I could scarcely credit my senses

When travelling the little things that differ from every day life back home, often raise some big questions. Well, maybe not big questions, but many questions.

Lets take an example from Paris.

As you are walking around the city you can not help to notice the constant water trickles which run on the edges of the streets. Some streets in the same area are dry, when others are not. The logic behind this dry/wet equasion escapes you. From time to time you came across these rolls of ruggs (always different kinds - pictured) which are placed on the side of the streets and are wet, if you accidentally happen to step on one of them. Sometimes you might see that one of these rugs steers the water into a certain direction. Sometimes you might end up to the source of the water (pictured), from where the water gushes on to street. From the Internet you find some information on the subject, mainly that the reason for all this is to clean the streets, as you had expected.

Even still an endless amount of questions remain: when did this practice begun? Who invented it? Is the water drinkable? Why don't they spread the water thoroughly on to the streets with machines or with those brooms the street cleaners use every day (that would be a final farewell to dog poop), but instead the water only flows/cleans on the edges. Does the water have other functions (keep the rain sewers clean, improve air quality)? How is the water timed area by area? What kind of system operates the whole thing? Is this watering a daily event or are there perhaps pauses, for example, on holidays? How much water is run on the streets every day? How do they clean the water afterwards? Is this system truly effective?

And of course the most important and strangest questions to the wonderer: where do they get those rolls of rugs, who gets them, is there a special store that sells them and are they expensive or durable?

These are the things the little traveller bounces inside his/her head.

Well, one more reason to return to Paris, to solve this strange little mystery..

By Bean & Crumpet

Matkustaessa ne omasta arjesta poikkeavat pienet asiat herättävät usein suuria kysymyksiä. Tai ei ehkä niinkään suuria, mutta moninaisia

Otetaan nyt vaikka esimerkki Pariisista.

Kävellessäsi ympäri kaupunkia et voi välttyä huomaamasta jatkuvia vesivirtoja, jotka valuvat katujen reunoja pitkin, siinä kohtaa, missä katu kohtaa jalkakäytävän reunan. Jotkut kadut ovat samalla alueella kuivia, toisia pitkin virtaa vesi, toisinaan vuolaastikin. Mitään logiikkaa tässä kuiva/märkä rytmityksessä et löydä. Välillä törmäät katujen reunoille aseteltuihin mattokääröihin (aina erilaisiin), jotka ovat, jos vahingossa satut sellaisen päälle astumaan, märkiä. Joskus voi nähdä, että tällainen matto ohjaa vesivirtaa tiettyyn suuntaa. Joskus saatat päätyä veden alkulähteelle (kuvassa), josta vesi pulppuaa kaduille. Netistä löydät asiasta vähän lisätietoa, eli veden tarkoituksena on puhdistaa katuja, kuten olit arvellutkin.

Silti lukematon määrä kysymyksiä jää: milloin käytäntö on aloitettu? Kuka sen on keksinyt? Onko vesi juomakelpoista? Miksi vettä ei levitetä kaduille kunnolla esim. koneella/harjoilla, jollla työntekijät katuja päivittäin putsaavat (päästäisiin eroon siitä koirakakasta vihdoin) vaan se virtaa pelkästään kadun reunan ja jalkakäytävän kanttikiven viertä pitkin. Onko vedellä muuta funktiota (pitää sadevesiviemärit avoinna, parantaa ilmanlaatua?) Miten vedentulo on ajoitettu alueittain? Mistä se on ajastettu? Millainen järjestelmä on käytössä?  Onko kastelu päivittäistä vai onko esim. pyhäpäivinä tauko? Paljonko vettä lasketaan kadulle jokaisella kerralla? Miten vesi puhdistetaan? Onko järjestelmä oikeasti/tutkitusti tehokas? 

Ja tietysti ne ihmettelevän kannalta tärkeimmät ja kummallisimmat kysymykset: mistä vettä ohjaavat matot hankitaan, kuka ne hankkiin, onko olemassa joku katukastelumattokauppa, ovatko matot kalliita tai kestäviä?

Näitä asioita pieni matkalainen jää päässään pyörittämään..

Siinäpä jälleen yksi hyvä syy palata taas Pariisin, tätä kummallista pientä
mysteeriä selvittämään..

By Bean & Crumpet

What's all this?

"Well, they asked me to substitute for a German teacher and I said nein, which I thought meant yes. But apparently nein means no, so I blew a big opportunity."

