Two postings in one day -- who would have thought! But given that I just tried to 'promote' my blog, I figure I might as well continue to try and keep this up to date as best I can. I also feel like I have endless things to say about Paris -- so there's lots of raw material....
After I left this morning, I ventured out on my first long walk of the day. Turns out that walking over 10 miles yesterday and swimming 4000 meters made my legs kind of tired...not cool. But I pushed on and walked from my apartment (essentially at the Eiffel Tower) by Hotel des Invalides to Montparnasse. Then I continued past Montparnasse on Rue Port Royal until I got nearly all the way to the other side of the Rive Gauche! I met my friend Jean-Nicolas at Place d'Italie and from there we walked to one of my favorite restaurants: Chez Gladines! Definitely one of my favorites -- I highly recommend it. I know I've probably written about it before, but they have the most incredible salads -- and don't be fooled by the word 'salad', they're almost impossible to finish (believe me, I tried today and failed).
I ordered the salad with lardons and chevres (bacon and goat cheese) -- and I was not disappointed. Except for that I forgot it didn't come with their delicious potatoes - so I ordered a side of those as well! As I already admitted, I couldn't even finish the whole thing -- but then again, neither could Jean-Nicolas. My dessert stomach was still empty though! And so I ordered their riz au lait (or as they call it -- riz ole) which was chilled and a reasonable portion -- delicious, too, of course.
After I left this morning, I ventured out on my first long walk of the day. Turns out that walking over 10 miles yesterday and swimming 4000 meters made my legs kind of tired...not cool. But I pushed on and walked from my apartment (essentially at the Eiffel Tower) by Hotel des Invalides to Montparnasse. Then I continued past Montparnasse on Rue Port Royal until I got nearly all the way to the other side of the Rive Gauche! I met my friend Jean-Nicolas at Place d'Italie and from there we walked to one of my favorite restaurants: Chez Gladines! Definitely one of my favorites -- I highly recommend it. I know I've probably written about it before, but they have the most incredible salads -- and don't be fooled by the word 'salad', they're almost impossible to finish (believe me, I tried today and failed).
I ordered the salad with lardons and chevres (bacon and goat cheese) -- and I was not disappointed. Except for that I forgot it didn't come with their delicious potatoes - so I ordered a side of those as well! As I already admitted, I couldn't even finish the whole thing -- but then again, neither could Jean-Nicolas. My dessert stomach was still empty though! And so I ordered their riz au lait (or as they call it -- riz ole) which was chilled and a reasonable portion -- delicious, too, of course.
Salade Lardons Chevre
Something I find funny is that in France, they never ask you what kind of dressing you want with your salad. It's always just there. And always wonderful. My guess is that only people that find this odd is Americans....surprise, surprise. But I was thinking about it as I mopped up some of what was sitting at the bottom of the bowl with a piece of baguette. Yum.
After lunch (where I felt like I should have been rolled out of the restaurant), I realized that I wasn't far from the Bibliotheque Francois Mitterand -- which is France's National Library. My searches of top things to do in Paris basically revealed that this one of the few major things I had yet to see.
It's a really architecturally interesting structure -- you have to climb up a bunch of stairs only to go back down in the middle to enter. I don't think I'll be able to properly describe it -- but basically the main section surrounds what looks to be a forest and then on each corner, there's a tall glass building (each filled, I believe, with books and research material). So I spent a little bit of time wandering around before beginning my trek back west.
Library Forest.
Forest + Weird Corner Buildings
Basically, I walked along the Seine -- realized that I might not be in the best part of town but continued on. There are so many funky bridges and parks and statues all over the place. It's crazy.
Funny Looking Midget Statue in Parc de Bercy
Mystery Museum on the Quai d'Austerlitz
I continued walking towards the Bastille and into the Marais district and then down Rue de Rivoli which passes by the Louvre. Lots of familiar scenery. For better or for worse, once I get an idea into my head -- I can't let it go. It's great if it means I'm going to achieve something worthwhile, but not so great when it comes to consuming more incredible Parisian delicacies. I'm embarrassed to admit that I was craving hot chocolate from Angelina's -- and I was going to endure the foot pain until I got it.
I will say that it was worth it -- it. is. so. good. Saying that it tastes like a melted chocolate bar might be a little extreme -- while the consistency and flavor are both pretty intense, it's definitely liquid.....after satisfying my craving, I finally acquiesced to using one of my metro tickets to get me home. I wasn't too far -- but definitely farther than I wanted to walk.
Tonight I finished my (current attempt at a) comeback in the pool -- it was great to see all of my friends at Neptune one more time, but I quickly realized that me having "mal partout" made it not worth the struggle. I made it for 3300 meters -- so I'll take that plus my 10 miles of walking as a good effort of exercise for today!
One more dinner with Marilu and Alain -- and I should go to bed because I'm up early to get a flight to Stockholm to meet Mom & Dad.....Crazy that being back here still makes me never want to leave. I feel at home and at ease. I've only been here for 4 days and I feel back into the rhythm of life here -- and it's nice. But I have exciting things waiting for me -- both in the coming weeks and in the coming months! It has, however, been great to reconnect with Parisian me for a few days.
A bientot -- or however you might say that in Swedish......
Oh -- and for the Pastel lovers out there (me included) -- he's still chubby and finicky as ever:
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