The Perfect Pain au Chocolat in Vancouver

This morning I was transported back to Paris.

In that moment, it felt like I was sitting here. This was often my view last August Paris, after a leisurely breakfast at our fav local cafe. Crumbs, an empty cup and a doodle. And a feeling of joy and excitement and contentment all mixed together.
This was the view across the street that we looked up at every day. Took lots of pics of this church, in different lights. Oh, morning was often 10... that was, if I got up "early".... heh...

Pic of two local pals here who have been, like, me, seeking good pain au chocolat in Vancouver... That's my niece Branwen and my friend Marjorie.

A very special treat in Paris -- though it's so reasonable and so good that you might have it every couple of days -- is fresh fruit tarts. They are to die for!!! While they usually come in a simple plain white box, on my last full day there I went out to get tarts for the 3 of us , and they came in this amazing little parcel! I think there was a piece of cardboard underneat them, then the paper was wrapped in string with a bow.

Here they are, moments before they were devoured, along with some incredible decadent chocolate cream puffy things that we also tried to consume. Wine helped us in this endeavor.

This is evidence of this morning's jaunt back to Paris.... if only in my heart and mind. The tart is safely tucked in the fridge and the baguette won't last long, I'm sure....

I don't think I can describe this morning's experience any better that what I just wrattled off in an email to B and M, so I'll quote myself:

"Bonjour ladies, I found it! Chopain Boulagerie, 1165 Davie, across from Kin's market. i just had a to-die-for fresh pain au chocolat right off the oven cooling racks.... they didn't look at me weird when I ordered Cafe a lait (instead of a latte), and i walked home with two more treasures: a fresh baguette (still warm, though haven't tasted it yet, give me 10 minutes and I'll weaken) and a very French little raspberry tart in it's plain white box. ! yum ! "

I overheard the owner talking to ahother customer. Apparently this is the third location in Vancouver for Chopain, and he came to Canada when he was 18 (maybe in his 50's now?) is the . Visit and you will be in heaven.

I am really learning about the power of a photograph lately, when I see a pic taken on my trip I am truly transported back. Sometimes there is a moment of a heart tug, where I feel a little bit sad, that I'm not there anymore... but it shifts pretty quickly to just enjoying and savouring the memories.

Sometimes when I find myself going into my pics to find a certain pic to illustrate something I'm thinking or feeling when writing here, I find myself transported away, and I can get happily lost there for hours. That's very special to me.

I have thousands -- and I really DO mean thousandS - of pictures from my trip, and I've only just begun to sort them. But it's such pleasure when I putter away at this. It's going to keep me busy for a long time.

I've actually started to identify what I think are the top 10 pictures I've taken on my trip, from a "photography" perspective (not that I know what I'm doing!) and am up to 5. It's fun to ponder such things. It's compelling and it's much of what inspires me these days.