mmm-yoso!!!

Paris (2022) - It's Labour Day (La Fête du Muguet), Café du Centre, La Maison d’Isabelle Revisited, Dinner at Les Enfants Rouges, and Motors Coffee

**** This is a pretty long post; though it does feature our favorite meal of our recent trip.

We slept well after having done a good amount of walking the previous day. While we had reservations for dinner on this evening; which I was lucky to get since our initial dinner reservations we had made were canceled just a week before our trip....I think the restaurant had forgotten that it was going to be Labour Day. And even more interesting, it was both a Sunday, when many businesses are closed anyway. But I was told that museums were going to be closed as well as most shops and restaurants; much as indicated in this blog post. On May 1st, France celebrates worker's rights and also "La Fête du Muguet" (Lilly of the Valley Day)....we saw many folks carrying little bouquets of Lily of the Valley. I read that on Labour Day, it would be fun to just go to a park and see families enjoying the day.

And so we just headed out, walking the few steps to Rue Montorgueil to find that both Café Montorgueil and Café du Centre were open. As I've mentioned before, one of our favorite things is to sit outside at a café on a street like Rue Montorgueil and watch the world go by during the day; before or after the lunch crowd and before apéro time. Over our visits I've kind of gotten the signal down as to if it would be ok to occupy an outdoor table for just coffee and sit. To me it's a simple rule - if the table has place settings, that would be forks, knives, etc; it means that folks sitting would be expected to eat some food. If the table is bare....with perhaps an ashtray (yes, folks still smoke when dining/drinking on the sidewalk) or a menu, it's okay to just grab a seat at an empty table and have some coffee or tea....or perhaps a glass of wine. Our favorite at Café du Centre is right on the corner, where we can watch life passing by.....

And of course there are the many pooches....

Many of which believe they are "in charge"......

We saw this couple walking down the street with the cutest, obviously loved, and pampered pooch being carried and I had to take a photo.....

The gentleman saw me and waved, I waved back and smiled and they decided to come on over for a more "formal" photo.

Remember all those folks who told you that people in Paris were uptight and not friendly? 

Café du Centre
57 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

From here, I thought it might be nice to head on over to Jardin du Luxembourg to see how folks were enjoying the holiday.

So we set off, past Les Halles and then down Rue des Déchargeurs. Crossing Rue Rivoli we saw this distinctive building.

According to Atlas Obscura, 59 Rivoli was:

"An artist squat for years before being renovated by the city and returned to a collective of artists."

We crossed over the Seine and decided to take a detour to see if our favorite Croissant Bakery, La Maison d’Isabelle was actually opened on this holiday. We were in luck, the place was open, but the line was rather long.

It seems like Parisians are fine with waiting in line....so, why not?

Sadly, they were out of Croissant au Beurre; so we settled for the Croissant Ordinaire (the version made with margarine).

La Maison d’Isabelle
47T Boulevard Saint-Germain
75005 Paris, France

From here it was a straight shot down Rue Valette to the Pantheon, which I posted on before. Of course it was closed on this day.

Though as you can tell; folks were out and about....enjoying the sunny day.

And then right down Rue Soufflot to Luxembourg Garden; where everyone seemed to be having a great time.

The folks renting out the little boats were during some bang up business on this day.

We strolled around a bit; then found a nice bench and tried out the croissant.

While the texture was every bit as good as the "butter" version; we definitely missed the balance of butter to salt and this seemed a bit "bland". Not bad though.

We sat and enjoyed our time sitting on the bench in the shade; though there were quite a few people just enjoying the sun.

After a period of people watching, we decided to head on back to the apartment for our afternoon nap.

We really love all the green spaces in Paris.

Wew passed Hotel de Ville where there seemed to be some kind of fair going on.

And heading down Rue Aubry le Boucher at Place Edmond Michelet (in case you're wondering who Edmond Michelet was) we saw this mural.

We had enjoyed the morning and enjoyed our nap even more.

Before our trip I'd tried to make dinner reservations for the first of May......but because it was either a Sunday OR a Holiday I was having a difficult time. Then, I did manage to get reservations to a place I'd been wanting to try, Automne, only to have them cancel on me. After going down my list a bit; I found that another place from said "list" actually had early (at 7pm) reservations. The restaurant, located in a part of the Marais I'd always wanted to check out, right around the corner from Marché des Enfants Rouges, named Les Enfants Rouges. It was, as many of the places we'd tried in the past like ERH, Pertinence, and Alliance helmed by a Japanese Chef along with Michelin Stars. There's something about French cuisine with Japanese touches and sensibility that we really enjoy.