Peggy Hill in King of the Hill

By Bean & Crumpet

I, personally, put in a bit of quick gulping

Paris, restaurant Polidor. In the restaurant there are many long tables, to which people are taken, to sit and eat with strangers.

Sitting next to us is a stylish, middle aged American woman, with her twenty something daughter. They look intensely at the menu, daughter translates it into English. The mother does not seem to find anything she likes, she would like have (for example) bœuf bourguignon, which the restaurant does not serve in the summer season (as the kind waitress politely explains to her). In the end the mother ends up ordering a minced meat steak, that is on the childrens menu, but she'll get an adults portion of it.

At the same time we are eating our starters (we both had the Menu Gourmande), Crumpet snails Bourgogne and Bean salmon. Immediately after being seated and constantly from there on the mother and the daughter glance at Crumpet´s snails and the mother keeps asking the daughter: "Are you ok? How are you feeling?" in which she replies: "I'm alright".

After repeating these questions a numerous times the mother suddenly says that she is not feeling well and that she wants to leave. They argue a bit (Are you sick? Do we really need to leave?) after which the daughter asks the waiter to cancel their order, which they made just minutes ago. The puzzled waiter is left to comprahend this sudden 'illness'. The two women dash to door.

Crumpet to Bean: " One can but wonder, what they would have done, if they had seen me eat those frog legs, as I did yesterday?".

By Bean & Crumpet
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Pariisi, ravintola Polidor. Ravintolassa on paljon pitkiä pöytiä, joihin ihmiset ohjataan ruokailemaan vieraiden ihmisten seuraan.

Viereemme saapuu tyylikäs, keski-ikäinen amerikkalainen nainen noin parikymppisen tyttärensä kanssa. Tutkivat listaa, tytär kääntää äidilleen ranskankielistä menua. Äiti ei tunnu löytävän listalta mitään mieleistään, hän haluaisi mm. bœuf bourguignon'ia, jota ravintolassa ei tarjoilla kesäkautena (tämän ystävällinen tarjoilija
kertoo naisille). Lopulta äiti tilaa jauhelihapihvin, joka on lastenlistalla, mutta jonka hän saa neuvoteltua aikuisten annokseksi.

Samaan aikaan me syömme vieressä alkuruokiamme (valitsimme molemmat Menu Gourmanden), Crumpet etanoita Bourgognen tapaan, Bean lohta. Heti istuttuaan ja vähän väliä sen jälkeen nainen ja hänen tyttärensä vilkuilevat Crumpetin etanoita ja äiti kyselee jatkuvasti tyttäreltään: "Oletko kunnossa? Kuinka voit?" Johon tytär vastaa: "Olen ihan ok."

Jankutettuaan tyttärensä vointia, nainen yhtäkkiä sanoo, ettei voi hyvin ja että hän haluaa lähteä. Äiti ja tytär väittelevät hetken (Oletko sairas? Pitääkö meidän lähteä?), jonka jälkeen tytär kutsuu tarjoilijan paikalle ja peruttaa aivan hetki sitten tekemänsä tilauksen, hämmentyneen tarjoilijan yrittäessä ymmärtää tätä äkillistä 'sairastumista'. Naiset poistuvat paikalta kiireen vilkkaa.

Crumpet Beanille: "Mieti mitä olisi tapahtunut, jos he olisivat nähneet minun syövän sammakonreisiä, kuten eilen?"

By Bean & Crumpet

I found my thoughts taking a more optimistic turn

 

Bean´s birthday happened to be during our recent visit to London. Crumpet had a nice idea up her sleeve, she decided to take Bean to Ritz´s Classic Afternoon Tea to celebrate the occasion (last year it was Harry´s Bar in Paris). We pondered how we shoud dress for the occasion, as it stated in the dressing code that jacket and tie was required for men, so would we be on the same level with other patrons?

Our worries were not called for, as we soon found out. Other people participating were also tourists like us and we were, or atleast we thought, the best dressed couple in the room. People seemed to have very relaxed attire, some people were wearing a combination of cargo pants with unmatching jacket and tie. Atmosphere was also relaxed and not uptight at all. Maître d’hôtel led everybody to their tables and showed where you could place your purse or bag (under the table). Waiters were very courteous, but could take also a more relaxed approach, if they found out that particular customer could appreciate it.

