Odds and Ends

If I had a windfall of cash, or in general was just extremely wealthy, I would definitely camp out at the Four Seasons Hotel on George V for a while.  It is one of the most opulent, breath-taking, and simply luxurious hotels I've stepped into.  And yes, I had the big stroller which the doorman had to help me get inside while I pretended like I totally could afford a 44 euro hamburger at the cafe.

Hello gorgeous lobby

That's right, 37 euros for a club sandwich.

Even better news is that I now know where the toilets are located on the lobby level.  Never underestimate the importance of knowing where a quality restroom can be found in any city.


Besides the Four Seasons bathroom, here are some other things I've recently come across that seemed noteworthy:

This is a photo of the fanciest-looking dance shoe store ever.  But you have to appreciate Paris for being serious about ballet shoes - those neat stacks in the back are all ballet slippers.  While I snapped this photo, a woman was hard at work scrubbing the hard-wood floors.  It looked like a designer boutique - which maybe it is! - yet it only sells dance shoes.

For the truly gastronomically-committed, you can in fact spend 150 euros for the jar on the far left of this photo - morels in truffle juice.  The other jars and cans in this photo go for 50-90 euros a piece.

I just liked this mosaic of chubby naked babies. They kinda look like Baby Oil though not as cute.

One excellent benefit to wandering the streets of Paris is stumbling upon one of the weekly outdoor marches.  I ended up at the one on Avenue de President Wilson which not only sold fruit, veggies, cheese, bread, fish, and meat, but flowers, carpets, clothing, soap, jewelry, and more. Also a foie gras stand. And a stand dedicated only to sea salt.

And finally - Laduree!  I made it to the mecca of macarons. While in line with all the other tourists, Baby Oil decided it was time for lunch. So I'm feeding him vegetables from a jar while waiting to buy myself fancy cookies, and everyone else in line thought this was pretty funny.  I placed my order and the girl asked if she could give the baby a cookie.  And this is when you know the macaron monster has taken over - I said, oh sure, totally give my baby a macaron (he's basically never had sugar), thinking to myself, "I will grab it from him when she's not looking so I'll get a free macaron!!" 

And then I got distracted with getting the ones I actually ordered, forgot that the baby had a cookie, looked over and saw this:

Pleased as punch.  I took the smushed and soggy cookie away but even I could not bring myself to eat the remains.  Very, very sad.  The flavors I went with were chocolate, coffee and licorice (Baby Oil had vanilla).  All were very good. Licorice was a little bland.  Coffee was not as good as the one at Sadaharu Aoki.  But overall, excellent.  I later read that pistachio is supposed to be the best so I think I must return...

PS It's been pointed out that I never explained why I call my husband Mr. Oil and my child Baby Oil.  Mr. Oil works in energy, specifically on oil and gas.  And then Baby Oil was just funny.  Plus, my sister came up with them.