Bonjiorno Milano!

Kind of like the SOUTHWEST of Europe, Katy and I were able to get tickets from Paris to Milan on EASYJET for just $80 or so each. Like Southwest, Easyjet is a first-come, first-serve, no-reserved-seat airline with very cheap pricing. But they do have new planes, and the flight was easy and we arrived into Malpensa with little drama, although the flight was delayed about 30-40 minutes. Most shockingly, though, was the baggage service.

When we arrive at JFK or SFO, we can generally count on a good 45min to an hour wait until we see our bags. We showed up at the baggage claim area at Malpensa...5 min later the conveyor belt starts moving...5 bags in are both of our bags. It was like a dream about what baggage claim should be!!!

On the other hand, the taxi ride from Malpensa to our hotel in the middle of Milan was less dreamy. Who would have thunk that the taxi would take nearly an hour and 75 euro (over $100) to get into town? Ouch. But we got to our hotel, the Westin Palace Milan, in the heart of the city at the Piazza Repubblica, and settled into a very large room...perhaps 3 times the size of our hotel room at the nice, but petite Hotel Bel Ami in Paris.

While still in Paris, I looked up an old friend of mine, Piero Scotti, from my SGI days who used to work in the SGI office in Milan. I hadn't talked to him in years, but thank yahweh for social networking services...it took all of 5 min for me to track him down. While in Paris, we exchanged e-mail catching up on the past 10 or so years and agreed to meet for dinner in Milan the night that Katy and I arrived.

Chowhound and Fodors seemed to agree that a restaurant called La Milanese was good for classic Milanese cooking, so I called the Westin while still in Paris to ask them to book us a table there...which the concierge very considerately did. Our late arrival at Malpensa and the long ride into town resulted in me being late to the restaurant by perhaps 30 min, but thankfully Piero was as well. Katy was feeling a bit under the weather, so we agreed that she should focus on her health and I went off to meet Piero on my own.

Taking the taxi into the center of old Milan, I arrived at the restaurant...located on a street that was barely wider than the taxi itself - very charming. My only concern was that the restaurant, which both Chowhounders and Fodors had called La Milanese was called Trattoria Milanese. This was the right address, I thought, but the name was different. In a bit of a panic, I called the concierge at the Westin and, even though he wordlessly booked the restaurant for me, told me that "there is no La Milanese - Trattoria Milanese is the name of the restaurant". Whew!

I think I'll have to have a word with Mr. Fodor.

Piero met me there and it was like no decade had passed between us at all. I had gotten on with him better than perhaps anyone at SGI in Europe and he and his wife had entertained me before. It turns out that he had moved from the Milan area to Umbria, where his wife is in city management in Todi and where they purchased a 600 year old mill house that they've been restoring.

Swedish penis enlargers Restoring old houses is my bag, baby!

Anyway - had some decent fettuccini ai porcini, scallopini Milanese and, thanks to a great recommendation by the owner, a lovely bottle of Montepulciano and, to wrap it up, a warm, thick, creamy and absolutely delicious tiramisu. Oh yum.

Although I've always been in love with France, Italia (yes, Lisa, you were right) was starting to sing its siren song to me...

Farewell Paris!

Well, after nearly seven beautiful, interesting, and inspirational weeks, the time had come to bid Paris adieu.

Katy was done with her work and we were off to Milan for the next phase of her project. Just four more days and we'd be off to Rome for our long-awaited vacation (since we actually had planned to be in Rome and Puglia in May of 2007 so that we could visit Katy's uncle Herb and aunt Joey in Rome, but we were forced to cancel since Katy had some critical work at the time and couldn't afford the time).

The departure was bittersweet. Paris was lit up in its Christmas glory. I had gotten a couple of great last-minute meals on my own while Katy was off at work (notably chef/owner Christian Constant's Les Cocottes where everything is served in a cocotte [basically a cast-iron covered cooking pot in various sizes - typically manufactured by Le Creuset or Staub], be it the velouté de potiron [pumpkin soup], the main or the dessert). I had walked around a little more to take in the last of the Parisien ambiance, and said my silent goodbyes.

