# Of Surprises and Desserts: A Parisian MMP **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** mmp\ **Created:** [June 8, 2009, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082 "2009-06-08T11:22:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/1 "2009-06-08T11:22:42Z")
**First installment: Getting to Stuttgart** As most of the Western World knows (and even some of the Eastern….), I was lucky enough to take a last-second, spontaneous trip to Paris a couple of weeks ago. I had just over a week to plan the trip (including acquiring a new passport), but I managed to do this, quite cheaply. My itinerary wound up including Germany, because we were only going to be in Paris for four days and I had to be there at least 7 days in order to get a cheap flight. By complete coincidence, the cheapest flight available took me through Paris on the way to and from Germany. In general, the trip was uneventful (for which I’m grateful), but I did encounter a few surprises along the way. For example, when I was on the last leg of my trip, I nearly missed the part where my plane was boarding. And…when I was finally on the little bus that we took to the plane, we were very gently sideswiped by another airline’s baggage cart. This led our bus driver to a discussion with the other driver that included much pointing at what can’t have been more than a little scratch or two. Eventually, another bus stopped by to pick us up and take us to our plane. By then we were already a few minutes late. I was seated in the last row, with a birds’ eye view of the baggage handlers. Don’t ask me why our luggage wasn’t already loaded, but there were three baggage handlers on the tarmac. One of the carts was still full and there were several items on the tarmac. And, of course, the baggage handlers were not handling baggage, but rather discussing the obviously mis-loaded baggage that was on the tarmac. ::Le sigh:: After a few minutes, they proceeded to load the baggage into our plane and sent the misplaced baggage off to parts unknown. I’ll bet you’re wondering about my fixation on baggage, aren’t you. Guess why! Yes, when I arrived in Stuttgart, I had the joy of watching baggage go round and round and round without seeing my beloved square suitcase. The plane was small, so it only took a few minutes for all the baggage to be out. I got my tired self over to the desk and had a lovely conversation with the nice lady, where my only language issue was remembering how to say “square” in German. The nice lady gave me an emergency toiletries kit (including an extra-large Sky Team t-shirt – woo hoo!!!). She also assured me that they’d get my luggage to me by taxi, no problem! I’ll bet you know by now that that didn’t happen. It’s a really good thing that Faraway Best Friend and I are almost the same size. Why is it that there’s so much to tell? And I need to go to work today? While you’re waiting for the next installment (mid-evening tonight because I’m going to the movies after work), entertain yourself with the beginnings of my pictures. I’ve created a [Paris collection](http://www.flickr.com/photos/gardentraveler/collections/72157619343653323/) that has most of the pictures that go with this story. Haven’t added all the descriptions and some of them are a bit scrambled, but I figure they’re ready to start looking at…. Here’s my [photostream](http://www.flickr.com/photos/gardentraveler/)if you want to just browse through them. Happy Monday ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/2 "2009-06-08T11:27:58Z")
First? 🙂 Nice OP! Well, nice for us… missing baggage is not generally a nice way to spend a vacation ☹ At least (I gather) you did eventually get your luggage back…? Happy Monday, everybody! ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/3 "2009-06-08T11:32:00Z")
Lost luggage- oh no! But off to Paris… how nice! Hi **Special One**! ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/4 "2009-06-08T11:38:23Z")
Monday blurfs. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/5 "2009-06-08T12:04:22Z")
My parents and I flew to Alpena, Michigan, and our luggage went to San Diego. Now I keep my socks and Underoos in my carry on luggage. **gt** , your identical twin was shopping at my store Saturday. Off to work, I can haz vakashun naow? Kaithnxbai! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/6 "2009-06-08T12:40:55Z")
Paris on a whim. You are indeed a righteous traveler. ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/7 "2009-06-08T13:18:34Z")
