The Louvre and the importance of travel | Paris, France

Sorry for all of the Paris spam, as of late. I just have so many pictures and felt like The Louvre deserved its own separate post, so I left these out of the longest post in history.

While browsing the artwork at the Louvre, I kept thinking back to the importance of travel. How refreshing and insightful and romantic travel is, and how it is so vital to your soul to do it, and often. I was transported back in time looking at the various paintings and, unlike usual, I was particularly drawn to the sculptures this time. I couldn't get over the intricate details carved out of the bodies, the sinewy muscles, the bulging veins of anger or passion, the soft curves of romance or the doe-like eyes of a lover. I felt like I was encompassingly rejuvenated, as if I was able to come back to my true self--the girl who loves art and history and pondering deep thoughts and reading old poems. Paris was a wake-up call, but the Louvre was like shedding some old skin, acquired from working a 9-5, and basking in a reinvention and rediscovery of the old self.

I cannot stress the importance of travel enough, but above all, it allows serious time with whoever it is you are traveling with--family, a loved one, or a group of friends. It allows you to relax and step back for awhile, to refocus on the things that are important, that wow you, that are bigger than the everyday routine.

Even if it's a quick day trip, a weekend trip, or an overnight trip--try to travel and explore more this summer!

Peanut Butter French Madeleines

We had quite a few different pastries while in Paris, but when I tried a true French Madeleine, it was like the heavens had opened up and dropped little angelic cloud puffs into my mouth. They were light, fluffy, buttery--with crispy, defined edges and tasted so so so fresh. I adored their shell shape and how feminine they looked. ALSO--the name?! The French LOVE me. When we were there, we saw a Madeleine subway station, a church, a restaurant, and a hotel. : D

I got my Madeleine pan off amazon for $10 and think it was worth the purchase, especially now that I've seen how easy it is. For this recipe, I wanted to "Americanize" it a bit, by adding one of my all time favorite ingredients, peanut butter. (Apparently, peanut butter is very rare in France.) I think their gooey paste of choice is either Nutella or Speculoos.

This wasn't too hard to put together and just perfect with your morning coffee or afternoon tea. I think it tastes best right out of the oven, or should at least be eaten the day off (not that hard, trust me. I couldn't stop).

---

Peanut Butter French Madelines: (makes 12 )

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup Peanut Butter
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• dash of salt

Directions: Melt butter and peanut butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Set aside to let cool at least 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F and spray the madeleine pan with nonstick spray and set aside.

Using a stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat together eggs, vanilla, and salt on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes. Continuously beating at high speed, gradually add sugar. Keep the mixer beating at high speed for 5-7 minutes. The egg mixture should have tripled in size and be very fluffy, thick and pale.

Add flour to mixture a little bit at a time, using a spatula to gently fold it into the batter. Add the peanut butter/butter mixture into the batter. Gently fold it in gradually.

Spoon batter into molds, and slightly tilt pan so the batter fills up each mold evenly. Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes, or until madeleines look golden and crispy on the edges. Flip onto a cooling rack and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Bon appetit!

---

A Moveable Feast | Paris, France

To quote Hemingway: “We ate well and cheaply and drank well and cheaply and slept well and warm together and loved each other.” - A Moveable Feast This is a very long post, filled with some of my favorite pictures of the trip. I could make long comments on every photo, but then the post would be twice as long, so the pictures will just have to speak for themselves. All in all, it was an inspiring, refreshing, exhausting, food-filled, and creative discovery.

Notre Dame

Hotel de Invalides and around

Jardin du Luxembourg

Trocadero, Eiffel Tower

Madeline in Paris

Montmartre

Walking around the Seine

Arc de Triomphe

Tour de Eiffel

Wohoo you made it to the end!

Some observations Kyle and I made during our trip:

• The Paris metro is so much cleaner than the NYC subway (NO rats in sight, guys)
• The food portions in Paris were much bigger than NY portion size (and it was surprisingly cheap)
• every homeless man we saw had a dog with them (??!?)
• croissants.
• French people are very friendly (and stylish and artistic and have pretty hair).
• coffee (cafe) is an experience and something meant to be leisurely enjoyed.
• euros look too much like monopoly money and therefore made it much too easy to spend.