"Tomato, Tomahto"...

How's it spelled?

Good "eclair" Friday, all bodies.

On our trip in France, we arrived in Amiens just in time for lunch. But, all we could find in the university section of the town were Burger King type fast food joints. Therese found a boulangiere called, "Nature de Pain."

It wasn't a store that fancies black leather outfits, masks, whips or chains, I found out. It was a French bakery.

We stopped and shared a salad, but I couldn't help noticing that small, soft, log-shaped pastry filled with cream and typically topped with chocolate icing. In New Orleans, there was a bakery well appreciated, especially on Sundays after mass. It was Lawrence's Bakery on Elysian Fields and they had the best eclairs I've ever had as a kid.

"I'd like that eclair," I said, pointing to the ones in the glass case. I pointed at it assuming the three college aged ladies didn't speak English. The server pointed the eclair back at me and I nodded in the affirmative.

She giggled.

"Yes, that "A-Clair!"

She pointed again and again she giggled, but this time she whispered into the other servers ears and the two other women giggled along.

"Aw, c'mon now," I said. I ain't no long tall Texan sportin' a ten gallon hat!" I said with a smirk and the best shit kickin' cowboy accent I owned.

They laughed some more as the one server bagged the tasty bit and rang me up.

"So, how do you pronounce the word, "A-Claire", I asked.

She just smiled and gave me our lunch complete with my A-Claire.

"Well, we're from Nouvelle Orleans and that's pretty much how this pastry is pronounced there."

I never did get the correct pronunciation.

"A-Clair", "E-Clair" or e'clair, who knows.

It sure was good!

Copyright 2018/  Ben Bensen III

"An Apple A Day..."

It Gets Around...

Well, Good "apple a day" Monday, all bodies.

Whew... talk about the fallout when one returns home from a two week vacation.

So irresponsible! It's not like we haven't had the time to enjoy reliving our trip together. Therese and I spent the afternoon at Giddy-Up talking about our good times and sifting through photos, but the mail, the paperwork, grocery shopping, clothes, the yard, filing away receipts, throwing away brochures... Sheesh!

One constant that has followed me all the way from London is this one lone apple. It is the last of four that I took from our Hyde Park hotel in London. I am not quite sure that it goes that far back because many of the rooms had prepackaged fruit in the room, but at one time having left Paris, I had four apples in my computer bag. I either ate the other three or they escaped somehow. This one made it through customs, TSA's, baggage checks, passport lines, underground rails, and two flights.

I had the chance to eat it in the many long boring lines one must endure to get around these days. I just never got around to eating this last one. It kinda became a symbol of our "bon voyage!"

Twenty days old and going for a record.

I made a fruit salad with yogurt this morning, but didn't have the heart to cut it up...C'est la vie!

First cup and then, Gus's...