To love Paris

Well who doesn't love Paris! And the cookbook The Little Paris Kitchen is a jem and so are Rachel Koo's cooking programme. It brings me right back to my days as a 19-year old living the bohemian life in Paris. It was in a tiny room, shared WC, an electric portable stove and no fridge - which worked OKsh up till April when it became a bit too hot to have the yogurts on the window sill outside...But who cared. I could by fresh baguettes and brie cheese every day as well as cafe au lait, cheap wine and green apples (OK, and quite a few French cigarettes). Perhaps not a balanced diet. As a student there weren't many opportunities to try out the French cuisine at the expensive restaurants but as long as there were wine, crepes, cheese and baguettes it didn't matter that much.

I studied french and History of Art at Sorbonne and worked two hours a day in a family as an Au-pair. My salary was that tiny room and a shower in their bathroom/week (Madame claimed that the hot water was so expensive...). This meant I had a gym membership and was a good way to get me going to the gym everyday and do some exercise.

One of my best memories was when a group of us were out having wine in the Bastille area and we started talking to this Moroccan guy, who was a social worker, and who lived nearby. At around midnight he invited all of us to his tiny flat and cooked up a Moroccan feast with couscous and Moroccan style stews and we had a fab time. Oh la la.

Admittedly, not much cooking was done on the little stove apart from omelettes and haricots verts but watching Koo's programme and having the cookbook at hand, it still reminds me of my days in Paris. I'm so glad I did go, on my own not knowing a single soul. I met up with some great people (mainly Swedes though...) and one of them is still a very dear friend today.