**gt** , I am wanting to go so bad now. Too bad I need to save up enough money first. ☹ Sorry about your luggage. **bobbio** , saw your post about the polish dish and at first I thought you were talking about [halupkis](http://www.stasek.com/recipes/halupki.html), but I see now it’s a different dish. I made this [crock pot chicken recipe](http://family.go.com/food/recipe-cp-629858-chicken-and-wild-rice-casserole-t/) yesterday. It was really good and easy. Is it Firday yet? Tupug ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/8 "2009-06-08T13:52:48Z")
Très jolie, **gt**! Mom’s internet is a triple-service from the cable company; “there is an incidence in your zone regarding no internet supply, supply will be restored as soon as possible.” So how come I’m writing this? 'Cos I got a dongle. Spanish hotels often charge extra for internet services, with completely outrageous prices and horrid service: I remember one which had Swisscom and all you could access were webpages, but then it had to be webpages that didn’t need a password (so no company webmail, no gmail… :smack:). These dongle thingees are like hooking your computer to a cellphone; the package I got charges me only if I use it, so far I’ve only used it once to check that it worked and today. I’ve been trying to buy the tickets for the summer vacation, but renfe’s webpage is ultra-mega-slow. Buying through the webpage is about half the price of going to the train station. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/9 "2009-06-08T14:14:54Z")
Oooh my, **GT** - wonderful pictures and what a great OP! Sorry about your luggage, though–looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip. Good Og did that strawberry cake look good in the Stuttgart picture, btw!! 😛 You look like you were having a really grand time too. Up and caffeinated and at work. Hey **SpecialOne**! Good to see you, and you too, **BBBBobbio**. And **Puggy** - I too want to go to Paris now. 🙂 Hey **Soapy** , how you doing? 🙂 And **Doggio** and **lieu** too! I forgot to toss a congrats to Nellie for defending herself from Gordy over the weekend, btw, **Doggio**! LOL OOh, **Nava** - glad that you have the dongle. Hope your vacation plans work out for you!! ---
**Author:** ![taxi78cab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47c2d/32.png) [@taxi78cab](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taxi78cab)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/10 "2009-06-08T14:25:33Z")
Good weekend here. It rained all Saturday (which we _badly_ needed so it was good) and was cold out so it was a perfect excuse to stay inside and bake. I made [Moxie’s bacon coffeecake](http://moxie.blogs.com/moxie/2009/04/baconbrown-sugar-coffee-cake.html), which I think someone here had linked to a couple weeks ago. That stuff is gooooooooood! I highly recommend trying it if you’re a bacon fan. It’s coffee cake. That tastes like bacon. Seriously. Sounds weird, but the balance of sweetness and saltiness is great. I did add some of the rendered bacon fat into the brown sugar and oats, and I think that helped distribute the bacon-y goodness throughout the cake better. I’d try that if you make it. Then I made some wheat bread, which I do somewhat regularly 'cause we like it for toast. Then, inspired by the success of the crystalized ginger in the chocolate chip cookies last week, plus thoughts of Trader Joe’s triple gingersnaps, plus **Haze** ’s lesbian chocolate gingerbread, I invented double chocolate, double ginger cookies. They were AMAZING! Here’s the recipe: Double chocolate, double ginger cookies 3/4 C butter (1 1/2 sticks) 1 C sugar 1 egg 1/4 C molasses 1 3/4 C flour 1/4 C cocoa powder (unsweetened) 1 Tbsp powdered ginger 1 tsp cinnamon (I used this but it’s probably optional… so much going on that it really isn’t noticeable.) 2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 C chocolate chips 1 C small chunks of crystalized ginger Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg and molasses. Mix together dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, spices, baking soda, and salt). Add a quarter at a time to the butter mixture and stir to combine. Repeat until all flour is incorporated. Stir in chips and crystalized ginger. Mix to combine. Drop by tablespoonful onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 min. And THEN I made the cake-y/cookie part for some whoopie pies that I’m going to bring in to work for a coworker’s birthday tomorrow. I’ll make the filling tonight and assemble them tomorrow. We’ll see how those turn out. Sunday we went to the zoo. We thought the cool, overcast weather would keep people away, but apparently not. It was crowded! Two of the grizzleys were play fighting, which was great. KT got some pictures, which I’ll try to get posted later. The prairie dogs had a ton of babies, which were really cute. Plus a couple of the adult prairie dogs were having a dispute about the placement of a tunnel. One of them was digging the tunnel out, and another one was shoving dirt, quite deliberately, back into the tunnel, and then the first one was “yelling,” in high pitched, prairie-dog tones, at the second one. Hilarious. They’ve got a special Africa exhibit for the summer (We usually don’t have any of the larger African animals at the zoo.) including giraffes and zebras, but it was so cold yesterday that the giraffes had to be kept inside, off exhibit. Oh well. We went to an Afghan place for dinner that we went to when we were first here but that we haven’t been to in more than 3 years. And we wondered why not because the food was excellent. We’ll have to go back in less than 3 years this time. Preferably in less than 1 year! Now it’s back to work. But only 4 days this week. We’re going to Milwaukee this weekend and taking Friday off to get headed out sooner. That’ll be nice. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/11 "2009-06-08T14:37:05Z")
