Paques

Someday I will spend an Easter in Paris. I have come close, usually arriving several weeks later (but recently enough to see the Paques banner still mounted above the door of St. Paul St. Louis on Rue St. Antoine.)

Someday I will spend more than two weeks there. I can think of nothing I would like to do more than attend a church service in Paris, eat a lazy noon meal and walk it off around the Cluny.

Someday.

The photo above was taken in 2007. The day was glorious when we arrived at the museum but pouring rain as we walked back to the 7th along the Seine.

I woke up this morning to find a basket filled with rose-scented soaps and a candle on my back porch. It was not from my husband, but from the Lapin de Paques, who knows where to find me. I fixed my husband a basket of poissin d'Avril and a lapin du chocolat.

Postscript:We treated ourselves to a Champagne brunch at the restaurant of the woman who owns the villa you have come to know as Chez Bateau. She is a woman of style and determination. The menu: Leg of lamb, encrusted in pepper and spices and served with a mint-apple chutney. Rolls of thinly sliced salmon with capers. Braised fennel with red onions. Orzo with artichokes. Eggs Benedict. Scrambled eggs. Crispy bacon slices. Thinly sliced potatoes with onions. Salad. Green beans with almonds. Deviled eggs slashed with a thin chive.

And later: Pain au chocolate. Thick chewy cookies. Chocolate ganache in a pastry shell. The best creme brulée I have ever had, bar none. Fresh melons and berries.