JUMP TO:

5 Random Things I Did This Weekend

A nice pleasant weekend at home – here’s what we were up to!

1) A Michelin Starred Lunch

Living in Paris we’re surrounded by incredible food.  I think as a tourist you can easily get trapped into crappy spots that fake a French experience.  But the more we live here the more we find incredible restaurants just a few blocks away.  Sure there are the famed 3-star Michelin restaurant options –but those set you back hundreds of Euros per person (a total of 9 of these in the city).  Instead, we prefer the spots that either haven’t yet gotten a single star, or have a single star.  Those are far more reasonable, and we generally find the dining experience better.  I think these spots are on the up and up, versus the 3-stars get more comfortable at the top and know they’re just a money machine.

In any case, there’s a Michelin starred (1 Star) roughly 1 block from the DCR Cave & Bertie’s Cake Studio, called Itinéraires.  We walk past it multiple times a day, and for whatever reason have never gone.  Finally, we took to Friday as reason to celebrate (more on that shortly) and decided to pay it a visit for lunch.

Proper lunches in France (especially Paris) are known for their length, but also often their set menu’s.  In this case the place offered a set menu for 49EUR, roughly half of what it would cost for dinner (per person).

IMG_2145

Without getting into too much detail, here’s a few shots of our dishes over the course of the two hours there:

IMG_2147

IMG_2148

IMG_2149

IMG_2152

IMG_2153

IMG_2155

So good.  And so close to us!  We’ll definitely be back.  And we got to know the owners as well, who incidentally had seen our spot and were curious about it.  So good chatting with them.

I suspect this one will shortly make its way onto my Paris Restaurants listings.

Oh – and in case you’re wondering – we evened it out for dinner on the cost front. We had Top Ramen. Seriously.

2) Friday Night Trainer Ride

After our multi-course meal we were feeling a wee bit full.  I tried to walk it off doing a bunch of errands, but eventually I decided I needed to work off the food a bit more vigorously.  I had seen that Zwift had updated their platform to include the new Workout Mode.  So I got my bike all ready and trainer set and everything else that seems to be involved when I do a workout (19 devices, etc…)

IMG_9902

Then I got into Zwift ready to tackle the workout mode that was touted in that morning’s e-mail.

IMG_2160

Turns out…wasn’t quite ready yet.  Sadly, it was back to regular Zwift mode instead.  Oh well, I’d get a chance to try it on Sunday for realz, of which you’ll find my thoughts posted mid-Monday or so.  Still, quite cool.

Instead, I just spent 40ish minutes cooking away on the Tacx NEO up in the mountains of regular Zwift.  I ended up recording a video of it, since some folks wanted more clarity on the noise levels there.  I speak briefly at the 1min, 20min, 30min, and 40min markers.  Otherwise, just silence.

IMG_2165

Well, silence and my must-lube and clean chain.

3) Cake Deliveries & A Walk In The Woods

Saturday afternoon we had a handful of cake deliveries to make.  Most folks end up picking up our cakes from the main CupCakery, though sometimes from the Cake Studio if it’s too big to hold at the CupCakery.  Most cakes start their life at the CupCakery in the morning, when the morning baker does the baking part as part of the regular batches of cupcakes for that day.  Then she (we currently only have gals as bakers) preps any icing made.  At the end of her shift she walks or bikes over to the Cake Studio, where the cake takes form from the base cake pieces.  This may take less than an hour for simple cakes, or days for heavily complex multi-tier cakes.

In any case, after The Girl wrapped up on two different cakes – a proposal cake and a wedding cake.

IMG_9893

IMG_9892

IMG_9877

The proposal cake was relatively easy to deliver, only a few blocks away.  Whereas the wedding cake was on the opposite side of Paris right on the very edge of the park (and thus the city limits), sitting at Chalet de la Porte Jaune.  So we drove the cake up there, and took Lucy along for the ride.  The Girl went in to drop it off, while Lucy and I held down the fort in the Autolib.

