France – mmm-yoso

Paris – L’Escargot Montorgueil Revisited, CIAL Restaurant Coréen (since closed), and a place I’ve posted on a zillion times

October 4, 2025 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Cocktails, France, French Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

**** I’m not going into too much detail since there’s a revisit and CIAL has already closed.

I guess we’ve been to Paris so many times that it feels like my second home….at least the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Arrondissements do. And since our stay was basically a four nights to link the Cinque Terre/Milan to London, we really didn’t make too many plans as we figured we’d be returning soon. This was, of course before we got the “little squirt”, so perhaps we should have done a bit more….but still, this was like our 9th time in Paris.

Staying at the Citadines, near Les Halles is quite convenient. The studios have a full kitchen and we really enjoyed the view of square below.

As you can see, it had been raining the night before. And being the creatures of habit that we are, headed off to our usual stop for morning coffee and people watching on Rue Montorgueil; Café du Centre. As always, some cafe allonge and “une carafe d’eau”.

And watch the “theatre of life” pass before us.

After which we headed on out to wander aimlessly. You’ll always see something interesting in Paris. On this day, there was a huge line in front of this shop.

Looking in the window…well, I cracked up as it looked like stuff based on Manga characters. Looking up the place, I found out it’s a yearly pop-up for Maison Ghibli! A store featuring “stuffs” based on Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli! In Paris! My goodness! Paris is always full of surprises!

And of course, we love the names of businesses here!

The clocks seems to move so quickly here! Before we knew it; it was time for lunch. I’d usually plan for our meals….but since we just wanted to relax and enjoy ourselves we hadn’t made any plans. The Missus di want some Asian food. One of the great things about Paris is having access to a decent variety of cuisines. I mean, we have our favorite “neighborhood” Sichuan and several Ramen shops that we frequent. Heck, we’ve even had decent hot pot….though we’re still searching for some good jiaozi.

During our walks, I’d noticed a Korean restaurant, on one of the side street of Rue Rambuteau. Named CIAL Restaurant Coréen.

It was a bit chilly, so I thought the Missus would enjoy a Dolsot BiBimBap and perhaps I could get some Tofu Jigae.

It seems the place was quite popular with the French folks for KBBQ. It was quite interesting as I was greeted with “Annyeonghaseyo”! All the staff on this day were Korean and they thought I was as well!

Anyway, from what I understand this place has closed since our visit, so I won’t go into too much detail. The baechu kimchi was pretty good, fermented tones.

The Missus’s Dolsot BiBimBap was ok. The dolsot wasn’t hot enough and the rice never developed a ncie crust.

I decided on some Doenjang Jigae; the fermented soybean based stew. It was fairly weak in flavor, but really did warm me up.

Basically mediocre Korean. Still, it’s interesting to see the variety of cuisines available in Paris!

CIAL Restaurant Coreen (Since closed)
16 Rue Mondétour
75001 Paris, France

We did a typical after lunch walk and took in the sights….

Before heading back to the Les Halles area.

And indulging in another typical travel habit….the afternoon nap!

Upon waking, we relaxed, had some tea, before deciding to head out for dinner. And of course, there was something happening close by….on the stage right outside Les Halles shopping mall.

For some reason, I felt like the “musicians” were having just as much fun as the folks listening!

While in Milan, the Missus really became attached to Aperotivo time and of course, She wanted to experience the same here! So we headed back up to Rue Montorgueil and Café du Centre.

Though we’ve had drinks here before; we’d never had little bites with our wine and Kir Royale before!

This was quite nice!

Café du Centre
57 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

As for dinner? Well, I hadn’t made any reservations for our last evening in Paris. My initial thoughts was to hit up a Boullion, perhaps Bouillon République again? But the Missus really wanted to have the Escargot at L’Escargot Montorgueil once again! I guess She wanted to make up for the dozens of times we walked past the place thinking it was tourist hell…..and then finding out that it was quite good. We entered doing our best “marcher avec grâce” (walking with grace)….well, at least the best that a Sansei from Hawaii with two left could do…..

Our Server was again Olivier, whom we thought was a caricature of the stereotypical French waiter. But much like what we thought about L’Escargot Montorgueil we were wrong.