Large selection of teas was available naturally, after all this is afternoon tea. We decided to go with Assam, always a good choice. Bean took coffee, since they were serving dark roasted coffee, which Bean likes very much. Three level catering plates were brought to table. On the uppermost level we had assortment of pastries and in the bottom assortment of sandwiches. Scone plate was added to the middle later. Sandwich assortment consisted of cucumber, ham, smoked salmon, chicken, mature cheddar sandwiches and egg mayonnaise bridge roll. These were pretty much your basic sandwiches, Bean´s favourite was smoked salmon, Crumpet preferred the ham sandwich. Waiters were on constant look out to top up the sandwich plate, so basically this was all you can eat situation (no need to leave hungry).

After sandwiches we decided to try the warm scones, which were served with strawberry jam and clotted cream (almost butterlike cream with high fat content). These tasted a bit like Finnish raisin buns, although jam and cream were a particularly good bonus. After scones it was time to move to level three, the pastries. Ritz´s classic chocolate cake was good, as expected, with enough dark chocolate. Also tartalettes with raspberries and blueberries were delicious. A good performance, I would say, because we had spent a week and a half admiring patisseries of Paris before arriving to Ritz.

Ritz Afternoon Tea was delightful experience overall. Pianist was playing through the tea, doing classics like "As time goes by", but also rendition of "Empire state of mind" by Alicia Keys and Jay-Z, which was quite fun. Palm court was beautiful with fresh flowers, as you can see from the pictures, and they had nice little touches in the serving, like non standard sugar lumps. Ritz afternoon tea was a nice peaceful experience in the midst of one of London´s busiest areas and excellent way to celebrate a birthday.

By Bean & Crumpet

There wouldn't be any need for us to starve in the gutters

We had a three course lunch menu (for £21) at Gordon Ramsey´s Maze Grill while visiting London. Maze Grill is one of Ramsey´s restaurants in London, modelled after, and inspired by, classic New York steak houses. We had booked our lunch early, when we were planning our four day visit to the city. We thought it was time to check one of man´s restaurants as his face seems to all around telly these days in Finland (couple of years late from rest of the world).

Decor of Maze Grill is pretty simple, plain and quite relaxing actually. Guests wait in separate bar area when they arrive to the restaurant and are led to tables when everything is ready. Service was ok, there were many waiters and waitress' present, but some of them seemed quite confused and didn´t know what they were supposed to do exactly. Everything worked well from starters to dessert, but when it was time to pay, everybody seemed to vanish and were not interested to check us out and take new customers in. There was a mistake in our bill, which was corrected with huge apologies, so we were not too upset about it. Clientele seemed to include workers from nearby offices, your usual business lunch people and food tourists like us, snapping photos of the foods.  

Lunch menu started with sardine bruschetta, complemented by cherry tomatoes and rocket salad. This small starter was quite good, but toast was little bit burnt, the crust rather hard (almost impossible to cut with a knife) and rocket salad was too oily for our taste. For mains we had 6oz rump of beef with Béarnaise sauce and chips and salad. Steak was tender, good and medium, like we asked, but side dishes were just too salty. You might expect chips to be salty, but these were just too salty. Salad was also ruined by too much oil and salt. Garlic mayo and Béarnaise were spiced up with thyme, rather pungent and controling taste in this dish, since roasted garlic, which was served with main course was garnished with it too. Side garlic seemed to give most of the eaters some grief, since you had to dig out the cloves out with your knife (not so easy, if it's your first time).

Then it was time for dessert. Bean had marengue with raspberry sauce and Crumpet took selection of British cheeses. Marengue was nice, although little bit too hard on the top and raspberry sauce was good. Crumpet´s British cheeses were not selected very well and certainly not for average taste. Crumpet is a little cheese lover and always ready to try new cheeses, but these were too much. Blue cheese had too again too salty and manurelike taste. Goat cheese was rather young and again, pungent. Best of the selection was soft cowmilk cheese, which was rather plain in the end.

All in all it was nice to try out a "celebrity chef" restaurant and to see what the fuss is all about. In this case, we might ask, is it much ado about nothing? 

