OUR Day!

Sunday Lunch

Forty years - wow - where has the time gone! We were married May 27, 1972 at the North Long Beach Methodist Church.

My maternal grandparents were among the founding member of the church in the 1920s.  My mom grew up in the church and later was the church secretary.   She "traded" some of her pay for time on their pipe organ when she was learning to play.  As a kid I was always fascinated how anyone could play on several manuals with the hands and play the pedalboard with the feet - at the same time changing stops on both!  I'm still in awe of anyone who can do this!

For those at St. Paul's Episcopal in San Diego, there is an interesting connection between my mom's birth church and Mark Trotter, our preacher in residence and the retired minister of First Methodist Church in San Diego.  His father was minister of North Long Beach Methodist Church in the 1930s.  Small world!

Enough of history....what did we do today?  We previously decided that our big celebration was the trip to Paris where we were engaged in 1971.  We already celebrated with Philip and Megan, Linda and Bob Thomas and Peggy Stewart/Tom Scott - the four Powegians.  So today was OUR day!.

We went to Notre Dame for the 10am service which uses Gregorian Music in the liturgy.  Being Pentecost, the church was full - with the usual tourists circling on the outside aisles flashing away with their cameras.

Here I go again with history - but - Marie-Elisabeth sang in a Gregorian Choir in High School and went on a pilgrimage with the choir to Rome as part of a movement to save Gregorian Music in the mass.  This was during Pope Paul VI's time - shortly after the death of Pope John XXIII when Vatican II was completing reforms that modernized the church.  We both love Gregorian Music and are always glad to hear it at Notre Dame.  The setting is just right.

After the service, we went to lunch at Les Fines Gueules - very difficult to translate but "The Gourmets" is one but the combination of words is ironic.  "Gueule" is a slang word for mouth but combined with "fines" (fine) it becomes gourmet.  Finding a restaurant open on Sundays is sometimes a problem in Paris.  I found this one on the Food Blog of David Lebovitz that I follow.  He praised their cooking of meats and fish - commenting that they really know how to sear the food to get the best flavors.  He was right!   The food was great.  We had a carafe of rosé from Provence.  Before you faint - French rosé is dry and is nothing like the cloyingly sweet American rosés.  It is a perfect chilled wine for a warm day - and it was very warm today in Paris!  M.E. started with a pea veloute - a cold soup of fresh peas.  I got a taste and it was fabulous. 

First Course!

I  had burrata, buffalo mozarella, and ham.  It was incredible - simple - but the addition of small pieces of chopped almonds, sea salt, and a pour of olive oil hit the mark.  A trend in Paris is only using a few very fresh ingredients rather than complicated recipes with multiple ingredients.  It works.

We both had Dorade (Sea Bream) with "market" vegetables.  The fish was cooked to perfection.  Les Fines Gueules goes on our list of restaurants to repeat!  Again - simple but everything was very fresh and cooked well.

Perfectly cooked Dorade! 

Reading the Menu was not about understanding French but required powers of deduction to decipher the writing!  

Then it was back to the bus and to the apartment.  We spent the rest of the day doing absolutely NOTHING!!!