Olivier had a great sense of humor….drier than a French Sauvignon Blanc, delivered with a totally straight face! When we asked him how long he’d been working at L’Escargot Montorgueil, he told us “many, many, years…..longer than the furniture here has been in existence, older than Monsieur Escargot on the sign!”

Of course we ordered the Escargot and the Foie Gras, both of which were as good as what we had on our previous visit.

And of course because I’m so predictable these days….in the comments of my previous post “FOY” Kenneth asked how the Chanterelles were….because he knew we must have ordered them the next night, right?

Oh man, the boiled egg with a sinfully oozing yolk, the sauce so rich, a light acidic sweetness to go along with the earthy, yet lightly sweet-savory tones of the chanterelles.

There was not enough baguette to sop up all the drippings. We went thru three baskets of them!

The Missus really enjoyed the wine picked out for us. In spite of what we were eating, She wanted a white, so Olivier chose this.

The Missus also enjoyed the Creme Brulee for dessert.

While I had a lovely Vermouth.

This was a lovely last meal in Paris. And, I’ve learned my lesson to not disregard places just because of their location.

L’Escargot Montorgueil
38 rue Montorgueil
75001 Paris, France

After dinner we took a nice stroll up Rue Montorgueil….just enjoying the vibe.

Before heading back to the hotel. We’d be getting a nice night of sleep before heading back to London. Instead of flying, we’d be getting there a way I’d been wanting to travel since I first read about it many years ago. Boy, was I excited!

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris – Les Enfants Rouge Revisited and L’Escargot Montorgueil

August 23, 2025 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

After our wonderful walking tour of the Marais we headed off to lunch. After "striking out" on our previous two meals in the city….something that had never happened to us before, I didn't want to take any chances. So, knowing that one of our favorites, is usually not very crowded on a weekday for lunch we headed on over to…..

Les Enfants Rouge:

A Le Efants Rouge 01

And yes, I was correct as the place was quite mellow during the lunch hour.

The restaurant, helmed by a Japanese Chef, who does a comingling of French dishes with Japanese touches, has become a favorite of ours. We think there's more of a Japanese influence to the menu items. As with both of our previous visits, I was actually greeted first in Japanese…then in English by the Hostess!

For lunch, a 50 Euro three course tasting menu is presented and we were glad that some of our favorite dishes were on the menu!

Because I've already done two previous posts on Les Enfants Rouge; I'm just going to mostly do photos.

We love the Lamb Terrine; it's mildly gamey-winey, quite tender.

It goes so well with the bread. And yes, that is Kyuri Asazuke that is on the plate.

Of course we had to get our favorite dish at Les Enfants Rouge; the White Fish Tempura, served with a super umami nori "dashi".

The maigre (croaker) was so moist and tender, the tempura batter light and crisp.

As you can see that dish above really skews to the Japanese side in terms of preparation. While the Blanquette de veau – veal stewed in a white sauce takes it toward the French side of the scale.

Though the Eryngii Mushrooms were sauteed with a bit of soy and perhaps mirin.

The Missus went with the restaurant's version of a Paris-Brest which has to be ordered at the beginning of the meal.

While I, the one who really doesn't have a sweet tooth was happy to have the Cheese Plate…..which the Missus enjoyed as well.

You can see why we enjoy Les Enfants Rouge, right? I wish we had something like this in San Diego….it would be a regular stop for us!

Previous posts on Les Enfants Rouge here and here.

Les Enfants Rouges
9 Rue de Beauce
75003 Paris, France

After which we headed back to the hotel and relaxed. We'd put in a good amount of mileage!

It had drizzled while we were napping and upon awakening we were blessed with a rainbow….something that I miss about living in Hawaii. And of course, rainbows always makes us remember Frankie!

We had done quite a bit already on this day, so we basically just hung around the 2nd.

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Then the question arose….."what's for dinner?" I hadn't made any plans for this stay in Paris. The Missus really wanted some escargot; She was so disappointed at what we'd had for lunch at Aux Crus de Bourgogne. Then it came to me……on Rue Montorgueil, before you cross Rue Étienne Marcel was a place we passed perhaps 40 times during our stays in Paris.