We headed back up the now bustling Rue Montorgueil to Rue Reamur. By the time we got the point where Rue Reamur became Rue de Bretagne we were running ahead of schedule. So we decided to take a break and people watch at Square du Temple. It was such a nice stop; it's hard to imagine that this space was where the Knight Templar once had their castle in the 17th Century!

From here, it took us less than 5 minutes to reach our destination.

As we turned down the alley like Rue de Beauce....well, a certain "fragrance" permeated the air.......the Missus wasn't sure that She'd really wanted to eat here. And well; at least we know why they wouldn't have any outdoor seating!

We were kindly greeted when we arrived....the Hostess spoke to me first in Japanese, which I fumbled badly thru, switching to English! The restaurant was tiny and I was glad we'd made early reservations.

The staff here were wonderful and accommodating which was really on display when a couple came in and when it was time to order......apparently the woman was allergic to stainless steel and nickle (?!?) and made it known that she could not consume foods that had been exposed to certain metals nor anything that had been braised. The hostess came out and even brought out the cookware that was going to be used to make their dishes for inspection!

The Missus went with some wine off the carte.....

Of course we kind of shared things....starting off with the Roasted Padrons and of course I had to get the Foie Gras on Toast.

The Padrons were nicely fired and salted.....there was of course the "pepper roulette" as a couple were nice and spicy.

The Foie Gras was from Landes in the Aquitaine region portion was quite generous.

Both appetizers were good, but nothing amazing. 

But after the bread and "Trou Normand" the show really started.

The White Asparagus with Smoked Haddock was a show stopper.

My goodness; the wonderful sweet and tender white asparagus, we were so glad to be here during asparagus season; along with the smoky, yet not overwhelming smoked fish...the cream sauce tasted like there was some dashi in it....this was wonderful.

I got the Lamb Terrine which was also a winnah!

The texture was terrific; just enough toothsomeness. Loved the balance of gameyness, wine, and mild sweetness. I could eat this everyday. The tarragon based pseudo Sauce Gribiche was too good to put to waste. Lovely pickled radishes and shiso helped to restore one's palate between bites.

Then came the dish of the night; the Tempura Merlu.

The batter was light and crisp; the Merlu (hake), from a place we'd visited before Saint Jean de Luz, had a mild sweetness and was so moist and tender. Though it was that sauce; made with seaweed...it did look like nori, was amazing! Deeply savory, with umami for days. This was a really Japanese cuisine leaning dish. Man, some rice with this would have been amazing!

I ordered the Pork Belly.

Of course the Missus poached that tender, crisp asparagus spear. The tempura broccolini was nicely crisp as well.  The morels and the risotto was nice and earthy-sweet. The pork belly really did taste like a cross between Vietnamese Thit Kho and Buta Kakuni and it was delici-yoso!

I decided to celebrate the dinner with a nice glass of Yamazaki.

Whilst the Missus enjoyed the desserts......in line with the Japanese touches; the desserts weren't overly sweet.

That Lychee granita and grapefruit supreme was wonderfully refreshing.

Like I mentioned earlier, the service was wonderfully accommodating. We noticed that many of the customers were Japanese. Our dinner, with wine, drinks, etc was $265/US! Cheaper than some places in San Diego!

I think we'll be back to this somewhat hidden, cozy spot.

Les Enfants Rouges
9 Rue de Beauce
75003 Paris, France

We had a nice, relaxing walk back to the apartment. And slept soundly......

Our flight to Edinburgh wasn't scheduled until the afternoon, so we didn't have to check-out until 11 or so.

While scheduling and researching this trip I started noticing more craft coffee places in Paris, something I didn't come across during previous trips. There were two places within walking distance and on this morning, I walked on over to Motors Coffee on Rue des Halles.

It's quite the modern craft coffee shop and wouldn't be out of place in San Diego.

They even did cold brew and pour over....called "drip" here....they even had 3 "Geisha's" on the drip menu! I ended up getting the Missus a natural brew and we'd return later for Her to try the pour overs.

I actually had an Americano, which I thought was pretty good.

Motors Coffee
7 Rue des Halles
75001 Paris, France

I even grabbed a Croissant au Beurre from Bo & Mie since it was kind of on the way back to the apartment.

We seemed to be just getting into the groove here in Paris and were somewhat reluctant to leave. But Edinburgh beckoned and we'd be returning for a few more days on the way back!

If you've stuck around to the end of this super long post; I thank you so much! Have a great week!

Paris (2022) - Circling Back to Arnaud Nicolas and Romance is Alive in the City of Lights

We had a nice little nap after our lunch at Ippudo. Also, we had dinner reservations in the 7th and of course the Missus would want to walk there and back, so we'd be putting in a few miles on this day....I wanted to get in a bit of rest.

