I'm back! I just went on a long vacation to the culinary capital of the world- Paris!!! This was my very first ever international trip- I only got my passport this year a couple months earlier. September in Paris had wonderfully cool and sunny days. I was lucky to not have a single day of rain during my stay.
I had been saving and saving miles for this trip and booked it using my United miles. Gotta love online shopping and their Mileage Plus program. We started our nine hour journey to our layover destination at Frankfurt-FRA around 4pm on September 1st from Houston-IAH on Lufthansa and then headed on to a one hour flight to Paris at CDG after a three hour layover.
Wow! I really like Lufthansa, so clean and all the flight attendants were friendly. I had fun just being on the airplane, listening to the different languages on the speaker. Like I said... first international trip, I was in awe.
I booked my hotel in 14th arrondissemont/Montparnasse, Atelier Montparnasse after reading exemplary reviews on TripAdvisor.
The two beds were two twin beds joined together, which I expected after reading reviews. If I hadn't, I would've assumed it was two beds not touching. It didn't bother me at all. Trying to take a shower was a pitiful experience- I took a good 15 minutes to figure out the shower. I think it had to do with the handles not working properly- if I twisted it to far up, the water would turn off and if I twisted it too far down, the water would turn off. It was fixed the next day, but boy was I confused.
Outside our hotel were wonderful boulangeries and patisseries. But then again, they are everywhere in Paris. I loved being right across from one though.
So off we were, my Mom and I, to start our adventure on our first day in Paris. I had planned crepes on the first day there and no activity since I figured we'd be jetlagged and would need time to adapt to the time change (Paris is seven hours ahead of where I live, then I think eight hours ahead when Fall Daylight Savings kicks in... sidenote: when will we EVER get rid of this dreaded daylight savings???).
First stop? COFFEE. Yes, we needed coffee. Coffee makes the world go round.
I walked into the first coffee shop I saw when we were close to our crepe destination, which happened to be EXKi. I didn't know this was a chain, being in Paris my first time and all and Houston isn't really on the map for international chains (I find 'abroad' brands and restaurants usually have a location in either NYC or California, but mostly NYC, which naturally, means I have to move there one day). I would soon fall victim to the "set menu" deals all over Paris since it's not something common over here, except fast food when you make it a "combo meal." But really, it's not comparable to that.
Anyway, I wasn't comfortable using what little French I knew and blurted out "do you speak English" in... English. LOL. But phew! Luckily the guy knew English. It was a huge sigh of relief since I felt a little lost on my first day. I ordered a cappuccino with a little cocoa powder dusted atop and it came with a nice perfect small piece of chocolate.
I've been obsessed with this idea since I've gotten back. Coffee shops around Houston sometimes (if at all) serve coffee with a small butter cookie... (like Empire Cafe - actually, that's the only coffee shop I know that serves coffee with something sweet on the side). This is something I've made a part of my daily routine now - afternoon coffee with a small chocolate on the side, it's so fun! Okay, so I read all about coffee in Paris and knew what to expect. It was dark but didn't bother me, I drink any coffee, really. We sat there outside soaking it all in.
Then after awhile, we continued just walking on boulevard du Montparnasse to our creperie destination, Creperie de Josselin! I read all about this place on David Lebovitz's blog where he reviewed where to get the best crepes in Paris and also on TripAdvisor (which was the app I used in Paris for all my restaurant saves). We were early and it wasn't open yet, so we just walked around the area looking at what Paris had to offer. I'll admit, landing in Montparnasse on my first trip abroad and in Paris wasn't the most exciting thing since it's a bit quiet during the day. But it was probably better since I felt a little out of my element not understanding a single thing. Walking down rue du Montparnasse where Creperie de Josselin was located, we saw about a dozen or more other creperies. I was tempted to go into any which one that was open because we were starving, but I didn't want to "mess up" my very first authentic french crepe experience. And I knew I wanted this specific creperie's crepes anyway, so what was the point in trying another and then coming back to this place again, when I had sooooo many other things to try?
We walked back and forth and finally, at last, they opened. We were about the fifth or sixth group to dine and I can see the customers starting to trinkle in while the other creperies remained completely empty.
We sat down and were given menus and I ordered my mom the Maraichére which consisted of spinach, egg, bacon, cheese, and cream and myself the Paysanne, which consisted of egg, bacon, and onion. It came out pretty fast and pretty darn big.
(That's the Maraichére above by the way). WOWWWW! It was super duper buttery, evident of the big block of butter you walk by when you first enter and walk past the cooking station. Yes, the crepes are precooked and are recooked with tons of butter. But it was darn good. The onions in my crepe were so fragrant because of that darn butter! They were generous with the bacon, which came in slices of three on each crepe. My mom's crepe was filled with a sort of creamed spinach which put her in heaven. She absolutely loves creamy savory foods. I was satisfied with mine, already expecting the buttery crepe, so that's why I opted for no cheese. The egg here is fried and placed on top of the crepe rather than inside with with the yolk sticking out the middle like at a lot of other places. But that's just all presentation right? I'll eat it either way. So the bacon was a bit on the salty side so just keep that in mind if you order a really heavy crepe. It went well with mine since there was no cheese.
Of course, we also had to order dessert. I wanted something with chocolate sauce and liquor and my mom likes banana and coconut ice cream, so we went with their Martiniquaise, which consisted of banana, coconut ice cream, chocolate sauce, and rum (flambéed). The alcohol was nowhere near burned off as we thought it would be but it was still yummy in my tummy. I like rum-based desserts so this was fine with me, although a bit strong for my mom. The coconut ice cream and bananas were tucked inside the crepe. I ate most of it. Like all desserts, I finished it and if I hadn't been in a public space, I would've taken the chocolate sauce, rum, and melted ice cream and poured it in my mouth. I'll admit, their strong point is not dessert crepes, but I still would go there and order it again, even though my heart belongs to Jean Philippe in Las Vegas. I can't exactly remember how much this meal cost, but it wasn't expensive. I got pretty used to money "falling" out of my wallet in Paris since I couldn't control myself. They only took cash here which again, I expected. What a great first dining experience!
We walked back to our hotel and checked out the Monoprix, which was right down the street from us. Monoprix is so fun. I knew I would have a fun time being in a store as basic as the Monoprix because of all different groceries they offered vs what they offer here in the U.S. Alas, we only got bottles of water because I didn't want to empty my account on the first day in Paris. We got whatever was cheap and regular bottles of water cost only 0.22€ and the larger bottle (can't remember the size?) was just 0.26€. Yes I know what people say about Americans buying bottled water, but I am not used to drinking water from the faucet, even if it tastes the same. Besides, faucets usually have some kind of buildup and I don't want to be drinking that, or at least I don't want to see it. I know that's what they typically serve in restaurants, abroad or not, but it's a mental thing of seeing it and then drinking it.
By around 10:00 pm, my mom and I were in bed trying to sleep. I kept waking up and was pretty much struggling to stay asleep. Next day's adventures to come soon!
Addresses:
Atelier Montparnasse (14th)
84 rue Raymond Losserand
75014 Paris
EXKi (14th, the one I went to)
82 boulevard du Montparnasse
75014 Paris
Creperie de Josselin (14th)
67 rue du Montparnasse
75014 Paris
