A day of strolling and eating through Paris...

With our visit to Versailles out of the way, we were finally free to explore all of Paris at a leisurely pace. I didn't plan most of my time there except I knew some sites I wanted to see, like the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, etc. Mom wanted to try a Vietnamese sandwich in Paris and I didn't want to go to Chinatown and thus opted to try a place near the Latin Quarter that had good reviews on Yelp. We got there around 9 or 10 am and found out they didn't open  until 11! Well, I get hungry early, like as soon as my eyes open. On top of that, I had been working out 2/3 of my time in Paris at CMG, which mind you, is not cheap, especially after USD to € exchange.  I think it came out to about $35 USD per day. Oh and I needed to take the metro to get there.

Anyway, we ended up going to get coffee at a bakery and I again got sucked into those menu deals and got a pastry too but I made sure not to fill my tummy. We walked around and around until they finally opened - we thought it wasn't going to happen because it looked so isolated. The shop is pretty small and easy to miss; there are a couple of bar stools for sitting if you opt to dine there, but there is a nice park nearby you can go to as an alternative. I got a chicken banh mi and my mom got their special caramelized pork banh mi.

SO, we are used to getting the special banh mi with everything including paté, but neither came with it. It was very much a banh mi created for non-Asians. I thought it was good and I liked the pork - it reminded me of some other dish I can't quite figure out. Mom was absolutely disappointed. She thought this was just bread and meat and shouldn't have been called a Vietnamese sandwich because it was not made in the tradition of Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches. I think she set her standards so high as well that the letdown was magnified. Anyway, the chicken banh mi was rather greasy, I really liked the pork banh mi, but wouldn't go out of my way to get it again.

So all the stores around this area are wholesalers of jewelry and whatnot; we unknowingly went into one thinking that they were a retail store and were told that it was for retail owners only. I found this so odd! Everywhere I've gone here in the U.S. that is a wholesaler will sell retail as well, just at a higher price.

I can't remember when this day, but we stopped at the cutest coffee shop called Marcovaldo on a very small and quiet street. There weren't that many gourmet coffee shops in Paris but I've read it's a market that's starting to grow.

Marcovaldo serves dessert and lunch as well with vegan and vegetarian options but we opted for just coffee. I ordered mom a Caffé Frappé and myself an Americano. The barista had to walk across the street to do something and when she came back, I realized she went to go get ice! Yes, we are quite spoiled with ice in the U.S. and I remember reading about how a restaurant's worst nightmare is to have a broken ice machine. I personally drink a lot of my drinks at room temperature, but mom is a little bit picky when it comes to that. Before serving up our coffee, the barista put some dark brown sugar on the table which I think is a great idea. I've not really come across a coffee shop that serves brown sugar with coffee, but the caramel notes in brown sugar go really well with coffee, almost like it was made for coffee.

The iced coffee was shaken with the ice and then poured into a glass mug without the ice, which makes sense.  I don't see why more coffee shops don't do that, I don't like my coffee watered down... but I'll admit that I like having the ice in there sometimes.  Both coffees were nice and strong with no sour notes which I abhor in coffee.

So while in Paris, we made it a point to visit the restroom everywhere we stopped after our lesson in NYC and lack of public restrooms. The restroom here was tiny! It didn't bother me, but living in the giant state of Texas where everything is "go big or go home," this was very foreign to me.

Our day later took us to the Arc de Triomphe and of course the Champs Elysées. We didn't make the trek in the tunnel underneath to get to the landmark but just stood across the street and took pictures. This was the day I discovered Yves Rocher and they are now my go to for body wash! I got their organic oatmeal for myself and mom got them as gifts for her other daughters, or errr, my sisters which they ended up loving.

