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Tag Archives: birthday

5 tasty treats you absolutely should eat in Paris

21 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by wanderingloulou in A wee bit of what you fancy, Cafes, Paris, Tasty travels

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Tags

birthday, cafe, cake, chocolate, cocktails, ice cream, Paris, paris food, restaurant, treats

Croissants in Paris

I realise the title of this post makes it sound like I may be up for heckling people in the street who happen to be eating a baguette or a croissant. “Hey! You over there! You should be eating that in Paris! How very dare you!?”

While that would be fun, that is not my intention. Rather I’d like to recommend to you five wonderful culinary moments you simply must experience during any visit to the stunning French capital.

I gingerly made the step from my twenties to my thirties last summer and I knew there was only one city that could make me feel like this decade was going to be my classy, sophisticated and oh-so cultured decade.  Only Paris would do.

The city was everything I’d dreamed it would be. Crammed with beautiful, elegant buildings, endless people watching opportunities and buzzing with an unmistakable joie de vivre. But the thing that truly bowled me over, was the delicious food that I indulged in for every meal of the day.

Now I know Paris is considered to be a top foodie destination, I haven’t been living under a rock cake. But what really struck me was that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to give your tastebuds their holiday of a lifetime.

Here are five of the best things that passed my lips during my birthday week in Paris…bon appetite!

Macaroons from Ladurée under the Eiffel Tower

I trotted into this plush little cafe en route to the icon of all Paris icons, the Eiffel Tower. It wasn’t serendipitous, I’d done my research – Laudree is famed for producing some of the very best macarons in the French capital.

I felt my breath quicken as I took in the array of their pretty pastel coloured delicacies. And while the interior was almost intimidatingly bijou, the staff were warm, attentive and happy to help me select my flavours. I got a little carried away and immediately chose rose, coffee, salted caramel and chocolate flavoured macaroons. Then I remembered, it’s only nice to let my boyfriend pick some too, and he went for raspberry, peach, strawberry and vanilla.

Sitting on the long stretch of grass in the shade of the epic Eiffel Tower nibbling these little beauties is one of my best memories of Paris.

macarons from Laudree

From Laudree on Rue Bonaparte to the Eiffel Tower, it’s a 40 minute walk, but you can take in the charming streets and burn off those calories before a macaron even touches your lips, so why not.

Boeuf Bourginon in Montmartre

Few things could be more French than a steaming bowl of Boeuf Bourginon. Our apartment was on the border between the rough and ready Pigalle area (think Moulin Rouge and a sex museum…) and the quaint, pretty Montmartre – the setting of the film Amelie.

Sacre Coeur in Montmartre

Sacre Coeur in Montmartre

On our first evening we wandered the busy streets of Montmartre in search of some dinner. The majestic Sacre Cour crowns the hill, but the surrounding streets are like a Parisienne Disney Land, jam-packed with tourists and tacky souvenir shops. Instead I’d recommend that you head a little downhill, to the quieter streets, where restaurants are better quality and locals meet for late night chats over a glass of wine.

We were tired and hungry, so alas I did not note down the name of the restaurant, but Boeuf Bourginon is a classic dish and the key component here is the setting – Montmartre is quite magical.

Opera cake from Dalloyau

I first tried Opera Cake in an Edinburgh cafe and bakery called Falko in Bruntsfield. Upon finishing, I calmly placed my fork back down on the plate and proclaimed the Opera cake to be the best cake I had ever eaten. And the trip to Paris offered the perfect opportunity to trace this little slice of heaven back to its roots.

Cyriaque Gavillon of Dalloyau patisserie is credited with creating the Opera cake in 1955. Its layers of almond sponge soaked in coffee, chocolate and ganache tick all my boxes, and the slice I ordered on my birthday was everything I dreamed it would be.

Dalloyau patisserieopera cake

What could have been a better birthday cake?

Strawberry champagne cocktail while people watching

If there’s one activity I’d recommend in Paris – it’s people watching. Parisians were fascinating to me, with their effortless style, endless midday glasses of wine and nonstop smoking that somehow did not ravage their complexions.

Hop off the metro at Cite and you’ll emerge in a lovely market that sells all kinds of wonderful lanterns that you simply cannot buy because it will destroy your luggage allowance. Then head toward the Palais de Justice and on the corner you’ll find a busy restaurant called Les Deux Palais. It isn’t cheap but it’s a great place to rest your weary legs and watch the world go by.

paris lanterns

My boyfriend enjoyed their beef carpaccio, while I opted for a light salad. The strawberry champagne cocktail from the specials board, however, was the real star of the show.

strawberry cocktail

Ice cream beside Notre Dame

And finally…a proper little hidden gem. Just five minutes from the aforementioned Palais de Justice, on the corner of Boulevard du Palais and Quai du Marche Neuf, you’ll find an unassuming ice cream shop window attached to brasserie Le Soleil D’or. Buy ice cream from here – it’s insanely good. I had strawberry and my boyfriend had caramel, and it was such a meltingly hot July day we had to scoff them down before they turned to liquid. But, oh my, so good.