It was named L'Escargot. But, much like Aux Crus de Bourgogne, we've always thought of the place as being a "tourist" restaurant. Though the sign says that it was established in 1832, when Louis Philippe I ruled France!

Well, looking online, it seems that perhaps I might have been mistaken, as the reviews were pretty good. So, we decided to head on in.

The dark, ornate interior, screamed stereotypical neo-classic/second empire decor.

Our Server was a very serious, "humphing", almost a caricature of a French waiter; Olivier. We would later find out that he was a long time Server at L'Escargot and actually has a sense of humor.

The menu itself seemed like a cliche of what one would think at stereotypical French gastronomy would be.

And of course I ordered a Kir Royale, which got a nod of approval from Olivier. And upon m first sip, my opinion of L'Escargot started changing; the ice thawing as it was perfect.

Perfectly bubbly, with balanced tart and sweet tones!

Of course we had to have the Escargot. Of which we found that there were several preparations. Versions with Black Truffle or Foie Gras!

Of course we had to get the traditional preparation. We got a dozen; which the Missus absolutely loved.

So meaty, the snails had the perfect slightly toothsome, yet tender texture. The menu says the snails are precooked in a court boullion with herbs…it is indeed delicious! Nice herbacious-savory tones; so delici-yoso with the provided baguette!

And of course I had to get the Pan Seared Foie Gras. So this was 24 € but there were two pieces of perfectly cooked, "firmly-creamy" foie gras.

The sauce added a perfect touch of fruity sweetness and the brioche even held up. Which went well with the rich-slightly offally, savory Foie Gras. Be still my heart…literally.

The only clunker of the evening were the Frog Legs.

These bow-legged stanced hind legs of said amphibian were dry and on the chewy side. The herbal topping was fine; but we just didn't care for the heading toward sourness of the flesh.

Still, the escargot and foie gras more than made up for the frog legs.

We enjoyed this meal so much that we'd return the following night for more!

Sheesh…..hidden from us in plain sight all these years!

L'Escargot Montorgueil
38 rue Montorgueil
75001 Paris, France

We headed back to our room taking a roundabout route…a nice after dinner walk…"la balade".

After having two not so good meals the previous day, the two wonderful meals on this day was a perfect correction. And for at least this evening; all seemed right in the world.

Paris – Jeffrey Cagnes (again) and the Earful Tower Walking Tour of the Marais

August 22, 2025 mmm-yoso Bakery, Caffeine Fix, Croissants, France, Paris, France, Travel

**** Not much food in this one, just a morning croissant

Ah yes, so another day in Paris! Which of course we started with our morning Cafe Allonge from our favorite viewing spot on Rue Montorgueil.

Café du Centre
57 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

We just love sitting here.

To people watch (“observer les passants”)…..

Or sometimes “puppy-watch”……

After a good hour, I decided I needed a croissant. Since the Missus had enjoyed the pistachio – orange tarte from Jeffrey Cagnes the previous day, we took the short stroll up the street to get me a croissant aux buerre.

This was an ok version.

Decently “laminated” with the ridges not falling off; crisp and fairly flaky. The interior light and with a nice “moisture” balance, and decently honeycombed. Where this failed the test was in the flavor; not enough butter, thus throwing off the flavor.

Jeffrey Cagnes
73 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

After which we headed off….you see we had scheduled a private tour to start at 10am. Strangely, it would be our first ever tour in Paris!

I’ve been an avid listener to the Earful Tower Podcast since I first heard about it in 2017. It’s a great mix of sights, personalities, history, activities, you name it hosted by Australian expat Oliver Gee, a former journalist stationed in Paris who decided that career wasn’t for him and started the podcast. It delves beyond the usual and obvious, which makes it quite entertaining for me. A few years back, the “Gee kingdom” started offering walking tours. And after all these years and 8 visits to Paris, I just thought it would be great to see a bit more. And so, I booked a private tour with “the man” himself, of our favorite neighborhood, the Marais. And we met Oliver at Peloton Cafe.

I don’t want to give away too much, and there was so much, that I’ll just scratch the surface. The tour is quite customizable and when Oliver had found that we’d already visited somewhere, we’d find another place! I’ve mentioned being called a “cesspool of useless information” several times in the past so I was in heaven. It’s definitely a tour more suited for folks who have been to Paris a couple of times and who enjoy exploring more than just the 7th Arrondissment.