By Bean & Crumpet

All his private documents were secure in a safe-deposit box

London was/ Lontoo oli: Eurostar (fast & convenient - from city center to another - highly recomended/nopea & kätevä - keskustasta keskustaan - suosittelemme), King´s Cross/St.Pancras International (new and clean/uusi ja puhdas), Victoria Station (homestop/kotipysäkki), Best Western Victoria Palace (friendly staff & very clean room/ystävällinen henkilökunta & erittäin siisti huone), Sainsbury's (yes please/kyllä kiitos), 

Harrods (the food department does not compere to the one in Galleries Lafayette in Paris/ ruokaosasto ei vedä vertoja Pariisin Galleries Lafayettelle ),Victoria & Albert Museum (horn of plenty/runsaudensarvi) ,The V&A Café & roast lunch (must try in london - pictured above/pakko kokeilla - kuvassa), Grace Kelly - Style Icon -näyttely (full of retired Americans(mostly ladies)/täynnä eläkeikäisiä amerikkalaisnaisia), Suomen suurlähetystö (we just happened to come in the neighbourhood/satuttiin kulmille), 

Kettle Chips & ready-made dips/valmisdipit (why can't you get these from Finland/miksei näitä saa Suomesta?), tabloid papers/tabloid-lehdet (The Sun, Daily Express, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Daily Star - what absolutely marvelous tripe/mahtavaa hömppää), Maze Grill (owned by Gordon Ramsey - more of this later/Gordon Ramsey'n omistama - tästä lisää myöhemmin), Coach & Horses ja Iron Duke-pubs/pubit (half a pint & G&T), Mr Porky (we were obligated to try - yak - how can someone eat these?/oli pakko vihdoin kokeilla: yök - miten joku voi syödä näitä?),

Charing Cross Road and its book shops/ja sen kirjakaupat & Fopp (is there still room in the luggage?/paljonko laukkuun mahtuu?), Covent Garden Piazza & Punch and Judy pub (hello Pimm's), Paradise Indian Restaurant (extra sauces/lisäkastikkeina mm. chutney, raita, dal), Bean's birthday/Pavun synttärit& Ritz London & classic afternoon tea (more of this later/tästä lisää myöhemmin), Piccadilly Circus & Christopher Wrenin designed/suunnittelema kirkko St. James Piccadilly (was Wrens own favorite/Wrenin suosikki suunnittelemistaan), St. James´ Square and Park (hello duckies), London Black Cabs (even reasonable tipping got the cabbies to chat nicely/jo kohtuullinen tippaaminen sai kuskit jutustelemaan mukavia), 

St George´s Tavern (day time pint and Fish & Chips & Mushy Peas and Lincolnshire Whirl Sausage/päiväoluet ja illalla Fish & Chips & Mushy Peas ja Lincolnshire Whirl Sausage), Imperial War Museum (Keep Calm and Carry On - motto for our trip :) /tämä lause on ollut tämän matkan motto:)), Tate Britain (museum with reasonable size - Turner paintings were "a must see"/ihmisen kokoinen museo - lempparimme J.M.W. Turner oli "must see").

By Bean & Crumpet

But true

"It was the opinion of Dr Johnson that there is in London all that life can afford. A man, he held, who is tired of London is tired of life itself."

P.G. Wodehouse in Blandings Castle

By Bean & Crumpet

I shall then give him the works

Since we are hedding to London tomorrow, we are eating in tonight. This time delicacies were bought from Monoprix -chain, which selection makes us foodies in tears (and it's just a regular store, no more..).

On our plate: smoked salmon paste (ready made, in the picture), hummus (ready made) , chicken tabouleh (ready made) , lemony carrot salad (ready made), leek- and spinich quiche (from the stores bakery, in the picture), cherry tomatoes & salad mix (stores), fresh rasberry and tiramisu (ready made). Everything we bought was tasty and fresh. In the glass: Roche Mazet 2009 chardonnay (price - less than 5 euroes) that we just stumbled on in a near by shop.
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Koska huomenna suuntaamme Lontooseen, nautimme tänään iltapalan kotona. Herkut haimme tällä kertaa Monoprix -ketjun kaupasta, jonka valikoima saa kyllä tällaiset herkkusuut kyyneliin (ja kyseessä on ihan perusruokakauppa..).

Lautasella: savulohitahnaa (valmistuote, kuvassa), hummusta (valmistuote), kanatabulehia (valmistuote), sitruunaista porkkanaraastetta (valmistuote), purjo- ja pinaatti quichea (kaupan leipomosta, kuvassa), kirsikkatomaatteja & salaattisekoitusta (kaupan), tuoreita vadelmia, tiramisua (valmistuote). Kaikki ostamamme oli maistuvaa, raikasta, tuoretta. Lasissa: lähikaupasta arpomalla poimittu Roche Mazet 2009 chardonnay (hinta alle 5 euroa).

