on Michelin stars and what it means to the chefs and what they have to do to get one. v interesting.

The leg from Helsinki to Paris was just like going from Sydney to Melbourne so not really special seats, just good food and nice glasses for our drinks. Had a really awesome salmon panini for breakfast (yes second breakfast). No individual screens either so I just read my book.

On the whole it was SO much better than economy, particularly the food and comfy seats, but I still ended up in Paris looking like my face had been sandpapered. Would love to get some humidity in those cabins!!

Anyway let's see what it's like on the way home...bring on the first class!!!!!!!!!!! woo hoo!

Why I shouldn't recommend movies to people

This is my review of Iron Man 2 which I am not going to recommend to anyone after assuring Wendy she would hate the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie and she did not. So please make up your own minds :) I went to see this a few weeks ago with Andrew but I have been so busy being a gym junkie that I haven't had time to write anything!!

Iron Man 1 was really good, wasn't it! I saw it when it came out. It was about Robert Downie Jr and ummmm a suit thing, and Gwyneth Paltrow...yes it's about five minutes into the film when I realise I really should have watched the first one again. I have no idea what's going on. Who are all these characters that we seemingly should know who they are?????? I really don't remember Don Cheadle being in it (yes because he wasn't, he has replaced some other actor that I don't remember), and also Samuel L Jackson is in it, was he in the first one????

It takes me about 20 minutes to recover from all this confusion, seriously I feel like my mother who is always whispering 'who's that??' whenever we see a movie. By this stage Mickey Rourke is doing an excellent job of playing a psycho Russian with a crazy whip at the Monaco Grand Prix, this is my favourite part of the movie particularly the portable suit in the bag thing, which is pretty cool.

Scarlett Johanssen, who I usually love, is apparently a goodie, I was convinced from the trailers she was a baddie. She has some shocking hair continuity that you really just have to see to believe.

The end bit is visually spectacular but goes on a bit, but overall I did really like it, once I worked out what on earth was happening.

Robert Downie Jr is looking disturbingly old (and if he's old I'm not far behind) but as usual does a great performance.

Verdict: Not too bad. 3 1/2 stars. Probably 4 if I had watched the first one before I went! Andrew may have liked it more, I think it is probably a boy's movie more than a girl's one.

PS I was going to do a review of when Natalie, James and I went to support Andrew at the Tigers game last week but after a debacle of a flogging by the Rabbits 50-10 it is kinder just to say we went and that's it.

Celebration at Quay Restaurant for my dad!

We were very excited today when my dad received his OAM at Government House. Go Dad!!

Afterwards we had a celebratory lunch at Quay Restaurant. In case you have been living under a rock, it is now the best restaurant in Australia and number 27 in the world!! Fancy...and a great view! I have to say, the hype is all completely justified. We had such an amazing lunch and it's definitely a perfect place for a celebration.

When we arrived we were given a little taster dish of some salmon sashimi and horseradish cream, with micro greens on top.

mmm delicious. We then moved on to the entrees. To tell you a bit about Quay, they are really into heirloom and rare plants and animals with the idea that you can protect them by growing and eating them. There are lots of organic food and the flavours are amazing.

Sarah and I had the heirloom tomato and goats curd salad. Looks too good to eat really. They are really into micro veg/salad and edible flowers, also this had some roasted quinoa. Amazing.

Everyone else had the sea pearls, and really this is just artistry on the plate! It's all different types of sashimi, one of them is a jelly and you just have to wonder how they do it! Apparently it was delicious but no-one offered me a taste so I can't confirm...

For the mains Chris and I had the mulloway roasted with baby leeks, currants, flowers and a whole bunch of other stuff. It was beautiful. I haven't eaten many flowers before, they add such a great flavour to the meal. Although I don't think I am going to be out in the garden picking flowers for my evening meal, I think you have to make sure they are eating ones :)

Cathy, Mum and Sarah had the lamb, which they were all raving about. It has little baby onions and quinoa, sunflowers and hazelnuts.

Dad had the angus beef with spinach and wasabi butter. Apparently the meat was like butter. Looks amazing!

I left all the bits I didn't like!

For dessert Sarah and I had the 8-texture chocolate cake. The 8th texture was ganache which was poured on at the table for a bit of theatrics. This cake was seriously amazing. It had some sponge cake, some other cake with nuts in it, some different types of mousse, and I'm sure a whole bunch of other stuff. I am ashamed to say I couldn't finish it but Chris nobly stepped in to finish it off for me!! I can't say enough how good this cake was.

Chris had the snow egg. It's a meringe that's filled with ice cream, on top of some ice stuff with custard apple and something. Apparently the chef's signature dessert. Chris seemed happy!

Everyone else had the Fraises des bois, berries with strawberry & cream jelly, Edible silver, and maybe some berry ice cream? I don't know they didn't offer me a bite :(

We had some nice wines with the meal as well.

Verdict: Yep it was pretty good. I'm happy with the rating as best restaurant in Australia! I thought it was also excellent value, of course it was expensive but not as much as you might think for lunch and really you wouldn't be coming here for a bargain meal.

Congratulations again Dad!! I wish we had reasons to celebrate at Quay Restaurant more often!