It was incredibly hard to narrow the list down to five things, but if you try any of these I promise you won’t be disappointed. If you’ve been to Paris, I’d love to hear what tasty treats you’d recommend? After all, something tells me it won’t be long until I return…

 

 

 

 

 

30 notes to my 20 year old self

16 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by wanderingloulou in Life is good, Writing

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

30, advice, age, birthday, thirties, twenties, wisdom

On the cusp of my fourth decade, I’m feeling strangely Zen about my age having a 3 instead of a 2 in front of it. Which is odd because I’ve kind of always worried about growing up. I remember when my Mum told me I needed a training bra. The horror. Back then I thought I could cheat the system, just like Peter Pan had.

On my twenty-third birthday I thought I was old as hell. Past it. And I realise now that it wasn’t so much the fear of my own mortality, but rather the fear that the fun was about to stop. Being a grown up. Barf.

The thing is though, now 30 doesn’t seem so bad because, actually, the fun never has to stop. Well, unless you have kids, but hey that’s a different blog post! Thirties can be every bit as wonderful as twenties without any of the insecurity, self loathing or bad decision making. Hopefully.

I spent far too much of my twenties giving a shit about stuff, and not enough time giving a shit about the stuff I should be giving a shit about. What a load of shit.

And so in celebration of the remaining grains of sand slipping from my precious egg timer named ‘Twenties’, here are a couple of things I know now, I really wish I’d known then.

1.) Exfoliate regularly.

2.) Accept your body for the shape it is. The gym and starvation won’t stop you having curves. And why would you want to.

3.) Be strong for other people, but most importantly be strong for yourself.

4.) Aloe vera. Take it daily and everything will be better.

5.) Don’t eat too much sugar, it’s the cause of your acne and tiredness, plus it’s highly addictive and also bad for your teeth.

6.) Use an emollient cream, it’s the purest moisturiser you can get and won’t irritate your skin.

7.) Stop wasting your Saturday/Sunday morning with a hangover.

8.) Take milk thistle for a hangover.

9.) Don’t waste your time with friends who never bother to get in touch.

10.) Make time for real friends.

11.) Real friends love you even at your worst.

12.) Demand respect. You teach people how to treat you.

13.) Just because one person says your writing is crap and another person says your writing is brilliant, doesn’t mean the person who said it’s crap is the one you should listen to.

14.) You are not disgusting. In fact, sometimes you look quite pretty.

15.) Take risks. But don’t jeopardise your safety.

16.) It’s ok to make mistakes.

shoes and one sock

an example of a mistake

17.) Enjoy the quiet times.

18.) Be thankful for the good times.

19.) Remember the bad times will pass.

20.) Do things that scare you. Improv, solo travel, spoken word – try them, you’ll like them I promise.

a lady bike

hello, beautiful lady bike

21.) Buy a lady bike. Happiness guaranteed, every day.

22.) Not all men are users.

23.) Wait for someone who really floats your boat, don’t settle. (clue: he exists!)

24.) Read the small print. Particularly with credit cards.

25.) Some people are stupid.

26.) Your personality is the most important element in how attractive you appear.

27.) Dye your hair whatever colour you fancy. But always have a get out plan, and a good conditioning hair mask.

28.) To your parents you’ll always be their little girl, so go easy on them.

29.) Take Halloween seriously. Veeery seriously.

halloween vampire

serious.

Halloween ghost

seriouser.

halloween

seriousist.

30.) Only give a shit about the things that you should actually be giving a shit about. Like feminism.

Now someone pass me the botox and a big piece of cake…

What a weasel eats on its birthday…

24 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by wanderingloulou in A wee bit of what you fancy, Eating out, Edinburgh eats, Leith

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birthday, birthday cake, breakfast, cake, chicken, coconut, fry up, hemma, holyrood 9a, mimis bakehouse, nobles

It happens to us all, we all get older, ok?! And as more than one of my friends pointed out – if you’re not getting older, you’re most likely dead. These are the kind of people I choose to spend my time with.

In a futile attempt to stop the aging process/conduct a scientific experiment that would freeze the ages of my cells with alcohol (with absolutely zero scientific basis)/get so drunk I didn’t remember I was turning a year older…off I trotted to Hemma and Holyrood 9a with my lovely pals. Many pints of Black Isle blonde were consumed, as were copious amounts of Innis and Gunn, and a delightful evening was had by all. I even got a little surprise, baked by the fair hands of my super thoughtful boyfy, Rob…

Man, that boy bakes good cake.

To clear away the cobwebs it was entirely necessary to head to Nobles and eat my body weight in fried foodstuffs the next day.

Quite possibly one of the best fry ups to be had in Edinburgh, and served until 5pm, luckily.
Heading to work on Monday you’d think I’d be a little sad the festivities were over…but no birthday would be complete without a copy team outing to Mimi’s Bakehouse!

The crispy coconut chicken with tangy mango salsa is a summer menu treat, but the real main event came after…

A generous slice of Bounty sponge cake, which I was so ready to devour I forgot to take a photograph before I stuck in. We voted it a ten out of ten.

All in all a pretty outstanding birthday. BIG SHOUT OUTS to my brother Mark for making it so special with banners and bubbly, to Rob for his phenomenal cake making and to all the lovely people who came to celebrate the fact I’m still alive – yay!

Louise Boyd

Louise Boyd

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