I knew that our walk to Arnaud Nicolas was going to be about 3 miles each way and we had reservations for right when they opened at 7pm. So we headed out at around 530 to give us some time to window shop, dawdle, and make stops to check things out.

Sunset was after 9pm in Paris, so it still looked like a bright and sunny Saturday. Look how busy it was along the Seine.

We actually took a longer route because the Missus wanted to see how things were coming along at Notre Dame.

Things were much more calm in the 7th......

We got to Arnaud Nicolas right at opening time. Arnaud Nicolas had sort of become a tradition for us since we first ate here at the end of 2017. We made it a point to try and revisit whenever we could. We had reservations for our last night in Paris back at the end of 2019, but due to getting stranded by the transit strike we never made it. So we were looking forward to this meal. Once seated we noticed a couple of things.....the staff, though still friendly were not quite up to snuff....our Server was so nice, but really couldn't tell us about the wine or even the dishes...I'm guessing Covid staff shortages and such. The place also filled up quite quickly, which is not the norm in Paris where folks eat a bit later.....after a few moments it became quite clear, all the customers were either Ex-pats or tourists.

Listening in to what folks ordered was interesting as no one ordered any charcuterie; which to us is what Arnaud Nicolas winner of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) at the young age of 24 was known for. And soon, again probably due to Covid staffing, the three staff were pretty much in the weeds.

As for us......this is what we got...

The Asperges Vertes - green asparagus dish was fine.

The asparagus, in season during our visit was sweet and tender, the egg yolk added a creamy-richness, though the popcorn seemed a weird addition; perhaps it was added for texture, but it really didn't seem to belong in this dish.

Of course the Foie Gras Mi-Cuit was delicious.

 Perfectly textured, with a wonderful balance of offal-sweet tones, it's one of my favorites versions.

Sadly, another favorite of mine, the Pate en Croute of pork and foie gras really fell short. In the past, it was the crisp, light pastry that really made this a favorite of mine. This time it was really hard and chewy....it was even difficult to cut! It was also very cold, which detracted from the flavors as well.

The Fromage de Tete - head cheese also wasn't quite the same as before as it lacked the complex combination of flavors from the different porky pig head parts.....it was strangely on the bland side. We were happy to have the nice and punchy Sauce Gribiche on hand.

The Missus had always enjoyed the Rum Baba here and I was relieved that She still liked it.

While I had a Calvados as my digestif.

Overall, we were a bit disappointed with this meal....perhaps we had expected too much...perhaps Covid had really affected supplies.....we did give the place a pass on the service because of it.

Perhaps next time we'll just order takeout from the deli and have a foie gras picnic.

Arnaud Nicolas
46 Avenue de la Bourdonnais
75007 Paris, France

After dinner, the Missus wanted to see one of Her favorite views of the Eiffel Tower, so we headed across the Seine to the area around Trocadero.

Where She snapped a ton of photos.

I noticed how peaceful things looked along the Seine so we went down the stairs and walked along the river; where we came across something wonderful.

A group of folks had gathered both on the sidewalk above and along the river.

  There was a sign was set-up, candles, photographers, a violinist! Music was playing! All with a view of the Eiffel Tower!

A nervous looking gentleman in a suit paced back and forth......it looks like a marriage proposal was going to happen.

As time passed more people gathered...all here to watch the spectacle. All strangers sharing in a special moment.

We figured that the proposal was to go down when the when the lights of the Eiffel Tower were sparkling!

How romantic!

That time came and went.....it seems the bride to be was a bit late.

Regardless, a few minutes later, a young lady appeared on the walkway and covered her mouth in surprise as she saw the sign.......we all cheered at her arrival. The Missus has an actual video of this, but it was kind of on the dark side, so I didn't include it.

The music played, the crowd cheered, and I'm fairly certain she said "yes".

We were thrilled to have seen this.......

The Missus and I kept smiling during our walk back to the apartment.

Romance is indeed alive in the "City of Lights". Wouldn't you agree?

Paris (2022) - Bo & Mie, Ippudo, and Getting Reacquainted

And so it came to pass.....almost two-and-a-half years since we were last in Europe, we headed back. There were so many thoughts going thru our heads as we planned and then left for our first stop; Paris. Would it still be our favorite city? Was cafe culture going to be impacted.....what kind of precautions were in place? How would traveling during these times be?

On our flight outward it seemed that the quality of the food on our flights and in the lounges seemed to have taken a hit....generous portions; but not very good eats...

That shrimp salad was surprisingly the best item we had during transit.

