the paris stories keep coming in – you guys are making me jealous!!  i told my hubby that we need to start traveling to each city that we “feature” – i think that should be part of these pop-up shops!  

emily from indie shopography has a great paris story to share… (and i ditto her sentiment…good food + travel = HAPPINESS!) – xo piper
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A good meal is the catalyst for happiness. It brings people together, gives us all a reason to drink wine, and – to me – is a form of self-expression that I can share with others.

Combine a good meal with something else that is very important to me – travel – you have one happy lady. When I look back on all of my life’s adventures, food is always at the forefront of those memories.

When I think of the years I lived on the Gulf Coast, I specifically remember a trip to New Orleans that resulted in a visit to Mulate’s and a bubbly and insanely delicious dish of Crab au Gratin.

Or a trip to Las Vegas, when it’s not the showgirls and gambling that come to mind, but a night out to a very small and quiet French restaurant frequented by the Rat Pack called Pamplemousse, and their luscious Pasta Fruit de Mer.

A recent trip to Austin is defined by the many fabulous meals that we enjoyed. Most notable of these was a wonderfully simple Tortilla Soup from Guerro’s on South Congress Ave.

And then there’s Paris. Oh, Paris.

I’ve had the opportunity to travel to Paris three times in the past ten years. When I look back on those adventures, as you can imagine, I fondly reminisce on the food.

Macarons, croques monsieur, meringue amandes, fresh sorbet, the best leek and potato soup I have ever had. And, of course, crépes.

On my most recent excursion to Paris, it is certainly the crépe that almost brings me to tears. Or, more specifically, a certain buckwheat crépe filled with cured ham, gruyére cheese, and topped with a fried egg. This bit of French heaven is called a gallette complét.

I recently found myself salivating over the mere thought of this meal, which I shared with a new friend on Rue de Turennes during lunch on a day filled with strolling and shopping, and I knew I had to recreate it.

So, I went online and I found a recipe. The recipe is simple, which is how you know it’s authentic, with no extra frills, as good French cuisine hardly needs to be dressed up. And, finally, I relived the gallette complét. I wasn’t sitting at a cute café sipping cider and people watching, but I swear that if I closed my eyes while chewing the gruyére I was almost there. And almost (and gruyére) is good enough for me. For now. - Emily

[photos by emily / recipe via french cooking for dummies]