Caught in the rain

After some sightseeing, I decided that I wanted a box of  champagne and tea macarons. And so we went off for a quick stroll over to Dalloyau.

About two blocks from the destination (which sat right across from Luxembourg gardens, I might add), it started to drizzle. About one more block, and it was pouring!

A brief respite from the rain - see all the empty seats up front? Usually packed

Quickly as we could, we ran into Cafe Luxembourg which sat next to our destination but more importantly, it was dry. We opted to sit behind the tables which was closest to the edge of the canopy as it was nice to face the streets, looking at the people in the rain...

Cider Yum

After taking an enormous amount of time asking questions and deciding, Barb opted for the cheese "sandwich" and I opted for the pate. :) And a cider. The cider was refreshing! It was nice to sit and chat and just look at the scene.

Cheese in a baguette

Did I mention I neglected to let Barb know that a croque monsieur was a grilled cheese and you just need to opt out of the ham? No? Well I did...and she got a cheese sandwich...cheese in a baguette, sliced and untoasted.... The look on her face was hysterical. Sorry, Barb. But the cheese should have been good...it is Paris, after all!

Pate!!

I love French pate. Maybe it's because I grew up in a house where my mom told me how good french goods were - from her days as a child when grandpa was alive and imported many french goods - one of which was pate. Of course, this is not the fois gras but regular fois made from pork. At any rate, this was really good!

Be more personal with my pate...

I also love french baguette and I mean real Parisian stuff - not the crap we call baguettes at home. The flour I think makes a difference. Theirs come out crispy outside with a spongy soft and slightly sweet center. Delicious. Afterwards, I got my delicious macs and we went back to the hotel for a bit before setting out again.

Some of the flavors of Amorino

Then we walked around some more - alot more - I can't lie. I made Barb walk like she was on pilgrimage. And we rounded and rounded until we hit Amorino!!!! I had given up on getting this.  The special thing about Amorino is that their gelato is served in layers on in a cone. Beautiful!

Rose of Pistachio and Rum Raisin

But this means you can try many flavors! I didn't and opted for the rum raisin and pistachio. I can tell you, it was a few petals of manna from heaven. Truly creamy, flavorful and delicious. The pistachio was very rich and very good. The rum raisin was delicately flavored with rum and vanilla with plump juicy raisins. Fantastic shop.

Cafe Luxembourg

58 Boulevard Saint-Michel, 75006 Paris, France

Tel. 01 43 54 20 03

Amorino

4 rue de Buci 75006 Paris
Tel : 01 43 26 57 46

Opera District with Escargots

The last morning of the last full day in Paris, we went to Sainte Chappelle, a gorgeous chapel with the most beautiful stained glass windows.This was on the same island as Notre Dame so we walked north to Hotel de Ville, where you find the city buildings. Somewhere around is Mariage Freres, a tea salon with lots of loose leaf teas. And since I had tasted the lovely white sakura tea at lunch the day before, I wanted to purchase this for myself. 

Well, the map they give you is vague and so we ended up looking for someone to ask. We found a friendly Parisian who along with his friend gave us the directions!

On the way there, we spotted a Savon de Marseille shop and I absolutely had to go in. And it was as dangerous as I thought it would be. I ended up with a good 8 bars of their soap - 2 of the lait (milk), 1 citronelle, 1 lavender, and more that I can't even remember at the moment. The shop smelled great - they had a lot of items and also the lavender sachets were half off so of course, I bought a pack. I also spotted a soap umm in the specific shape of a specific part of the male anatomy in flesh tone... That stayed in the store. ;)

After I got my soaps, we walked on to look for the street where my tea awaited.

Mariage Freres has several storefronts on the same street. One contains an tea museum that you can actually enjoy the history of tea in. All of their folks are knowledgeable in the type of teas they sell and are helpful and polite, regardless of what and how much you buy. I bought the Sakura blend - white and green. Since I was in Paris, I figured I'd just buy my tea here - as there's no real guarantee I'd find it in NY.

So after we walked around, with me having amassed oh, about four bags...of Marseilles soaps, Mariage Freres' Sakura teas, and shoes, looking for food. While I found a place using tripadvisor city guide, Barb went around because there were so many bistros around where we were already - having started in Marais, we ended up going into Opera. :)

At any rate we passed by several bistros and found Grille Montorgueil, with some seating outside and more inside along with a bar. We opted to sit indoors. There were several tables already full inside - they also had a downstairs.

Grille Montogueil -

We perused the menu and of course Barb had questions but our waiter, very nice bald dude, spoke everything *but* English which was evidenced by his broken English phrases. The younger, cute waiter spoke English and was very helpful.

I got the escargot - which traditionally is from Burgundy and sauteed in garlic and butter. Barb refused to try even one and so I ate the lot of six. I found the garlic not too overwhelming and actually quite good. At about $10 USD, not bad. I did not use the gripper because it needed a lot of force and I was able to just hold it with 1 hand and pull out the tasty bits.