As for masks? Well, almost nil on our flight from San Diego to LHR and in the airport. Required on the flight from LHR to CDG and also on the RER Blue Line though very sparse in Paris as a whole.

We arrived in Paris at around 10m and since we decided to stay at the same 'ol AirBnb off Rue Montorgueil, we were familiar the RER Blue line drill, getting off at Les Halles, then the short walk for key pick-up at the Key Cafe Kiosk on Rue Marie Stuart, before heading to the apartment. We were shocked at how busy all the businesses on Rue Montorgueil were....places seemed packed to the gills! The crowd also seemed much younger than I recalled. I guess I needn't have worried too much about all the cafes going out of business as overflow customers were actually standing on the sidewalks having their drinks and socializing. I thought that perhaps this was because it was a Friday night; but it seems that on almost every night all the cafes/bars were packed until at least 10pm.

The next morning I woke early, the Missus was still sleeping off the jet lag, so I decided to head on out and grab some croissants. Rue Montorgueil seemed totally different at this time of the day.

Place Goldoni seemed so peaceful.

I headed down the rather "gritty" Rue Saint-Denis past Passage du Grand Cerf....

And at the intersection with Rue de Turbigo was Bo et Mie, a place I had in my "Croissant Files" list.

The place was quite modern and what we found on this trip was that just about everywhere in Paris now takes plastic; albeit folks instantly knew you were American once you busted out the card since most US Credit Cards will not do chip and pin and/or need a signature.

It was very easy ordering in line, paying by card, and heading out. Bo & Mie has three locations in Paris and is obviously not a Artisan Boulanger, but I had read some pretty good things about the place.

Bo & Mie
18 Rue de Turbigo
75002 Paris, France

I took a different way back; heading past Les Halles and onto Rue Montorgueil, where things were still quite peaceful this morning.

Saint Eustache looked quite lovely in the morning sun.

Once back at the apartment; the Missus made me some coffee via the "pod machine" and we had the croissants.

This was not bad....lacking in enough salt and butter, though it had a decent flakiness and the interior was light and fluffy.

By now it was time to head on out for our "morning assignments". Mine was to pick-up our pocket wifi. The company that I'd been dealing with over the years now had a splashy new store on Opera and the Missus had Her sights on Chanel Cambon; so we headed on out in that general direction. One thing we noticed is that Paris seems to be getting smaller for us. We got to Place des Victoires so very quickly.

At this pace we'd be getting to our destination before opening time; so I decided to take a detour to what I read was the longest passage in Paris; Passage Choiseul.

According to this wonderful post, Passage Choiseul has only been reopened to the public since 2013.

There seemed to be quite a number of eateries in the passage.

We took our sweet old time.....and in doing so we noticed things we had before like Place Gaillon.

We popped out on always busy Opera and picking up our pocket wifi....or as they call it here "weefee".....

And then it was time to hit up Chanel Cambon; which I've detailed in earlier posts. After which we explored the "high rent district" before deciding to head on back to the apartment.

On the way back; on Rue du 4 Septembre, we passed a Picard. Tomorrow would be May 1st, which is Labour Day in France. It is a major holiday here and many places would be closed. I had dinner reservations, but we decided to head into Picard to see if we could get something for that day's lunch.

Picard is a frozen food grocery store chain, with over 900 locations in France. It's fun checking out these shops....think of Trader Joe's frozen food section on steroids....

We bought some frozen morels and an eggplant dish for our Labour Day lunch.

On the way back we were getting a bit hungry. In spite of it being late April, things felt a bit on the chilly side. Before our trip, having been to Paris once or twice a year since 2016 (except for those Covid years) we had decided to treat Paris like a home away from home....sure, we'd indulge in a Michelin meal or two, but since we sincerely believe we'll be returning until we're not able to travel any longer, we'd just have fun, exploring, but not overdoing the sights, museums and such.

And since our last real meal in Paris was Ramen, we thought it would be fun to have some slurping for lunch! And, having been to Ippudo locations in Osaka and Kyoto, I was interested to see how the Louvre location would compare.....so why not, right?

We arrived a shade past the noon opening time and went with an outdoor table....yes, it was a bit chilly, but the ramen would cure that. We were surprised at how quickly the restaurant filled up....though no one chose an outdoor table until there were none left inside.

As we usually do at Ippudo and other ramen shops in Japan; we ordered a ramen, this time the Akamaru Special and also a rice bowl, which in the case here was a Teriyaki Pork Don.

 First off, the broth was totally Ippudo; not overly salty, nice and rich tongue coating thickness, porky, the black garlic oil adding a nice nutty, sesame flavor with a pleasant pungent-sweetness.

The tamago was a perfect orb of egginess.