We also stopped at Jeff de Bruges. So they have these really tasty looking tall swirls of ice cream on a cone and now looking back, I wish I had tried it, but I had my sights on other desserts that day. I instead got some chocolate to take home. We got to Ladurée and I wanted to dine in, but they only had brunch service for diners and directed me to their to-go counter to make my dessert purchase. I ordered the St. Honoré for myself and the Mont Blanc for mom.  We took it across the street to eat at Starbucks in the open shopping center, which was hot by the way and you have to pay and stand in a long stinky line to use the restrooms here. Mom eventually decided to wait elsewhere so she came back and we dug into our desserts.

The Ladurée Mont Blanc did not measure up even a fraction to Angelina - the chestnut puree was very soft and overly sweet.

My St. Honoré was okay, their whipped cream is not freshly made whipped cream like I'm used to and I wasn't sure what it is they put in there to make it seem like fake whipped cream. The caramel crusted choux was good though. I feel like perhaps we just ordered the wrong things - I really wanted to try their Marie Antoinette dessert, but they only had giant versions of it. I'll need to make a point to visit again when I go back to Paris or... NYC! Yes, I found out they have a location or two over there which is probably more realistic for me right now.

This turned out to be a long shopping day and we stopped at many random confectionaries to buy nougat, it's a huge deal over there and a lot cheaper too with a ton more nuts. They sold them by the slice like cake slices in various flavors. We also stopped at Fauchon which I was so excited about I forgot to take pictures. I bought gifts here and really wanted to buy their candied chestnuts, but at 24€ for 6 pieces, I couldn't bring myself to. This curiousity of candied chestnuts will later lead me to experiment at home.

Right around the corner was Maille, which I made a point to visit. Their mustard is the best I've ever tasted and their store has mustard "on tap".  Purchase the jar and fill 'er up! Then you can bring in the jar to buy more mustard when you run out. My favorite is their pre-jarred pimente d'espelette.

All the shopping left us hungry and I can't remember which restaurant I had planned for that day, but we decided to try a place that was close and so I winged it with my trusty TripAdvisor app and found François Felix.

We were early for dinner of course since I do like to eat early and sleep early, even on vacation. It was about 6:30 or 7 in the evening and were starving from all that shopping.

So since eating meat again, there have been many dishes I've wanted to try and beef tartare was one of them; I actually put this on my list of things to try specifically in Paris so that's what I ordered! However, I did ask them to pan sear it on both side. Shameful of me, I know. But I didn't want to risk it and what if I couldn't eat absolutely raw red meat? Fish is a different thing and I was obsessed with sushi prior to becoming vegetarian, but red meat is a totally different story.

I ordered mom lamb chops since she looooves lamb, but we don't ever cook it at home. She thought it was pretty good. It came with a side if I remember correctly and we chose green beans.  My tartare came with fries.

I'm getting lazy to go through all the stories from Paris, the next couple of posts to finish off my trip will be mostly pics!

Marcovaldo
61 rue Charlot
Paris, France 75003
http://www.marcovaldo.fr/

Ladurée
75 avenue des Champs Elysées
Paris, France 75008
https://www.laduree.com

François Felix
9 rue Boissy d'Anglas
Paris, France 75008

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I'm back...Breakfast at Les Frangines, a visit to Château Versailles, and the famous Angelina

I've been so busy since the holiday season began... and ended... and have been meaning to post but haven't found the time. I'll start with where I left off from my Paris trip and try to get the rest of the trip up. I don't make new year's resolutions really, but keeping up with this blog will have to be one of them because it is a hobby of mine... So let's start!

I had a visit to the Palace of Versailles planned and originally wanted to get breakfast somewhere around there, but not really knowing how long it would take and knowing that it would take extra time since I had to figure out how to purchase RER tickets to get to Versailles, we instead stopped at Les Frangines on the way to Gare Montparnasse. I read about this place on Yelp and saw pictures of the kind of French breakfast they served (bread!) and made the quick decision to turn in and try a french breakfast for once. There were a couple people here and there and we were seated promptly in this quaint and cute little cafe. Just being in the cafe made me so happy because it was so open and just plain fun to sit in and watch as the other small shops opened early in the morning. We ordered petit dejeuner for the both of us with freshly squeezed orange juice. They apparently had a cheaper option with pre-squeezed orange juice but I didn't know... And fresh always tastes better anyway.

