On top of things

La Tour Eiffel

les fromage

France is known for many, many wonderful things and not least among them is their cheese. As we walked through all of the farmer’s markets in the city, we were amazed at the sheer quantity and variety of cheeses available. So on our first full day in Paris we made a pledge to try a new cheese a day and nearly succeeded. Below is a list of the many wonderful and miraculous cheese we tasted:

9/2 Goat cheese log w/ straw through it (Okay we missed the name but the picture says it all).

9/3 Crotin de Brebis demi-affines (Sheep Cheese)
9/4 Demi Lunois et La Montagne de Bethmale – Both of these cheeses were slightly stinky and creamy goodness.
9/5 Epoisses – this cheese oozed out to be spread on our baguettes and was in a word, amazing.
9/6 Brin d’amour – one of the harder cheeses we tried. It was a little dry but overall fairly tasty.
9/7 Manouri (Greek) – okay not French but still really good.
9/8 Fleur de Saint-Marcellin – Creamy, slightly salty, cheesy goodness.
9/9 Tentation de Saint-Félicien l’etoile – this was an oh my god melt in your mouth double cream cheese. You'd have to be a saint to resist this cheese.
9/10 Briquettes (Goat Cheese) – This was a not very interesting cheese.
9/11 Brie de Meaux
9/12 Brie de Meaux (the first one was no good so we decided we would have to try one from a different source) – A little stinky but the flavor changed as the cheese warmed to room temperature and became very pleasant.
9/13 Saint-Marcellin l’etoile – Very similar in taste to the Tentation.
9/14 Boulette D’Avesnes – This was a hard cheese covered in paprika. Sharp, but not in a good way.
9/15 Saint Nicholes – Another small crotin that was very creamy and very tasty.
9/16 Rigotte – This cheese was a type of chevré that was okay in taste but a little dry.
9/17 Roquefort – Blue cheese at its best.
9/18 Cantal – This was a hard cheese that had a slightly salty, nutty taste--really tasty.
9/19 Trou du Cru – Full wash rind cheesiness w/o being overpowering.
9/20 Bleu D’Auvergne
9/21 Unknown chevré provance
9/22 Unknown creamy cheese
9/23 Chevré Frais
9/24 Cheese free day
9/25 Cheese free day
9/26 La Perle Des Cevennes Nature ou Cesame
9/27 Casa Matais Brebis
9/28 Stilton
9/29 We left Paris at 5:00am so were unable to try any more yummy cheeses

cheese covered with grape skins left over from the crush

Now that's a ripe cheese!

Hungry yet?

Beautiful Asian-influenced pastries at Sadaharu Aoki




Patrick Roget's take on the chestnut


Lovely tarts at Hediard


Bunny cookies

London in love

Only in Paris

Gardens

Luxembourg Garden





Jardin des Plantes


A dragon made of recycled water bottles, cans and plastic bags


The Carnavalet


We'd seen ornamental kale before, but in Paris we saw lots of ornamental chard





A pretty gourd in the Tuilleries