January dreaming and restaurant rave: memories of a perfect lunch at L’Escargot Montorgueil on a warm summer day during an anniversary trip to Paris

Thinking warm thoughts about Paris, a magical anniversary trip in June of 2019, and how much I’d like to get back there.

Paris always has a surprise in store for you. Walking in this city at night is the best way to lasso that travel serendipity that happens when you don’t have a plan but are open to whatever comes along.

Let me tell you about a working lunch in Paris. Grab a fork and your imagination and join me in the meeting room for a few gourmet meals.

Still reminiscing about Paris, I have a little Glover Gardens Makes the Bigtime story for you, set at Bistro des Augustins in the City of Lights.

Let’s step back in time, to a weekday in April of 2017, and together experience my lunch and subsequent walk to one of our offices in the outskirts of Paris.

A bench is an invitation to become one with it for a while, to sit and be still in your surroundings, and let nature and the world flow around you.

A year later, reminiscing about the bustling scene at Gare du Nord in Paris and dinner at Da Corradi later that night in London.

Without guile, sarcasm, irony, mockery, I-Told-You-So-ism, satire or derision, the message I wish to share today, inauguration day, is this Kingston Trio song.

For a moment, I was transported to 1950s Paris, walking along the River Seine, an accordian playing La Vie en Rose, the musician wearing a beret…ah, summer in Paris.

I had a really good day on April 1, 2017. It’s hard to believe it was just 3 years ago. It seems like a really different world today as the whole human race grapples with the coronavirus.

Extraordinary architecture and skies in the La Defense section of Paris.

A quick and easy recipe for cilantro pesto, with 26 ways to use it.

Alluring and intriguing sights, sounds and smells… historic and bustling Borough Market in London’s Southwark district has them all, and more. It’s the biggest food market I’ve ever seen, part farmers’ market, part international food court, and 100% foodie.

A lifetime of taste aversion to watermelon was vanquished with a Watermelon Salad. Sweet Baby Juiciness, that fruit is delectable!

Street art makes the modern area of Paris more interesting.

The Eiffel Tower looked new to me through the Grill-Meister’s eyes.

You can whip up a delicious caprese in 10 minutes or less, and the result is so satisfying and appealing you’ll want to do it again tomorrow.

Dazzling colors and green spaces that can be found all over Paris are the subject of this January Dreaming post.

Fierro Argentine Grill is a very casual, very chill outdoor eatery, but the service is 4-star. So is the food. And the relaxed outdoor seating and ambiance is a plus, making you feel like everything is ok and you could sit there all afternoon and just enjoy life.