We slept well after our wonderful dinner at Pertinence. Though the Missus got me up at 630am......because, well, She needed you know what. Yes, this was the Paris moment I mentioned in my Gala Chicken/Zion Market post. Sigh.......well, I needed to head on out. I showered and got dressed, then headed out to find a Pharmacy.
Things were pretty quiet on Rue Montorgueil at 7 in the morning. Mostly just delivery trucks and such. I headed down, then back up the avenue checking out the Pharmacies; all of them closed. I later learned that most Pharmacies in Paris open between 800 - 900 in the morning. I passed Pharmacy after Pharmacy, all closed. Man, I was having a longer hitless streak than Chris Davis! Finally, in the Marais, I came across an open Pharmacy and walked in. I headed to the Fem Hygiene aisle.....and was kinda stumped; so I started taking photos and sending them via text message to the Missus. Soon enough, I heard a loud clearing of the throat behind me.....yes, I was busted by the Pharmacist.....a fairly serious looking woman.....with one eyebrow raised, checking out the Asian guy with a maxi-pad obsession.
"Monsieur, what are you doing???"
"Ummmm, I need to buy pads for my wife."
"Hmmmm.....but why the photos Monsieur?" Yeah, like she really believed me.
Right then the Missus replied to my text instructing me on what to purchase. Relieved, I showed the woman the text, grabbed the package and we walked over to the register to pay. After ringing me up, she looked at me, warmly smiled, and said:
"Monsieur, you are a good man!" And handed me my package. Ah yes, more souvenirs from Paris.
On the way back to the apartment I decided to reward myself and grab a croissant. I'd seen a place on Rue Montmartre, which runs parallel to Rue Montorgueil that I wanted to try. By this time of the morning; folks were starting to get out and about.
The Boulangerie I was interested in was Régis Colin as I had seen the le Prix du Croissant sign near the doorway earlier.
So, I went in and got a croissant aux beurre. The system was interesting, you tell the nice saleswoman what you want; she bags it and enters it into the register; you then pay via a machine....so the staff never touches currency.....a hygiene thing I guess.
The croissant was delicious; nice balance of butter to salt; flakey, light and airy, moist........a definite winner!
Boulangerie Régis Colin
53 Rue Montmartre
75002 Paris, France
Hours:
Monday - Friday 630am - 8pm
After finishing up the croissant we headed out, but not very far for our morning "pick-up" at Café Montorgueil and people watched for a bit.
After getting our caffeine fix, we headed off......with not much in mind.
I had wanted to check out La Grande Epicerie de Paris, a fairly high-end ("haute") food/grocery store so we headed off to the 6th and 7th. I've stated that there always seems to be something interesting to see; no matter how many times you've been down a street. This time around, I noticed this impressive building on Rue du Renard.
Apparently, this is the Syndicat De L'épicerie Française, originally built in 1901, which used to (I believe they still have an office in the building) the grocer's union.
And off course a little more than a block away is the Hotel de Ville - that would be City Hall to us American folks.
Crossing over to Île de la Cité.
It was a beautiful day in Paris. Of course, we took another look at Notre Dame (this visit was at the end of May 2019). The tragic fire had just occurred about 6 weeks earlier.
It was such a sad sight to see.......
Crossing over the Seine to the Left Bank, down Rue Saint-Jacques, then taking a right turn on Boulevard Saint-Germain we came across a street market which kept us occupied for a bit.
From here we strolled down the street, then turned on Rue de Sèvres.....
Stopped for a short; ahem, break at the Hermes store.....luckily, the Missus didn't find anything She was interested in and my credit card lived to see another day. Finally, across the street from Le Bon Marche we got to the La Grande Epicerie de Paris. I probably should have taken more photos in the huge store; but was just plain distracted.
After all this walking....well, I was feeling a bit hungry. And just at that moment I saw Maison de la Truffe.......I looked at the menu...foie gras and truffle? Croque-Monsieur with truffle......smoked salmon with truffle? Are you kidding me? We decided to grab a "light" lunch here.
Sadly, as I was getting some general info on Maison de la Truffe, I read that the place has closed.......so I'm just going to mainly post photos.
I will note that the young man waiting on us was a joy and the food was surprisingly good.....of course with things like truffle oil, truffle chips, and truffle salt.....
And the Croque-Monsieur with Truffled White Ham and Gouda.....and a few nice, fragrant shaved truffles for the heck of it.
It's too bad this shop closed as we really enjoyed our shared meal. There are other locations around Paris and I hope to be able to check them out one day. On our second trip to Paris in 2019 we'd visit another similar shop in BHV Department Store which wasn't nearly as good as this one.
Oh well........I'm glad I got to try them out.
And also buy some fairly pricy food gifts for friends.
La Grande Epicerie de Paris
38 Rue de Sèvres
75007 Paris, France
La Grand Epicerie is one of our favorite spots in Paris. The butter selection alone is worth a stop!
Posted by: James | Saturday, 24 April 2021 at 07:49 AM
Yes, the selection is very impressive James!
Posted by: Kirk | Saturday, 24 April 2021 at 09:00 AM
You are a good man! That's good you found a good croissant.
Posted by: Soo | Saturday, 24 April 2021 at 09:56 AM
bummer that place closed!
Posted by: kat | Monday, 26 April 2021 at 05:21 AM
We were very happy with the croissant Soo.
I know Kat....we enjoyed that meal.
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 26 April 2021 at 06:55 AM