Today, Paris decided to get Seattle-in-winter cold. I left the house without socks and short sleeves under my jacket because we’ve been so fortunate up until today. We didn’t let it stop us, though, and headed off to Les Halles to get started on exploring the 1st and 2nd.
After getting off the Metro, we found ourselves in a mall that seemingly had zero exits. After twenty or so minutes, I had purchased a typically Parisian striped shirt and we finally made our way onto the street outside.
Outside, we discovered that a whole lot of shops are apparently closed on Monday. Bummer! Luckily for us, Paris’ oldest patisserie, Stohrer, was open for business. I chose a lovely tomato tart that tasted straight out of Tuscany. I also picked two small canellas (I think?) that were quite spongy and had a hint of licorice to them. Not bad at all.
We next wandered down to Rue St. Honore and stumbled upon a store I had read about several times before leaving: Colette. The shop was packed for good reason. They sell really fun stuff alongside of very expensive clothing and home accessories. The overall feel was a bit pretentious, though, so we were a tad intimidated. I found a couple of great design-oriented books, though, that I’m excited to pour over back at home.
As we left, it started to rain pretty hard. We jumped the Metro for one quick stop just to get closer to our lunch destination. Once we arrived, however, the café we had planned to eat at wasn’t there any longer. We instead opted for Paul, a café that possibly inspired Panera. For less than E12 per person, we each had a generous piece of vegetable quiche (vegetables!), salad, tea and a pastry. I tried my first millefeille, a pastry consisting of two crunchy layers with custard and strawberry filling. Mmmm. Susie ordered a raspberry tartlet, so we happily shared with one another in order to try two sweets instead of one. What a deal!
The rain slowed down a little after lunch, so we wandered off on a fantastic food excursion (as if this whole trip hasn’t been so). Place de Madeleine has a wide array of foodie shops around its periphery, and we stopped in shops specializing in chocolate, truffles, tea and macarons. We also dropped in on Fauchon, an upscale food boutique. At this point, it finally occurred to me just how much food is on a pedestal here. It’s kind of incredible. Fauchon looked and felt like Chanel, but instead of selling clothing, they sell pretty little bottles of sea salts, chic chocolates, exquisite teas and so on. Down to the packaging, the entire experience is one of high class. This high regard for food was pretty much the norm for every chocolatier we visited, and most patisseries as well. Even the concept for our favorite macaron shop, Pierre Herme, is that of a jewelry shop (see photo below). You truly feel like you’re in Tiffany’s when you’re choosing macarons, even though they run less than $2 each. Quite impressive indeed.
Because we were chilled to the bone, we came back to our neighborhood fairly early. We visited some kitchen supply shops, another chocolatier (spotting a trend here?) and Pierre Herme for the third time. I will really, really miss that place.
We ended up having a takeaway dinner. Having the apartment has been really nice for the freedom it’s given us in preparing our own meals and aiding us in feeling like we’re temporary locals. Tomorrow morning (with fingers crossed) we both head home and back to reality. I expect to arrive back with a serious desire to shower and eat a hamburger. And, maybe some more vegetables. ;)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment