Our friends Emmet and Chris arrived this morning!! They are our first visitors in Paris, and boy, was it great to see familiar faces. They came with me to the Bastille farmers' market as I shopped for ingredients for tonight's dinner.



Afterward, we had lunch together at a little bistro a short walk from our apartment called C'Amelot. It was c'est fantastique: soupe des legumes out of a gigantic ceramic turrine, marinated sea snails, vegetable beignets, caramelized pork with polenta, filet of dourade, and beef for Chris -- followed by a plum streusel topped with fromage blanc sorbet.

We parted for the afternoon -- Chris and Emmet went off to zip through the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay and the Latin Quarter, while little Emmett and I played in the apartment and picked up some more ingredients for dinner. I felt so triumphant today: with my limited French and my favorite chicken roaster's zero English (along with a lot of hand gestures), I learned that he will roast a duck on request. All I have to do is select my duck and come back at around dinner time to pick up a piping hot, crispy roast duck that's been perfectly seasoned. Guess what we had for dinner:


In addition to the roast duck and roast chicken, I roasted some new potatoes, fennel, and Brussel sprouts. Rounded out with a couple French cheeses, 2 bottles of wine, a basket of strawberries and muscat grapes, and some tasty macaroons and a slice of Opera cake from Dalloyau, we had a memorable first dinner together in Paris!