Posts Tagged ‘Paris’
Crepe fix in Paris
Bacon and egg galette
Located in Montparnasse, Cafe Josselin co-exists with several other creperies within a 300 ft radius, but Josselin is heavily croweded and others no so much. To avoid long queue during lunch hour, arrive at noon or earlier. Inside, it is warm and cozy – like a busy brewery. Service is fairly prompt and very soon you will find yourself sipping a dry cider.
Galettes and crepes are pretty much alike except one is made from buckwheat and other from regular flour. Galettes happen to be my favorite buckwheat concoction. Although, my mom-in-law’s buckwheat paratha stuffed with spicy potatoes is not too far behind. Galette should be crisp and lacy like an Indian dosa. The nutty flavor of buckwheat is perfect counterpart for butter. Not that galette needs any sprucing up, but I decided to order mine with bacon, egg and stuffed onions. My husband ordered one with ham, egg and stuffed eggplant caviar. Both were excellent, far nuttier and crisper than the ones we had at Breizh during our previous visit.
 Cafe Josselin |
 Apple Cider |
I love sweet galettes as well – buckwheat works really well with orange and chocolate flavors. If I had paid more attention to David Lebovitz, I would have asked for a sweet galette at Josselin. But since I hadn’t, we ordered a basic crepe flambe to share which unfortunately was very forgettable.
Tucking in at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
We may have gone a bit overboard while ordering. Our favorite – langoustine ravioli with truffle sauce.
 Roasted bone marrow on toast, sitting atop a bone |
 Quail with truffled mashed potatoes |
 Tower of eggplant, cheese and sundried tomatoes |
 Egg foam with mushrooms |
 Softshell crab tempura with avocado puree |
 Langoustine ravioli in truffle sauce |
 Mashed potatoes that didnt kill Omar Sharif - 1/2 lb butter to every lb of la ratte? |
 Strawberry and basil gelato. May I recommend dessert at Eric Keyser a block away? |
Les Fines Gueules
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Located near Place Victoires, on rue Croix des Petits Champs, Les Fines Gueules is beautiful both inside and out. I will remember it for two things:
- One of the best Loire reds that I have had so far.
- Eating la ratte potatoes with le boeuf tartare, the later being a specialty of this restaurant.
Space invader in Edith Piaf’s Paris
Edith Piaf is exciting. A guided tour in the neighborhood where Edith Piaf was born, not so. However, it was our only trip to the edges of Paris. An added bonus was Père Lachaise Cemetery. What stood out on the trip, besides graffiti on Oscar Wilde’s tomb, was this odd art work above a specialty food store overlooking one of the oldest churches in the city. Didn’t quite realize what we were looking at until we saw Banksy’s movie “Exit Through the Gift Shop”. If I am not mistaken, this is work of Space Invader. I forgot to take down the name of the church but it is one of the two churches in main Paris with an attached cemetery and only one with everyday public access to the cemetery.
 Distant view of the church |
 Church and the epicerie |
 Space invader art above Epicerie |
 Behind the church |
Le timbre, French tranditional cuisine by an English Chef
 Mackerel with beet puree |
 Blood sausage with mashed potatoes |
 Fatty pork on a bed of lentils |
 Outside Le Timbre |
Located near Jardin du Luxembourg, Le Timbre is another small and delightful bistro serving traditional cuisine. Yet another place where I had to restrain myself from eating a big block of foie gras with a bottle of wine and loaf of white bread.
A traditional Parisian lunch at Le Comptoir
 Le Comptoir Bar |
 Outside seating at Le Comptoir |
Californians eat lunch early, what with getting up early in the morning for the 5 mile jog or an hour of hot yoga or both. A Californian tourist in Paris arrives early at restaurants during the lunchtime and gets a seat. An hour later would typically mean an hour long wait. Except for one or two of the trendiest restaurants, a reservation thankfully is not needed. Most places in Paris, one gets by with a few words in English, a few in French and lots of energetic hand gestures and facial expressions. Try doing that on the phone. So yes, I am grateful for the no reservation needed situation.
Lady in the Lake, hardboiled crime in Paris
 Hot chocolate slurry |
 Tea House at Passage Christine |
Of course in all great cities you walk and walk and walk. In Paris, you like me, perhaps choose to walk in good looking shoes. So, by the time evening rolls around, you are left sitting somewhere with very tired feet.
Le Reminet, a perfect Californian meal in Paris
 Le Reminet and neighboring wine bar |
 Le Reminet, Cozy interiors |
Food in Paris can be overwhelming. Particularly after a week of breakfasting on croissants, lunching on baguette and pâtés, and dining on delicious cuts of game birds, and pigs cooked in clarified butter and fortified with bacon jus. And crème fraiche topped pastries in between meals. How can you not eat well in Paris? But you can be also be overwhelmed by the craft – thousand layers in Pierre Hermes’ mille-feuille, minced pig’s feet stuffed in small potatoes at Christian Constants’ Les Cocottes, Joël Robuchon’s langoustini ravioli with truffle sauce to name a few. Le Reminet by Seine, near Notre Dame, is a tiny restaurant where we ate one of the most delicious meals this Paris trip. And we could have been eating in San Francisco.
