Friday 22nd September
We drove back into Camping du Paris with a sense of de ja vu and anticipation.
We followed Mandy's architectural lead to Musee du quai Branly - cool design with good African and Asian art.
We wandered under the Eiffel Tower and over the Seine like real tourists.
We explored the 16th arrond. - more like locals now.
We sat on a busy corner at Cafe Passy people watching. There was a boulangerie two doors down and almost half the locals- from suited execs to kids in strollers- waiting to cross the street in front of us, bit the end off their baguette for a little snack on their way home. The French eat a lot of bread - and pastries and desserts and cheese and butter and meat - and they are all still slim!
We all met up with Barbara and Gavin at Breizh-a Breton galette restaurant.
Galettes are savoury buckwheat pancakes with delicious cheesy fillings; typically French and reasonably priced compared to most Parisienne restaurants. (Even on a budget, I emplore you never to eat at a place offering Menu Touriste in 5 languages! Rather have a baguette and cheese on the banks of the river!)
Saturday 23rd September
Match Day!
Trying to coordinate meeting up with dozens of different friends at different times before and after the game proved near impossible.
Neil and I wandered the streets of the 3rd while the Maggs went to Orsay and the Thompsons to LV. Marche de Enfants Rouge was too crowded to enjoy, so we ended up at a street cafe, eating tarte tatin for breakfast at noon.
Lunch nearby and a stroll along Canal St. Martin, my favourite area in Paris. We finally got our group altogether with more drinks at yet another street cafe and headed to Gare du Nord. The metro in Paris is good but getting to Stade de France in packed trains is just no fun. The game was exciting but the Bokke lost to Ireland and it took us hours to get home after the game!
Sunday 24th September
Montemarte
We had a great lunch at our favourite Au Virage Lepic.
We strolled around Montemarte and Sacre Coeur with just too many tourists!
Drinks at Neil's favourite bar, Le Petit Cafe de Montemarte - with it's avante guarde local crowd - a tiny fragment of what Montmarte was like in it's arty heyday. Channel your inner Hemingway or Dali!
We had a surprisingly good time watching rugby at Le Nazir with a crazy waiter moving all the furniture around to accommodate us and frenetically upselling his food and wine before we realised it. Paris we love you and we will be back soon...
No comments:
Post a Comment