0 The French Scarf

 Does your average French person leave the house without wearing a scarf? I doubt it. How-to-tie your scarf is demonstrated everywhere you look. Scarves are non-gender, non-seasonal accessories. Do French infants wear a scarf in their cribs? I have to do further research... The stripe scarf is a French classic. You can not go wrong wearing a stripe scarf. Four variations on tieing your scarf. Here's a scarf that grew into a coat... Your classic cardigan can double as a scarf in France. Pas de problem. Tintin gets away with it... Even some French parfums don a scarf... Scarf...

0 Boxed In...

 It's no secret I have a love affair going on with French boxes... My collection keeps growing... At this year's Salon du Chocolat there was a special 'Professional' section to view suppliers of boxes, ribbons, ingredients etc.  River Pack makes Pierre Herme's innovative boxes as well as Cafe Pouchkine and other 'couture' patissieres... Embaline Cartonnage de Luxe is another fancy box-maker. Drool...drool Upstairs at the Salon I loved Arnaud Larher's lunchbox style candy box.. And my favorite and it's contents (flavored-chocolate faux macarons) was tiny - just under 3" square but inside soooo delicieux Sadaharu...

0 Book, Nook, Kindle?

More often than not when I visit the musee Louvre I avoid the lines...And go instead to the Louvre bookstore under the pyramid.It's never too crowded...You can check out other exhibition catalogs on in Paris...I'm a book-aholic. I love bookstores. I'll never give them up.But I decided finally to give in and get a Kindle.There will be books I won't be able to read on it...Or maybe not?At least I'll finally be able to read in bed not just on the subway...Pestering Kindle readers on the subway and reading La Table de Nana's kindle post made up my mind.It is lighter than carrying a book around...It might be nice to have some travel books...

0 DROP DEAD CHOCOLATE CAKE - GÂTEAU AU CHOCOLAT DÉCADENT

It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.- Giordano BrunoEvery year, around the beginning of January, I witness the same circus. Food-related magazines, sites and blogs worldwide publish a list of all the forthcoming trends and give their predictions for the upcoming 11 months. After that, and until the next craze hits us comparably to a strike of lightning, the internet generally gets swamped with hip recipes, reviews of fashionable products and a wave of articles...

0 Tarte Fine

 Tarte Fine au Pomme, watercolor, 9" x 11" To find a tarte fine aux pomme in Paris look for glass paintings near the doorway of cows, chefs, wheat sowers etc.... Your everyday, no-name, corner, neighborhood patisserie like this one (on rue martyr 75009) will have les tartes fines... Basically a tarte fine is a flattened round crust (usually pate sucre or feuilletee) layered with multiply thin slices of fruit in a spiral pattern. It can be savory as well with tomate/aubergine/basilica etc. The top is liberally painted with a brush full of abricotage (apricot jam glaze). The tarte...