The weak link was the noodles. This was a total Hakata style noodle fail as the thin noodles were very brittle and hard; lacking any "pull". 

The rice bowl was fine....

The rice was cooked decently; something that we'd find was not the norm in Paris. The pork crisp and light.....

The customers were all Parisians as far as we could tell; no other Asians in sight. This was quite interesting as we'd find Parisians had quite diverse tastes during this trip to Paris.

Ippudo
74-76 Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau
75001 Paris, France

As we headed back to the apartment, the sun had come out.....and with that, all of the Parisians......

Enjoying the sun and socializing. It was as if Covid never happened. Or perhaps folks were relishing and celebrating a hopeful return to normalcy? It was just a tad too crowded for us, so we decided to head on back to the apartment and rest up. We'd be headed to a favorite of ours for dinner.

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris, Sort Of (Before Covid) - Staying at the Sheraton Paris Airport Hotel and Heading Home

I'm doing this pre-Covid travel post out of order since I'll probably start posts on our latest trip and this one really sets up those posts. After spending a nice night and morning in Paris following our stay in Israel and Jordan we headed to Avignon and Provence, where we had a wonderful time. Though I was monitoring a situation. And the news did come down while we were in Avignon. On December 5th, 2019 France's transit workers went on strike. The strike was set to go on until the 10th, which was the day our flight was scheduled to leave CDG. We were scheduled to return via train from Avignon to Paris on the 8th of December, but that wasn't going to happen. So, I set into action; our wonderful AirBnb Host (you are an angel Fabienne) allowed us to stay in Avignon an extra night, she even offered to drive us to Marseille! So, I quickly booked a flight from MRS to CDG. I then went ahead and used our points and booked a Club floor room at the Sheraton located right in Terminal 2. 

The downside? Well, we lost two last evenings in Paris, along with two restaurants we had reservations at, one of which had become a regular stop for us.

We found ourselves in the Air France line at the airport in Marseille, right behind the cutest passenger ever!

Once we landed, being somewhat familiar with CDG, finding the Sheraton was no problem. Several trips back, I remember getting off the RER Blue Line at terminal 2 and commenting to the Missus; "look, there's a Sheraton here!" Little did I know.

We found the hotel lounge at grabbed an afternoon snack.

At dinner time, we headed back to the lounge and I grabbed another bottle of beer, the Missus a glass of wine, a plate of food, and we headed back to our room.

Which we supplemented with stuff we had bought in Provence.

While we watched night set in over the airport......

And woke as the sun rose in the morning......

The British Airways counter and gates were all the way on the other side of Terminal 2, so we headed over, checked-in, and hit the lounge for our breakfast.

And we did make our flights. One thing I noticed are the Business Class meals pre-Covid.

Which you'll be able to compare to what we had on our latest trip.

Some other meals during our layover and flight back to San Diego.

While we missed out on those last two days, I remember telling the Missus; "well, we can just make it up during our trip next year...."

Little did I know that "next year" would be cancelled and turn into two-and-a-half years later......

Thanks for stopping by!

We're Back!

Well, after dipping our toes in the "Covid world" of travel by visiting CDMX and other locales in Mexico and needing to use our travel vouchers, we decided to go for it. Being unable to travel had created a large chasm in our lives and we really missed travelling, especially to what had become our favorite city. You know the place, right?

During our last visit, back at the end of 2019, we were supposed to end our travels there, but fate intervened (I'll get to that post, I promise) and we ended our trip by staying at the airport. And then came Covid, so there definitely was unfinished business here.

We started and ended our trip here this time, though there was a "bump in the road" (no, it wasn't Covid) which fortunately didn't affect us too much.

The Missus and I started things off by revisiting some old favorites.

And we got to see early on that things were, well, even more busy than we recalled. It could be that we had gotten used to "Covid vacancy", but it also seems like the demographic had changed for our favorite areas as well. But we were happy to see that cafe culture, which I was worried the pandemic would change was in fact going strong.

And then we were off to our next stops......where the Missus was kind enough to indulge my desire to see some specific "sites".

This city has so much to see and a wealth of history.

And even more fascinating stories......

After being cooped up during the pandemic, we decided to splurge and I booked us a private tour over four days.....

Where I got to try some traditional dishes in the appropriate setting. And I really enjoyed it!

And the next part I set-up for the Missus.....

Which was on a charming island.

Which we really enjoyed.......

And the Missus found Her "spirit animal"....

And She found a dish liked as well......

On our way back to the "big city" we made some interesting stops.

Back in this wonderful city, we got to check off two more places on my "list".

And it also has a San Diego "connection" as well.

And lest you think all we ate was traditional food...well....