On our last day, true to Paris form, we had a special treat. Searching for one last hot chocolate before leaving town, I took Katy to Steiger for that melted-dark-chocolate-bar cup of yumminess. Uh...no. Not doing hot chocolate today. Ugh. OK. Plan B. Head over to that standby classic of Paris hot chocolate luxury - Angelina's. Score! No big line of tourists out the door...they sat us in less than 5 minutes...and we had a wonderful salad (with foie gras, thank you very much) and a croque monsieur and, of course, their marvelous chocolat chaud.

Taking a taxi back to our hotel from Angelina's before heading to the airport, we got into a cab near the Rue Rivoli, told the driver where our hotel was, then this little guy peeks up over the passenger seat. Awwwwwwwww. What a nice way to end our visit!

Ciao, Italia!

A sweet farewell...

Before Katy wrapped up her work in Paris and before we headed off to Milan for the next stage of her project, I stopped off at the shop of one of my favorite Pastry chefs, Pierre Hermé. At home in San Francisco, I have two of his cookbooks and I have used them extensively and with tremendous results. I just had to visit his palais de chocolat!

As a little present to Katy, I purchased a variety of his macarons - but not your garden variety Chocolate, Raspberry or Hazelnut. No...I got:

• Vanilla (well, the girl just loves them, so this one was a gimme)
• Caramel w/Fleur de Sel
• Olive Oil Vanilla
• White Truffle
• Black Truffle
• Foie Gras

Now for those of you who don't think that truffles and foie gras can be a dessert...I must now beg to differ. Sweetened, but not sweet, those truffles had rich earthy flavors and a touch of sweetness that made them both rich and unusual. I don't know that I'd have them every day (particularly since the black truffle Macaron was something like 8 euro), but it was truly a treat to get the chance to try them!

Katy, Girls. Girls, Katy.

Since I'd been blathering on about Katy to my classmates for the whole of the 6 weeks that I was in school, and since two of my classmates, Sarah and Suzie, had taken on 1-week internships in the main kitchen of the Ritz and thus were still in town, I set up a lunch date so that they could meet Katy. One of our other classmates, Yuko, was in Paris for an extended stay and was getting ready to start more courses, so she was able to join us as well.

Sarah and Suzie were spending 8+ hours each day prepping vegetables, learning new techniques and recipes, and even plating some dishes...for paying customers...very cool.

Going through my research notes about where to eat in Paris, I kept seeing the name of one restaurant show up over and over on Chowhound and elsewhere. Mon Vieil Ami is a bistro just a couple of blocks away from Notre Dame, but on the Ile Saint Louis (Notre Dame is on the adjacent Ile de la Cité). Set in a very old building right on the main street that runs down the center of the island, they've chosen to "hip it up" a little - using modern tables, chairs and design, but retaining the amazing old exposed stone walls and enormous dark wood ceiling beams.

Suzie and Sarah met Katy and me at the Saint Germain metro stop nearest our hotel and we walked the mile or so to the bistro, meeting Yuko there. The day was beautifully sunny, but the wind was blowing and it was fri-gid! It wasn't unbearable as long as you kept moving, but it was certainly bracing.

We arrived at the restaurant and they sat us at a tall communal table to the left of the entry - there are also separate tables around the restaurant for parties of 2 or 4. The French couple seated right next to us greeted us as well...and became conversation partners through the rest of our meal...some in French, largely in English. The husband travelled the world for business, so he had been everywhere that each of us lived. Cool guy.

I just have to say that I've sat next to more nice people and started some great conversations over lunches and dinners in Paris. It was truly a warm place to be...even when it was cold.

Mon Vieil Ami is a modern bistro by Antoine Westermann specializes in Alsacienne cuisine, so there are german influences, various stews, soups, etc. We were blown away. The food was absolutely fabulous, but if you should choose to go, I heartily recommend sharing - the portions were huge - particularly the stews. I had a soup to start with cooked shrimp and decorative vegetables and herbs onto which they poured a lovely chestnut velouté (like a purée). I followed that with a Confit de Veau with roasted vegetables and fresh noodles served in a large dutch oven that was both huge and uh-maze-ing.

Suzie had this fabulous duck, also served in a dutch oven, perfectly cooked and seasoned, properly warm, and particularly enjoyable since it was not your traditional Parisienne bistro magret or confit.

