Leslie Caron, Jill Colonna & Tintin!

Yesterday I had a brief encounter with superb actress Leslie Caron in the Metro Etoile station... I saw an elegant French woman checking the metro map. Then I saw her little dog - out came the camera immediatement.
Remember Leslie Caron of Gi-Gi, Lily, American in Paris, Damages, Le Divorce, more recently Law and Order.

I saw the woman go off in one direction, turnaround and come back. Metro Etoile is a confusing station. I sensed she was lost.

I went up and said,

'Peux je vous aidez?'/ Can I help you?
Mm. C. said, 'bla bla bla' in French

Me, 'but I'm American'

Mm. C.responded in perfect English in her inimitable lilting voice,

'Isn't it funny an American helping a French person in the Metro?' and smiled graciously.

I helped her find ligne 8 and then asked if I could take a picture of her Shitzu.

'His name is Tea-Tea' (sp)

All I could think was her movie 'Gi-Gi'

Leslie Caron's book, Thank Heaven A Memoir came out two years ago. It's a classy tell-all of her life and loves in Hollywood and everywhere else. I'll be reading it as soon as I get home. Lovely interview here.

Everyone in London and Paris is talking about the new Spielberg Tintin movie coming out exactly the day I head home. AirFrance could you please show it in economy?

Yesterday I picked up Le Point to browse while enroute to my private macaron lesson with.

Jill Colonna of Mad About Macaron fame. Jill is quite determined I will conquer the elusive macaron secrets.

 Bear inspects egg whites put out that morning. And it was a misty, rainy day so everything should have gone wrong.

But Jill is a maitress de macaron. She whipped up these truly, deeply, madly lemony macs for me.

After class, Jill took me on a grand tour of Saint Germain-en-Laye's finest patisseries. M.O.F. Patisserie Osmont was irresistable.

The tarte citron meringuee beckoned...

Perfect for breakfast today! Little crunchy orbs of meringue sit atop a light lemon curd.

Inside a touch of framboise/raspberry surprise lurked.

Today I ate my crust. Chef Osmont won me over and I was very hungry. Leslie Caron said in this Guardian interview,

'I seldom eat pastry–maybe once a year. I never eat desserts and I don't drink'.

Oh Leslie, how can you?

Bonjour Leslie Caron, Jill Colonna & Tintin!

KINGS OF PASTRY!

Gerard Mulot Pastry Box, watercolor, 9" x 11"

Pastry chefs and I have always seen eye to eye... They are the 'artistes' in the cuisine, with chocolate and sugar...

Of course they adored having their portraits on their own business cards. They really got my food art biz going.

When I received an invite to a screening of KINGS OF PASTRY I was thrilled. It's about the 3-day competition of carefully selected French pastry chefs, sixteen in fact, all vieing for the much coveted M.O.F. or Meilleur Ouvriers De France award in Lyon. As luck would have it, I went to Maine to paint and missed the screening, but they sent me the video and BOY OH BOY is it fun!
The Guardian said,
"I never saw so many men sobbing at once"
"A culinary HURT LOCKER"
You get to see top pastry artistes pushed to the limit, racing against time and each other to make their super, fragiles creations. You see top pastry judges of France (PH included!) tasting and grading the contender's art works (16 desserts) and their responses. Full of suspense...catastrophes beaucoup...even the judges are in tears.
If you love French pastry, you MUST see KINGS OF PASTRY
Pastry chefs of the highest order are required to make many confectionary sculptures... Usually made of sugar. These chocolate masterpieces were at the Salon du Chocolat last October. Now I have a better idea of the enormous effort that went into making them.
Oh the torture, oh the sleepless nights. I attended the Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie in Lyon in '94 - words can not describe the fabulousness of it all. If only I'd had my Canon back then. Last June I returned to Lyon for a macaron class. Instead I ate lunch at Paul Bocuse's Brasserie Le Nord. Very chaleureuse/warm indeed.. Very much in the old French tradition of quality and simplicity. Bien sur you know I had une salade... And then the very traditional cote d'agneau for my main.
Miam-miam When I asked for the l'addition they said I was an invitee/guest!?
How I wished I had ordered dessert...something on the order of this elaborate chocolate chapeau...
HATS OFF TO THE M.O.F. WINNERS

And go see the movie.

5 Things I Ate at Jean Millet Patisserie

I only tasted ONE cannele at Patisserie Jean Martin.
je le regrete beaucoup. Only one crepe too.

THREE sable citron (not all at once).

I'm a sucker for anything with lemon on it and this rich buttery cookie has just a thin icing of lemony-ness.

I have had their croissants.

Before I noticed they had mini versions.

Abricot is another flavor I swoon for. Do you too?

JEAN MILLET
103 Rue Saint-Dominique
7th Arrondisement
Metro: Invalides Pastry chef Denis Ruffel has received France's highest honor, the M.O.F. or "Meilleur Ouvrier de France" so this little patisserie is well worth searching out.

I did not get to taste this.

Nor did I buy a 'week-end' cake to take as a gift.

Foie gras? mais non.

I would LOVE to eat one of their salades for lunch.A la prochaine as the French say...next time...

BONJOUR Patisserie JEAN MILLET!