Snow
A white winter wonderland, the soft feel of snowflakes fluttering against my face, the crisp crunch underfoot, the tiny pigeon footprints patterning the white footpaths…….all quite magical for someone who a week or so ago was sweltering in 40C ………it is a shame it is so damn cold!!!!!
One of the joys of walking our neighborhood is the seafood shop on the corner of Rue Lepic and Rue de Abbesses with its wonderfully tempting array of every seafood imaginable from the live langoustine with their feelers waving in cold air, the cockles and mussels (alive alive oh!) the shiny silvery herrings and the large pieces of Colin (the fish, not the person, and it is what we know as hake).
Langoustines
A fan of The Great British Menu and Rick Stein’s TV shows, I have always been fascinated by Langoustines, looking like a very large prawn with long dangerous claws the size of their body. In their natural state they have the bright red colour of cooked prawns and crayfish. I had just seen Rick whip up a feed of langoustines in a pan sizzling with garlic, oil and a splash of white wine, so they were our first purchase. Five minutes using the Rick Stein method, and what a feed!!
Soupe de Poissons et Crevettes
Of course, I couldn’t possibly let those langoustine shells go to waste so I cooked up a seafood stock and made Soupe de Poisson et Crevettes ( Fish and Prawn Soup). Absolutely delicious
Fillets of Sardines
Our last purchase was fillets of sardines which were crumbed and fried and eaten simply with baguette and a glass of wine.
One of the reasons it took me so long to make a start on my blog was because I couldn’t think of a name. On our first night in Paris we headed off to explore the neighborhood and look for something to eat. We came home with a baguette, some cheese (Camembert because we were too overwhelmed with the wide array of choices to try anything else) and a packet of PiMs orange biscuits. When we got back to the apartment, cut and buttered the first slice, we just knew it would taste so good with Vegemite (doesn’t every good Australian travel with a tube of Vegemite tucked in their suitcase)
And I knew I had found my name, “Baguettes and Vegemite”, the travels of an Australian in France
How romantic it sounded, an apartment in the artist’s neighborhood of Montmartre. I searched the Internet for an apartment that ticked all the boxes, number one Wifi, followed closely by a proper bed in a proper bedroom, not a sofa bed in the living area. Three and four a stove and washing machine………oh and preferably on the ground floor, or if not in a building with a lift.
At last I found it, 44 Rue de Durantin. It looked perfect, glowing reviews……but I’ve been bitten before by the magic of Internet photography, and when our driver dropped us off in a backstreet and disappeared off leaving us shivering in the bitter cold outside a very forbidding and very locked door with not a landlord in sight, I did wonder whether I had made the biggest mistake.
However, the very charming Landlord Lionel popped his head out of the window, said Bonjour and let us in to our very charming, and thankfully warm home for the next 14 days.
