La Crepe

La Chandeleur, Crêpe day, which happens today on 2nd February. I like crêpes so much and that's why I wrote about them now.If you happen to visit France, you will see many crepe stands and creperies all over. That is the indication of popularity of this delicate pancakes which they make it sense to dedicate a whole day to celebrate it. It is called "La Chandeleur" the holiday that celebrate the return of spring. It is also known as Crepe Day.

The thin pancake is made of flour, eggs, milk, sugar (options), and butter. The difference between pancakes and crepe are the thickness, the size and the way we serve it. Personally, I am not a fan of pancakes (especially US MacDonalds breakfast) because that maple syrup to go with them is killing the taste and you get full easily. Meanwhile, crepe is much more versatile and can be eaten rolled with just butter and sugar, ham and egg, cheese and vegetables. One of my favourite dishes is crepe suzette, which are filled with orange sauce and flammed.

On my the recent trip to La Croisic (Bretagne Sud), north-west of France we saw many creperies around. This is where crepe originated, savoury versions called "gallette" are popular.

Today I made a couple of crepe with eggs and ham for lunch. It took a couple of minutes for Noelia to acquire the taste but she finished her portion. I do not give salt and sugar for her food, but I encourage the variety of foods such as vegetables and herbs. Because I believe eating is not only to make us full and satisfied, but to enjoy the diversity of taste and knowledge.

A day in Paris with the stroller and a baby

It's been almost 2 months that we are here in Paris. I have not been around so much like I used to. It could be because I have Noelia that I choose wherever it is convenient for her to go. Most of the time I get a little bit nervous going around in Paris with Metro. There are too many stairs up and downs which could be difficult to go with the baby stroller. I choose to stay in the house or visiting markets or shops atound the neighbourhood. We do not stay in Paris, a little suburban called Meudon which is south west of Paris.

Yesterday, my in-law would like to go to Printemps Magazine to look for canape. I decided to go to Paris with Noelia together with them. They drove us until Saint Lazare Metro and Noelia was asleep. I was thinking at the moment, it was pretty alright and ma poulette was looking okay. So, I had to decide whether I want to go to Bonpoint children boutique in rue de l'universite (Metro Invalides) or Le Poussette Cafe at rue Pierre Semard (Metro Poissonniere). These days, my priority is to ensure Noelia is content at least for the whole day. And it is getting near lunch time for Noelia and I really need to rush before she started to scream in the metro. When the baby screams could be cute and her mama is used to it but not the ears of other adults.

I thought I made a good choice being in Le Poussette Cafe. Noelia ran around and greeted the other babies in that spacious cafe. It is rare to see cafe or bistro which has some space dedicated to children to play. The front of the cafe is the boutique where they display children winter jackets, toys, accessories for the little room, etc. The cafe is further inside with the walls full of cute decoration but it really looks neat and sweet. There are baby changing room attached to toilet and next door is where we park the strollers.

I ordered a homemade baby food in the menu, I think it was vegetables de provencale. It costs 4.40 euro a meal! Yeah that much...And I thought I am going to skip lunch, just tea will do me good. It was a delicious meal for Noelia (darn, she's lucky!). She met a couple of other kids around her age, and she had a good time. There was a boy who is around the same age as Noelia who keeps running and touching the products they display. His mom screamed 'Non, ne touch pas!', 'Non, fais pas ca', 'Non, je suis tres fache'...I could see that her nerves were out. I don't usually do that, because I trust Noelia to explore as long as it is not life threatening activities. And I think I would make her nervous by saying 'No' all the time. She touched some products but not pulling them, she observes the babies and touch their faces or hands, she smiled and flipping the books full of pictures. I am lucky not running around too much after her.

I got really hungry and decided to buy some food somewhere else cheaper. I bought a decoration cat in colourful fabrics around 42 euro because I always wanted to do some deco stuffs made out of fabrics. That bloody expensive cat deco made in vietnam could be a sample of what I really want to do later in Singapore.

We're off to Saint-Placide. Pffhh, we were lucky because there is l'escalier roulant for stroller. If I stopped in Montparnasse, it would be a long walk with stairs up and down inside the tunnel. Noelia was still asleep in the stroller until we were inside of Fnac. I bought 2 children books, 'Une souris verte' and 'Tous les pipis', they are cool! Noelia started to get a little cranky and we stopped in La Brioche Doree. Voila, at 4 pm my lunch cost 7.50 euro with the boisson + dessert tout compris!

Back home in Meudon after we got in transilien sncf train from Gare Montparnasse. The day is almost gone, I quickly prepared Noelia to go to bed. I am pleased that I can go around Paris with the stroller that day. I probably would like to go again to visit museum with her someday.