I’m back in Paris after being home in the US for the holidays. While I didn’t originally intend on taking such a long pause from posting, it just kind of happened and I must say I really enjoyed it. It’s nice getting back into my normal routine, even with the lingering effects of jet lag. This week’s Five Friday Finds from France features a time-saving travel tip for flying into Paris, somMailier which is a fabulous French wine subscription box, a newsletter by the real Emily in Paris and more.
Time-Saving Paris Travel Tip: Arrive On A Weekend
My flight into Paris from Dallas always lands around 9:30 am, which you may or may not know is probably the worst time possible to try to get from CDG into the city. It always takes me 90 minutes if I’m lucky, and if there’s an especially bad wreck it can take 2+ hours to get to my apartment. I usually arrive on a weekday. This time I arrived on a Saturday and it only took me 34 minutes door-to-door, which is actually insane. It made all of the difference in the world and I’m not sure I’ll be able to go back to arriving on a weekday. If your schedule allows for flexibility, especially on a shorter trip, I highly recommend landing at CDG on a Saturday or Sunday.
As a side note, for what it’s worth, we found it much more stressful trying to find a PCR or Antigen test in the US within 48 hours of departure than it was in France. Even though going from France to the US requires a test within 24 hours of departure tests are much more readily available in France (and cheaper). If you need any help navigating entry and exit requirements feel free to contact me here.
somMailier French Wine Subscription
Over the holidays in Dallas we enjoyed some delicious French wines thanks to somMailier. They were kind enough to send me a C’est La Vie box to try and I was majorly impressed. It’s a quarterly subscription, and you have the choice of receiving three, six, or twelve bottles per shipment with reds, whites or a mix. I’ve tried other wine subscriptions in the past, but none has been as impressive as somMailier.
Each of the French wines selected are exclusive to somMailier and otherwise not available in the US. The founder, Laurent Yung comes from five generations of winemakers in Bordeaux and started the club after he lived in the US for a while and started missing French wines. His brother owns a wine distribution company in Paris, so they work together to source these small boutique wines.
Each of the bottles comes with a card that tells you about the wine, winemaker, grape variety, region, climate, and a recommended food pairing. There’s also notes on the aromas and flavors with a place for you to make your own notes. In case you misplace the card, on the back of each bottle it also gives you a recommended serving temperature, when to drink (now or store up to however many years), ideal pairings, and the grape variety.
I’m not a wine expert, but I love this approachable way of learning about different wines from different regions. It’s almost like a mini wine tasting with an expert in the comfort of your own home and whenever you want. I highly recommend trying somMailier – you can also ship wines as a gift or purchase individual wines from their online wine cellar.
The Real Emily in Paris’ Newsletter
I watched (binged) Emily in Paris this week. While I personally really enjoy the show, if you want to know what life in Paris is like from the perspective of an Emily who actually lives here, you need to sign up for this newsletter. She shares bits of real, every day life in Paris including recommendations on what to read, follow, listen to and watch, what her family ate (there’s a section devoted to cheese), and a recipe. Last week’s recipe was for a blood orange tea cake with the prettiest pink, naturally colored icing. I can’t wait to get together with Emily soon for a blood orange tea cake and blood orange margarita pairing! You can sign up for Emily’s newsletter here and shop her collection of prints here.
Pink Heart Market Basket
I love a pop of pink, and for Valentines Day or spring and summer I think this pink embroidered heart market basket is adorable. Each tote is hand-embroidered with pink hearts all over and is lined with a cotton drawstring interior. This bag would make shopping at the marché even more enjoyable or would also be great for the beach!
The Green Garlic Germ: To Remove or Not?
Before I moved to Paris whenever a recipe called for minced garlic I reached into the fridge and got the jar of pre-minced garlic out. Surprise, surprise – this type of pre-prepared garlic doesn’t exist in France (or not that I’ve seen). Mincing garlic is never a fun task and one time when I was making mayonnaise Romain called me out for not removing the germ. He claimed that everyone does this in France.
I would take it out if it was sprouting out from the top, but otherwise it seemed like an unnecessary step to me. I finally asked Emily (see above!) what she did this week, and she referred me to this article by David Lebovitz. Emily works with David and interestingly enough she said this is how she originally found his blog. I recommend reading the article, but from now on I will be team removing the germ when using the garlic raw.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s Five Friday Finds from France. I’ll be back tomorrow with Weekend Links!
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