L'Auberge du Louvre

On our last day in Paris we went to l'Auberge du Louvre for lunch. Everything was so good. It was hard imagining we were to part with Paris, so we decided on having very French food not that the other 7 days we were not eating French. This restaurant was not too far from the Louvre (hence the name) and had a good meal value. I especially enjoyed the carpacio. And the mousse au chocolat.

terrine de porc with salad

salad with lardons de porc

boeuf bourguinion

beef carpacio with Parmesan

mousse au chocolat

Off to Berlin!

More from Paris with love

Marie Josette, 1 €, as good as it looks

Colette the coolest store in Paris inside, no Karl this time

admire the modern architecture

the best gelato in Paris with 36 flavours of ice cream and sorbet

Gelati d'Alberto 45 rue Mouffetard

we took mojito and nociola(hazelnut chocolate)

supper in Paris

dessert in Paris

more from LaDurée: fleur d'oranger, cassis, coconut, lemon and raspberry

Le Deauville

On Sunday we wanted to take a boat tour of Paris at night, missed it by two minutes and ended up on les Champs Élysées' Le Deauville for cocktails. I can't remember what we took but it was very good (garnished with a glow-in-the-dark stick and chewy candy)(and it came with popcorn). We joked that Joe Dassin's song "Oh Champs Élysées" came to life when he saw the bill of his meal on this fabulous street.

Impressions sur Paris & Notes

The first few days I couldn't understand Paris. I couldn't understand how people can afford Paris. Everything is considerably more expensive. And somehow everyone had Chanel. Maybe Chanel owners do live on caffeine and nicotine (and an occasional baguette) , or maybe they all know that Karl goes to Colette, meet him there and beg for discounts (?). What is sure is that the French have style. On any street, at any time of the day, any day, you can spot a French girl head to toe chic in heels. Back in Montreal, we wear heels for pfff… clubbing. There are no flip-flops here in Paris. There’s an occasional pair of Lanvin flats. Even older ladies are uber heel-wearing-everywhere fabulous. I was eating lunch today (this post was written in the airport on Tuesday, IknowI’msobehind) on rue St-Honoré, when in front of me a woman on a bike stops, reapplies some lipstick and continues her way down the street. Ah! Paris!

Here’s a list of outfits I kept seeing:

• slouchy trousers
• black pumps, skinny dark jeans (the skinnier and darker the better)
• white shirts
• lots and I mean lots of boyfriend jackets
• marinières
• minimal pant/jean + top but great heels and a great bag
• ALWAYS a cigarette in hand
• dark, monotone colors, not much print
• black tights + shorts on top

Tourists are easily recognizable (even us... no matter how much we tried to blend in) but dress great. OK. well perhaps not all and I won’t name names (nationalities)… but I must say I saw many tourists who would get my fashion seal of approval.

*BOOKSTORE of Les Arts Décoratifs

If you’re slightly interested in design, decorative arts, fashion, be prepared to spend two hours there (which is what I did on Monday, the one day the museum was closed).

*When coming to Paris, bring an empty luggage. This is perhaps a note to self, but having under-packed (no really, Monsieur’s luggage is twice bigger than mine) I desperately need place for every cheaper-than-in-Montreal thing I bought. Like alcohol. Or LaRoche Posay. Or Isabel Marant. (it’s what I called my petite folie #1) But that’s because we don’t have Isabel Marant in Montreal. In fact, next time I’m coming to Paris, it will be exclusively for shopping. I’m starting a savings account as you're reading this :)

Amélie's Deux Moulins

I apologize again for my blog being less STEPintoMYDay and more STEPintoAweekAgo, but nonetheless...

Listen to me very clearly! If you haven't watched Amélie Poulain, RENT IT RIGHT NOW. Last Sunday, Monsieur and I went to Les Deux Moulins for lunch. The décor hasn't lost of its Amélie magic, the menu has a cocktail in each character's name and I tried Amélie's crème brulée (you have to come to Paris solely for this crème brulée).

I had a Italian salad and Monsieur had their "brunch". A plethora of really delicious foods: fresh pressed orange juice, a hot chocolate, scrambled eggs, sausage, baked potato with garlic sauce, coleslaw, salad and toast with crème brulée (in Paris, they have dessert after brunch). My salad was arugula, tomatoes, mozzarella, prosciutto with croutons, all in a very mouthwatering balsamic dressing.

And now let me tell you about their crème brulée. I may not be an expert in crème brulée, but let me assure you- this is by far the best crème brulée I ever had. It's interior is creamy and warm while the caramelized top is crunchy and full of flavour. With each mouthful (even if it wasn't actually mine I couldn't share) I kept thinking (eyes closed) "I'm in Paris, thisissogood. I'm in ..."

Outside the café, on rue Lepic there was a bike race going on around rue the Montmartre area (which is a hill, with streets as wide as North America's sidewalk) (imagine!) and Algeria/ Slovenia soccer match playing at that moment, people cheering on the top of their lungs and all I'm thinking is "I'm in Paris, thiscrèmebruléeissogood."

