Marche Ave du President Wilson

It was our last day in Paris and there were two things we had not done yet, gone to the Eiffel Tower and visit my high school friend, now living in Paris, Elise Peirce, who also happens to be known as the Cowgirl Chef at www.cowgirlchef.com.

We decided to meet at Marche Ave du President Wilson or President Wilson Market. Elise shops here often because of its high quality of local French grown vegetables. You can see her video about the market at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_ImR7hpnkY

Elise and I strolled down the aisles as she pointed out the cheeses, meats and beautiful heirloom veggies. Prices were high as expected, but so is the quality. We stopped by her favorite goat cheese maker and her gave us a generous sample. We ate a sort of quesadilla-ish calzone like cheese and pesto snack.

I purchased soap while my daughter whined, “you don’t neeeeed any more soap.” How I love soap. It is such a luxurious simple pleasure, that while I don’t need it now, I will certainly use at some point in the future...and it smells nice.

But farther on through the market was the gem, a small crepe stand run by a husband and wife with the best and I do mean the best crepes we had. I had the salted caramel crepe and it was love at first bite. I had tried some salted caramel ice cream a few days earlier, but the sauce...oh the sauce.

I quickly learned that Elise too loved this sauce and had a recipe for it. That is another blog altogether. But I will tell you that this sauce rivals my mother-in-law’s chocolate sauce on Blue Bell vanilla ice cream and that is no easy feat.

Our visit was cut short by the lunch crowd that needed our table at a nearby outdoor café and the fact that Elise is in the middle of writing a cookbook with only six weeks till deadline with a whole lotta recipes to test out and write about.

So, we say goodbye for now and promise to see each other the next time she visits her mom in Texas. And off we go to the Eiffel Tower for a look.