That’s the one and only Maison Faust, which dates back to 15th Century.

It’s a half timbered structure that was restored in 1967.

For something a bit grander, how about Hôtel de Beauvais, which is now the court of appeals. We’d always passed the huge wooden doors; but Olive just walked over and opened them to reveal the courtyard.

We’d head on down a passage to a red door…..

And suddenly, we’d be in a church.

Walking out the main entrance we cracked up. This was the Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, which we’ve walked past many times.

And that’s how it went……charming courtyards.

A stop at the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris (Historical Library of the City of Paris).

Another place that we’ve walked past many times. This time we entered…..

And Oliver picked out a book….a really old book and showed us a map of Paris and went over places where remnants of those places could still be seen.

And speaking of remnants; having listened to the Earful Tower for so long, I knew that Oliver had an obsession with the the Philippe Auguste Wall, so of course that was a part of our tour as well.

Do you see the remnants of the wall in the photo below?

He’s even been able to get into the tower that we had passed the previous day.

Even those places we were familiar with, like Place Vosges were seen in a new light.

As we were taken into a “hidden” courtyard……it was a private residence, so I did not take photos.

And this is how things went; we walked into an auction, did several churches, talked about life in Paris. It was a great time!

We highly recommend this tour for folks who have been to Paris a couple of times or those really interested in the Marais. I’m thinking we’ll do Oliver’s Montmatre tour next time!

Paris – Jeffrey Cagnes (Rue Montorgueil) and Dinner at Le Colimacon

August 16, 2025 mmm-yoso Bakery, Desserts, France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

After lunch, we took a nice siesta. Upon awakening, the Missus decided it was the correct hour for le goûter (tea time).

So, we headed on over to Rue Montorgueil (of course) and the Missus picked up some tea from Mariage Freres.

Mariage Frères Montorgueil
90 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

And then of course she needed to find some dessert. Our usual stop on the street would be Fou de Pâtisserie, but the Missus wanted to try somethin different. Right up the street is a location of Jeffrey Cagnes, which had opened at the end of 2022. The place had always been pretty packed on our previous trip to Paris, but now it looked like things had settled down a bit.

The Missus liked the look of the pistachio tarte.

So that's what we got.

It was actually a pistachio – orange tarte.

Which the Missus enjoyed with Her tea. Edging on overly sweet, hints of orange, hints of earthy-nutty-vanilla.

Jeffrey Cagnes
73 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

We enjoyed just relaxing before heading out to dinner.

While in Milan the Missus requested that I cancel our reservations at Septime and make reservations at a place named Le Colimacon instead. I'd never heard of the place, but went ahead and cancelled Septime and made requested reservations for dinner. The "modern bistro" is located in the Marais on a street we're fairly familiar with Rue Vieille du Temple, where Breizh Café, Edwart Chocolatier, and other places we'd been to are located. We arrived at opening which was at a very "un-Paris like" 630pm. Most Parisians dine after 8pm.

The restaurant is warm and cozy and there's also an upstairs area as well. Service was very attentive and we were spoken to totally in English….which are "red flags" for me with regards to dining in Paris.

The prices weren't too bad and there seemed to be some interesting items on the menu.

Though there was an item on the iPad menu that I wasn't going to order……

I think there was something "lost in translation" here? Hmmm……

Of course I started with a nice Kir Royale!

Which sadly would be the highlight of the meal.

Though the baguette was yeasty and quite good.

First up was the Frisée with poached egg and "lard croustillant"…that would be crispy bacon.

The frisée was crisp with nice, bitter tones, and the vinaigrette complemented it well. The poached egg was ice cold and the yolk overcooked and hard. It also had that fishy flavor. The bacon was on the burnt and bitter side and was chewy instead of being crisp.

The Croustilles de Escargot was up next.

The pastry that the escargot rested in lacked crispness. The escargot was fine; nice and meaty, but the persillade needed more "umph" and was weak in the garlic and flavorful olive oil department.

