Sorry for the brief blogging hiatus! The last few weeks have just been flying by, and between the Parisian spring weather outside, my scrambling to finish up some Georgetown things before their deadlines, and the looming due dates for my first round of papers in class here, I feel as if I’ve been a bit all over the place. Luckily for me, my current train ride— I’m writing from the TGV (le train à grande vitesse) traveling between Lausanne, Switzerland and Paris— has given me a bit of time to sit back, look out the window—no, scratch that. It’s given me a chance to sit back, look out the window, realize I haven’t blogged in ages, that about sixteen different deadlines are approaching and, to top it off, that my computer battery is dying,. Well, on n’y peut rien, as the French would say, but with the limited battery I have left, I’ll get a start on a bit of a “blast from the past” post. (I promise to get on a more regular posting schedule soon!)
(Brief note: “Limited battery” should have read “approximately thirty seconds of battery charge remaining.” My battery did indeed die a few seconds after typing what you see above, so the following is coming a few days after my return from Switzerland.)
Le Jour du macaron (The day of the macaron):
Known world-over for incredible variety of flavor and delicacy of construction, the macaron— a small, often brightly colored cookie filled with buttercream, ganache, or jam— ranks along with the croissant, the baguette, or the crêpe as one of the most recognizable culinary symbols of Paris. Whether you count yourself among the devotees of Ladurée or Pierre Hermé, two maisons de macaron often pitted against each other in the quest for macaron supremacy, it’s difficult to deny the general allure of these tiny, gem-colored cookies. Even McDonald’s in France has gotten in on the game; their locations offer a number of flavors, including raspberry and mango, all coming in under a euro per macaron. (I actually tasted one several days ago on a bit of a whim, and I have to say: while it’s no Pierre Hermé or Ladurée, it’s not half bad!)
On March 20th, I had the pleasure of sampling not one, not two, but six different macarons, all within a single afternoon. How was this possible, you might ask. It was Le jour du macaron, a day during which several local bakeries, including the aforementioned Pierre Hermé, offered free macarons throughout the day, all to benefit Autistes sans frontières, an organization dedicated to helping autistic children thrive in school.
So, following an early morning three hour class lecture, several friends and I made the rounds, walking from bakery to bakery with a map of participating bakeries that someone had luckily had the foresight to print that morning. I tasted quite a spectrum—from espresso to kumquat by the end of our macaron expedition, and it was with a very full stomach– and a bit of a case of excess sugar-induced jitters–that I walked back to the Sorbonne for my evening lecture.
It was all worth it, even despite the sugar hangover. I have to get as much of the macaron, and my much beloved crêpes, as I can before I head back to the States, after all!
