It’s cold here in Paris with snow on the way and like any other place that gets cold weather, comfort food is the norm. One of the dishes served in France (not macarroni and cheese or chili) when it’s cold is Pot au Feu which is a boiled beef and vegetable dinner. It’s very good. We went with a friend to a restaurant near her apartment called le Roi de Pot au Feu where this dish is a speciality. It’s small and crowded-luckily, no longer smokey-and the table are covered with the famous French red and white checked table clothes with napkins to match.

Behind the bar. They had a collection of cows too.

The ceiling.

Here it is. I actually had a salad with the beef on top with a few vegetables and vinaigarette which I love. The waiter wasn’t happy with me though. He said I needed a hot dish on such a cold night. It was so good that I think I will go back for lunch and have it again.

Only red wine is served. It was inexpensive and very good-mild.

My friend putting mustard on her plate to eat with the beef. Most French people use it with meat. I do know one French person who doesn’t like it and I know two Frenchmen who don’t like cheese, so there you go.

The finished product. Maurice likes to eat the marrow of the bone. He says it’s the best part. I haven’t tried it yet but I probably should. I didn’t think I liked fois gras but I love it now.

We did a little food staging for this photo.

I haven’t been out too much since I returned from the States but since I did need to make an “emergency” trip to a book store for a birthday gift I got a look at some of the Christmas decorations near Rue du Rivoli.

Gold and silver decorations in the Guerlain window.

Same store, different window with a star around a bottle of perfume.

A simpler window, this one selling Limoges items. I liked this little tree.

The lights on Place Vendome. They almost always have a modern look there.

Next we went to Arizona. My parents live in Scottsdale and have recently had some health problems. A heart arrythymia was discovered in my mother after a fall and she had to have her heart “shocked” twice to get it back to a regular rythm. My father has Parkinson’s which is bad enough but has developed some sort of black out condition, almost like a “silent” seizure. He can be sitting and suddenly is staring into space and unresponsive and then it’s over. While we were there he was having all sorts of tests to see what was wrong. We still haven’t heard the results of them all yet. That’s the hard part about living in France-the not being readily available when serious health issues come up. I’m not sure how we will handle it all when needed. I’m sure we will work things out as they arise. In any case, I did a lot of cooking so my mother could rest. My mother brought out some photos and I just have to post them. I can’t believe how incredible they looked when young.

Here is my Dad in his Navy uniform when he was 20 or so. Wasn’t he a handsome devil?

And here’s my mother at 17. I think she was fabulous looking. She always tells me that she had a 19 inch waist too.

We went hiking in the area one day and you can tell we are in Arizona by the cactus. Our hike was supposed to be followed by jogging but that hike kicked my butt. I’m not a good hiker for some reason. We blessed by incredible weather in AZ too, although it also was a little chilly.

And then there was Texas. We saw family in Dallas and then went to Austin where I was living when I met Maurice. He had worked there for 7 years when we met. We have lots of good memories from our time there.

Of course we had barbeque. Can you see the wood stacked in front and the smoke coming out of the chimney? Such good meat. I always get sliced brisket and slather it with barbeque sauce. This is the food I probably miss the most in France.

Austin is know for Town Lake, which is actually a sort of dammed up Colorado River. There is a great jogging trail that goes around it and we used it every day.

As you can see, we had beautiful weather while there, if a bit chilly.

Some uplifting grafitti for a jogger.

One day we saw this girl tight rope walking on a rope strung up along a bridge. I have no idea why.

Another thing Austin is known for is migas, eggs with tortilla strips, tomatoes, chilies, cheese and onions. You eat it with a tortilla. Good stuff. Another reason why we kept up the jogging.

Yes, we did a lot of eating. These fabulous french fries were at the Hyde Park Grill. They are the best fries ever. (oink).

As I said before, the nice thing about blogging is that there is someone who actually wants to look at your photos. So, since I have so many, I’m going to post them for a few posts.

We stayed in a different part of New York City and saw some new things. This was the Chelsey Market, full of gourmet stores and places to eat. My only complaint is that there weren’t enough places provided to sit. We managed to find two stools at a good place there and I had a really good salad.

This is a walkway created on an old elevated railroad track called the High Line. I don’t know if they got the idea from Paris or not where there is the Promenade Plantee. I think Paris did a much better job with some really wonderful plants and structures. The High Line used plants that grew there originally along the railroad track, i.e., weeds, and I just couldn’t get excited. Also, it wasn’t very long, only a few blocks, but it was on our list and we saw it.

Here are some photos I took in October before we headed to the States. I’ll probably post some photos from our trip too soon. I think a blog is wonderful for that. No one is as interested in my photos so they languish on my hard drive but thanks to the internet there always seems to be someone in the world of blogs who likes to look at the photos of others. I sure do.

I like this sign up on Montmartre.

This sign is right across from the one of the black cat.

I can’t remember if I actually posted this photo before or just thought about it. I’m suffering from jet lag and have been up since 4 AM, thus the mental confusion. In any case, I loved the sun shining on the Garnier Opera House with that dramatic dark sky behind it.

Doesn’t this table setting make you want to eat here? I read somewhere that red and white checked table clothes in a French restaurant usually means the food isn’t good-that it’s just a way to trick people inside-but I haven’t found this to be true. I have this restaurant on my list of places to try. It’s near our apartment. I don’t think we will be eating outside though as we could have on the day I took this photo. It’s cold and gray in Paris right now and we may get a bit of snow later on.