Seeing Huitres…..oysters from Normandy with a truffle gratinee on the menu…well, you know I had to order that, right?

The oysters were nice and plump with an almost sweet-briney finish.

But the sauce overpowered the bivalves and we really couldn't make out any truffle flavor either.

The last dish up was the Cassolette de Champignons.

This usually creamy mushroom dish was served at room temp, which made it really gluey and pasty. The overall flavor was quite bland.

Overall, nice service though a fairly mediocre meal. All the customers were tourists, which is quite telling.

Le Colimacon
44 Rue Vieille du Temple
75004 Paris, France

As we were leaving the restaurant I asked the Missus how She heard about this place. She then told me that the daughter of the owner has a very popular Instagram account! Say what???

The place was packed with folks waiting outside when we left……ah yes, the "influencer effect".

As we walked back to our room; I tried to recall when we had two mediocre meals in a row in Paris?

Well, I was determined not to make it three in a row!

Paris – La Samaritaine, Nèulo, and a Return to Aux Crus de Bourgogne

August 15, 2025 mmm-yoso Bakery, Croissants, France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

As I continue to try to get all our travel posts done…….

Having arrived in Paris, we just wanted to relax. We'd been to the city so many times that it almost feels like our….or at least my second home. We decided to stay at the Citadines Les Halles in the 2nd Arrondissement as it was right on the RER Blue Line from CDG and of course my favorite street, Rue Montorgueil is close by.

Looking out from our room in the morning, it seemed like it was going to be a nice day.

We did our usual morning "thing" and had our morning "caffe allonge" at Café du Centre, which I'd already mentioned in my previous Paris post. We then had a nice stroll before trying to determine what we wanted to do this morning. On one of our previous trips, I noticed that La Samaritaine had reopened after being closed for 16 years!

We decided to take a look. Man, talk about a fancy place!

Established in 1869, it had become an iconic building right off the Seine. The department store closed its doors in 2005 due to safety concerns. The luxury goods company LVMH purchased the property and after 16 years the property reopened under the auspices of DFS Group. Even after all of the renovations and such, not everyone was happy about that.

We decided to take a peek…..

We walked up the stairs to the top floor……the art work is quite over-the-top.

There a restaurant which was closed. Not that we'd eat there.

There's also a area with a hologram show going.

This all seemed a bit over-the-top, though somewhat entertaining. We also noticed only a couple of customers shopping…..and really wondered if Parisians would really take to a place like this. La Samaritaine has been touted as revolutionizing the department store concept.

La Samaritaine
9 Rue de la Monnaie
75001 Paris, France

As we headed down Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie to do some necessary shopping, we stopped in at this patisserie.

They seemed to specialize in flan as there were at least eight different versions available, but the Missus wasn't interested. Of course, I just wanted a croissant aux beurre.

It was fairly light though the interior was on the moist side. Nicely laminated and crisp, but sorely lacking in butteriness. Just a mediocre version overall….I should just give in and gotten a flan….

Nèulo
46 Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie
75004 Paris, France

We managed to get some shopping done…..I've posted on these places before.

And then of course we did the lèche-vitrine – window shopping (literally translated as "window licking" in French) thing. And of course the people (and pooch) watching.

Along with a dose of history along the way…..

And doing that Flâneur thing ("to wander with no purpose") we came across this…..

It's one of the last 8 remaining towers of the Philippe Auguste Wall, which was completed in 1215 to encircle and protect the city. We would take a tour with the one and only Oliver Gee, who is obsessed with the wall and learn a lot more about it. It's amazing what you run into just walking down the street in Paris!

For dinner, we just headed on over to Rue Montorgueil and Rue Bachaumont to a place that we'd dined at twice before, Aux Crus de Bourgogne. We'd had a surprisingly good meal there, back in winter of 2022…we had passed the place so many times and thought it to be tourist restaurant. We did a follow-up visit and did not enjoy our dinner as much. This would be the "tie-breaker" of sorts. And we picked visiting during lunch.

The service was prompt and professional as always.

The Missus loves tearing into the baguette here. She also loves the rillette that accompanies the baguette!

We had really enjoyed the Vol-au-Vent with mushrooms on our first visit and were happy to see it on the menu on this day.

