Two girls, a bottle of wine and a box of macarons..

You know what happened..
I'm still recovering.

Cheerio dear friend and toodaloo

In the last days of 2005 I received an email from Cindy:
"Will you be my best friend between January 10 and 31st?"
I pondered the question and I wrote back:
"Sure, sounds great. Although I'm wondering if I shouldn't somehow be offended."
But her reasons were sound. She would not only be done culinary school but she would also be finally free of the innumerable houseguests she seemed to have for the whole of November and December which made her difficult to pin down. Now it was just her and Paris and I guess she thought the experience would be far more exciting if she added me to the mix before she finally left Paris for good on January 31st.

Well, it is now February 1st, and Cindy has packed her bags and returned to Chicago. And in her wake, I am left with these kind gifts: microwave popcorn, Campbell's soup, baking powder and other such interesting things that had taken residence in her kitchen cupboards these last few months.

This past weekend was her last so I stepped up to my role in my final days as her new best friend. Saturday night, she joined G and I at our place for a night of movie watching, which saw us go partway through 2 movies that bored us all before we finally settled on the thrilling action of a Vin Diesel flic. Cindy marvelled at the pretzels I had found and after eating one said:
"This is the first pretzel I have eaten in 6 months."
"Wow, that's a long time." I said.
"Sure is." She said.

On Sunday Cindy and I toured the Père Lachaise cemetery. We looked for Oscar Wilde but couldn't find him. But we did say hello to Jim Morrison and Balzac before we got too cold and had to high-tail it out of there.


At Père Lachaise cemetery

On Monday, Cindy and I met at Ladurée on the Champs Elysées for our final goodbye tea.
I ordered the Thé Royale aux Fruits and she ordered some sort of yummy tea whose name I can't remember.
Then she asked for a madeleine.
"We're out of madeleines." our server said.
"How about a financier?" I offered.
"We're out of those too."
"Cannelés?" I tried.
"Sorry. No cannelés either."
Nonetheless we enjoyed our tea and then Cindy showed the Ladurée crowd what it's all about:
In that posh tea room, with all the well-dressed French women, probably back from a shopping trip to the nearby Louis Vuitton, Cindy removed her sweater to reveal her green t-shirt with a picture of the state of Illinois on the front, and the caption "Come on Feel the IlliNOISE".
"I like your shirt." I said.
"Thanks." Cindy responded. "This tea is really good."
"Mine too."

And thus ends the story of Cindy and Michèle in Paris.
Aw Cindy, I'm going to miss you.

Dear Ladurée

Dear Ladurée,

It hurts me to write you this letter. Things started out so well between us. It was a gorgeous morning; the sun was shining and I was walking leisurely down the Champs Elysées with you as my destination. You looked so handsome from the outside, and you teased me with those little macaron trees and those pretty boxes in the window.


Ladurée on the Champs Elysées

You wowed me even more once I stepped inside, you looked rich and elegant, but there was something so warm and cozy about you. I wanted to snuggle right up and nuzzle your neck Ladurée, you were that irresistible. Your hostess led us up the stairs to a non-smoking room and it was filled with well-dressed Frenchmen. Ladurée, I thought, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Sure, they all left shortly after we arrived, but we didn't take it personally.


Just us in the empty room, after all the men left

Your menu arrived and my eyes grew wide at the temptations you were offering. But the truth was that we were there to eat the macarons, and not one was listed on the breakfast menu.
But don't fret! Our tall and lovely server accomodated our early morning whim and gave us an assortment of 4 to share between us, just as I'm sure you would have wanted her to do. And because we knew we would love it so, we ordered an Ispahan, a decadent dessert layered with raspberries and litchees and infused with the flavour of rose petals.

My thé à la vanille arrived and it tasted so nice. Though I will admit Ladurée that I was a little hurt by your decision to charge me €6.20 for the tea. But what is a few euros between friends, right?

And then Ladurée, something went wrong and I started to feel the heartwrenching sting of betrayal.

We tried your macarons. First lemon, then violet, then chocolate, and finally pistachio. I was confused. Where were the oohs, and why was there not one single aah? Where was that desire to eat in slow motion to savour every crumb? My heart sank. Something wasn't right, and I was sure it must have been me. Because you are you, and I, well I am just me. Never mind that my breakfast companion was feeling the same heartbreak as I was.


mini macarons

Our server then brought out your lovely Ispahan and it was as pretty as pretty could be. I knew everything would be right between us again. And I'm sorry if for a brief second I thought that the shade of pink you chose reminded me of that Barbie corvette I used to have when I was young. Because truly, it did look perfect, and the real rose petal was such a lovely and delicate touch.


Ispahan

And I'm sorry that I had to take my knife and cut through it's beauty, but we were sharing, it had to be done. But I don't know if you will be proud or ashamed that your beloved Ispahan fought me with every crumb of its being. It resisted, crumbling dry and lifeless into pieces, as though it was telling us that it had reached its prime of life a day, maybe two, before.
I hate to say it Ladurée, but we left most of that Ispahan in a crumbled heap on the plate.

So Ladurée, my darling, you can see why I am confused. It was our first date and I was sure that by the end of it I would declare my undying love for you. But instead, I returned home from our rendez-vous with nothing but a broken heart and a belly full of disappointment.

But I promise you, I will give you another chance. Because you make for some great eye candy and the handsome ones always get a second chance, right?

Ladurée
75 avenue des Champs Elysées
75008, Paris
(see website for other Paris locations)