Tabouleh

Tonight I decided to make tabouleh.

Ingredients:

2 cups of chopped flat leaf parsley

1/2 an onion chopped in small cubes

2 tomatoes chopped in small cubes

1/4 of a cup of cooked couscous

1 lemon

2 tsp of extra virgin olive oil

salt to taste

Directions:

Chop the parsley, onions, tomatoes and add to a small bowl with the pre cooked couscous.

Add lemon juice, olive oil and salt. Mix and leave to rest for an hour or so. Serve chilled

Strange encounters is Paris

This weekend was the first sunny and hot weekend of the year and in Paris there are many lovely places to walk around and enjoy the good weather. This time I chose to take a stroll in the Père Lachaise cemetery. This Parisian cemetery is located in the 20th arrondissement and is considered to be one of the most visited cemeteries in the world. Many famous people are buried there and having been established in 1804 there are old and new tombs intertwined and surrounded by a lush vegetation.

The cemetery is even equipped with street signs so that tourist looking for the final resting place of a famous person (be it Chopin or Jim Morrison) may peacefully find their way. Some burial stones are simple, but some are elaborate and may be rendered more ornate by a family member or by a random person passing by and placing a touch of color in an unassuming place.

Strolling along the tombs of Père Lachaise, the strangest encounter was not groups of tourists or archaic mausoleums, but a rooster walking as if it was in a country garden. Where did it come from? Where was it going? What was it doing in such an unusual place?

Bourgogne

Having four a four day weekend, and seeing that the weather was bad pretty much all over France, we decided to head down to Bourgogne. This region of France is known for its excellent wines, rolling hills, quaint country side, and some pretty good climbing. We headed down Wednesday evening to a village called Moroge (near Chalon-sur-Saôn).

Despite the high chance for rain, Thursday morning we decided to go climbing in an area called Cormot. The crag is really nice limestone, which overlooks the town of Nolay. We stayed there all day and climbed quite a few of the 30 m climbs. In the end the day turned out pretty good, it was cold but we did not see a drop of rain. The next day we headed out to another climbing spot, Remigny. This is a relatively new crag, and climbers have limited access to the site (no climbing during hunting season). The routes are really well equipped, and the climbing is just perfect. Even thought it rained a bit, it was a really good day of climbing and being outdoors.

On Saturday we decided to take a rest from climbing and explore the region by bicycle. Bourgogne is known for its wines, and what better excuse than a quaint bike ride in the country side to stop and taste some of the local wines. We headed out of Givry and took the voie vert towards Buxy and then up to Montagny. The voie vert is a bicycle path that has been laid out on an old rail road track. The path runs along the vines and fields, affording wonderful views of the hills and villages. During one of our wine tasting stops, I decided to buy some wine to take back to Paris with me.

Over all it only rained for a few minutes on Friday and Saturday and even though it was overcast, Bourgogne is a beautiful region worth visiting. I will definitely go back and spend more time there.

Fontainebleau

Despite bad weather predictions, last Saturday we decided to drive down to the Fontainebleau forest and go climbing. We decided to go to an area called Roche au Sabots, which is located near the town of Milly-la-Forêt (http://bleau.info/map/). So what better excuse than to stop at the boulangerie la pavé de la Halle in Milly first. In my opinion they have some of the best pain au chocolat around.

So after this small detour we head into the forest and climbed some blocs. Although the weather held up most of the afternoon, the sun never really came out and no pictures of climbing that day were taken. However, there are no lack of pictures of rocks and climbing at Roche aux Sabots on my computer. Just to show how nice the site can be in the sun I decide to post a picture that I took last year around the same time of year.

After an afternoon of climbing we head back to Paris, with another small detour at a big supermarket, and went to dinner at the Foyer des Etudiants Vietnamiens (this will be another post).

Dinner: Sunday evening

After a day of walking around Paris in the rain, I decided to head over to Tang Frères* on Avenue d'Ivry and buy what was needed for an asian inspired dinner. After much hesitation here is the menu I came up with.

Entrée: Yellow Melon and Ham

This is not an asian dish at all but the ingredients were in the refrigerator.

Main Course: Green Bean Coconut Curry and thick Rice Noodles

Ingredients:

1 pack of fresh green beans

1/2 a pack small corn (frozen)

1 onion chopped in thin slices

garlic to taste

1 pack of hard tofu

fresh ginger to taste

1 tsp of vietnamese hot sacue

1 tsp of paprika

1/2 tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp of dried basil

1 tsp of dried estragon

1/2 tsp of frozen mint

1 tsp of frozen cilantro

lemon juice to taste

1 can of coconut milk

Directions:

To a big pot add 2 tbs of vegetable oil, once the oil is hot add the garlic and the fresh ginger. Stir in the onions and cooke them until tender (5 minutes). Add the cinnamon, paprika, estragon, basil and stir. Now add the green beans, stir for approximately 5 minutes then add the coconut milk and 1/2 a cup of water. Cover and let simmer.

To a frying pan add 2 tbs of vegetable oil, heat and add the tofu (cubed). Cook the tofu until brown. Add the tofu to the green bean curry and simmer while the rice noodles cook.

Rice noodles: follow cooking directions on the pack.

We were all so hungry that I forgot to take a picture of the final dish!

Dessert: Ginger Candy

These were bought at Tang Frères

* Asian supermarket in Paris

Rainy Spring Sunday in Paris

Just two pictures taken while out for a walk last Sunday.

Bike crossing light. Location: Quai des Tuileries

Man holding an umbrella waiting for the rain to stop. Location: Quai Anatole France

The rain did stop and the sun came out just for a few minutes.