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This morning I woke up at nine, I think that I slept a full twelve hours or so, hooray for me, the baby girl doesn’t have my gift of sleeping. Apparently, she woke up a few times and had a hard time going back to sleep. I waited until 10:20 to get her going because Angelina’s, where we were going to have breakfast, served it until 11:30 and I didn’t want us to miss it. In the elevator, the baby girl still not fully awake, asked if we could take cab. When we got outside, there weren’t any so I asked her if she would be amenable to walking a little, she said okay. We walked down rue de la paix towards la Place Vendome, I am going to say it now, I wish that I could upload my cell phone picture to my postings but my iPad won’t talk to my cellphone which I can only laugh at the irony of that sentence. Anyway, when I get back I will be uploading pictures and recreating my little holiday with my visual aides. The Place de Vendome is only two streets away from rue de Rivoli where Angelina’s is found. So I got us there without a taxi, hooray for me. It was at Angelina’s that the diplomatic incident took place, part of the reason that I was so gung ho for breakfast at Angelina’s is that it is featured in my book, The Chic Bootlegger, the heroine Madeleine has tea and pastries with her best friend Sabine a least once a month at Angelina’s, it is a Parisian establishment. I had to go there. Inside it is so lovely, there are beautiful old murals painted on the walls, the moulding is expertly sculpted plaster, the ambience is relaxing and pampered. The pastries and confectionary creations are superbly crafted. The baby girl and I were seated at a cozy table for two, we both ordered the Parian breakfast, coffee, tea, or their famous hot chocolate, choice of lemon, orange or grapefruit juice, a basket of veinnoiseries, pain au chocolat, croissant, pain aux raisins, small breads, butter and preserves. A very respectable offering, the portions were typically French(tiny) and delicious.
On the subject of delicious, Angelina’s was one of the first salon of tea to offer hot chocolate and became famous for it everywhere, or so most seem to think. Delicacies are subjective, what appeals to an American palette wouldn’t necessarily appeal to a European one and vice versa. The baby girl took a sip of her chocolate, did I mention that it comes with homemade whipped cream, and by her wrinkly nose I could tell that it wasn’t what she had expected. I asked her if she wanted Earl Grey tea instead and she nodded. When the lovely waitress came with out fresh juices, I said that the hot chocolate was a little rich for my baby girl and if she could have an Earl Grey tea. The look on her face of incredulity and shock, she recovered and straightened her face. I promise you that it was in that instance that I witnessed firsthand what is meant by straightening ones face. I think that the poor waitress was mortified by her own reaction, I couldn’t blame her because who would think that a young American girl would find something chocolate too rich. Since we were still keeping the hot chocolate, I had a taste and I could see why the baby girl wanted tea, the chocolate was yummy, thick, rich and creamy but I couldn’t see myself drinking it. I could see myself dipping a croissant into it or a simple sugar cookie. That would have been quite lovely. I was very happy when the baby girl said that she was having the best cup of Earl Grey ever. I couldn’t help but giggle to the baby girl that singlehandedly, she had undone years of diplomatic ties simply by critiquing the oldest, grandest hot chocolate in all of Paris. She giggled at that as well.
laurieanichols 