in a bubble

OMG! I just had the BEST religieuse EVER! I regret I didn't have my camera because it was also the nicest I've ever seen. zut! So I decided to treat myself and go to the Plaza Athéné and have tea with a pastry signed by Mister World Cup 2005, Christophe Michalak. I opted for the chestnut religieuse, and I must say it was the best religieuse I ever had. Pâte à choux filled with a chestnut pastry cream, perfectly balanced, not too sweet, just enough chestnut. The glaze was a suttle mauve with a perfect mini rosace of buttercream with the tiniest piece of chestnut topped with gold leaf. I could've eaten 5 in a row...! I was in a little bubble, enjoying it fully. So few weeks left to try and enjoy some of Paris unique treats.

...counting

Less than 2 months left! ok, ok, I really got to do something everyday... hum, today I'm off, having lunch at Bastille with a friend, I barely know that area, so it's good. Then there's the Maison Européenne de la Photo who has a new exposition,(Ml went to the vernissage last night and said it was good) and wednesday nights, it's free, so I'll do that at 5. In between, I'll probably try to find a little park to knit, it's nice out!(still cold but sunny).
Monday I met up with Aurélie, and we had a fig eclair and a lemon declination tart from Fauchon. We tasted these beauties in the Luxembourg Park, the sun was warming our nose, it felt great.
alright folks, keep the peace.

Vacation over

Left for Budapest with 6 hours late because we didn't go to the right terminal... arrived in the city at night, very nice view from the bridge that was right in front of our hotel. Tired, we went straight to bed after watching the Olympic closing ceremony. We walked around different parts of the city, didn,t even need to use the bus or the metro, nor the tramway, everything is so close! The architecture is probably what was the most striking of the city. I thought there would've been more traces of the communist era, but not that much. The food was good but heavy! Great goulash and crepes with cottage cheese and dill. Yes, dill, seemed so weired but really fit in with raisins. Oh, and the best part were the thermal baths. smells like rotten eggs because of the sulphur but very relaxing! we even treated ourselves to a mud bath! quite an experience. So back to Paris, I left the next day for St-Genis Pouilly, right on the border with Switzerland, Geneva. Marylou and I stayed at her boyfriends place and we went skiing in different stations everyday. it was nice, but the weather was sucky. We had snow, wind, fog, not pleasnant. And of course, the last day, when we could only ski the morning, it was beautiful. We even had lunch on top of the mountain in the snow.
Thank you mom for taste of the East, and ML for the ski!

So back to work was easier than I thought it would be. I'm getting the hang of it, my chef is less on my back, and M. Hermé actually talked to me a bit more today, saying que c'était dommage que je retournais à Montréal, qu'il aurait bien voulu me garder sur son équipe, que Colette disais qu'elle éait satisfaite de mon travail... I was shocked! OMG! let's say I was smiling when he told me this!
So I'm now going to be queen of the pâte de fruits... I'm the assigned person now, fun fun, more burns!
The new collection is Fétish. It's not a collection actually, he won't do that anymore, but have different weeks with certain products instead. So right now is Ispahan for 10 days. EVERYTHING is Ispahan(rasberry, litchis and rose). Surprise, emotion, sensation, tarte, mille-feuille, glace, sorbet, confiture... Not a fan, but oh well, a different way to do things. The classic cakes are still on, but these products replace the other flavors.