La semaine du fromage

A quick break for some French... I really enjoyed my whirlwind tour of Paris, if only for the amazing sandwiches I messily devoured on the street:

From Fromage and Würstchen etc

This particular specimen was bleu d'Auvergne, jambon, raisins, nuts, and something else tasty. It was just what I needed after walking from one side of the Seine to the other and looping around to see the two main islands (which are amazing!). Unfortunately I almost lost my teeth on the bread.. Good French bread is apparently supposed to give you a major jaw workout when not eaten in small chunks. I also got a lovely little chocolate torte, but failed to restrain myself for a photo.. Just use your imagination. (Incidentally, the place I got the sandwich was called Legay and I'm fairly sure it was smack-dab in the middle of the Paris gay quarter. I was amused.)

I also had a lovely tour de fromage chez Hélène and chez Marie. The French, of course, keep cheese at arm's reach for every meal, and, with the exception of my sick day, I tried to get in as much cheese-time as I could. I had the most amazing goat's milk cheese, and when I got back to Germany, I tried to find it immediately. This is the specimen in question:

From Fromage and Würstchen etc

It is so nice and creamy! The outer layer is smooth like brie, but the inner section is a little drier and crumbly like fresh goat cheese (which is what it is, just the outside has ripened a bit). The goat taste is mellow and complex and hides the moldy taste of brie that I am a little wary of. I didn't have a baguette, but it went pretty well with some leftover fladenbrot. This one is definitely becoming a staple in my box of cheeses!

(Incidentally, I didn't have the heart to tell Marie and Bernard that German baguettes are only slightly less-wonderful than French ones. And the croissants are about the same :P. I think they might have turned me out early if I had dropped that one... Now the challenge is to find ANYWHERE in the US that has good baguettes. Maybe it won't be such a challenge in Boston, but I'm betting there won't be a bakery on the corner.)