Thursday 24 May 2012

Blind Food and Chocostory!

Holy crap I have not blogged in forever! So Kendra was on her last couple nights in Paris, so we went to Dand Le Noir, which is a blind restaurant where you go to 'experience' cuisine. So awesome. Scariest thing of my life: I'm trying to explain to my blind and french waiter that I cannot have shellfish, and that I am worried because the first bite I had of my plate was clearly fish and I was worried maybe I'd ended up with the wrong plate somehow in our seating adventure -- btw, finding your table in the dark is SO awful. His response was "there is no fish" and walked away into the blackness. I ended up eating primarily with my hands the whole evening. I admire anyone who actually managed to use a knife and fork in harmony because that is a serious test of coordination. Pouring water into glasses was fun too -- I basically had my gross, food-covered hand inside the glass to detect when I'd successfully poured any water. I don't think I ever poured more than a couple mouthfuls of water cause i was so paranoid a sudden rush of water would drench me and my unsuspecting table-mates. Also, the guy beside me stole my glass as a joke at one point which totally freaked me out and Kendra managed to place the bottle of water on my plate instead of the table. Adventure! Expensive, but fun. It was about an hour and a half of complete blackness and three courses. They don't tell you what you're getting so that there are no preconceptions of what it will be like, hense the allergy panic. The meal ended up being the following: A starter of tuna steak (octopus in provencal sauce for the non-allergenic folk [guess they knew what they were doing...]) and some fancy asparagus and sauce thing and a tomato herb soup thing with a crostini. Garlic-y! The main, since I panicked, became the vegetarian option for me. It was basically a giant plate of amazing ratatouille with epic tender eggplant slabs all buttery and wonderful. The normal people got their tuna steak here! Dessert was obviously the best part. It was a fancy greek tart thing of dark chocolate and pears (I think? Maybe peaches?) and some sort of buttery pastry. Then a orange cheesecake and a hazelnut gelato with amazing roasted peaches in raspberry chambord sauce. All warm and delicious. Try eating ice cream with your hands, by the way. Pretty epic dinner, we giggled a lot and played around with being in the dark (ie. Making faces, being very grown up). I think it would be a really awesome idea to offer to sell a video of the experience at the end to see what you really looked like. I would absolutely buy that!


After we swung by this dive bar because a live band who was singing in english was playing. Ended up having the self-proclaimed, "best mojito in the world". And it was. 

Ceiling covered in kisses! Take that Oscar Wilde!

And now, a bunch of pictures of the food Emily and I ate over a couple of our days together so far (This blog is certainly not organized....)


Om nom nom! That was at Chez Prune in St Denis where we met a musician whose concert we did intend to go to but it was Kendra's last night so that didn't happen. instead we went to Batofar... which was UNBELIEVABLE! Boat clubs along the canal, club part underwater. Unreal! But, the food was wicked delicious and hearty and we spend a good three hours just chilling in the cafe. I also got seriously hit on by a young gentleman named Adrian who gave me his number on a piece of newspaper in case I, "wanted a boy in Paris". No joke. It was adorable. That will go in my scrapbook. Which does not exist yet, but it will!

Brunch at Schwartz's.





Oreo Milkshake! Wasn't that good, but I had to try it. It was like drinking wet icing.

Somewhere in Montmartre! Stoked on Windmills.

Kendra's last night we watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle and my camera made this fun photo on accident.

Busiest Starbucks in the world on Champs Elysees! Probably quicker than any on I've been to in the mall I worked at... definitely. Just saying.

We got trapped in the middle of the road... photo op!

Cool crypt underneath Notre Dame Cathedral. Shows the old ruins of Ile De Cite!


Nicola Flamel! Yes, Harry Potter geeks, he is real and his name is ALL OVER Paris!!! So happy.

Notre Dame Treasury. Poo heads made us pay full price but it was cool.


Sparkly!

Dude sitting in the exhibit. Yes he had white tennis shoes on. What a silly old man.

Arc de Carousel de Louvre or something! Completes the axis towards Arc de Triomphe and the Grande Arch La Defense.

See! Too cloudy to see Defense but it's right behind there!

Another day at the Louvre, observe.


Audio guides this time! Emily and I spent the 5 euro and, for me, not worth it. The only novelty was that I finally got to play with a Nintendo DS! Otherwise, it's just too much information for fun-facts-Mikaela. It would have been great for a rainy day spent learning, but I'm in vacation mode and that is not something I can handle.















More tower gazing. Always! Never gets old.

CHOCOSTORY! The chocolate museum. Yes. My dream! Favorite, would totally recommend it ONLY because of how ridiculous it was. It was interesting, but the real fun is in the fact it exists at all.


Lego-style diagrams. This one depicts how chocolate was used in sacrifice. Yea, the red isn't tomatoes. On the right, the one creepy mannequin-style display. So random. Old person worshipping something. So out of place!

This cup is designed to make sure your mustache doesn't get covered in chocolate. Just wait, in 6 months every hipster with have one of these. The girls will have them because it's 'ironic'.

Best Q&A questions. Right: HA! TOLD YOU MOM!


The three euro hot chocolate sample. Mediocre, better to just go to a real hot chocolate place where you  can sit down somewhere besides a dark coat room.


THE BEST THING EVER! Free tasting and demonstration every half hour. We were busy taking a little quiz to learn what kind of chocolate best suited our tastes (mine is Venezuelan!) and so we missed when the chocolatier ushered everyone into the demo room and shut the door exactly on time. We were like 10 seconds behind and missed it. So, naturally, we waited the half hour till the next one, expecting them to be just as punctual. The following is the story in photos! 
















That is all you need to know.


More food! I tried felafel while guiding two of my visiting friends through the Marais Pletzel. Felafel King Palace (some combo of those words) was where we went and it was AMAZING! I didn't need food for a good 24 hours after. The thing is like a baseball glove chocked full of goodness! Also, only just over 5 euro! YAY!

This photo is terrible quality but when Emily and I were waiting to meet a friend for drinks outside the Moulin Rouge, a little trailer pulled up and six miniature ponies were lead out. SIX! It was like a Hatchback commercial! 

This blog entry is so random and confusing, but I was SO busy these last weeks with Kendra leaving, Emily coming into town, her Dad surprising her, two friends visiting from the south of France, another old classmate visiting from Edmonton and getting to Groningen one last time before the end of May. SO MUCH! Plus I had to show everyone a proper hot chocolate, so I've been busy! Anyways, I must go enjoy this amazing summer evening. A bientot!




1 comment:

  1. What fun! Glad you posted. It was great to catch up -- and just so you know.... we miss you back here! ;)

    Hugs

    and btw... You out-sparkle the sparkly!

    ReplyDelete