Paris - bon appetit!

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! May 2012 bring you happiness and health with good friends, yummy food and excellent wine! A new year, a new blog post. I feel bad to have neglected this little passion of mine, I could blame it on a number of things - work, traveling, the holiday season, and that crazily addictive series of Game of Thrones books that I just cannot put down! I'm literally hiding my current book under the bed to write this. Many thanks to WS for the thumbs up on Saturday night, and encouraging me to get back on the wagon! All the while, I have been taking countless photos of food, and have lots of posts on the back-burner. But for now, I'll start with my latest adventure - Paris.

Looking down Place de la Concorde

Driving around L'Arc de Triomphe

Aaaaaaaah Paris! There are many, many, advantages of dating a Frenchman, but one on the top of my list has got to be having an excuse to visit his homeland. The food, the wine, the art, enjoying all the simple pleasures in life – such is the splendor of France. Never will you ever catch me complaining about taking a 12 hour flight to spend time with his family.

Bronze statue - St. Germain de Pres

At the Rodin museum with one of my favorite sculptural works of art 

At the Rodin museum

The Thinker in his garden

My 3 short days there were nothing short of culinary delightfulness that warmed the heart. I'm not dropping names like Robuchon, Ducasse, Gagnaire etc. I'm talking about good ol' homestyle cooking by Maman B, served with a soup spoon of family recipes, a cup of savoir faire, a huge dollop of love, and a pinch of butter. I have never been to a starred restaurant in Paris, despite their prolific existence, and yet I really don't have the desire or need to. After not seeing her son for half a year, his mother really pulls out all the stops - marinading meats and planning meals far in advance of our arrival.

Oufti! Ca c'etait un bon weekend!

I was at a birthday barbeque on Saturday night and had some great conversations with new and interesting group of people. After half an hour of being there, I'd already explained my background and how I grew up in Hong Kong.  Then the follow up questions came: 

Q: Do you know TST very well?

A: Um...no.

Q: New Territories?

A: Well, we went to Tung Chung today to go wakeboarding!

Q: Isn't that in Lantau?

A: Um...yes you're completely right. Sorry, I thought you said Lantau (....)

Q: Have you been to the Thousand Buddhas Monastery?"

A: You mean the Big Buddha? Of course I have! (internal monologue: YESSSS! Thank goodness, I won't embarrass myself with this answer!)

Q: No....the thousand buddhas in Shatin...

A: Oh....um...ah...no.

I am a Hong Kong girl, but I should really stop telling adventurous expatriates that I grew up here! It's like the Parisian who has never been to the Louvre, or the New Yorker who has never been to the Empire State Building - it's not going anywhere, so we can always check it out one day. 
The Dark Side is too much of an effort, and on days where I'm actually inspired to cross the harbour, I consider myself an intrepid adventurer. As for Lantau and the New Territories, as a child I went with my parents to the places of their choosing, with what I consider is essential to really explore - a car.