A nice suprise

Our new flat has a florist less than 50 metres away, so look what I came home to on Thursday after school!  And a dinner-for-one in the oven, which Tim had prepared before heading out for night shift - what a lovely husband!

Bon Appetit

Last weekend we enjoyed an escape to Paris, with the main purpose of our trip being for Tim to finally do his cooking course birthday gift.  You may remember that he was orignially supposed to do the course back in March when I ran the Paris half marathon, but due to visa issues we had to postpone it.  Anyway Tim had five days off between shifts so decided to make the most of it and head to Paris early, leaving me to slave away at school before I could join him on Friday night.  He stayed at a hostel and made friends with a few other guys who he ended up spending a couple of days with before my arrival, managing to dodge the torrential rainshowers in between seeing a few sights.



First thing after school Friday I hightailed it down to Kings Cross to catch my Eurorstar, arriving in Paris a couple of hours later to be met by Tim at Gare du Nord.  He had already checked into our hotel near the Moulin Rouge, so after dropping our bags off we headed to a local restaurant for some drinks and dinner.





Saturday morning we were up early for breakfast in the hotel before Tim set off for Montmartre for his course, while I headed back to bed for an hour or two as I had not been feeling that well that week.  Later on I headed out to do a bit of shopping, before joining Tim at the school for lunch.  The course had included a visit to local shops to purchase ingredients for the cooking lesson, where Pino the tutor expained the various items.  On the course were two other America women ( who were only so very slightly annoying!) and between them the group decided on a starter of foie gras, a main course of stuffed guinea fowl, followed by a cheese course and finally a mirabelle and frangipani tart for dessert.

When I arrived at 1pm the group were still busy in the kitchen, so it was fun to sit and watch with a glass of wine in hand as they finished off.  The food was amazing, beautifully presented in typical French style.  The foie gras was very rich and fatty, and although tasty, at the price it is, we probably wouldn't try cooking it at home.  The guinea fowl was beautifully cooked and very tender.  When the cheeses and breads came out I was in heaven, with Pino guiding us through the process of tasting each one, with the least stongest ones being eaten first.  At the end of the meal we barely had room for desert, so ended up taking a generous portion back to the hotel for later!

Entre:  Foie gras served with pears poached in red wine and spices, with a reduced red wine sauce.

Main course:  Braised guinea fowl served with celery root puree and sauteed mushrooms.

Cheeses and desert: Tarte Mirabelle

Slightly worse for wear after our afternoon of eating and drinking!

The four course meal lasted for a good couple of hours and by the time we had finished we were very full and feeling a little tipsy after all the wine, cider and liquor that had filled out glasses, so it was time to head back to the hotel for a bit of a nap.

Later that afternoon we had perked up and were ready to head out again, walking from our hotel into the centre of the city to see a few sights and wander around the late-night opening shops.  Not feeling at all hungry for dinner after our huge lunch we headed for a bar in the Moulin Rouge for a couple of wines, before grabbing a quick takeaway crepe on our way home later on that night.

Sunday we slept in and after missing our hotel breakfast headed to a lovely cafe for a leisurely brunch, before wandering the city and taking in a few more sights, in between dodging the rain showers.  Silliness kicking in we even bought berets and took a few snaps whilst stuffing our faces with baguette in front of the Louvre! Our Eurostar didn't leave Paris till 8pm that night, so it was nice to just spend the day at a relaxed pace before heading back to London.

Being our fourth visit to the city since we've lived in England, we can confirm that Paris is indeed very beautiful in autumn, now we just need to go back in winter and we will have seen it all!

The other Tim

Since Tim has been working shifts, I have had to get used to going out on a Saturday night alone.  This weekend was a workmate's birthday party, so I had fun hanging out with my 'other' Tim, the Australian gap student from school.

International Inspiration

One of the reasons we love travelling is to experience the culinary delights of different countries.  This week Tim was inspired by our visits to Spain and Morocco, cooking up a delicious paella on Wednesday and a tasty tagine on Thursday.

Tapas

Our first night together in our new flat, Tim put his new kitchen to the test with a tapas dinner.

Fitzjohn's

After what seemed like a very long wait, we are finally in our new place.  So far, so good.

Bye Bye Belsize

It's hard to believe we lived at Belsize Park for more than two years, we're a little sad to be leaving what's been a lovely neighbourhood.  Despite the fact that we're still in the same postcode I doubt we'll have much need to visit, but on the plus side we've got a whole new part of town to explore.

Late Summer Sunset

Sunset over Hampstead houses on the way home from first-week-back-at-school Friday night drinks.

In Between

As our new flat wasn't available for a week after we had to vacate our old one, we spent a week in temporary accommodation, just around the corner from our new place.

L Plates

Tim passed his scooter riding induction course today.  Now all he needs are his wheels and the obligatory L plates to go with them!

5k Fun

Pam and I ran the adidas Women's 5K challenge in Hyde Park this weekend.  Having done no training all summer I was pleased to come in under my goal time of 30 minutes, and it provided  inspiration to get back into running again.

Honoured

I received some very exciting mail in the post today, a request to be a bridesmaid at Pam and Kev's wedding in New Zealand in January!  Now to find the perfect dress and start planning the hens party!