A Love of Everything French: Paris, October 2009, Branly Museum

Although I'm not quite sure Doug has recovered, he insisted that we go out today.

Yesterday was a day of rest and all we did was go to Monoprix for a few groceries, the patisserie for some bread and to Café Dumont for a light lunch. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and sleeping for Doug in an effort to get him over this cold that is dogging him.

I did fix a fabulous dinner. I browned two small pork chops in a bit of butter, along with some sliced apples, fresh thyme sprig and a little finely chopped shallot. Once browned, I put a lid on it and let the pork cook in its own juices for about 20 minutes before removing it to a warm plate to rest. I deglazed the pan with some Calvados, added a splash of cream and another pat of butter and simmered it while everything came together and thickened. I poured it atop the apples and pork and pulled the baking dish of sliced potatoes, a few pats of sweet butter, some cream to cover, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese from the oven (it was bubbly and rich). We opened a nice bottle of Bordeaux and enjoyed a fabulous meal at home. French cuisine at its finest!

It was much sunnier yesterday, than today, but it was still only sweater weather. We took the Métro line from Boucicaut to Invalides, then took the RER one more stop to Pont de l'Alma and walked from there a short distance to the Branly Museum where they currently have an exhibition arranged by Sarkosy and the President of Mexico. The exhibition was Teotihuacan and exquisite. It wasn't possible to take many photographs because we weren't allowed flash and most items were encased in glass--which is never ideal for picture taking. Nonetheless, I captured a few things for your enjoyment.

The Branly also had exhibits from the Americas, Africa and Asia, so it took us 3.5 hours to get through the exhibits. By then we were hungry and foot weary.

We left the Branly and walked toward Champ de Mars, under the Eiffel and into the 15e, down Commerce, to the Café de Commerce hoping to get there before the pizza chef left for the day. We were not lucky enough to do so. The pizza oven was closed, so Doug settled for a burger and I settled for salmon tartare and we shared a small pichet of Bordeaux Superior, before walking home from there.

It's quite cool outside now and the sky is darkening. I did manage a few photos from the apartment in advance, but now it's looking like we'll get some weather. We actually just checked and a storm is coming our way and plans to stay for several days, peppering us with rain and stirring up some wind.

We may be taking a break from our adventures, depending upon the weather and Doug's condition.

Enjoy my post for the day and rest assured I'll be back with more shots of Paris as soon as I'm able.