Paris is replete with delicious possibilities for tasting redolent cheese, delectable charcuterie and wine. Every quartier sports enticing Fromageries, often run by noted affineurs who age their vast selections of cheese to perfection. You purchase your treasures ripe for consumption when you want to enjoy them most, for a picnic that afternoon or with tomorrow’s dinner.  But surprisingly, there are not so many choices for having a master affineur compose a brilliant selection of irresistible cheese just for you to enjoy sur place in convivial surroundings.  At Fil O Fromage, tucked away in the 13th, lovers of cheese, charcuterie and wine find their personal foodie-nirvana on an artfully composed assiette. Actually, on one of twenty-four remarkable assiettes!

The third Monday in January—I’ve just read this in an English newspaper, so it just might be true—is now regarded as the most depressing day of the year. Blue Monday, they call it. Everything feels futile. Best to go back to bed.

I was out for drinks with friends the other night. Paolo, who is Venetian, was talking about the feast his grandmother had made for the holidays... radicchio lasagne for starters. Now mind you, his grandmother is 89 years old, and she was up and off to the marketplace at daybreak, her husband, also 89, pulling their shopping trolley behind them up and over bridges and passerelles. Cooking is her passion, the sap of her existence.

Alain Ducasse introduces his signature Cookpot. A lunchtime visit with Franck Paget at Chez Catherine. Pierre Hermé opens a dream emporium in Passy, with plans for Selfridge's London on February 5, Knightsbridge in spring.

About a decade ago, in France on the Brink, the British reporter and francophile Jonathan Fenby examined the decline of France through several lenses: her drifting cuisine, scandal-prone politics, stumbling economy, subsidy-dependent agriculture and welfare giveaways. Comes now Slate magazine's Michael Steinberger with only one lens—France's declining cuisine—to explore a wider catastrophe: "the end of France."

Here's a recipe for Zaleti, a traditional pastry from Italy's Veneto region. Enjoyed during carnavale back in the Renaissance period, it fits right into the festive spirit of the holidays. The name Zaleti means "little yellow things" in the Venetian dialect and quite aptly describes the tasty sweet, yellow from the main ingredient: corn flour. I make them soft and crumbly; they somewhat remind me of Irish scones, which I miss terribly in France.

Mysteriously, Montparnasse, that ever-vibrant quarter full of legendary cafés, bars and brasseries, has not been a destination for tea. Now with the very welcome arrival of the charming Chez Charlotte salon du thé in the hip new Hotel des Academies et des Arts, locals and visitors can pop in off the busy boulevards and settle in to comfortable couches to savor selected macarons from macaron-master Pierre Hermé and loose-leaf teas from Palais des Thés. This is a savvy minimalist pairing. No less a master chef than Fernand Adria has declared Pierre Hermé’s macarons to be “perfection”. Palais des Thés is known for sourcing quality teas from growers that are environmentally sensitive.

We usually make at least one trip a year, and sometimes two, from our house in the Southwest of France to the Basque country. We like seeing the peppers hanging in front of the houses in Espelette in France and we enjoy the great restaurants in San Sebastian.

But this year we found we could visit a Basque area in our own country as part of a six-week, 10,000-mile drive around the United States.

As cuisine writers and judges, we were invited to Bocuse d'Or, which has presented gourmet creations like a haute couture fashion show for over 20 years. This prestigious biennial international cooking competition challenges 24 chefs from around the world to create two perfect dishes.