Les Cocottes, eating near Eiffel Tower
Neighbor with a morning cup of coffee and cigarette
One nice thing about traveling from San Francisco to Paris is the hour you wake up on the very first day – it was three in the morning for us. Paris is beautifully lit and quiet at that time. We waited eagerly for our first taste of croissant and coffee at the neighborhood cafe. Early signs of dawn breaking are the activities around these breakfast cafes. Morning load of pastries and bread arrives, the chairs are placed out, the waiters share a few moments over their morning cigarettes. I notice a neighbor popping her head out of, what I assume to be, her bathroom window for a smoke.
Dressed in our freshly bought European style attire, we headed out. After a week, my beautiful shoes and the cobblestone paths of Paris parted ways but not on the first day. We decided to combine the two most quintessential symbols of Paris, Siene and Eiffel tower in one shot, walk along Siene to Eiffel tower. From Place Michel Debre to Blvd Saint-Germain to Rue De Bac to river Seine. Even with our hundred stops for photographs, we were near the tower in a couple of hours. Does a slow saunter work up an appetite? No. But sight of delicious pastries from the storefront definitely does.
 While waiting for Les Cocottes to open |
 Canelés, baked flour cakes soaked in syrup |
Breasts, patchouli oil, mint tisane and a Bangla conversation at the Parisian hammam
Sleeping at Jardin de Plantes
I like a good deep tissue massage to undo the damages caused by hours of sitting hunched over on the computer. My local massage spa in San Francisco Bay Area is less of a spa and more of a therapeutic center. Housed in an ugly building in a strip mall, the masseuse pummels the life out of you, kneading and elbowing and kneeing your muscles into submission. All knots begone. I thank the American immigration system that brings me the expertise of traditional Chinese massage techniques at my doorstep. When traveling, I try to get one in a strange city or airport with the purpose of undoing the tortures of the airlines seat. The tale of Korean massage where they turn you into a minor contortionist is for another occasion. This time, the story starts at a hammam in Paris – this is a story of oiled breasts, steamy dark rooms, minty potions and odd snatches of conversations.
One river to bind them all
In cities like Calcutta or Paris, the river is the precious that brings together the livelihoods and lifestyles of the people of the city. There is no denying the differences of course. In Calcutta, Ganges river is wide. Wide enough that on a regular traffic clogging business day, crossing one of the two bridges can take an hour or more. For many in Calcutta, the river is everything. They live in small precariously placed shacks along the riverside, cooking on crude stoves, bathing, urinating, defecating in the river, making a living off odd jobs by the riverside. Every once in a while the city police comes by and tears down the shacks and the cycle starts up all over again. For other Calcuttans, the riverside is a sanctuary from the hot and muggy interiors of the city. Often in the evening, when the rays of setting sun make the silt laden water look like gold, the Bengali babus can seen heatedly debating politics and cricket accompanied with roasted peanuts and hot chai. The local train line is just by the banks so every once in a while the toot of the train pierces the surrounding noise and the din. Is it just the mugginess that makes everything feel slow even in that throng of moving bodies? Large ferry and cargo boats crawl past without attracting attention. Tiny little picturesque boats offer rides to young lovers who can perhaps steal a kiss away from the throng of hawkers and gawkers. Nothing spectacular but nevertheless stunning.
 Goddess idol being prepared for immersion |
 Traveling priest or a homeless person |
 Live music between Ile de la Cite and Ile Saint-Louis |
 Notre Dame and cruise boat |
I tat I taw a puddy tat, I did taw a puddy tat … in Paris
Zlebia from Tunisia
One watches travel channels and food TV and begins to think that one knows it all. Nothing should come as a surprise and often, nothing does. And then one finds Zlebia from Tunisia in the Latin Quarter of Paris!
What is this strange looking shiny pretzel like thing?
Crepes and cider in Le Marais, Paris
Inside Briezh Cafe
September in Paris is not supposed to be rainy, is it? It rained a good bit during the first half of September this year. On a rainy day, I prefer to do nothing but curl up with a good book and snack on samosa-chai. I did have Simenon with me, I like detective fiction and police detective Maigret brings that in a Parisian setting. It felt a little lame doing that during a prized vacation. So, on one such rainy day this September, after wandering around Marais district of Paris in drizzling rain, I found myself warming up with some cider at a popular creperie, Breizh, that served Brittany style crepes.
 Egg and jambon crepe |
 Valrhona chocolate crepe |
Place des Vosges on a damp afternoon
Place des Vosges in Marais, built in early 1600s, in one of the oldest squares in Paris. And one of the most loved ones in the city. The following is perhaps my favorite picture of the arcades surrounding the square.
Coco & co, cutest little bistro serving ‘am and eggs
What can one do in a 200 sq ft of space? One can start a little bistro that serves eggs in all sorts of ways.
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Croissant and Coffee, s’il vous plaît
Croissant at Le Parisiene
Day 2: Breakfast at neighborhood cafe – Le Parisiene – coffee, croissant and omelette. This is the second thing on the list of living like a Parisian. First being the early morning trip to boulangerie for a baguette.
On day two, the breakfast is at 7:30 a.m. and on day six, at 9. There is no feeling of rushing about at any hour of the morning. Am I projecting my lack of urgency on the world around me? Everyone around me seems to have time to sit about, to chat with the cafe owner or read a paper. Judging from their shoes, they are Parisians. Yes, the shoes give you away. Tourist is in “comfortable” shoes and Parisians in good looking ones. There is a cafe or two on every block, each with customers. How does the economics work? Most prefer to sit out, including the tourists. It had seemed attractive when looking at Paris on television. But the first five real minutes are sufficient for me, I am soon overpowered by the smoke blown my way by the skinny Parisians.
Locomotoring 