I met them at Gare du Nord yesterday at around 10:45am -- we stood in line to get them metro tickets and then I took them to their hotel, which turned out to be just a few blocks away from where I live! They dropped their stuff off and then we began with a pass by the Eiffel Tower on our way to find some lunch! They had a few recommendations for restaurants from collegues and friends -- and so we found one of the restaurants not far away called L'Ami Jean (http://www.amijean.eu/index.htm). It was pretty unassuming from the outside, but it was a cute cozy place on the inside. After confirming that we did not have a reservation, the host said "Okay, we have decided to take you", and he led us to a table in the back. It seemed to be a mix of locals and tourist types -- hard to tell. But we did have an absolutely wonderful meal. We each got the prix fixe menu -- I started with the salmon which was on top of a warm lentil salad and surrounded by sweetened white foam. I think it's the first time that I've really eaten salmon on the rawer side -- but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. OH -- I almost forgot the charcuterie plate that we shared as well -- dried ham and a little pot of homemade butter. Does life get any better? WAIT -- IT DOES. For my main course, I got the roasted sausage with potatoes -- it was not only beautiful, but again, so yummy. There was one sausage which formed a sort of teepee with two long roasted potatoes. They also brought us these two little things of mashed potatoes for the table -- it tasted like they had pureed the potatoes and then just put in a few sticks of butter and some cream. I'm afraid that all of that was only the lead up to the grand finale. For dessert, I ordered the riz au lait. They brought out 3 chilled bowls -- one for each of us, and the waiter told me that I could share what I wanted. We could barely finish the bowl between the three of us. It truly was the most delicious riz au lait I have ever had. They also brought us a little cup of salted caramel cream and of roasted peanuts (it was almost like a granola). It's difficult to describe in words how good it was. I just wanted to lick the bowl clean -- but my overly full stomach thankfully stopped me long before that point.
Salmon starter
Saucissons et Pommes de Terres!
We left L'Ami Jean more than satisfied, and from there we went to the Catacombes where we were told it was too late for us to get in line for the day! We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the Montparnasse area and made our way up to Notre Dame, Ile Saint Louis, and finally up to the Marais district. We finished off the night with a drink at a bar down the street from me called Le Primerose -- charming little place with really tasty drinks!
This morning, we tried again with the Catacombes and this time we stuck it out and waited in line. It only took about an hour for us to get in -- and again, this place is a bit difficult to describe in words. I think it was safe to say, though, that it was a good call when my dad decided that this wasn't the tourist attraction for him. Lots of stairs down to dark and dank tunnels and then the most bones I have ever seen in my entire life. They just kept going and going and going -- all nearly stacked as if they were meant to be looked at for peoples' pleasure one day. It was eerie, but absolutely incredible at the same time.
After that, we headed for lunch. We ended up at a cafe in the 14th not far from the exit of the Catacombes. It wasn't at all a bad lunch -- but compared to the other meals we had, it wasn't quite on the same level! My starter was, without a doubt, the highlight -- it was two pieces of goat cheese that were wrapped with pastry and then sauteed (or probably fried) with a side salad and then drizzled with honey. It was so delicious.
It being the first Sunday of the month -- all of the museums in Paris are free. This made it a bit difficult to decide where to go for the afternoon, as we wanted to avoid long lines and huge crowds. So naturally, we headed towards the Louvre! This was after our brief encounter with some of the Paris fashion week mobs -- Kerstin and I each got some free fashion magazines as we passed through. That was after we got the look up and down to see if we were worthy of a free fashion magazine...
The Louvre wasn't nearly as busy as we thought it might be. We went in through the mall underneath where the security line is always much shorter (good thing to remember!) and then because of the no fee -- you could just go right in. After a little wandering around, I left them to continue perusing and I came home to study for a little bit.
We finished off our culinarily incredible weekend with a light-ish dinner at Suffren - which is the brasserie that's right down the street from me. It's a place that I pass literally everyday as I go to and from the metro station -- and it's always packed, so I thought it would be goo to give it a try! We were not dissapointed. It's a lovely atmosphere -- warm colors, comfortable chairs, beautiful woodwork on the walls. A nice change from the usual chillier Parisian cafe. I ordered a salad which had tomatoes, slices of smoked duck, some sauteed bacon pieces, and lettuce, of course. It was again, delicious. We all had dessert....and I got the molten chocolate cake which was like everything, just as yummy.
If you're wondering -- my pants do still indeed more than fit. And I may or may not be drinking only water and eating vegetables for the next week. But it was definitely worth it. It's so incredible that on any old weekend I can do so many amazing things and have such a great time.
Alrighty - back to reality tomorrow, which should be rather interesting! I still can't believe it's already March!! Crazy how time flies.
A bientot!
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