A few glimpses of the second half of September…

Italy, Italy, oh Italy. Here we are, sitting on who knows what piece of farm equipment while the rolling hills of vineyards stretch on in the background. I tried to run away to frolick within them forever, but Brooke wouldn’t let me.  Brooke’s visit will of course get its own proper recap.

Jack comes to visit from the Austin office, and is given the gift of ghost-riding a bike home through the rain in the cold without a jacket.

On a beautiful Saturday, I decided it’d be a great idea to spend it out in the city on bike.  I stopped at the lovely Saxe-Breteuil market, wandering up and down looking at all the beautiful products and watching everyone buy their weekly supplies.  It was one of those, “Oh yah, this is one of the reasons I love France so much” moments.

I collected myself a perfect little picnic: roasted chicken, heirloom tomatoes, an entire loaf of whole grain country bread, figs (perfectly in season), nectarines, and rosemary honey.

Picnic location: Rodin’s Gardens

It was a crisp day, but when the sun was not hidden behind a passing cloud, it felt perfect.

Finally! It’s the red sleeveless uni-pant outfit I’ve been searching for. You know how fashionable Paris is. Everyone will be wearing it soon.

Manager’s dinner at Semilla, the new restaurant by the same owners as Fish La Boissonerie. There’s only one main dish, which tonight was veal with creamy baked mushroom macaroni, and you get to choose your 1st course and dessert. We all rotated our 1st courses and desserts counterclockwise around the table so we could try everything. Graham made the poor choice of asking for the biggest dessert, which also happened to be the worst. Sorry buddy.

Sadie attempts to open a bottle of wine sans corkscrew. The shoe method did not work out this time since we didn’t have a solid enough surface, but somehow, we got a corkscrew. It’s Friday, it’s 6pm, it’s pouring down rain outside, it’s happy hour.

On my way back from our last Catacombs tour of the season, I happened upon the Raspail market, a really beautiful one that I’ve actually never been to.  Funny thing about the last Catacombs tour was that they decided to close it for fumigation and didn’t tell anyone, so I had to turn around and tell our group of 20 people that they would not be going on the tour, and by the way, this is our last one of the season, so no chance of rescheduling.

On a Sunday night, I met friends for dinner at Le Relais du Comptoir. I had been here once for lunch (and many times to its little brother, l’Avant Comptoir next door) but I only had a salad. Tonight, we ordered two rich & flavorful beef dishes and seared tuna with vegetables, and all three of us loved it. The interior couldn’t feel more French, and we just glowed in the presence of good food, a carafe of house wine, and adorable surroundings.

We vowed to make it our regular Sunday outing. A kick and a thumbs up for Le Comptoir.