Meet Paris Oyster: A Love Affair with the Perfect Food

“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.”― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Last winter I ate my first oysters in an oyster bar in Paris. We have lots of wonderful Gulf oysters here near Houston, but I've always stayed away from them.

But when I was in Paris, I couldn't resist.

The oyster bar is Calibré Huitrerie. The owner is from Brittany. He pampered us, first bringing out some free small oysters while we waited. Then he brought out free shots for us all. You don't say, "Salud!" when you toast in Brittany, we were told. Instead, you say, "Yec'hed mat!" (pronounced eeyermat). 

I tried both raw oysters and cooked oysters. To the raw oysters, the chef added caviar and sea anemones. The cooked oysters had lemon, spinach, and green Tobasco sauce. 

We drank champagne with our meal. Oysters and champagne. The perfect Paris meal.

When I returned home, I read Meet Paris Oyster: A Love Affair with the Perfect Food, an all-about-oysters book from author Mireille Guiliano. You sense her adoration of the oyster on every page. She shares reasons for eating them including the fact that oysters are low calorie---only ten or so calories an oyster, low fat, and, of course, delicious. She takes her readers to her favorite French oyster bar. She proposes wines to drink with oysters. She tells us about what she sees as the best oysters in the world. And, should you not wish to eat them her favorite way, raw, she offers recipes for cooked oysters.

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Weekend Cooking was created by Beth Fish Reads and is now hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker). It is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Books About Paris That Make Me Smile

Paris Sweets: Great Desserts from the City's Best Pastry Shops by Dorie Greenspan (cookbook)

Paris in Winter: An Illustrated Memoir by David Coggins (memoir)

The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain (fiction)

Crepes by Suzette by Monica Wellington (picture book)

F is for France: A Curious Cabinet of French Wonders by Piu Marie Eatwell (nonfiction)

750 Years in Paris by Vincent Mahe (nonfiction picture book)

A Breath of French Air by H. E. Bates (fiction)

Bon Appetit: The Delicious Life of Julia Child by Jessie Hartland (nonfiction picture book)

Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico (fiction)

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.

You. Matter. And Don't Forget It.

We press on.

I spent another lovely week in Paris, though...

                              

       

...the only book I liked last week was The Paris Librarian. I hope my Paris in July reading gets better. I haven't been wowed by any books yet.

                              

Movie-wise, my husband liked DaVinci Code, and we both enjoyed April and the Extraordinary World.

I also posted Barefoot in Paris: Croque Monsieur and shared Authors I'd Urge You to Read Who Write About France.

                                           

Good Thing #1: Tom Hanks compares the coronavirus to WWII: "We're all in this together."

Good Thing #2: I finished my Paris puzzle.

Good Thing #3: My sweet friend Rae brought me a Going-to-Paris surprise. Then we social-distanced under the trees and drank some iced tea. Thank you, Rae!

Bonus Good Thing: You. Matter. And don't forget it.

Children's picture book author and illustrator Christian Robinson reminds us: You Matter. I need this message right now. I can only imagine how much children need to hear it.

I'm very happy you found your way to the Sunday Salon. There are no requirements for linking up at Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is simply a place for us to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. Sunday Salon is a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below.

Barefoot in Paris: Croque Monsieur

I bet you know the Barefoot Contessa. I don't watch tv and I know the Barefoot Contessa. She is the sort of cook that seeks out the best ingredients, the best flavors, the best recipes, but also finds ways to solve the problems of recipes that take too much time or ask for odd ingredients. Her cookbooks are a joy to cook from. 

I found a copy of Barefoot in Paris for my Paris in July adventure this year, and I spent a lovely afternoon reading through the book and bookmarking recipes that look promising. 

And though my first choice to try was Lemon Chicken with Croutons, sadly I'm cooking during the pandemic, I am only doing grocery pickup every two weeks, and I don't have a nice roasting chicken right now. 

So instead I decided to try Croque Monsieur. 

I had an additional step, but it's one you certainly do not have to do. I made my own loaf of bread. The crust on this bread really added to the flavor of the Croque Monsieur.

Croque Monsieur

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups hot milk

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pinch nutmeg

12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed

Dijon mustard

8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside.
3. To toast the bread, place the slices on 2 baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes. Turn each slice and bake for another 2 minutes, until toasted.
4. Lightly brush half the toasted breads with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere. Top with another piece of toasted bread. Slather the tops with the cheese sauce, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned. Serve hot.

Oh my goodness. The cheese.

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Weekend Cooking was created by Beth Fish Reads and is now hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker). It is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Authors I'd Urge You to Read Who Write About France

Goodreads says I have read 215 books set in France. Of all the authors I've read who write about France, these are the authors I'd urge you to read.

Irène Némirovsky. Stories that bring me to tears. Suite Française. Fire in the Blood.

Antoine Laurain. Slyly funny. The Red Notebook. The President's Hat. Vintage 1954. 

Émile Zola. Life in Paris among the poor. L'Assommoir.

Marcel Proust. 4,215 pages, if you read all seven volumes. À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time).

Alexandre Dumas. Action. Adventure. "All for one, and one for all." The Three Musketeers.

Patrick Modiano. A modern writer and winner of the Nobel Prize. In the Café of Lost Youth.

M.F.K. Fisher. She writes about food. She writes fabulously about food. Serve It Forth.

Charles Perrault. Everyone needs to read these. Maybe you already have and didn't know it. French fairy tales. 

Victor Hugo. You must read Victor Hugo. You simply must. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Les Misérables. 

Ernest Hemingway. Yes, Hemingway can be a bit terse for some tastes. I like him though. Don't miss The Sun Also Rises and A Moveable Feast.

Have you read any of these?

Are any of these favorites for you?

Any titles of these authors that you would recommend for me?

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.

I Share a Little from My (Real) Trip to Paris This Year

Many of you are sad. You had planned a real trip to Paris this year, and your plans were canceled. 

I did go to Paris this year. For real. Last winter.

MY (REAL) TRIP TO PARIS IN 2020

My sister and I in Paris in January of 2020

My sister and I planned a trip to Paris. We planned this trip for the winter of 2020. We heard a little bit of talk about the coronavirus in January, but it did not sound worrisome. We left for Paris in late January. Our big plane to Paris only had 159 passengers. I had a whole row to myself. The row in front of me and behind me was empty, too. We never learned why. 

Do you see the children on their scooters in these pictures? 

We were gone for seventeen days. We met up with my sister's grandchildren and their parents in Paris. Every day we walked many miles. One day we walked 12 miles. The children rode on their scooters. 

    

I took a drawing book with me. Every day I wrote down a little about our day. I drew pictures. Sometimes I played Hangman with the children while we waited in the restaurants. The children drew in the book sometimes, too.

I brought one real book with me to Paris last winter. It was the perfect book for the trip. It is called Paris in Winter. I read it every morning with my coffee.

I'll share more about my trip to Paris next week.

BOOKS AND MOVIES THAT ARRIVED THIS WEEK

My Paris books and movies arrived for me from the library this week.

BOOKS I READ LAST WEEK DURING PARIS IN JULY

MOVIES I WATCHED LAST WEEK DURING PARIS IN JULY

I also shared a recipe from Dinner in French by Melissa Clark.

And I posted a list of New Books from France.

What went on in your part of the world?

How are things going for you?

I thank all of you who stop by and link up and share your thoughts.

I'm very happy you found your way to the Sunday Salon. There are no requirements for linking up at Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is simply a place for us to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. Sunday Salon is a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below.