Escargot with garlic butter sauce - green sauce you see.

Then we picked some dishes off the menu. I couldn't find the items on the menu they posted at their website...

Beef with potatoes

Barb chose their beef with potatoes dish. She finished quite alot of it but I was not sure she enjoyed it that much.

Some sort of fowl with rice and sauce

I picked the fowl with rice - but see, I forgot to log what they named the dishes but when I looked at the regular menu posted at the website, I did not see this dish.

In any event, the sauce lent the breast a good taste and I did drench each bite I took of both rice and fowl in the sauce. I was able to polish off my entree with a glass of reisling, another drink I forgot, and cuba libre.

Like all restaurants in Paris, service is relaxed and you have ample time to enjoy your food and company. The wait staff was very friendly and we were able to rest our weary feet for a while until we got to a metro to return to our hotel to drop off my packages.

Oh, I must mention Jeff de Bruges - a chocolate shop we found on Rue Mouffetard, where there are lots of places to go get wine, cheeses, and chocolate! Well, this gem of a shop makes all sorts of pralines and chocolate bars with a nice variety of different cocoas in different amounts. I did quite enjoy the Papua chocolate milk blend and the Tanzania milk blend was also great. They also had Peruvian, Tanzania dark, and a few others. I think they are a pretty decent chocolate shop! They had some great chocolate treats for kids and a gelato stand outside. Too bad for the young man working the shop - he was the only one and it was empty as he worked with us but soon got busy! :) But we got to try a free treat for being patient, I guess. Maybe I'll see the shop in Amman when I am in Jordan. ;)

Mariage Freres
30 rue de Bourg - Tibourg
Paris 4me
tel. : +33(0)1 42 72 28 11
Metro Stop: Hotel de Ville
Hours: Check website for all locations and hours

Savon de Marseille Boutique
17 Rue de la Verrerie, 75004 Paris, France
tel. 01 42 71 40 21
Metro Stop: Hotel de Ville

Grille Montorgueil
50 Rue Montorgueil, 75002 Paris, France
tel. 01 42 33 21 21

Jeff de Bruges
112-114 rue Mouffetard, 75005 Paris, France
tel. 01 43 36 77 82
Hours:

Monday	Closed
Tuesday	09H30-19H30
Wednesday	09H30-19H30
Thursday	09H30-19H30
Friday	09H30-19H30
Saturday	09H30-19H30
Sunday	09H30-13H30

La Mere Michele

Before we came to Paris, I looked up tripadvisor for food and found this place. La Mere Michele is a lovely tiny restaurant on rue Surcouf...say it with me... It is a small street off Saint-Dominique and do not make the mistake and start on the East side. It made for a long walk.

La Mere Michele Napkin

It is actually closer to the Eiffel Tower or the Rodin Museum and is dead-ended at Saint-Dominique. The one side where the seating is - is made of stone. They even have a kitty carving in a crevice in the wall.

Rawr!

We were greeted by a friendly staff of three. The owner tried her best to translate their seasonal menu, which was super nice of her. Very patient was the staff at our or I should say Barb's questions.

Bread basket and pepper!

In the end we both chose the chicken dish which was made of pieces of chicken with a lovely potato mash. The chicken was seasoned - maybe overly but Barb saw them heat it up in the micro before they plated it all lovely for our consumption.

Very tasty chicken and potato mash

The chicken as I tasted it was very tasty but also very salty. It may be that the sauce heated up was too salty but was perfect when it was fresh? I don't know. It was perfectly cooked though - each piece I tasted was delicious and cooked through.

The best part was the mashed potatoes. The potatoes were deliciously smooth and well seasoned. I believe they did it with olive oil.

At any rate, simply visit La Mere Michele. Their menu depends on the season and they close as most Parisians do in the first two to three weeks of August.

We were both too stuffed to eat anything else but I hope someday to return and try other items!

La mere Michele
26 rue Surcouf
75007 Paris, France
tel. 33.1441897705
Hours: Call to confirm

Hungry Chicas going International

Hungry chicas will be on the road in a few weeks!

B and JT are heading to the City of Lights and the City of Spires! So get ready to salivate over frog legs, escargot, macarons, crepes, pastries, croissants, pate, grocery store finds, etc. Oh and the museums and buildings, of course.

So we hope to have a fantastic time while we get stuffed in Paris and drunk in Prague. o(^▽^)o

Oh and here is some recent food porn for your viewing pleasure.

Another plate of Nirvana

Double the dessert - galub jamon + rice pudding

Babaganoush, bread and chicken adana from Ali Baba

ICE CREAM....Haagan Daz where'z my salted caramel ice cream?~

Fresh Seafood @ Good Fortune