Our flight from Ben Gurion International Airport arrived right on time; a touch after 1pm. I had chosen to stay in Paris overnight and then head to Provence the following day. Then according to our plan, we'd return to Paris on the TGV and spend two evenings before heading home. Little did we know that this as not to be and this evening would be our last in Paris,,,and with Covid-19.....well, let's just say we probably would have been back in our favorite city at least 3 times since.
We caught the RER to Les Halles/Chatelet and because this was for just one evening stayed close by in the 4th Arrondissement at a small hotel on a side street. Of course, as soon as we checked in, the Missus was ready to go. And because we'd had breakfast and a lunch on our flight, I had a place on my "list" for something we're always on a hunt for in Paris.....Croissants. Now, the place I had in mind was all the way in the 5th Arrondissement....but you know the Missus...this was no problemo, so we headed out.
We loved the lovely familiarity as we walked past Hotel d'Ville and crossed the Seine. And of course, there's always something new to be seen, like this church just past Shakespeare and Co; named Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre.
And for there; it's just a short stroll to La Maison d’Isabelle which is on Boulevard Saint-Germain. We were somewhat familiar with the area having stayed close by during earlier visits.
As you can see La Maison d’Isabelle, which won the award for Best Croissant Au Buerre in Paris in 2018....as you can tell by the ginourmous sign. We had walked past this bakery several times over the years, though before they won. I walked in and order a Croissant Au Buerre, which looked quite lovely.
We immediately found a bench and cracked the croissant open....and holy smokes; the light, fluffy, interior, the heavenly light and crisp exterior, just the right amount of butter and salt. Easily the best we've had so far.
La Maison d’Isabelle
47T Boulevard Saint-Germain
75005 Paris, France
Buoyed by the croissant, the Missus decided She wanted to check out Hermes and since it was the Christmas season, I wanted to check out the window displays at Le Bon Marche. It was kind of chilly and a tad drizzly, but we did have a nice stroll and the Missus did not do any damage to our credit cards!
Like I said there's always something to see in Paris.
In the middle of a park like square is that sculpture above. This is Allée Pierre-Herbart named after writer and resistance fighter Pierre Herbart.
After heading back to the hotel and taking a short break we headed back out. This time we headed on over to Galeries Lafayette to check out the Christmas Displays.
Every year there's a new theme. Though every year there's the five story Christmas Tree in the middle of the store that slowly rotates.
I just become a kid again...the wonder, the fascination, it always puts me in the Christmas frame of mind.
We love watching the little kids with their noses pressed up against the window or climbing up the wooden stools so they can watch the displays.
As for dinner; well it was somewhat chilly and damp, we'd been away from home for almost two weeks and the Missus was missing Asian Food. On the way back to the hotel, I recalled that there was a location of Hakata Choten near Les Halles. The Missus had enjoyed the ramen at that location, so I suggested checking out the Les Halles location. The Missus really didn't need to be convinced.
It was nice and warm inside the restaurant, I don't think anyone would be eating outside tonight; the folks working actually tried talking to us in first French, then Japanese......we cracked up.
We ordered the Tonkotsu with Black Garlic (again) and the Missus also got some Sparkling Sake.
While the broth was a bit thinner than what we'd had at the Opera location; that black garlic oil added a nice savory-sweetness to things. It was still quite rich in a nice tongue-coating kind of way.
The noodles were just perfect, nice al dente "pull and chew".
While the Missus might now believe that Menya here in San Diego is better; this was just what we needed on this damp and chilly evening.
Hakata Choten Les Halles
16 Rue de la Grande Truanderie
75001 Paris, France
The following day our rain to Avignon was scheduled for noon, which meant, at least to the Missus that we could have yet another shot at the croissants from La Maison d’Isabelle which opens at 6am. So, we headed off before 6am......
And got our croissants; this time we noticed the trophies quite obviously displayed.
And it was just as good!
We actually took it over to the Cafe on the corner - Le Village Ronsard.
We followed unspoken café rule.....if an outdoor table has silverware on it; you must order food....if it sits without place settings; you can just get coffee. For us; it's usually a Cafe Allonge.....sort of like an Americano.
Le Village Ronsard
47T Boulevard Saint-Germain
75005 Paris, France
Bolstered by Caffeine the Missus wanted to go on a stroll, so we headed off to places that were familiar to us.....a "sleeping" Pantheon.
The market street Rue Mouffetard....
Then over to Place Monge, where the Marché Monge was getting set-up.
Soon enough, it was time to head back to grab our bags and then we were off to Gare Lyon and Avignon.
We took a moment to take a look at Notre Dame....the fire had occurred just a bit over 7 months earlier.
I hope to live long enough to see Notre Dame rise again!
Soon enough, we were on our TGV, off to Avignon!
**** Postscript: I recently heard from "FOY" AndyS......man, it had been over 8 years! It was great hearing from you Andy! I'm glad you are well. And since you wrote:
"Ramen has been my biggest fetish for the last few years. I was scouring LA and anywhere for ramen. Every visit to Japan, I made it a point to never repeat a single type of ramen in a trip and wow.. was I amazed at how diverse ramen is there."
And since there's ramen in this post.....I want to dedicate this post to you. It made my day to receive your email! Take care!
so is this croissant your gauge as to what is good?! it looks great!
Posted by: kat | Sunday, 24 April 2022 at 04:44 AM
Mmm... I love having a croissant in the morning.
Posted by: Soo | Sunday, 24 April 2022 at 08:27 AM
lol, Matthew and I had ramen in Paris last time we were there ^o^ It was freezing cold and raining and I had the worst cold, needless to say, the only thing that was gonna make me feel better was a big steaming bowl of ramen XD funny thing is, Matthew tried Japanese with the servers but they would only speak French(neither of us speak French though, lol)
Posted by: Lynnea Fleming | Sunday, 24 April 2022 at 11:42 PM
These were the best we've had to date Kat!
It is wonderful Soo!
That would have been interesting to see Lynnea.....perhaps they were in shock. I know on our visit here that two of the employees were speaking Mandarin. The other two spoke Japanese.
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 25 April 2022 at 06:40 AM