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Out and About in Paris: Random Pix and Pensees

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At G. Detou, where I not only didn’t leave empty-handed, but where I could have used an extra hand to help me get my goodies home, I saw this package in the window.  It’s 3 kilos, (6.6 pounds) of ready-to-roll all-butter tart dough.  Just next to it was an equally hefty pack of all-butter puff pastry.  (G. Detou caters to pros and serious amateurs, but I love that if all you want is one rolled-out ready-to-bake butter crust, you can find it in just about any supermarket.)  I left G. Detou with a pro-size bag of cocoa nibs and another of caramel bits, a kilo of blanched almond flour, fleur de sel, some black Penja peppercorns, tonka bean powder (I meant to buy the whole beans, but pointed to the powder by mistake), some Edmond Fallot mustards and all of these:

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Most of the cans hold sardines (which those of you who’ve been reading this blog for a while might already know are favorites of mine), but there’s also mackerel filets and a rillettes of mackerel with lime, a thoionade of tuna, capers and anchovies and a spread I hadn’t seen before – herring, asparagus and Mimolette.  I’m not sure it even sounds good, but the tin (it’s the one in the upper left-hand corner) was so nice.

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It was irresistible not to ask these girls who were sitting on a bench along the Boulevard Saint-Germain if I could take their picture.  Even they agreed it was pretty funny seeing themselves squeezed together, each with a pizza box on her lap.

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Another look, this time inside, at La Patisserie des Reves (Pastry Shop of Dreams), Philippe Conticini’s new place on the rue du Bac.

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And speaking of dreams, the entire window of Colette, the trendsetting boutique on the rue St. Honore, is filled with the fabulous flute that Christian Louboutin designed for Champagne Piper-Heidsieck

The holidays are coming, Cinderella.