Toaster Oven Chicken

I know now that I have assimilated to the ranks of urban apartment dwellers.

I cooked an animal weighing less than three pounds.

In a toaster oven.

It was actually pretty good, in a way that only roast chicken and gravy can be.

But I forgot to buy the potatoes for the gravy.

Groupe F and Le Village Thaï

It seems like Paris never stops having festivals and events, and it truly amazes me sometimes. There is always something to celebrate, I guess, especially in an incomparable city like Paris where people from all over the world come to live.

On Friday, I went to the Parc de la Villette (again) for a 'spectacle pyrotechnique' by Groupe F that was so amazing that I'm tempted to surrender to it the title of 'best fireworks I've ever seen' that is currently held by the Bastille Day fireworks from this summer. But, it was more than fireworks -- there were multiple fiery plumes of natural gas beating in time to abstract synthesized music being performed live, spinning wheels of sparklers rising and falling with the ebb and flow of jazz themes by a saxophonist and then a cellist, and dancers bearing fireworks mounted on huge frames to give the shape of wings and the forms of somethings, I'm not sure, but maybe monsters? And of course more banging, spiraling, and exploding fireworks than one's field of vision can encompass simultaneously. It was quite a sublime exhibition of light and sound. I didn't have my camera with me, so you'll have to take my word for it.

And today, a 9-day festival of Thai culture ended at the Place St. Sulpice in the 6eme arrondisement. The church I go to to is nearby, in the 7eme, so I stopped there to have a look and happened also to have some pad thai and a dessert that was made from sweetened glutinous rice and black beans cooked inside a stick of bamboo (see photo below of stuffed bamboo and banana leaves), since it was lunchtime after all. Having never been there, my only experience of Thailand is through the food, which seems much less spicy here in Paris than what I had in California, but I certainly hope that that country can make it peacefully through its current political transition.

L'autre Défilé

Last weekend was the annual 'Journées du Patrimoine' festival of French heritage, in which museums and workshops hold special events all on the same weekend. What this means is that, if you choose this weekend to go to a museum, c'est dommage because it will be even more crowded than usual. I did brave the crowds at the Parc de la Villette, however, to see a fashion show (défilé) that showcased costumes from the National Opera and the National Theater. It was pretty cool, although it was very quirky, somewhat characteristic of the director, Philippe Decoufle, who also produced the opening ceremonies of the winter Olympics in Albertville. Of course, the costumes were amazing, ranging from huge getups with sailing-ship headpieces, to barely there fairy costumes and a naked fat-man costume. It was hard to take pictures of the runway show itself, but the make-up room was open for the public to watch during preparations, so I managed to get a few close up views too. The picture below which shows the runway is from the finale when they brought all of the costumes out at once. There are more photos at my Flickr site.