People were warm, friendly, and the pace was more relaxed then other municipalities we've visited of the same size.

Back where we started we had a wonderful apartment.....with a view that always grabbed our attention at all hours.

And we got to "feed" some of our food obsessions.

And try out a couple of places in the city we'd always wanted to check out.

Along with eating as we usually do here.....

Along with just wandering amongst all those familiar stops.......

And checking on the progress of other places.....

I even took a baking class.

And while things had indeed changed; we took reasonable precautions and actually did self tests during our stay, what hadn't changed was our love of travel.  And we were relieved to find that our love of this city hadn't changed. 

What has changed is that I'm over two years older...so, while I get over my jet lag, keep your eyes peeled.....

While I recover and get back into "San Diego time".

And we'll see you soon....but right now, we gotta run!

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris (Before Covid) - Our Favorite Croissants from La Maison d’Isabelle (times 2) and Hakata Choten (Les Halles Location)

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!

 

Paris (Before Covid) - Restaurant ERH and Golden Promise Whiskey Bar

Yet another quick pre-Covid travel post. 

We returned from our little day trip to Chartres and took a nap and rested a bit. For dinner, I chose a restaurant close to where we were staying. We'd be flying out to Tel Aviv the next morning and just wanted something close by. That didn't mean it would be just another dinner though. I had made reservations at Michelin starred ERH restaurant. The restaurant as basically two blocks from where we were staying.

Noting that ERH shares an address with a sake bar and a whiskey bar, we arrived early for our 730 reservation; and notified the restaurant that we'd be having a aperitif at the Whiskey Bar named Golden Promise.

We each enjoyed a cocktail whilst waiting for our table.

Soon enough our table was ready.

The restaurant is very low-keyed and was were really interested in the tasting menu since the chef, like many of our previous fine dining meals in Paris was Japanese, Keita Kitamura. IN fact, ERH stands for eaux (water), riz (rice), and homme (man), as a homage to the three necessary ingredients for sake.

I'll try to keep this post brief from this point forward.

The amuse:

Jerusalem artichoke with Ikura was amazing! The Parmesan Crisp was nice, the potato cream tasted like taro....

As was the monkfish fritter with sate and basil.

The scallop was so very sweet.

The veal tartare was also quite good.

That radish and haricot vert cream just blew me away.

The Foie Gras dish was served in a novel manner.

In a pastry of sorts, with mango and beets to add some interesting textural and flavor contrasts.

The "Bar de Ligne" (Eropena Bass) with Oyster dish was a bit underwhelming.

Really salty, the persillade (parsley) sauce not really adding much to the dish.

The Carnard de Chaland with Chou Vert, which seemed to be Brussel Sprouts rather than cabbage was quite nice.

Great complexity, sweet - sour - bitter.

And the Missus enjoyed the desserts.

A very nice experience; one which we'd gladly do again.

ERH
Golden Promise Whisky Bar
11 Rue Tiquetonne
75002 Paris, France

As I had my usual beer before sleeping, I again thought about how lucky I was to be able to have these experiences.

The next day we were up early and caught the RER to CDG.........

Next up...Tel Aviv!

Thanks for stopping by!

Chartres (Before Covid) - Chartres Cathedral and Lunch at La Table du Marche

Here's another quick pre-Covid travel post. 

On the second day of our short visit to Paris, the Missus wanted to explore a bit. We had visited Versailles on a previous trip, so this time around I thought we'd check out Chartres and the Cathedral, often said to be the best Gothic Cathedral in Europe.

Getting there was quite easy from Gare Montparnasse.

And it seems that everyone is invited to take the one hour ride to Chartres.

And once there; well, it's easy to find your way to the Cathedral.

You really can't miss it.

While walking to the Cathedral we passed this amazing mural.

 Doing some research, I found that the mural is of Jean Moulin a hero of the French Resistance in World War II who lived in Chartres. Read more about him in the link to the Wikipedia page above.

The Cathedral is indeed grand. It is said that there were four to five churches on this spot, dating back to the 4th century!

There is quite a bit to see if you have the time. We just decided to stroll around and enjoy some of the highlights.

There's a worn statue in Place de la Cathedrale. It is of Fulbert of Chartres who was Bishop of the Cathedral when it burned in 1020. Fulbert devoted his time to rebuilding the Cathedral which was completed around 1145.

There are beautiful Rose Windows over every entrance.

The Church is dedicated to Mary and there are signs of that everywhere.

 Many pilgrims come to the church to see the Black Madonna (above). There's some really good information on why the Madonna is black here. But you might say, the Madonna pictured above isn't black. Well, several years back the Cathedral was part of a huge restoration project and all those years of soot and such was removed from the statue; it was very controversial to say the least.

