http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YBj2xF294p4

I wake early as this is my last day in Rome. Our flight to Paris leaves at 5pm so our day will be pretty leisurely.  We don’t have any set plans or places we’re required to be.

We choose to have lunch one more time at Enoteca. Today they greet us like family and ply us with wine antipasti, pastas more wine. I love this place (as if you couldn’t tell). When we’ve cleaned our plates and paid our tab, we head back to the hotel and stop for some gelato along the way.

We pack our bags and head to Fiumicino, bound for Paris for a final pass through the City of Lights.

We land in Paris around 8 and catch a cab to our hotel. We had dinner at a local bistro and indulged in distinctly non-French gourmet food: club sandwiches, cheese burgers, French fries and macaroni and cheese. But at least we topped it off with some rose champagne.

After 20 days on the road, I feel longing for my kitchen and Dallas, the Mansion and my exceptional, talented kitchen team. My head is rested and filled with fresh new ideas and I am eager to bring them to fruition in the Mansion’s main dining room, Chef’s Room and the new patio restaurant which is going to be awesome. We finish our comfort food feast and head back to the hotel for some rest. Tomorrow will be one last jaunt around Paris and a dinner at Pierre Gagnaire. I’m very excited about that. I’ve waited two years for this dinner and it is the reason I flew back to Paris after Rome. I can hardly wait till tomorrow …