Today is “A Day without Cars” in Paris. This I gotta see! I’m not sure the car-drivers in our neighborhood got the message–there are just as many cars today as every other day.
Happily the neighborhood bakery is open at about 7am. I buy several loaves of bread to eat and freeze; croissants for breakfast this morning; and tasty sweets for the next couple of days. The covered market is also open so I can buy items we need for today’s rabbit dinner. (It’s Sunday so we are looking forward to a traditional Sunday meal.) But, alas, the wine shop is not yet open. Guess we will need to count on our champagne “cellar” to get us through the day.
Howard is going home with something he didn’t have before we left: pink underwear. The washing machine and dryers take HOURS to complete a cycle. I try to limit the amount of time by washing all the dirty clothes together. Big mistake…
We both have a bit of a cold. My symptoms began a few days ago and have been VERY slowly getting a tiny bit worse. Howard feels like it has hit him all at once and woke up feeling not so good. So I have volunteered to get everything we need for our Sunday lunch. Most of the shopping was done much earlier but it’s 1pm and if we are to have red wine with our lunch (we only have champagne) I must go out now. The weather is soooooo beautiful! It is a perfect day. But there are no fewer cars than usual…
The wine shop is open! Many shops in France close at noon on Sunday. There are a couple of other people in the shop so I help myself to the wines I want rather than waiting for the proprietor to help me. I feel him cringe as the bottles clink a little as I carefully grab what I want. French shop people are so sensitive to Americans helping themselves. If it were a green grocer, I would never help myself but “I can handle wine bottles,” I say silently to myself.
On our last visit to the shop the man suggested a Cote Du Rhone Villages wine (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre) that we liked and it is not too expensive. It’s Domaine Elodie Balme and it was about 13€. I also buy the winery’s Appellation wine (Rasteau: Grenache, Syrah, Carignan)) which was a couple of Euros more. When I exit the shop, I’m tempted to keep walking because it’s so nice but I return to the apartment building. Howard meets me on the 2nd floor to help with my wine burden. He feels bad that I had to go out but he’s cooking lunch so we’re even.
We have a wonderful rabbit dinner with pasta and haricot vertes. We share a Cerisaie sweet. I am trying to find a recipe for that very, very delicious treat. I hope I’m successful.
We read and relax and go to bad early.