The puff pastry was on the doughy side and not crisp and light as we enjoy. Good amount of mushroom, but the sauce was a lot thinner than what we'd had here before and lacking in the rich-earthiness.

The Missus had always enjoyed the Escargot here, so we ordered that as well.

This had a lot less olive oil and garlic than before and the snails were on the tough side! Bummer.

This ended up being like our second, not so great visit. Well, I guess we're done with Aux Crus de Bourgogne for now.

Aux Crus de Bourgogne
3 Rue Bachaumont
75002 Paris, France

Oh well…..can't win 'em all! And we are so blessed to be able to return to Paris so often that we're able to try a place on three separate trips, right?

Paris – Those Familiar Places Café du Centre and Maison de Chengdu

April 17, 2025 mmm-yoso Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, Caffeine Fix, Chinese Restaurants, Cocktails, France, Paris, France, Travel

Well, during our trip to London, the Cinque Terre and Genoa, and Milan, you knew I had to include my favorite city in Europe, right? Yes, we were staying in Paris, though only for four days this time around. Since we'd been on the go during our trip so far; we just wanted to mostly hang out in Paris. This was our seventh trip to the "City of Lights".

Our flight from Milan to Paris was just briefly delayed. And we had a decent lunch on the flight.

To make things easy for us, we stayed at the Citadines Les Halles. It was easy to get to from CDG via the RER Blue Line. From there, it was just a short walk to our favorite little street in Paris, Rue Montorgueil, which I've posted on many times. And of course, we had a seat at our favorite cafe, Café du Centre to just watch time pass us by.

It was pretty late in the day for a Cafe Allonge, so the Missus had a glass of wine and I had a Kir.

My goodness, it was great to be back in Paris!

Café du Centre
57 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

When dinner time arrived, we decided to head on over to our favorite simple little Sichuan Restaurant, Maison de Chengdu. Which we first discovered when we stayed in Paris for two weeks and our apartment was just a block away. We strolled up Rue Montorgueil…..

Then taking a right on Rue Réaumur…yes, it was kind of the long way, but we enjoyed passing all those familiar places, including the apartment we stayed in during that two week visit. A right on Rue Volta and we had arrived…..

The restaurant was pretty quiet on this evening.

Though they had a ton of food delivery orders.

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This time we took a seat on the ground floor and basically ordered the same items as on our last visit. And of course, we started with a Tsingtao.

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The only item that was not as good as on our previous visit was the Stir Fried Mountain Yam as it was missing the red and green bell peppers and had hardly any woodear.

The Intestine Dry Pot was nicely cooked; the intestine actually had a bit of "crunch" to it, along with a decent amount of numbing tones from the Sichuan Peppercorn.

The Green Beans had a bit more pork this time around and was stir fried nicely.

The Missus got Her Chinese food fix in. All of this came out to about 42€…..let's say $50/US, which along with the minimal tipping in France, this was a bargain.

You can read about all about our previous visits in the links.

Maison De Chengdu (古味成都)
16 Rue Volta
75003 Paris, France

We took a nice long after dinner stroll, thru all those familiar streets, doing the Flâneur thing. In Paris, it's quite easy getting your "steps" in. You just don't realize how much you walk.

It was a joy to be back in Paris!

Paris – Boullion Republique

January 28, 2024 mmm-yoso France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

After lunch at Maison de Chengdu, we walked the short block back to the apartment and relaxed. After a short nap, we cleaned up the apartment a bit, we'd be leaving for CDG early the next morning. We then did what had become a tradition over this trip "Le Goûter", tea time and we chatted about what it was like spending 4 weeks in France and the last 2 in Paris.

From our arrival in Paris…..

And finally getting a chance to visit the Cluny.

Then heading off to Montpellier a city of contrasts, with tons of history, yet young and vibrant. I was told that one-fourth of the population are University Students.

Then it was off to the medieval city of Carcassonne.

The massive La Cité looming on top of the hill. Of course, when spending such a long period of time in a country you'll bound to have some hiccups and on the day we were supposed to leave Carcassonne by train there was a rail strike, but having been thru similar events before we looked for and found transport to our next destination by bus.