As we sat waiting, which actually took a while, my mom noticed the hostess leave the store (I think she was the only staff member on-site) to go a couple doors down and pick up the croissants. It's pretty amazing how trusting they are as this is something I've never seen in America. I personally don't even leave the door unlocked when I walk within sight of my apartment to take Muffin and Panda on a potty break.

As we waited, the reality of being in Paris was still shocking. Sitting here in this cafe and just observing the set-up and ambience, the sounds of the neighborhood waking up, I felt like I was in a movie. Stores just don't open in the morning in the U.S. the way they do in these places with so much history. It just felt so.... comfortable and relaxing. When the host came back, we were promptly served our freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee on those cute platters they use and sell everywhere in Paris with a big baguette slice, croissant, and accompanying house fruit jam, chocolate-hazelnut spread, and butter for each of us on a small wooden cutting board. Even this made me smile because the set-up was so cute. I find it amazing how generous they are with the chocolate-hazelnut spread - they serve the entire jar to you! I'm pretty sure in the states, since Nutella is relatively still new to us, that those jars would be empty each time their diners were done eating.

This wasn't a breakfast I could do everyday - bread and croissant with nutella, butter, and sugar (jam) for breakfast? It's tasty but by the time we were done, we were all breaded and sugared out, which is a total surprise to me since I'm a peanut butter and nutella fiend. It was a fun experience and a good deal for under 20€ for the both of us (I think it was just under 7€/person if you ordered breakfast with pre-squeezed orange juice). It was also good fuel for what would be a crazy trek at Chateau Versailles (buildings appear close than they actually are).

So, I'm so glad they had translators at Gare Montparnasse as I was so lost. There were so many different options and I didn't really know how the train system worked - the metro was easy since it's just like any other subway station, but more is not better, not for me - we don't have subway systems and I don't know French. The gare was like Grand Central in New York, so needless to say, I was completely lost with the plethora of options. Luckily, we found a translator and she directed me downstairs. All I could think was, there is a whole other level of confusion? Just great. But it turned out to be rather simple. I overthought it like how I overthink my life. So the train had two levels and we sat upstairs to get a better view of everything. The ride was above ground and it was actually a little depressing. It stopped at multiple residential neighborhoods but those stations looked so desolate and lonely; sometimes there would just be one person or a couple others sitting and waiting and I would wonder how long they had been waiting for. This is probably me overthinking things again since I am not accustomed to any rail systems being in Houston.

We arrived in Versailles in about 20 minutes or so and started our trek to the palace. So just a warning for T-Mobile users, I couldn't get reception out here. Luckily I was still able to load Google Maps and it pinpointed close to where I was standing and I was able to make my way to the palace. I would say it's a good 20 - 25 minute walk before you get there.

On the way there, I noticed the cutest dog sitting in the oddest position I've ever seen. To me, that's like squatting for an extended period of time resulting in burning quads.

When we finally got there, a long line had already formed. The ticket we purchased online and printed out apparently still makes you wait in line with those who have not purchased tickets. It wasn't that long of a wait though. When we finally got in, my mom and I were again in awe of how beautiful it was. The audio guides are free of charge and I would recommend bringing earbuds so you don't have to hold the brick of a sound device to your ears each time. It was helpful having it, but I wished I was more dedicated and actually read more than a couple of pages of my book on the life of Marie Antoinette before visiting Versailles.

Me and my mom during happier times, right before she got pissed at me for making her walk to the Grand Trianon.

