Paris - Dusty & Marlina

Paris

Paris Bucket List 2016

May 27, 2016

Here’s to our sixth summer in France and our bucket list of things to do this summer! Can’t wait to get started crossing them off!

Ferris Wheel at Place de la Concorde
Paris Carousels
Ménagerie du Jardin des plantes and Parc Zoologique de Paris
Cruise on the Seine or Canal Saint Martin
Parisian Parks
Cité Des Enfants at Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie (Museum of Science and Industry)
Atelier des Enfants at Pompidou Centre
Jardin d’Acclimatation
Disneyland Paris
The House for Children at Le Centquatre
Les Baby Z’ateliers at Le Musee En Herbe
Story Hour at American Library in Paris
L’Aquarium de Paris
Coulée verte René-Dumont
Paris Food/Wine Tour
Day Trip Outside Paris
Eat and/or have drinks at these restaurants (Le Perchoir Marais, L’Avant Comptoir De La Mer, Passerini Restaurant & Co, East Mama, Septime, Le Chateaubriand, Hero, Au passage, Clamato, Ellsworth, Yard, Martin, Le Mary Celeste, L’ami Jean, Clown Bar, La Bocca Della Verita, Gout de Brioche par Guy Savoy, Le Dauphine)

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Clamato {Round Two}

June 11, 2015

Here are pictures from our most recent trip to Clamato just a few weeks ago. Again, I was so impressed by how fresh and creative everything was. This summer my favorite dish was the bulots (sea snails). Just like the pouce pieds from last summer, it’s something I’ve never had (or probably seen) in the states. Also another favorite was the maple syrup tart! Dusty and I don’t usually order dessert because we’d rather order another first or second course but this time I’m so glad we saved room. It reminded me of a caramel tart, so rich and with the whipped cream it was perfect!

Chef Bertrand Grébaut and Théo Pourriat are smart men. Clamato has a sister restaurant Septime, located right next door. And then right across the street is their wine bar serving beautiful wines and snacks. Septime is a reservation only place (that books up well in advance), serving modern french with seasonal ingredients. I’ve seen Septime on a lot of “must eat in Paris” lists. And this is why having these three places within a few blocks is so smart. As we sat in Calmato we saw many dinners go to Septime, realize they can’t get in, come to Calmato, get on the waitlist and then walk over to Septime Cave for a few drinks. These three places stay busy!

BULOTS, MAYO CURRY

DORADE GRISE, YAOURT DE BREBIS, POIRE DE TERRE

CEVICHE DE MULET NOIR, RADIS, CORIANDRE

MERLUCHON, BROCOLETTI, ASPRERGE SAUVAGE

POULPE, BETTERAVE NOUVELLE, LIVECHE

TARTLETTE AU SIROP D’ERABLE, CHANTILLY

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Clamato – Paris 11ème

June 5, 2015

One of our recent favorite restaurants in Paris is Clamato. I’d add it to my Top 8 Places to Eat in Paris if you like fresh seafood and fish! We went last summer and loved it so much it was one of our first stops this year. It’s a small plates seafood and shellfish place by Bertrand Grébaut of Septime. Plates run 7-20 euros. The decor is understated yet warm including a brick bar with high stools. Wines are non-sulfite made by small producers and available for sale across the street at Septime Cave – a popular bar for drinks & nibbles. It’s a no reservations place. Arrive early, sevenish, to get a seat. We had dinner a couple weeks ago on a Wednesday night and got right in shortly after 7pm but by 7:45pm there was a 30 minute wait. The pictures are from our visit last summer in 2014! Our favorite dish last summer were the pouce pieds (aka barnacles). Something I’d never imagine could be good and they were delicious. Texture-wise they reminded me of clams or squid. I’ll post pictures from our most recent trip soon!

