Hello carrot cake.

Fresh off a lite lunch of roasted chicken and potatoes, Husband and I were strolling through Hemingway’s old neighborhood when we rounded the corner and came face to face with this:

Well, something like that. I was too busy smooshing my face up to the window of the fabulous Sugar Plum Cake Shop to take a picture of what I actually saw, which was triple decker carrot cake with satin cream cheese icing, perched on an antique cake stand amongst other homey American treats. And a long communal table, full of people nibbling and sipping tea.

So needless to say, I sprinted immediately to the counter and ordered up a slice of heaven. Husband got a Rice Krispie Treat. And while I was waiting, I saw these:

The dear American lady behind the counter told me in a sweet southern accent that they were Hello Hazels. But I know better. Those are Hello Dollys! Otherwise known as Jen’s Famous Crack Bars: Graham cracker crust, choco chips, butterscotch chips, and coconut, all drenched in sweetened condensed milk and baked to golden perfection. Except the Sugarplum people went and put nuts in there, and that just ruins it.

But that didn’t stop me from smiling a big old happy faced grin when I saw them. It was a little piece of home on a cold, gray Paris day. And the carrot cake? Obscenely good. Even though the French couple doing a wedding cake tasting across the table from us wrinkled their noses and refused to finish it. Silly Frenchies. I almost offered to finish it for them.