And it raised my anxiety level so much, I will not likely be making another for some time.
That’s a lie; I have two extra pie shells and I don’t want them to go to waste. What was stressful was trying to figure out the timeline of the whole, after prepping the ingredients: if I wanted us to eat at 5:30 pm, what time should I start mixing, preheat the oven, (perhaps in reverse order?), etc.
I made it work, though, and the kids and their partners and I sat down for supper around the target time. And the food was good! One was kind of a quiche Lorraine, with two kinds of cheese (cheddar and marble) plus some chopped kale because I couldn’t find spinach at the store; the other was ham and cheese (also cheddar and marble). I also fried the rest of the ham pieces I picked up, in case someone didn’t like the quiche(s), and we had a Caesar salad. But the kids all said they liked it, so the effort was all worthwhile! I didn’t even burn anything!
It’s been a good evening.
Son and his girlfriend return to Ottawa in the morning, having to work on Monday (he with his co-op placement at the National Research Council, she to her retail job), and they plan to leave early, so I should make myself go to bed soon to make sure I don’t have a hard time getting up to say goodbye.
But I do like the night… I’m back to not liking the process of going to sleep… and there are so many things needing to get done that I feel guilty about sleeping.
Side note: look at these beautiful window displays from a high-end shopping district in Paris:
We stopped into a luxury designer men’s swimsuit clothier to peruse the racks, my spouse being in need of a pair of trunks for our planned visit to the Sky Lagoon in Reykjavik. We discovered that not only were each set of swim shorts available as limited editions — the quantities differing depending on whether they were hand-embroidered, festooned with beads and/or sequins, or plain — but they started at 750 Euros. Not my husband’s preference, by far. But it was neat to look, and to chat with the staff, who were very kind.
And this café, where we paused before our sightseeing tour on our first full day in the City of Lights, at an open wine bar called Auburn to warm up with hot drinks, and I tried cappuccino for the first time (and fell in love with it) — Hubby said his was the best he’d ever had, in that location! I went to use the washroom and discovered that the café was connected to a hotel and a restaurant, and was stunned by the gorgeous interior design…
We spent slightly too long at Auburn and had to hustle to get back to our tour’s starting location, a habit that would follow us throughout our stay, but we still arrived within the specified time. Our guide, Thomas, was cheerful and kind, very professional and helpful as he taught us how to drive the Segways provided by the tour company, XL Tours (not being paid for this review, just my memories and observations). Thomas offered my husband gloves several times throughout our sightseeing, as the day was chilly, but to us, it really wasn’t that bad. Poor fellow, he was wearing two coats and still felt cold… although, I should note, our daughter was also feeling the low temperatures despite wearing layers, but as she’s said, she’s usually cold anyway.
We had great fun toodling about the downtown streets and bike paths along the River Seine, passing monuments and other points of interest. It was definitely a good choice for introducing ourselves to the history and present-day of Paris.
Our amazing guide not only took pictures for us, and made sure we were safe, frequently checking on our progress as we went and advising us of potential obstacles to avoid like curbs and pedestrians, he also took video of our tour using a GoPro. I paid extra for the footage, and I’m so glad that I did. It was worth every penny.
After we said goodbye to Thomas, we started feeling the chill a bit with the fading of adrenaline and headed to the Galaries Lafayette for lunch before attending the Friday afternoon fashion show, as well as to take the opportunity for enjoying the view of the city from the rooftop. We discovered the glories of the Galaries’ cafeteria, where the variety of food made it difficult to choose. I decided to go with healthy options — mainly a delicious squash soup — but looking back, I do wish I had chosen a quiche Lorraine. Did they have it available in the cafeteria? I can’t remember, but it would surprise me if they didn’t.
It was such a thrill to see the Palais Garnier from above! I’ve been a fan of the Phantom of the Opera since I first saw the live show in Toronto at the Pantages Theatre in the early 90s. And the Galaries Lafayette was so alluring, it was difficult to leave the shopping centre. The fashion show did its job at piquing our interest in looking for clothes, but we had other plans for the rest of our day… plans that took us in the opposite direction of standing high above the city streets, and into the tunnels below.
More on that, tomorrow.