POUCE PIEDS DES GLENANS

OUR VIEW FROM THE BAR

RAW OYSTERS & CLAMS

TRUITE SAUVAGE DE L’ADOUR/CONCOMBRE

SARDINE/AUBERGINE/CEDRAT

RISOTTO/GAMBERO ROSSO

COUTEAUX XL AU BEURRE D’HERBES

1 Comment | Posted in: Food, France, Paris, Travel | Tagged with: Clamato, Paris
Paris Bucket List 2015

June 3, 2015

We’ve arrived in Paris (two weeks ago!). Right after we arrived I put together a bucket list with Dusty’s help of the things we want to do while we’re here (and I’m finally posting it). Here they are in no particular order.

Picnic on the bank of the Seine
L’Aquarium de Paris
Paris Food/Wine Tour
Disneyland Paris
Day trip to Loire Valley
Éclairs from L’Atelier de l’Éclair
Ménagerie du Jardin des plantes and Parc Zoologique de Paris
Picasso Museum
Cruise on the Seine or Canal Saint Martin
Spend some time playing at all the amazing parks in Paris
Get Annabelle a scooter
Eat and/or have drinks at these restaurants (Pierre Sang Boyer, Le 6 Paul Bert or Bistrot Paul Bert, Le Cinq, Ellsworth, Frenchie to Go, Hero, Miznon, Heimat, Spring, Chez L’Ami Jean, Bones, Le Perchoir, Clamato, Le Mary Celeste Cocktail Bar)

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Restaurant David Toutain – Paris 7ème

May 20, 2015

I’m back at it, sharing some of the delicious food we’ve eaten in Paris. Last summer we went to Michelin 1 star Restaurant David Toutain for our anniversary. Given it’s been almost a year since we went, I can’t give lots of details but it was absolutely delicious. We went for lunch and had their tasting menu with wine pairings. The chef even came to our table to say hello before our meal was over. After we walked to the Camp de Mars (park near the Eiffel Tower) and relaxed before we had to get home to Annabelle.

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What We Did This Week (And Last Week Too)

July 21, 2014

Our last two weeks in Paris were filled with a lot of excitement. One memory that I surely won’t forget doesn’t actually have a picture to go along with the story (and thank goodness it doesn’t). After being in Paris for over five weeks, our big adventure three days before leaving was locking ourselves out of our apartment. It’s occurrences like this that remind me how great my husband is!

We woke up on Sunday trying to decide what our plans were for the day. First stop, the open market because the market is only open until noon and nothing else is open on Sundays. Dusty had mentioned he’d like to work all day because we were celebrating our anniversary the next day by going to a fancy lunch and he’d need to take part of the afternoon off. Annabelle and I had plans of going to the park!

We walked out the door, shut it and then promptly realized we had no keys. We spent the whole day traveling around Paris getting a spare key from the landlord but only to get home to realize it wasn’t the right key and that there was no spare key. Then having to call a locksmith.

Seems simple enough but we spent most of the day locked out of our place and there being several moments we weren’t sure if we were even going to get back into our place until Monday. This led to scouring the city for the one grocery store that did stay open on Sundays to get diapers and food for Annabelle just in case. Lessons learned: 1) Don’t forget keys, 2) take provisions for Annabelle even if you’re just going outside really quickly, 3) marry a man that knows how to solve problems!

And here are just a few of the other things we did our last two weeks in Paris.

Champagne tasting in Reims.

Some of the best chocolate chaud (hot chocolate) and fancy chocolate in Paris!

Annabelle at the Arc de Triomphe

Inside the Louvre

Outside the Louvre

Luxembourg Gardens

Packing

Lunch at Septime (lobster & egg yolk raviolo, peas, sage, foie gras, almonds)

Dinner Date!

Dots & Stripes!

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What We Did This Week

June 22, 2014

This is coming two-weeks late but I still wanted to try and share some of the fun things we did each week during our stay in Paris (I skipped last week and just added a few extra pictures to Annabelle’s weekly update). So, this week marked the beginning of two sets of Omaha friends visiting Paris and thus, the end to Annabelle’s and my low-key routine of bi-weekly walks to the market and grocery store and then visits to the park after lunch. In addition to those things, we spent the second half of the week sightseeing and running around Paris nonstop. Annabelle loves sitting up in her stroller (literally, leaning over and almost out of her stroller), watching everything and everyone, and when she gets tired, she does just fine napping in her stroller, making our adventures a lot more fun! We’ve gotten really good at knowing when it’s nap time and we plan for drinks or lunch at outside cafes at these times.

