List 85

Love: The version of gazpacho created by Verjus, a lovely 3-story restaurant tucked away behind the Palais Royale, run by two ex-pat Americans: Green garden tomato and chili foam, with chunks of heirloom tomatoes and a masa cake.  It was maybe the culinary highlight of our recent Paris trip.

Like: The beautiful children's clothes at the equally beautiful Bonpoint store on Rue de Seine. I only wish they made adult sizes of some of their pieces.

Stella in her Bonpoint shirt

Discovery: The simple, casual pleasure of a warm summer evening picnic along the banks of the Canal St Martin - a bottle of rosé from Le Verre Volé and pizza from Pink Flamingo, who give you a balloon when you order and use it to find you along the canal to deliver your pizza.)

Obsession: The Galerie de Paleontologie et d'Anatomine Comparée and the Galerie d'Evolution in the Jardin des Plantes. Dead animal heaven for those of us into taxidermy and bones.

Complaint:  That my normal, everyday life doesn't involve stopping at Bon Marche's Grand Epicerie de Paris for groceries for dinner, then a quick Metro ride to an apartment in the 6th, complete with big windows and herringbone wood floors. Oh, and Sundays spent in the Luxembourg Gardens watching Stella play.