Midsummer in Paris!

I had a week of work in Paris, and stayed one more day for my own pleasure. 

My Friday evening dinner out on the street - Caesar salad and wine

It turns out that I was in town for La Fête de la Musique Friday, the first day of summer! Musicians of all skill levels are out playing all over France, so I walked up Blvd St-Michel, stopping for a song at each likely spot. My absolute favorite was this threesome playing Blues in front of the Egyptian Cultural embassy. 

The center guy was the best harmonica player, ever!

A family group - note the little girl with the toy guitar. They did oldies that I could sing along with.

No music here, just a good place to chill



Brass band with a drummer, playing gypsy-type music




A marathon drum session from this kid. His feet, his hands, all those instruments wrapped around him. Wow.




Another family group with a young singer

 Another fun group was what I would call a neighborhood drum circle. There were 8 or so people of a wide range of ages, all drumming while facing each other in a circle. They moved in and out, and occasionally chanted something together, all the time looking as happy as could be!

Last spring, I had a cooking lesson in Paris, and it was so much fun that I decided to repeat it this year! We had 5 students of chef Frederic Coroneck. We walked through the neighborhood farmers market, then he gave us several choices for appetizer, main dish, and dessert. We chose endives with a cheese sauce in ramekins, veal and ham rolled with sage, plus a new potato, some carrots with radishes, and a baked half-tomato, followed by fruits in a honey sauce. Yum!

With the spoils of our shopping



Entree of endive with "runny eggs"

 

Veal roll, carrots, radishes, potato and tomato




Strawberries, cherries, and apricots in a warm honey sauce

I wrote down everything and took pictures, and then went out and bought some ramekins, so - cross your fingers - I can reproduce this!