When we were done with the tour of the main palace, we went to visit the gardens, which really is so big you'd have to rent a golf cart to see it all. There were a lot of closed gardens that used to be the center for extravagant parties with working water fountains, but those were destroyed or were no longer working. The second part of our visit would be to the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon in the back. This is where our breakfast helped us... sort of. I tried to wait for the tram that would drive us there, but I got impatient and one of the staff members said it was about a 30 minute walk. So I thought, "let's just walk." Well what she didn't tell me was that the roads aren't paved and there was a lot of cobblestone... and that it really took a lot longer than 30 minutes. I'll admit that even my feet hurt because I didn't wear proper shoes, but boy was mom angry. She has flat feet with prescription orthotics in her shoes, so her feet was basically tattered to pieces by the time we reached the Grand Trianon. I strongly advise you purchase the tram tickets and wait however long it takes to get a ride if you're not wearing thick soled and comfortable shoes and if you have feet issues.

This is where I wished we made the stop at Angelina before heading to the Grand Trianon. See, once you exit the palace, you have to go through the main entrance again even though you're there in the gardens (they won't let you back in from the garden). I really wanted to experience dining at Angelina at the palace, but oh well.

The Grand Trianon was a short experience given how long it took us to get there. It was interesting to see how the family lived away from the main palace where they had more privacy. One had to wonder how exactly they traveled to the back - I'm assuming horse and carriage but I wonder if they traveled back there by foot often, since with every step I took, my feet were reminding me how far and painful the unpaved path was. The Grand Trianon is a long corridor of rooms basically and as the more rooms one had access, the more trust that was required.

After our short visit at Grand Trianon, we walked over to the Petit Trianon where there was an Angelina! It's counter service and you dine outside. It was probably two or three in the afternoon before we ate again and they were out of a lot of items, especially all salads. I ordered their famous Mont Blanc dessert to share,two of their other famous item-hot chocolate to go with it, and a ham and cheese baguette to share. I REALLY wanted to experience their hot chocolate in the restaurant with the whipped cream, but we were just so exhausted and hungry that I didn't care at this point. Mom and I sat down to rest our feet and split the sandwich. I couldn't wait to try the hot chocolate which was exactly how I was expected it to be- absolutely thick and creamy like a drinking chocolate or rather, melted chocolate with a couple splashes of hot milk. It is extremely rich and we should've gotten one to share, but I got greedy.

So now, their famous Mont Blanc and it's famous for a reason. My mom loves chestnuts so she was excited about this dessert. Her first reaction? Her eyes widened and a huge grin formed on her face. The chestnut cream was so dense and fragrant of chestnuts. Paired with the whipped cream beneath it, it became this creamy, nutty, peanut butter-like paste. We were both in love with it. I had to fight her off my half and before she even had a second or third bite, she said, "we have to get this again this trip and I'm not sharing." I think the Mont Blanc was the highlight of her trip.

With our bellies full and our energy fueled, we visited Petit Trianon which took not long at all. I tried to find the Queen's Hamlet and one of the tourists mistakenly told me that the Petit Trianon was it. I later found out that it was a ways away and that you had to walk through a pasture and farm before you actually got there and that the only way to get there was on foot. Well, when I found this out, we were already on the tram taking us back to the main palace, but it's not like we had the skin left on our feet to walk there anyway. The Queen's Hamlet is definitely on my bucket list and I will make it a point to visit it when, not if,I go back to Paris.

We finally made it back to Paris near the Eiffel Tower and were just so tired we ate at a touristy cafe that decided to automatically assume we wanted overpriced bottled water while she served everyone else a carafe. Well touristy it was, as the food was reheated and dry. I would say not to just wing it in this area and do your research or buy cheap food at a counter and find a place to sit, otherwise you'll overpay for food that doesn't taste all that great.

We walked around the area and decided to call it a night and head back to Atelier Montparnasse early and rest. Versailles made it a very long day, but it was a worthy visit.

Les Frangines (14th)
46 Rue Raymond Losserand
Paris, France 75014

Palace of Versailles
http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage

Angelina (Versailles)
http://www.angelina-versailles.com/

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