A Taste of Paris

When I was planning my visit to Paris, I found two articles in a magazine called France Today about events taking place this year in Paris.  One was called A Taste of Paris which was an exhibition in the Grand Palais of some of Paris' chefs and food suppliers.  It happened to be scheduled for the weekend I was going to be in Paris so, of course, I wanted to attend.  The VIP tickets, which were not cheap (about $90 CAD) included access  to an "open bar" with unlimited drinks and, as the Laurent Perrier booth was there, it didn't take much to convince me I wanted to go.  While our tickets Friday were for 11:30 am to 4 pm, because of the way our day unfolded, we didn't arrive until about 1:30.  That might have been a blessing disguise because I don't think the temptation of drinking unlimited amounts of Champagne for that many hours would have been at all good!

So, we entered the Grand Palais and, even without the event, it would have been impressive.  It is one of the buildings built at the same time as the Eiffel Tower for the exposition held here in 1900.  It is a very impressive structure both inside and out.  Then, add to that booths and other displays from some of the big name food people in France and it was amazing.

With our VIP tickets, we got to follow the red carpet to the grand staircase which then took us up to where the "open bars" which were gourmet juice bars, specialty beer offerings, and my focus, the Laurent Perrier bar were.  What's not to love about that!  The only issue was that if you wanted food, you had to go back down the staircase, buy your food (using a "loaded" card as it was cashless system), and then take it back up the stairs to the VIP area. 

Delcie enjoying her Chamagne

Unfortunately, by the time we finished our first (or for me, second) glass of Champagne, many of the food booths were out of our selections.  However, we did select a couple of amazing desserts which went perfectly with the Laurent Perrier:  a "swan creation" and a fabulous tarte au citron.
  

After that, we wandered around looking at the various booths featuring French wines, cheeses, kitchen gadgets, vinegars, etc.  However, we should have planned our day better as we needed at least another hour here - or, on second thought, with that unlimited supply of Champagne, maybe not!

I wondered if any of these guys were famous French chefs

 

Tomorrow, the other event taking place in Paris that I wanted to see is on our agenda.  However, more about that in the next blog!