IMG_2169

We then drove about 1KM away to the nearest Autolib station and ditched the car.  That’s really the best part about Autolib – just dropping it off wherever you’d like.  From there it was a nice sunset walk across Bois de Vincennes, the largest park in Paris:

IMG_2172

We’d end up walking a few miles – just enjoying the beautiful night and the quiet of the woods.  And of course, Lucy enjoying everything to do with her first fall and leaves on the ground.

IMG_2174

IMG_2203

We actually stumbled upon them setting up a course for a race in the morning.

IMG_2186

Eventually, we’d find the end of the metro line and hop on the subway for the quick and easy ride home.

4) Paris Velo To Brunch

Sunday morning was exceedingly lazy.  In fact, perhaps a little too lazy.  Had we looked out our windows we’d have found the Paris Velo crit race/event going on.  Doh!  They had shut down a roughly 8KM loop around the core of the city (super cool!).

IMG_2209

And when not in use by the race, it was a great way for runners and other cyclists to make their way around the city:

IMG_2213

Best of all was that the vast majority of the crossings were closed (and those that weren’t were manned by staff/police) – so it made for quick travelling across the city by bike.  By car however, it was horrendous.

IMG_2214

We were headed to brunch with friends at Ellsworth.  It’s been a long while since we’ve been there, really since opening night.  Shame – such good food too!

The brunch is tapas style, and I’ll highlight just two of our four courses.  Somewhat of a blend of French and American cuisine.

IMG_2218

IMG_2217

A little different than chicken fried waffles.  Though, I’d happily eat some of those too!

5) Painting the DCR Offices…and more!

Finally – last but not least, some renovations.  A few weeks ago we had been temporarily kicked out of our apartment while they installed new wood floors – removing some hideous basket weave flooring we used to have.  Well, to be precise they did one floor, but not the main floor.  Somehow it would have taken another 4 weeks (over the original 2 weeks) to install the main floor, which is roughly the same size.

Once that was all said and done, it was like having a new apartment – so nice!  However, The Girl decided to kick it up a notch while I was away on a work trip last week and painted things.  This included doing accent walls in the bedroom as well as re-doing the entire bedroom with white (it was a sorta-ugly cream color before).  Here’s her handy-work:

IMG_9846

IMG_9871

Next, we’ve been talking about painting one of the walls in the office for some time (down at the Studio).  Our office area is usually a bit…crazy…in terms of being the drop-off point for everything.  So it’s rare that it’s clean enough to actually accomplish this.  But today, it worked out.  So starting this evening after our workouts we gave it a whirl and started painting:

IMG_2284

It’s not done yet though – so you’ll have to wait for that!

IMG_2286

With that – onto the week.  This may take the cake on one of the busiest weeks in DCR history as far as product reviews go (and also, some pretty big news!).

Thanks for reading!

FOUND THIS POST USEFUL? SUPPORT THE SITE!

Hopefully, you found this post useful. The website is really a labor of love, so please consider becoming a DC RAINMAKER Supporter. This gets you an ad-free experience, and access to our (mostly) bi-monthly behind-the-scenes video series of “Shed Talkin’”.

Support DCRainMaker - Shop on Amazon

Otherwise, perhaps consider using the below link if shopping on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot. It could simply be buying toilet paper, or this pizza oven we use and love.

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked.
If you would like a profile picture, simply register at Gravatar, which works here on DCR and across the web.

Click here to Subscribe without commenting

Add a picture

*

33 Comments

  1. Hugo

    That’s the view of your bedroom? It’s quite nice.
    And nice food, it looks yummy

  2. The floors looks great! And I really like the colour of the accent walls. Well done :)

  3. ToniM

    Is the glass of water for you or The Girl? Just trying to guess the big news is on the tech or personal side….

    • Bart

      Not sure what it could be, but a glass of water after last weeks blind wine tasting doesn’t really match.
      So i would go for something that took more than 9 months to create and that would be the European warehouse (it had great resemblance with projects on Kickstarter sliding the date forward time after time).
      So this week a huge amount of reviews which can all be bought directly in the European warehouse.
      (Is there a giveaway attached for the first right guess? :-))

  4. Nice view from your bedroom.

  5. Garry Curley

    I think the news may be quite life changing, especially for Lucy…

  6. Adam

    I think the big news is that Ray’s shutting down the blog.

