0 Paris is..?

 I took a long walk this morning and asked myself,
What is Paris to me?

Joggers!

 Boots!

 Les touristes everywhere. Some are French.

 Scooters. Kids on scooters and grownups.

 The long corridors of Haussmannian buildings.

 The curvy corners-here 3 at one fell swoop.

 Les balcons!

 The pots of muguet from Un Jour de Fleurs for your balcon.

 FROMAGE!

 Lapin.There are bunnies everywhere on every occasion in Paris

 Paques/Easter is long gone but the chocolate rabbits remain.

 Les ardoises.

 La formules.

 Petit dej'  For researche and to paint!

 Patisseries - I'm doing 'Polonaise' researche.

 Les porte-etiquettes are Paris for me .

 Polka Dots!

If I get a place in Paris it will be full of polka dots/pois.

French Girl said she will decorate.
I'm not so sure she would approve of polka dots.

 Coccinelle bring happiness and polka dots - double joy.

 Stripes and scarves ARE Paris.

 Who doesn't covet Repetto ballerinas?

 Cadeaux!

 If the vendeuse asks you,
'is it a cadeaux/gift?'

toujour dit, 'OUI!'

 Paris l'arbre have their heads chopped off -
from the revolution?

 I asked French Girl,
'How come so many manifestations, greve, strikes?'

She said, 'It's our tradition from the Revolution!'

Oh :O

 Les doudous.

 Tous les mamans and les gosses/kids.

 M A C A R O N S !!!!

 L'aire frais.
I thought Fr Girl was crazy to open the windows every morning.
Now I know she's not so crazy..
Fresh Paris air is nice in the mornings.

Doing l'escaliers/stairs up and down is essential anywhere but especially in Paris where you eat croissant for petit dej' and dessert dessert dessert!

What is Paris to you?

0 Thin for Paris

 Do you too try to get thin for Paris or wherever you're headed on a trip?

 Usually I have a 3-month window to yo-yo, procrastinate, dream about it, without actually doing it. This time I just have 2 weeks to move mountains. Not happening.

 I don't like feeling like a hippo in Paris, though I did see lots of them around (on book jackets, sculpture in front of musee d'Orsay, this doormat etc.).

 It's not as if Paris cares a hoot whether we're thin or not. Though it would be nice to think we could wolf down lots more pastries knowing they would do less damage...

 Last trip was the first one where I didn't gain any weight. I changed some eating habits thanks to The Power of Habit combined with Bringing Up Bebe.

 I ate more fruit compote instead of pastries.

Fr Girl had a fit when she heard I was buying it,

'It's so easy to make!

How could you do that?'

There are a ton of compote recipes at Clotilde's Chocolate and Zucchini.

 The Power of Habit tells you how to replace a troubling habit with a new more beneficial habit if you set up the cue-reward-routine.

 I found I could resist the siren call of meringues,

 If there was compote de pomme nearby, as there often is in Parisian patisseries.

 And I would be quite satisfied with no afternoon sugar lows in the process.

 Page 64 of Pamela's book spells it out regarding my baking traumas.

'All this (weekend) baking doesn't just yield lots of cakes. It also teaches kids how to control themselves. With its orderly measuring and sequencing of ingredients, baking is the perfect lesson in patience. So is the fact that French families don't devour the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven, as I would. They typically bake in the morning or early afternoon, then wait and eat the cake or muffins as a gouter(pronounced goo-tay)-the French afternoon snack'.

 I had a chance to test this out. Someone suggested putting the leftover madeleine batter in the pan and FREEZING IT! Then simply defrost and put in the oven 8-10 minutes.

 The second batch of madeleines came out better than the first batch. But how NOT to eat them at one go?

 Illustration by Katy Couprie

How to space them out, eating ONE-a-day at afternoon snacktime/gouter and not feel deprived? After all, 'French kids snack only once a day' says Karen Le Billon.

 I found I could do it!

Big Merci to Power of Habits + Bringing Up Bebe. I now have a tin full of madeleines waiting for gouter time.

Natch that was before Ooh La La Confectionary sent us a giant box of goodies from CapeTown yesterday. The delish calissons are gone sorry to report. Ate all 12 of them in one fell swoop.

The best laid plans of 'bears' and men oft go astray.

*update: Sat afternoon I made a 'betise'. In a weak moment I downed THREE madeleines, then fell into a comatose sleep. We will not even discuss the nougat from S.Africa :(