I feel so at home being back with the Juliennes in Croissy-sur-Seine, Paris. I arrived Thursday afternoon and had time to kill before going to their home so I did one of my favorite things; I went to the enormous park that overlooks Paris in the outskirt town Saint Germain en Laye. My dear friend Allie is the one who first suggested that I find it and once I did, I was hooked. It is enormous and next to the chateau where Louis the 14th was born. I love to go there to watch the couples, families, and skyline. Unfortunately my eyes are closed in the picture. After that I got my weekend metro pass and went under the tracks at the Croissy station where I used to go to this Tunisian shack to get
sandwiches. There was a really nice Muslim girl there named Chédia last year, but when I went in this time, they said she’d gone back to
Tunisia because she was accepted to an esthetician school which I remember she’d really wanted to do. However, her uncle, with whom I also spoke several times, drove up right as I ordered. I was shocked that when I looked at him he remembered my face! He said, “wow! It’s been a long time since we’ve seen you here.” I said I couldn’t believe he remembered me. He said he remembers I was the smiling American who lived somewhere near Los Angeles. Haha (To some, anything far from New York must be near Los Angeles). Khared (picture right) is his name and he sat down with me while I ate and we had a fun time talking for an hour or so. Well, at about 9 the Julienne’s got home and I walked back on my old route. I was so excited to see them and they seemed just as thrilled to see me again! Lidwine ran out and jumped at me and Veronique and Patrick both kissed both my cheeks and everyone talked at once. I talked as quickly as I could and they were so glad to see that I haven’t lost my French. We talked until Veronique demanded that I set my things down and that we move out of the doorway. She had prepared a special dinner for me and it was just like old times! She made a type of wrap with filo dough filled with salmon pieces, goat cheese, and herbs. It was delicious! There was a salad, some sort of legume mixture, and “poire belle helene” for dessert – a yummy pear desert. We stayed at the table until well after midnight then I crashed instantly. The next morning, I got up early and ran next to the Seine like I used to. I’ve never been a very avid runner, I’m more of a scenic runner: run for a minute, stop to pick poppies, run for a minute, stop to look at the m
istletoe clumps that grow in the trees, etc…It was a gorgeous morning! When I came back I ate breakfast with Patrick and Veronique and told them all about my wedding plans. They told me about their wedding 27 years ago and of the traditional things. I milled around Croissy for awhile then watched/helped Veronique prepare a barbeque. Watching her is like having my own personal French cooking show; my very own French Paula Dean. She doesn’t measure anything and does everything from scr
atch. She doesn’t believe in microwaves because they take away nutrients. With her, and with most good French cooks, cooking is an art. Presentation is a huge part of the end result. After lunch I hopped on the metro t
o hit the city and boy was Paris busy! I wanted to retrace my steps so hopped off at Chatelet and set out on foot past the Pompidou center, past the modern art fountains, past the place where I pierced my ears, past the institute (saw the missionaries) past Hotel de Ville…Then I went to an exposition that Veronique had suggested called “Valadon and Utrillo” at the Pinacothèque. It was something I had never done before which was what I wanted. Maurice Utrillo and Suzanne Valadon are both artists and interestingly enough, moth
er and son. Their works are strongly connected and are shown together. A quick review of the show said, “A strong-willed woman, Suzanne Valadon succeeded in finding herself a place in an art world dominated by men. An occasional model, she posed for Puvis de Chavannes, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas, the latter giving her a great deal of encouragement to pursue her artistic vocation. A mother at 18, Valadon passed on her passion to her illegitimate son, Maurice Utrillo. They shared a love for painting…” When I got home I cooked with Veronique again; I made a tomato and goat cheese tart and she made stingray! She also recommended a book to me called La Vague or The Wave in English. It’s actually about an American man who started to run his class as a dictatorship to help them better understand Hitler’s influence over the Nazi regimes. However, his “game” gets out of hand when some of the students take his teachings literally.
I feel so at home being back with the Juliennes in Croissy-sur-Seine, Paris. I arrived Thursday afternoon and had time to kill before going to their home so I did one of my favorite things; I went to the enormous park that overlooks Paris in the outskirt town Saint Germain en Laye. My dear friend Allie is the one who first suggested that I find it and once I did, I was hooked. It is enormous and next to the chateau where Louis the 14th was born. I love to go there to watch the couples, families, and skyline. Unfortunately my eyes are closed in the picture. After that I got my weekend metro pass and went under the tracks at the Croissy station where I used to go to this Tunisian shack to get 
sandwiches. There was a really nice Muslim girl there named Chédia last year, but when I went in this time, they said she’d gone back to 
Tunisia because she was accepted to an esthetician school which I remember she’d really wanted to do. However, her uncle, with whom I also spoke several times, drove up right as I ordered. I was shocked that when I looked at him he remembered my face! He said, “wow! It’s been a long time since we’ve seen you here.” I said I couldn’t believe he remembered me. He said he remembers I was the smiling American who lived somewhere near Los Angeles. Haha (To some, anything far from New York must be near Los Angeles). Khared (picture right) is his name and he sat down with me while I ate and we had a fun time talking for an hour or so. Well, at about 9 the Julienne’s got home and I walked back on my old route. I was so excited to see them and they seemed just as thrilled to see me again! Lidwine ran out and jumped at me and Veronique and Patrick both kissed both my cheeks and everyone talked at once. I talked as quickly as I could and they were so glad to see that I haven’t lost my French. We talked until Veronique demanded that I set my things down and that we move out of the doorway. She had prepared a special dinner for me and it was just like old times! She made a type of wrap with filo dough filled with salmon pieces, goat cheese, and herbs. It was delicious! There was a salad, some sort of legume mixture, and “poire belle helene” for dessert – a yummy pear desert. We stayed at the table until well after midnight then I crashed instantly. The next morning, I got up early and ran next to the Seine like I used to. I’ve never been a very avid runner, I’m more of a scenic runner: run for a minute, stop to pick poppies, run for a minute, stop to look at the m
istletoe clumps that grow in the trees, etc…It was a gorgeous morning! When I came back I ate breakfast with Patrick and Veronique and told them all about my wedding plans. They told me about their wedding 27 years ago and of the traditional things. I milled around Croissy for awhile then watched/helped Veronique prepare a barbeque. Watching her is like having my own personal French cooking show; my very own French Paula Dean. She doesn’t measure anything and does everything from scr 
er and son. Their works are strongly connected and are shown together. A quick review of the show said, “A strong-willed woman, Suzanne Valadon succeeded in finding herself a place in an art world dominated by men. An occasional model, she posed for Puvis de Chavannes, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas, the latter giving her a great deal of encouragement to pursue her artistic vocation. A mother at 18, Valadon passed on her passion to her illegitimate son, Maurice Utrillo. They shared a love for painting…” When I got home I cooked with Veronique again; I made a tomato and goat cheese tart and she made stingray! She also recommended a book to me called La Vague or The Wave in English. It’s actually about an American man who started to run his class as a dictatorship to help them better understand Hitler’s influence over the Nazi regimes. However, his “game” gets out of hand when some of the students take his teachings literally.
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