Bon appétit

As we left the University of Paris we passed a large apartment building with a historical marker embedded in the wall telling us that this was the home of composer Camille Saint-Saens. Then we crossed a street called the Rue de l’Université that ends at the University of Paris. I mentioned to Glenda that we were on the street where Julia Child lived. She got excited. I explained that while he was in the U. S. diplomatic service after World War 2, Paul Child and his wife Julia were stationed in Paris. Not knowing what to do with her life, Julia enrolled at a cooking school, and, as they say, the rest is history. Glenda wanted to see the house they rented, and I led her to a comfortable mansion at 81 Rue de l’Université where we snapped a photo.

Although we had already eaten lunch, I said, “All this talk about Julia Child makes me hungry. Let’s stop at the next coffee shop and get coffee and a croissant.” She agreed, but the next place we passed that looked as though it might have coffee was the Maison Thevinin, a noted patisserie that has won the Paris prize for being the best pastry shop in Paris for several of the last ten years. We ordered coffee and Glenda got a rocher that we split. I thought that I had died and gone to heaven. I take my espresso straight, but the sweetness of the dessert and the hot coffee while sitting outside at a sidewalk table in 42° chill was something I will never forget.Read more