A few blocks from the Cathedral is the Marché aux Légumes - the produce market. And since it was Saturday, we took some time to check ot out.

It's always fun visiting these places and watching the locals go about their daily lives.....

By this point we were getting a bit hungry. Right at the edge of the market is La Table du Marché - the Market Table. So we thought why not?

The staff was very friendly and welcoming. At places like this, it's always helpful to check out the plat du jour....and we ended up ordering two of the daily specials.

The friendly woman working was delighted that the Missus ordered the Andouillette, which She had loved in Lyon.

While not quite at that level; it was literally bursting with offal-y goodness.

I was thrilled to see Boudin Blanc as a daily special.

And while, like the Missus, this wasn't quite as good a my favorite, it was quite mild, but nicely sautéed and I enjoyed the dressing on the greens.

The service was very warm; the prices, since we're used to Paris prices seemed like a bargain; 10 Euros for the Andouillette and just 7 for the Boudin Blanc!!!

La Table du Marché
11 Place Billard
28000 Chartres, France

We left satisfied and ready for a nap when we returned to Paris!

Paris (Before Covid) - Boulangerie-Pâtisserie Terroirs d'Avenir, Fou de Pâtisserie, and Dinner at Fleur de Pavé

*** Yet another condensed post of our trip in November, 2019    

As we strolled thru Passage du Grand Cerf, it really looked like the Missus still wanted to explore. And so, by the time we hit Rue Bachaumont, where this pooch was having a great time fetching the Frisbee, I decided to make another stop.

   We pass the Church of Saint Eustache on a daily basis when we're in the area and had never visited, so I thought this might be a good time to check it out. There was also something I wanted to see.

The church took a century to build, from 1532 - 1632 and contains one of the largest organs in France; the nave is humongous!

The interior of the church is quite grand and I'd read about the stained glass and had one set specifically in mind.

The church is located right next to Les Halles, which was Paris's central market for almost 800 years. So, of course they would be benefactors of the church. In fact the professional pork butchers association, the "Corporation des Charcutiers" has their own chapel. When was the last time you saw sausages and a pig in stained glass?

This sculpture by Raymond Mason commemorates the closing of Les Halles; it's titled "Le départ des fruits et légumes du coeur de Paris, le 28 février 1969" ("The departure of fruits and vegetables from the heart of Paris, February 28, 1969").

There's beautiful stained glass and some beautiful art work at Saint-Eustache; we'll definitely visit again one day.....hopefully.

The Missus really enjoyed this stop and wanted to keep on going; so we ended up walking all the way to Sacré-Cœur!

And enjoyed the view.

We were getting a bit hungry on the walk down and decided to make a couple of stops.

On Rue du Nil, along with the very popular Frenchie empire, is a group of shops which includes a cheesemonger, a butcher, and of course a boulangerie called Terroirs d’Avenir. So we made a croissant stop at the bakery.

We then headed back down to Rue Montorgueil and to a place I'd read about named Fou de Pâtisserie.

This specialty shop is a conglomeration of curated pastries form some of Paris's most well known pastry chefs like Pierre Hermé.

The pastries looked beautiful and of course the Missus had a difficult time choosing just one.

But She finally made a decision and we had some tea which we took to one of the two small tables outside.

While the croissant fell short; nice texture, but the butter-salt ratio wasn't quite to our taste.....

 The Missus loved Her choice, called
L'Equinoxe. So, here's another place I'm sure we'll return to.

Boulangerie-Pâtisserie Terroirs d'Avenir
3 Rue du Nil
75002 Paris, France

Fou de Pâtisserie
45 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

After this we took a well earned break (nap). For dinner I had selected a restaurant that had just opened during the summer of 2019 and had created a bit of a buzz; Fleur de Pavé. Folks sang praises of this restaurant; the chef Sylvain Sendra had garnered a Michelin Star at his former restaurant, Les Itinéraires which he closed in 2017. He and his wife spent the next, almost two years travelling the globe and exploring various cuisines. The result of which is Fleur de Pavé. The restaurant is also very vegetable friendly as it gets much of it's produce from Asafumi Yamashita a farmer who only sells his produce to certain selected chefs of his choosing.

We were really looking forward to this meal. The restaurant was lovely, the staff very courteous, though service was quite slow. It actually took 30 minutes after we finished our meal and a "L'addition, s'il vous plaît" from me to get our check. Of course, the place is new; and as of 2020 they have received a Michelin Star, so I'm figuring they've straightened that out.

