There is something of a force majeure about Paris that indubitably exhilarates the libido. I think most would agree that it is so easy to be in a constant state of excitement, sexual and otherwise, while gallivanting around this charismatic and stimulating city. Monsieur L reveals that it is not so much in the air or anything as ethereal as that [and it has really become much too polluted], but the “love” thing about Paris is actually quite solidly grounded in the earth – something to do with certain amorous energy emanating from some anomalous type of geological formation infused with a mysteriously erogenous magnetic composite core…!
Hmmm…really, really?? My attention begins to wander off as the far from titillating scientific details drone on! Then again, it could just be a really good line for une grande séduction, and that wily Monsieur L does know how to pull my legs sometimes! He claims that his manly vigor tend to incite spontaneously upon arrival in Paris, as opposed to Geneva, where he has another home, and where he feels a heaviness that seems to dissipate any wanton vitality.
Well, whatever it is and wherever it comes from, this invigorating forcefield is definitely palpable and even highly charged at times, voluptuously intensifying most, if not all, experiences here. Beyond sex, of course, eating would be the next most sensually arousing and pleasurable activity, and wie Gott in Frankreich, how could one not indulge while in Paris…but always in moderation be damned!
Comestible…victual…sustenance…la nourriture…l’alimentation – the English and French words for such glorious food can sound somewhat clinical, sterile even, and the plainer word “food” is just downright homey. I hope to propose a more salacious mouthful to refer to such stirringly seductive taste sensations. Always inspired by the transcendently luscious desserts from some of the incomparable pâtisseries of Paris, one of the most tantalizing of French concoctions has still to be the evocatively creamy crème brulée. It is understatedly exquisite in its classic simplicity and its tremulous delicacy, evoking equal parts childish nostalgic comfort and unbridled carnal pleasure. The uninhibited state induced while savouring this sex-in-a-pot can only be described as orally rapturous!
Monsieur L has finally taken to cooking of late after a lifetime of culinary denial and I am pleasantly surprised by his efforts. We both prefer seafood and his scallops poached in coconut milk is quite succulently ambrosial. On cooler fall days, we would simmer a pot-au-fer that is so comfort-food-delicious smelling, I am happy to just taste the air alone.
Days in Paris can pass blissfully by while lingering from meal to bacchanalian meal [well, not always so energetic!], be it home-cooked by a determined and potent frenchman or a long lazy lunch in a tucked away little bistro with steamed-up windows…until it is almost time for a few fragrant macarons and an aphrodisiac chocolat chaud at the decadently precious Ladurée, always teeming with an intriguing assortment of habitués and tourists coming and going. And then, of course, to stretch that out towards the dinner hour, when in search of a quietly intimate neighbourhood restaurant, we are inevitably lured into a noisily animated one, to be held captive by its amusingly intense patron far into the evening – he who must have felt entitled to our rapt attention after plying us with such an orgiastic amount of his lusty fare!
Hmm…”Lusty fare”?…”Lustenance”?…”Lustifare”!…but of course! I do believe that I have found a suitably lascivious term at last for the exalted food in France! And the epitome of this new word can be represented by these two truly incroyable desserts from Dalloyau… the Tourbillon Caramel [biscuit Trocadero caramel, croustillant praliné amande, crème caramel, crémeux vanille et caramel mou] and the Religeuse de Rêve chocolat [pâte à choux garnie d'une crème pâtissière au chocolat, déposée sur un fond de pâte sucrée garnie de crème d'amandes].
Only to elicit more of those whirling inflamed passions and lusty sacrilegious dreams, indeed!
[Addendum: Since the word "lustifare" is my own invention and not found anywhere (that I can google anyways), I have decided to trademark it for my own use...you know, in case I open an erotic vegetarian bistro or produce a line of hot zesty muffins!]