Fun times at the park (even if she doesn’t look all that happy to have her picture taken).

We stopped at a park and played while it rained for about two minutes and then got sunny again.

We played at the park with Zach while his parents (friends of ours from Omaha) and Dusty were at this great little bar having something to eat and drink.

Went to David Lebovitz’s, My Paris Kitchen, book signing. We love his blog and following it pretty religiously to find great places to go in Paris.

Found a great cafe to have drinks at with our Omaha friends while Annabelle napped.

And then we ended our week with take-out Chinese food at the Eiffel Tower with our friend Allison. It was a beautiful night! Annabelle did a bit of exploring and then after a few strolls around the park fell asleep.

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What We Did This Week

May 30, 2014

In this week’s Annabelle weekly update I wrote quite a bit about what was going on with Annabelle and didn’t even get to what we’ve been up to this week. So, here’s what we did in Paris this week. Annabelle helped me around the apartment with laundry and recycling plastic bags. And I already mentioned in our weekly Annabelle update last week that on Monday Annabelle and I went to Luxembourg gardens. It rained some this week but what’s nice about Paris rain is that it’ll rain for a bit, stop, get sunny and then later in the evening rain again. So, even with the rain Annabelle and I went for several walks, went to the park near our apartment one day and even went to the zoo on Sunday to meet up with a couple of mommies and their babes.

The zoo was a lot of fun and so close to where we’re staying. The Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes is a zoo in Paris that belongs to the botanical garden Jardin des Plantes (which is also awesome). It is the oldest civil zoological garden in the world. It no longer has any large animals like elephants, but a lot of small and medium sized mammals and a variety of birds and reptiles (including raccoons). The first picture below is Annabelle just as we were arriving to the gardens. She was finishing up her afternoon nap.

And then of course, we just hung out too! Dusty discovered that Annabelle loves riding on Daddy’s shoulders! And really, just loves anything that involves being near her Daddy!

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Caffè dei Cioppi, Italian Restaurant in Paris

May 24, 2014

I’m back at it, posting some of the wonderful places we’ve eaten at while in Paris. Here’s another hidden-away gem we found in our neighborhood last summer. Caffé dei Cioppi is hidden down Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, past discount clothing stores and unmemorable cafes. When you’re looking for number 159, it’s hard to believe that anyone would want to eat in this neighborhood but once you turn and enter the doorway of number 159, you’ll find a secluded alleyway lined with cobblestones. As someone put it, “the unexpected loveliness of it all in contrast to the street you left behind makes it all the more appealing.”

The place is very warm and welcoming and it’s not big, seating maybe 15. We made reservations just to make sure we could get a spot and got lucky enough to sit outside on this perfect evening. They have 4 or 5 tables outside the doors that line the alley. This place is the perfect neighborhood restaurant with good food and excellent service.

Mozzarella di bufalo, poivrons rouge, basilic (Buffalo mozzarella, red peppers, basil)

Soupe de tomates aux agrumes (Tomato soup with citrus)

Gnocchi de pommes de terre, ragout d’agneau de lait (Gnocchi potato ragu of lamb)

Risotto a la saucisse, citron et romarin (Risotto with sausage, lemon and rosemary)

Sbrisolona, creme au mascarpone (Traditional Italian crunchy tart, mascarpone cream)

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What We Did This Weekend

May 22, 2014

This post should really be, what we did this Sunday. Saturday we hung around the apartment because we wanted to make sure Annabelle was fully recovered from her bronchiolitis before galavanting around town. We started out the day at the market and then went to the Eiffel Tower and hung out on the Champs de Mars, enjoying the beautiful weather.

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