We decided to order form the menu and things started out with a trio of amuse:

From top to bottom; a Parmesian Tart with Tzaziki and Carrot; Blakc Rice Crisp with Labneh and Eggplant Caviar; and the thinly sliced Cauliflower with Madagascar Vanilla and Salt....which looked lovely and had a wonderful texture, but was a bit too sweet for our taste.

Up next was the "Scottish Bread", which looked like Parker House rolls.......but was a nice fluffy brioche.

We were excited to try the Salade du Jardin M Yamashita, which was topped with aged Parmesan. 

The dressing could have used more acidity.

The Kabocha Carbonara with Mimolette sounded interesting.

Like other dishes; this was on the sweeter end of things and there wasn't enough textural contrasts for us....the dish just seemed to be mushy.

Our favorite dish of the night - the Scallop Carpaccio with Oyster Sorbet and Sea Urchin - so many complex flavors.

That worked together well.

Though the Roasted Monkfish with Pig Ear Tabbouleh and Red Wine Sauce was a bit much.

The Missus did enjoy the dessert and the wine pairing though.

Overall an interesting dinner; the place seems to be trying really hard and the presentations were wonderful......and I guess that paid off with a Michelin Star.

Fleur de Pavé
5 Rue Paul Lelong
75002 Paris, France

Paris (Before Covid) - Revisits to Jefrey's and Boulangerie Régis Colin and Lunch at Artisan de la Truffe BHV

**** I know that "FOY" Kerri has been kind of looking forward to these posts; so here goes

Man, November of 2019 seems so long ago..... I've kind of held back on these posts; but thought I'd just better get them done. I'm going to do rather condensed posts. This was a trip the Missus was really looking forward to; Her favorite city; Paris, travel to Israel, Jordan, and Provence. And though it didn't end up quite the way we planned (more on that later) it was still quite memorable.

We arrived in Paris at around 730pm, which, since we'd been to Paris a couple of times already wasn't a big deal. We caught the RER from CDG and got off at Les Halles. We were staying at the same apartment that we'd booked for our last stay in Paris, so we knew the drill. How to pick up the keys; where the apartment was located, etc......

We'd eaten on our flight to Paris; but really wanted a nightcap; so we headed off to a cocktail bar we enjoyed on previous visits; Jefrey's.

They were having some special cocktails during this week; so we tried a few.....

And of course I enjoy Monkey Shoulder; so we enjoyed ourselves. Folks here are very welcoming and since it was a Thursday night the place wasn't overly busy.

Jefrey's
14 Rue Saint Sauveur
75002 Paris France

We enjoy Paris at the end of November......

As the Christmas season swings into gear.

The next morning I was up early as usual. The Missus wanted a croissant from a place we had enjoyed during our last trip; Boulangerie Régis Colin, so I headed on out.

Sadly, the croissant was disappointing this time around. Unevenly baked, lacking in butter, and too doughy.....

Boulangerie Régis Colin
53 Rue Montmartre
75002 Paris, France

After having our light "breakfast" the Missus needed Her caffiene (and people watching fix), so we headed on down the street to Café Montorgueil for our Café Allonge.

And to check out folks heading out for the day and doing their "morning stuffs".......this pooch was focused on something in the gutter...must have smelled good.

Café Montorgueil
55 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

And then we headed out....with no plan, we just wanted to wander around and take in Paris. You know, the Flâneur/Flâneuse thing. We headed up Rue Saint-Denis to start things out. I'm sure you've heard of the Arc de Triomphe, but did you know there's one located on Boulevard St Denis. The Porte Saint-Denis was originally the site of a gate of the city walls of the city. The arch was built in 1672 by François Blondel to honor and celebrate the King Louis XIV's victories in the Rhine and in Franche-Comté.

From here we wandered over to the 4th and then the 3rd Arrondissements.......

Until we were getting a bit hungry. Since we had enjoyed eating at Maison de la Truffe during an earlier visit, I thought we'd hit up Artisan de la Truffe located in the BHV Department Store.

We got the Foie Gras with Truffle along with the Charcuterie with Truffle "Planche". For several reasons, we didn't enjoy this as much. The temperature of the foie gras, cheese, and charcurterie were too cold, the bread seemed to be getting a bit "old"....it just didn't do it for us. But hey, we did get enough calories to keep us going for the rest of the day, right?

Artisan de la Truffe (in the BHV Department Store - 3rd Floor)
52 rue de Rivoli
75004 Paris, France

From here we headed off and just enjoyed the city.....

And of course we had to see what was going on at Notre Dame......there didn't seem to be much happening on this day.

We eventually headed back up to the area where we were staying. While walking thru Passage du Grand Cerf.....

I had an idea for another stop.......

Stay Tuned!