Good food, culture and laundry

It may not have been such a good idea to get a really stinky Camembert... because now the kitchen smells like feet every time I open the fridge. Anyway. Just looking at what's inside our fridge makes me happy enough to counteract the bad odor. Real yogurts. Grenadine syrup. Country bread. Lardons. Ahhhh life is good. I just about die every time we go grocery shopping because I have to force myself to not grab everything I see... it's all about pacing yourself, but self-restraint is just so hard!

Yesterday we slept in, then cleaned, then did our grocery shopping and bought fantastic food, came home and prepared a fantastic lunch, then went out on the town for a stop at Ladurée--my personal heaven on earth--although I vow never to return to the Champs-Elysées one because it was packed with tourists (I realize that sounds incredibly snooty of me... but hey! I have more of a claim to that place than them--so there! Eh, what am I talking about, I took a picture of myself with the fancy bag just like the Japanese girl before me... whatever). Anyway. Everything in there is not only absolutely delicious but also beautifully presented/packaged/wrapped. It's like the Cartier of sweets.

We got rose, lilly-of-the-valley, sea-salt caramel, pistachio and raspberry-flavored macarons that we ate on our way to the Musée d'Orsay that was open for free tonight. There was a section on impressionism, and plenty of Monet and Degas which of course was great, but my favorite part was actually an expo on the Opéra de Paris. They had 1/100 scale models of the stage and then the entire building in cross-section. It was fascinating to see the inner workings behind and underneath and above the stage--it's massive! And then they-had models of various stage decors from the past (often designed by famous artists) in little boxes cut out of the wall. It was like peering into a lilliputian stage. I hope we get another chance to go the opera while we're here, it's just magical.

In other news, this is how we dry our laundry here...

It's pretty "folklo" as they say here :) (folkloric)

PS: lest any american readers think after reading our adventures in France that it's a backwards country where people don't shower, I'd just like to point out that many homes are much more modern than ours; we just so happen to live in a nearly 100-year-old house!

Oh, and we went to our ward this morning, the people are really nice there and I think we'll really enjoy it. Looks like I'll have a VT assignment very soon, and Andrew's already signed us up for a talent show :)