By Bean & Crumpet

It's a pip

In Paris one can install an elevator to a house from 1750, unlike in Finland.. Here every old house does not get the listed building status. This we've discovered  from our current home building.

Here are some shots from our view from the 75001 area, from the sixth floor penthouse. Life is, undeniably, pretty sweet just now..
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Pariisissa 1750-luvulla rakennettuun taloon saa asentaa hissin, toisin kuin Suomessa..Täällä jokainen vanha talo ei ylitä historiallisesti arvokkaan kynnystä. Tämän olemme siis todenneet tämänhetkisen kotitalomme perusteella.

Ohessa muutama kuva näkymistämme täältä 75001 alueelta, kuudennen kerroksen kattohuoneistosta. Elämä maistuu, kieltämättä, juuri nyt aika makealta..

By Bean & Crumpet

Tears of joy

Soon our journey together is about to begin, my little Bean, but before that I wanted to write something to You..

Every day I look at you - your beautiful, smiling face - and think, how lucky I am to be able to share my life with you. Your love makes me believe in myself and believe in humankind, to trust in life's ability to carry us (and think about the adventures still ahead of us). You've been by my side through overwhelming happiness and joy, through saddness and sickness (and we will get through everything together). I know that I can always trust in you and that you will always be there for me, my rock. 

I share everything with you and you know me throughout - you love me just the way I am (I know that). You are my best friend and the best spouse one could ever imagine. I always miss you when we are apart, even if it were for a little while (I know you feel the same). These years together with you have been the happiest of my life, time has just flown (has it really been nearly four years, my love?).

You make me laugh and rejoice about the little moments of life (you are truly funny and have the best sense of humor). Your romantic nature and tenderness towards me seems to be endless (you are so good to me and so generous in your love). I yearn for the scent of your skin and for your touch (you really know how, don't you, my darling). Your handsomeness brings me to my knees (he is my (!) man).

You are unselfish and kind and make me thrive to be a better person (thank you, love). You inspire me with you intellect and zest for knowledge. I admire your balance, modesty and beautiful nature. I want to give you all the goodness, happiness and love in this world (you deserve it all). My own rib-buddy, little button nose. I love you now, forever and always. 

Your Crumpet
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Kohta matkamme alkaa, Papuseni, mutta sitä ennen haluan kirjoittaa Sinulle jotain..

Joka ikinen päivä katselen sinua - kauniita, hymyileviä kasvojasi - ja mietin, kuinka onnekas olen, koska saan jakaa elämäni kanssasi. Rakkautesi saa minut uskomaan itseeni ja ihmisiin, luottamaan elämän kykyyn kantaa meitä (ja millaisia seikkailuja meillä onkaan vielä edessä). Olet ollut rinnallani läpi pakahduttavan ilon ja riemun, surun ja sairauden (me selviämme kaikesta yhdessä). Tiedän, että voin aina luottaa sinuun ja että olet aina tukenani, oma kallioni. 

Jaan kaiken kanssasi ja sinä tunnet minut läpikotaisin - rakastat minua juuri sellaisena kuin olen (tiedän sen). Olet paras ystäväni ja paras kumppani, mitä kuvitella voi. Kaipaan sinua aina, kun olemme erossa, vaikka vain lyhyen hetken ajan (tiedän, että tunnet samoin). Nämä vuodet kanssasi ovat olleet elämäni onnellisimmat, aika kanssasi on lentänyt (onko siitä jo kohta neljä vuotta, rakkaani?)   

Sinä saat minut nauramaan ja iloitsemaan elämän pienistä hetkistä (olet todella hauska ja huumorintajusi on loistava). Romanttisuutesi ja hellyytesi minua kohtaan tuntuu olevan loputonta (olet minua kohtaan niin hyvä ja rakkaudessasi antelias). Janoan ihosi tuoksua ja kosketustasi (miten sinä osaatkin sen, kultaseni). Komeutesi saa minut polvilleen (hän on minun(!) mieheni). 

Olet pyyteetön ja kiltti ja saat minut yrittämään olla parempi ihminen (kiitos rakas). Innostat minua älylläsi ja tiedonhalullasi. Ihailen tasapainoisuuttasi, vaatimattomuuttasi ja kaunista luonnettasi. Haluan antaa sinulle kaiken hyvän, onnen ja rakkauden tässä maailmassa (sinä ansaitset kaiken sen). Oma kylkimyyräni, pieni nöpönenäni. Rakastan sinua nyt, aina ja ikuisesti.

Sinun Murusi