On our first visit to Paris, the Missus overwhelmed by the Louvre. You could spend years there and still not see it all. So, much like revisiting Pere Lachaise, we decided we needed to return to the Louvre. This time, we'd have a bit more focus. There was no need to see the Mona Lisa again. I got advanced times tickets for 9am and this time we needed to use the pyramid entrance.
Right in the pyramid, before the stairs was a work called "The Throne" by Kyoto based artist Kohei Nawa. It was on display from July 2018 thru February 2019 to mark the 160th anniversary of French – Japanese relations.
This time we spent most of our time checking out the Department of Egyptian Antiquities. Here are some of what we saw.
The golden funerary mask of Khaemwaset, son of Ramesses II.
This impressive statue of the god Amun protecting Tutankhamun.
Amenophis IV – the shadows made it look kinda spooky.
Time just flew by…..by the time I saw Luini's "Salome with the Head of St John the Baptist", I was getting kinda hungry……
It was just past noon….it was chilly and drizzling. We were a few blocks away from the area of Paris dubbed "Little Tokyo" for all the Japanese restaurants and shops. Ramen seemed like the perfect thing on a day like this one.
I had a listing of three places; the first being Kotteri Ramen Naritake, but when we passed there were two pans in the window with all the skimmed soup scum, which kinda turned the Missus off. So we walked a bit further up rue des Petit Champs to one of the locations of Hakata Choten (the other shop is near Les Halles). The Missus really wanted some tonkotsu style ramen that we even braved the 25 minute wait outside for a seat.
We were seated at the small counter….so, the first thing was the staff were all Japanese. Secondly, man….ramen here is not cheap. I went with the Ajitama Tonkotsu which was 13 Euros ($14.50/US). The Missus got the Tonkotsu Ramen Noir avec Ajitama – this one had black garlic oil and was 14 Euros ($15.75/US).
She loved Her ramen; with the nice rather sweet and pungent black garlic oil.
I was more than happy with my straight up tonkotsu ramen. The broth had a good amount of rich and creamy "collagenic" goodness, though a bit light in porkiness.
The egg was decently cooked and nicely served….that would be the yolk while a tad past perfect, was warm. I didn't expect much in terms of flavor, but it had been marinated nicely.
The noodles were cooked nicely, good pull and chewiness.
The Missus thought the ramen here is better than anything in San Diego. I thought that Menya was better. But even after spending thirty bucks for two bowls of basic tonkotsu, we were satisfied. Decent ramen in Paris….who knew. Though I'm thinking we need to hit up Ippudo next time.
Hakata Choten
53 rue des Petits Champs
75001 Paris, France
Open Daily 12pm – 3pm
6pm – 10pm
We took our time on the 2 mile walk back to the apartment. It was definitely time for a nap!
Thanks for stopping by!