> [@gardentraveler](#): > > **First installment: Getting to Stuttgart** > > As most of the Western World knows (and even some of the Eastern….), I was lucky enough to take a last-second, spontaneous trip to Paris a couple of weeks ago. I had just over a week to plan the trip (including acquiring a new passport), but I managed to do this, quite cheaply. > > My itinerary wound up including Germany, because we were only going to be in Paris for four days and I had to be there at least 7 days in order to get a cheap flight. By complete coincidence, the cheapest flight available took me through Paris on the way to and from Germany. I am SO not paying attention. Sad that you were in Stuttgart and didn’t even give me a call. Unless you were only at the airport. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/12 "2009-06-08T14:58:06Z")
Nice OP, **gt**! It looks so clean and pretty there. I’m jealous! I’m jealous of **rigs** , too. How long is her trip to Iceland supposed to last? I can’t wait to see her pics. All y’all will get from me for vacation this year is pictures of my family reunion. 😉 I just couldn’t enough socializing this weekend, so I invited our neighbors to dinner last night. I made chicken fajitas, guacamole, a pot of beans, and Spanish rice. It was so nice out, so we sat around outside drinking beer (or bourbon!) until 10:00 or so. It was a lovely weekend! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/13 "2009-06-08T14:59:03Z")
Called Renfe’s webpage customer support. Got a guy with an Argentinian accent; there were two other guys talking in the background (“ah, sarcaahm workh well, anh if not, yhou can ahlwayh sen’em to f\*\*\* deir mother if dey know 'er”). According to 1.Argentinian and to the guy who came to give him extra instructions, Renfe’s webpage requires IE and doesn’t play well with Vista. Way to go, Renfe, trust a Spanish monopoly to be able to ef up their sales web. Recipe for Spanish rice? I’m curious about which of the zillion rice recipes got that name at Chez Rebo 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/14 "2009-06-08T15:35:51Z")
> [@tarragon918](#): > > Good to see you, and you too, **BBBBobbio**. Hey darlin’, how you doin’? ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/15 "2009-06-08T15:45:22Z")
Howdy Y’all! I’m takin’ a pool loungin’ break. One must pace oneself while loungin’ after all. 😃 Nice op **gt**! So, what did you plant in Paris and Stuttgart? 😛 Tonight’s dindin shall be grilled poke chops, field peas and corn. Should be good! Now if you all will pardon me, the bougainvillea that has mysteriously sprouted on my shoulders needs to be trimmed. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/16 "2009-06-08T15:52:28Z")
> [@\*\*Nava\*\*](#): > > Recipe for Spanish rice? I’m curious about which of the zillion rice recipes got that name at Chez Rebo Heh - I doubt it’s very authentic! 😉 **Spanish Rice** 2 tsp olive oil 1/4 bell pepper, diced small 1/4 onion, diced small 1 clove garlic, minced 1 cup rice 2 cups chicken stock 1 tbs tomato paste (or tomato sauce, juice, or V8 - just use 1/4 cup and 1-3/4 cup stock) 1/2 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp chili powder Salt and pepper to taste pinch of saffron (optional) Saute the veggies in a medium saucepot for a bit over medium heat. Add the rice and stir to coat with oil. Saute a bit more. Add the stock and tomato paste, add the seasonings, stir well. Raise heat and bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![flyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@flyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyboy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/17 "2009-06-08T16:14:12Z")
You’ve got a lot of nerve, what with the name of the thread and only \*one dessert \*amongst all your pictures. :dubious: And lordy did it look good. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/18 "2009-06-08T17:06:19Z")
Blurf. Going to the dentist, running late. Sorry about your luggage, **gt**. More later. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/19 "2009-06-08T17:34:43Z")
It’s weird around my office today. Nothing strange inside the building - it’s all of the unusual goings-on literally wrapping around the building. Scads and scads of geeky Apple developers in for the WWDC or World-Wide Developers Conference. This building is next to the conference hall, so the line of people waiting to get in has to go somewhere. People in blindingly orange shirts are valiantly trying to corral the mobs to keep our front door and freight dock clear, and a horse-drawn carriage carrying a bevy of barely-clad women promoting some sort of pornographic whatever just rolled past. I’d wager that their high beams are on as it’s a bit, ahhh, nippy out there and the horse’s bridle covers more skin than all three of their bikinis. Looks like holding an iPhone and a cup of coffee are required for admission to the convention center. Is it Friday yet? ---
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082/20 "2009-06-08T18:18:20Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > Hey darlin’, how you doin’? 🙂 Thanks, **BBBBobbio** , you made my day. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-surprises-and-desserts-a-parisian-mmp/499082.md?page=2)