St-Germain-des-Près

Le Procope claims to be the world's first coffee house. Founded in 1686 by the Sicilian Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, its patrons have included Benjamin Franklin and Voltaire- who drank 40 cups of coffee every day- and the young Napoleon. Today it features Canadian lobster on the menu amongst other delicious things.

This is the oldest church in Paris, originating in 542. RénéDescartes is buried here, as well as the poet Nicolas Boileau and John Casimir, king of Poland.

This is a very famous café where many post-war French intellectuals and philosophers used to hang out. Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir developed their philosophy of existentialism here.

This café, a neighbor of Café de Flore, derives from the patronage of Surrealist artists and writers including Ernest Hemingway in the 1920s and 30s and existentialist writers and philosophers from the 50s.

Candy stalls on rue St-Germain.

source:EyeWitnessTravelParis

La Gueuze

La Gueuze, a very German-like bar located on rue Soufflot, the street leading to the Panthéon, is where we went on Saturday for lunch, after exploring the St-Germain des Près area. I had a steak frites (it was about time) and Monsieur had a bavette à l'échalotte with a Abbaye De Leffe beer.

À votre santé!

I ate a snail and I liked it

I'm very sorry for being a little late on publishing on my somewhat live blog. I have a bunch to tell you and so many pictures to show you. This lateness can be explained by some technical problems we've been having, style "Comment ça the pictures disappeared?" and waking up like this:

"Mmm...time?"

"7:30"

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*

*

exactly 2 seconds later

"Time?"

"11:30"

And with the little time left in this BIG city, we've been running around, checking off everything from our to-do lists.

On Friday we went to Le Marché, at 2 Place du Marché Ste Catherine, where I tasted snails for the first time and, to my surprise, really enjoyed it! I had a Gigot d'agneau (leg of lamb) and Monsieur had a Filet d'Estragon (really good fish). Unfortunately, for now, we lost the pictures but I'll put them up as soon as I get home.

mais bon...il paraît qu'ils sont bons

Oh oui! I did it. I went there. And boy was it bon.

I had a chocolate, pistachio and rosewater while Monsieur had a chocolate, green apple and raspberry macaron. Only the rosewater and the raspberry made it on film. Mais bon.

I'll bring you some, promise!

the most amazing thing happened

Yesterday, after a very necessarily long visit of the Louvre, I was so tired that I decided to head to rue St-Honoré. Then, THIS happened:

I enter the ever-sought-after uber hip boutique Collete, look around myself... and in half an instant grab Monsieur's arm, and something like this comes out of my mouth: "Ohmygod, look to your left, I mean rrright, no left (all this in one breath) ittt's Karl! Ohmygod."

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I had to flee the store to calm down my hysteria. I (almost) started crying and/but couldn't believe I didn't faint in front of Mr. Lagerfeld on the spot! Non mais....

In fact, I still can't believe it. For these kind of moments you mentally prepare yourself. You go into presentable mode. You know that the kaiser of fashion awaits you. You practice a speech in front of the mirror. You just don't bump into him at Colette.

And voilà! My beyond-my-world moment when Karl was standing a few feet from me, (he even looked up at me swears Monsieur) and my legs were shaky. And my face was red. And ....

Next time, I'll even go introduce myself. I'll let him know I'm his biggest fan. But for now, I'll continue going to bed thinking: OhmygodIsawKarlLagerfeldatCollete!

bottle of Coca Cola Light at the drugstore

l'as des Marais

Today, because of this:

baguette, camembert, wine

We decided to skip supper, and to wander around our neighborhood to build up the appetite. On rue des Rosiers, we stumbled upon an enticing by the smell little on-the-go falafel sandwich place. The greeter was so persuasive and insisting, we couldn't say no. And we did the right thing. The little eatery is always crowded, has been in business for 31 years, and quotes on the menu that Lenny Kravitz recommends the place. The schwarma we took was enormous and succulent. Will come back for more.

garçon! l'addition s'il....

Yesterday's lunch was at a very charming place in the St-Germain des Près area, in the Left Bank. It's called L'atlas Qaris and I absolutely enjoyed my soupe à l'oignon gratinée (my first!).

Monsieur had a tajine de lapin aux pruneaux and when we politely asked the waiter what a tajine was, he said "Ben, c'est une tajine!"So I can't even translate what it was. Except that it was good.

I definitely recommend that place, aside from the tajine explication, the waiter was very friendly and the menu magnifique!

At night, we went to Pizza Sant'Antonio on 1 rue de la Verrerie in the Beaubourg area. And even though I wasn't initially hungry (late lunch was filling) I don't regret taking a pizza marguerite with my rhum and coke. It was almost as good as the ones in Italy. Monsieur had an escalope florentine. Excuuuse him. The place was very lively and full of chi-chi girls smoking cloppes and waiters who flirt with them...Ah, Paris!

Bon appétit!