The waiter was responsive, efficient...and had a very wry sense of humor. The only thing that caught me off guard was the wine.

I told him what we were having and what style of wine we were looking for. Rather than the typical pulling out of the wine list, pointing out various options and describing them, he just said "Ah", then walked off. He came back with a bottle of wine which, naturally, I expected he would show to me and describe. Nope. With nary a word, he opened the bottle and poured. I was a little shocked, but I tried it...and the wine was lovely...but I'd never had a waiter or sommelier do that before and wasn't sure that I liked the presumption. Nevertheless, it turned out well and he was great overall, so this is just an observation, not a complaint.

Over the course of nearly two hours, Katy, I and the girls enjoyed our several courses, Katy got to get a feel for my new friends and what it was like when we were all bantering back and forth at school every day, and we made some connections that I hope we can keep over the years as our travels bring us to Sarah's UK and China, Suzie's Thailand, and Yuko's Japan.

At the end of the day, we had a tremendous time and I can't help but recommend it - Mon Vieil Ami was truly fabulous.

She's here! She's here!

Well, it was a few weeks ago, and "here" was Paris at the time, but I was pretty excited that after 6 weeks apart, Katy arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport on Dec 13th. We had planned to vacation together in Italy after my class, but by an amazing stroke of luck and fortunate timing, she and her company won a bid for a research project in Europe that would require a researcher in Paris and Milan starting just a week after the end of my classes!

Boo-ya!

So now I have to thank her company, Cheskin, for bringin' my baby back to me.

"Thank you, Cheskin!"

I do have a question for the airport authorities at CDG, though. Looking at this warning sign to the left of the passenger exit from customs, I have to wonder...what the heck is a person if they're not a "physical person"?

And with all of the hoopla in the US of A about Illegal Immigrants, why is it either (a) a problem to be a "legal person" or (b) 10 times as expensive a fine if you're a "legal person" versus a "physical person"?

Arunh?

Whatever. The girl's here. I'm happy.

Dinner with the Gang of Four

With the end of our program approaching a few weeks ago, a few of my classmates and I decided to go to a restaurant - 404 - (which I'd been praising to them for some time) for a kind of farewell dinner. I'd been suggesting that they all go for a while, but with my time in Paris running out and us all soon to part, we chose that as our group destination. I knew that it was in the 3rd arrondissement, which started right around the corner from my apartment, but only when I ran their address through Google Maps did I realize that it was a scant 400 paces from my front door. Well...I was just getting to know my way around this town and that was a happy surprise.

Katy and I had learned about this fabulous and hip Moroccan restaurant from our friend Iana last year and had gone there while we were in Paris for my 45th birthday and had just loved it. Started by the same owner as the fun and delicious Momo in London (which Katy, but not I, had been to and loved), 404 kicks out chill Moroccan lounge music while serving delectable Pastilla, Tajine, and Cous Cous. I had even recommended it to a nice Aussie family that I met a couple of nights earlier over dinner and, oddly, they showed up shortly after we were seated and sat at the next table.

Spooky.

That's me and my gal pals (Jessica, Sarah, Suzie, and Yuko).

What's up with the French and Woody Allen?

I'd always heard that the French had some odd obsessions with Jerry Lewis and Woody Allen (but not as a couple, I don't believe). Being in Paris for even a short time, the Woody side of that equation quickly became inarguable. In the Etats Unis (US) these days, Woody isn't terribly visible on a day-to-day basis, but in Paris, he's the king of the town (roi de ville). There's a movie of his (Cassandra's Dream), a play, magazine covers with his mug, and numerous best-selling books lining the front shelves of bookstores with huge 64-point type on their covers proclaiming WOODY. Oy.

My god it's been a long time...

To all my fearless readers, I apologize.

Today I have about 10 or 15 entries to create since I have been largely without Internet access for...gasp...two weeks. Since moving out of my apartment in Paris on Dec 13th, I was in a series of hotels with poor or very expensive Internet access and couldn't get online. Now I'm in NY and thankful to our friend Mara for giving me back my electronic lifeline...

Happy New Year, everybody.