That destination was Toulouse, the fourth most populous city in France. Much more laid back than Paris, but still with great history and architecture, we really enjoyed the city.

We actually had the main Christmas Market right out our hotel door! This is one city I'm sure we'll return to.

And then of course it was back to Paris. Staying for two weeks straight meant we could take time to visit places a bit further afield, like the Cimetière des Chiens, the oldest pet cemetery in Europe.

And venture to other places that perhaps weren't so high on our "list" like Jardin des Plantes.

Our location in the Marais allowed us time to visit the National Archives Museum and take advantage of the "free first Sunday" at the Musée National Picasso.

And staying in an apartment near to the metro made it easy to take a day trip to Chantilly.

Or even spending two nights in Strasbourg to enjoy the Christmas Markets.

It was indeed an amazing month!

And here it was; our last meal in Paris. We wanted to keep it simple. During the first leg of the trip in Paris, the Missus really enjoyed the simple, yet tasty food at Le Petit Bouillon Pharamond. So, I went looking for a Boullion and found that Boullion Republique was jusy a 10 minute stroll form the apartment. So, we decided to head on over a bit before the usual Parisian dinner time, getting there at 530. Even at this ungodly early dinner hour in Paris there was a short wait, but soon enough we got a table

The Missus had a glass of the Brut, I had a Kir and in keeping with how we enjoy dining, we went with 3 entres (starters) and some oysters.

The Missus really enjoyed the Ouefs Mayonnaise, basically devilled eggs.

Of course the Missus loved this; wonderfully creamy, the yolk-mayonnaise mixture was so smooth and rich. Of course, the addition of block truffle did not hurt things one bit. There was a touch of acidity to balance out the flavors.

The Terrine de Campagne, country style pate was nicely made.

Porky, with a touch of offaly tones; there's a nice hint of wine-anise tones as well. And the cornichons to refresh ones palate.

The Missus has become a big fan of Escargot, so we made sure to order some.

These were decently plump, with a good amount of olive oil to saturate your baguette. Could have used more garlic in my opinion, but not bad.

The oysters were excellent.

Not overly briney, quite refreshing, no off flavors. All I needed was a small squeeze of lemon.

Now, for the interesting part, you can actually pay via QR by table. Would you like to see our bill?

Now, translated to dollars that around $37/US! Two drinks, 3 appetizers, 6 Oysters…….what the heck would that cost here in San Diego? Yes, Boullions are kind of considered to be an affordable and straight forward eating establishment serving traditional dishes. And this place sure delivered.

As you can tell by the line waiting for a table when we left. All were speaking French as far as we could tell. At this price, you could eat at an Boullion a couple of times a week.

It was a fitting last meal in Paris.

Bouillon République
39 Bd du Temple
75003 Paris, France

That would keep us….until the next time the "City of Lights" beckons.

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris – The View from Galeries Lafayette Haussmann and Lunch at Maison de Chengdu (Yet Again)

January 27, 2024 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Chinese Restaurants, France, Paris, France, Travel

I really didn't want it to end; but here it was, our last day in Paris. We decided to spend our last morning doing what we've done so many times in the City of Light. I went to the corner Boulangerie, of which there were three and had a croissant at the apartment. And then we headed on over to Rue Montorgueil and had our Cafe Allonge at Café du Centre like we've done so many times.

No, it's not about the coffee really. Even the caffeine snob…the Missus loves this. It's about watching life walk past you and breathing in the city.

It's not unusual for us to spend an hour or more here.

Café du Centre
57 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

And of course, once we were done, we headed off….well, with no goal in mind, just to do that Flâneur thing. Which brought us to the Passage des Panoramas.

Where we could do that "other" thing we'd really embraced called lèche-vitrine ("licking windows" i.e. window shopping).

As we exited the passage I had an idea. Since we were close to Galeries Lafayette, why don't we head on over. Now we had already seen the holiday displays earlier during our stay, which were admittedly a bit strange this time around. But there was one other thing I'd always meant to do at Galeries Lafayette and I thought since it was a pretty nice day, this would a good time.

So we headed on over and entered the store.

And headed on up to the rooftop terrace, where you get great views of Montmartre.

And the Eiffel Tower.

We enjoyed the view!