    Buoyed by his inclusion on the “50 most influential people in running” list, he’s decided that giving all of this information away for free is completely crazy and he’s going to start a VIP-sports-technology-boot-camp that charges high-class clientele €1000-a-day to attend a crash course in today’s sport-related technology.

    If this isn’t the big news then it should be. I’d be happy to draw up a business case for a 50% stake, just let me know ;)

  7. Captain Chris

    Wow! Great view from The Arena!

  8. DS

    Well, if the girl is suddenly repainting everything, I’m putting my money that the big news is a Minimaker.

  9. What an amazing view from the bedroom! And congrats on the kid :)

  10. Joe

    $54/person for lunch!!?? Wow. I hope the food was excellent. I think I’d be eating Ramen for dinner too. I’m curious, haven’t you gotten to the point where you can speak enough French to get by, or do a lot of the restaurant owners speak English? I think I’d be hard pressed to order anything off of the menu.

  11. Mario Lira Junior

    Ray, doing this switch and bait (or is bait and switch?) is really cruel… all of your readers are innately curious, and you pull up something like this on us?
    Shame on you (or most likely, congrats to both of you). Just remember to let the baby crawl before registering him/her on the first triathlon

  12. Robert

    The Girl’s cakes are amazing looking!

  13. The final photo, with the paint roller, is hilarious.

  14. Hi Ray,

    Do you know if the Euro prices of the Vector will drop as well? I can see the new prices on the US site, but on the Europe countries (France, Netherlands), i still see the old prices

    Thanks

  15. Mike

    Long time poster, first-time reader here. Ok, I figured it all out. But first, from a knuckle dragging Merican, I didn’t see any food in your lunch pictures.

    Ray is quitting his regular job to do this full-time. There will be a new Maker in the relatively near future. No, the girl does not look pregnant and Ray, if she ever asks if she looks pregnant don’t answer, just run. The Makers are moving back to Merica because they know that we (Mericans) will consume a lot more cupcakes than French people.

    Also, the moon landing was faked, Kennedy and Elvis are roommates in Bermuda and “they” are watching and listening.

    You’re welcome!

  16. Mike

    I forgot to add the part about The Girl taking over the podcast.

  17. Julian Wong

    Eagerly awaiting your review on the Edge 520 =).

    • Judith

      That was posted 1st July….? I already bought mine after reading the review :)

    • To be fair, it was technically a first look thingy and not a review. A full-on review is on my plate. Just a case of writing, I’ve got more than enough time for an opinion (I love it, minus one quirk with BLE connection drops).

  18. Nicholas

    My guess for the big news is also a miniMaker!

  19. Jens

    I don’t know, wouldn’t it take some time to announce offspring and weren’t they at a wine tasting last week? Oh my, I think I’ve become some kind of fan…

  20. Rick

    Congrats on the big news…whatever it is.

    PS. The wife and I will be in Paris over Thanksgiving weekend and hope to stop by the Cup Cakery for a treat. Will the shop be open?

  21. Chris Barber

    Handing in notice at work and full time blogging?

  22. Deb

    I hope you two realize how lucky you are to have such a life and a perfect apartment in Paris, since I’m a Francophile and don’t have the luxury of living in Paris, just visiting. When you are ready to move out, just let me know. Love your website, been to the Cup Cakery (yum). Congratulations on whatever the secret is.

  23. John S.

    Jeez, some of you people are baby crazy. My bet is that Ray has a European equivalent to the Clever Training discount.

  24. Sebastien Gagne

    My bet is that the Girl is pregnant ! Ray is having wine while she’s having water in that dinner.

  25. Stuart

    Product developer for Apple

  26. You’re killing us with so many hints! Baby Maker? (haha…. oh boy, maybe Baby Cupcake should be the code name instead ;) Or moving to full-time site management? Orrrr opening a cycling shop to help all your customers burn off the CupCakery calories?