Tango dancers by BoteroOn my last night in Paris we all went out for a lovely Lebanese meal at Phénicia. It's posh Leb, with tablecloths, Fairouz warbling discreetly in the background and subdued lighting, none of your doner kebabs and belly dancers wobbling their navels in your face. Vi and I clinked kir royales and Desmond woke up long enough to order a pastis, before demolishing a selection of mezze, which if I remember correctly, consisted of kebbe (lemon shaped meatballs with a crunchy coating), stufffed vine leaves, spicy sausage, tabboulé and Lebanese flat bread. The Hornblowers have healthy appetites, and even the children attacked a main course. I had skewered lamb, which was tender and perfectly cooked - just pink inside. The wine was Lebanese Chateau Musar and surprisingly pleasant. Not cheap, mind you, but at least there were no burnt bits to set Hepzibah off.
Children get bored easily, so I lent Hepzibah my camera to keep her quiet. She took some rather good pictures of the food:
Children get bored easily, so I lent Hepzibah my camera to keep her quiet. She took some rather good pictures of the food:
Kebbe by Hepzibah HornblowerThe children have been schooled early in art appreciation. Hermione, for example, is a fan of Kandinsky. Hepzibah, being a typical 9-year-old, found the Botero painting on the wall fascinating and took a photograph. It's a bit out of focus. Can you see which part of the painting it is, boys and girls?
We thought we were stuffed after all that, but still found room for a plate of baklava pastries shared between us, which we adults washed down with mint tea. Service was unobtrusive but attentive, and the best thing was we only had about 20 metres to waddle back to bed.