Soon it was time to get some lunch. We decided to stay around the apartment and just go back to Maison de Chengdu. We had enjoyed this simple Sichuan restaurant a block from the apartment so much that we had already eaten there twice.

We were seated upstairs this time.

This time around it was a three-out-of-three. We got our two favorite dishes from our previous visits, the Intestine Dry Pot and Green Beans with pork. Both were just as good as on previous visits.

You can read about those dishes in my previous posts on Maison de Chengdu.

The "new" dish was the Sautéed Mountain Yam, what I call yamaimo.

Whoa, in spite of the underwhelming look of the dish, this was quite good. The slippery mountain yam had achieved a bit of sweetness when stirfried. Yes, it was slippery, slimy, but quite nice with the earthy-sweet wood ear. It was so simple, yet quite satisfying.

Looking back, I think we were quite lucky to have selected where we stayed. Heck, our favorite simple, straight-forward Sichuan restaurant was a block away. And yes, the dishes we had here were better than the Sichuan in San Diego. Isn't that sad?

Maison De Chengdu (古味成都)
16 Rue Volta
75003 Paris, France

Paris – Dinner at Automne

January 26, 2024 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, France, French Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Paris, France, Travel

Our time in Paris was winding down. We had two more evenings left. The Missus had enjoyed dining at a Boullion on the last night of our previous stay, so we thought we'd do that again. So, on the second to the last night, I thought we'd go with a fancier meal. I mentioned having made reservations at the Michelin Star Automne in an earlier post and then having it cancelled. On the bright side, we ended up having dinner at Les Enfants Rouge that evening, which has become a favorite of ours. I did still want to dine at Automne and on this visit I made a reservation for this evening. The restaurant is in the 11th Arrondissement, about a kilometer and a half from our apartment. We had a nice stroll on over. Like many of our preferred fine dining restaurants in Paris, the restaurant was helmed by a Japanese Chef.

We we greeted upon arrival and escorted to a nice quiet corner table. For dinner we selected the 7 course tasting menu and shared a wine tasting.

The pacing was relaxed, very low keyed. Of course things started with the amuse bouche.

Which I recall being delicious, but I got seriously distracted.

By what, you might say. Well, we had one of those wonderful "Paris moments". You know us and pooches. We saw the cutest furry pooch walking down the street. He looked like he was smiling and there was something about he and his owner that caught my eye. I brought out my camera to take a photo and wouldn't you know it. The woman saw me pointing the camera their way. Now, if you would believe those Paris stereotypes, you'd think that we'd be in store for some rudeness. But, like what has happened to us many times before, we had a moment. The woman smiled and waved and brought the pooch over to take their photo.

It was such a sweet moment! When I went and downloaded the photos I realized what had caught my attention. You know that folks say people start looking like their dogs……. What do you think? It's one of those unforgettable moments. The Missus and I talk about this encounter more often than we chat about the Louvre!

Anyway, on with the meal.

First up was a terrine with Smoked Eel and Foie Gras.

I wasn't sure about this dish at first glance; but it was quite good, the rich foie gras paired nicely with the smoked-savory-eel. The balsamic glaze and beets added sweetness to really help balance things out. The radish was slightly pungent which helped to reset the palate between bites.

The Scallops with Osetra Caviar was quite decadent.

I thought the scallops could be seared a bit more, but it was perfect rare, sweet-oceany, the caviar adding an interesting layer of flavor that was almost like intense walnut? The shavings of hazelnut added another layer of earthy-nuttiness to the dish.

The next dish featured, black truffle, wild game bisque, and a salsifis timbale.

The bisque was a bit too much and overpowered the dish. But of course, we could minimize the exposure and enjoy the truffle and salsifis. This also had really earthy and savory pied blue mushrooms.

The line caught sea bass was cooked to perfection.

Crispy skin, moist and flaky, the sauces, broccoli, rapini, and one that seemed like a mild foam with hints of lime all added a different dimension to the dish.

The Roasted Venison was cooked to a perfect doneness for me.

Nice mild gaminess, the one item that was amazing in this dish were the mushrooms. I was told it's called Trompette de la Mort "trumpets of death"! Also known as black chanterelles. My goodness, the sweet-nutty-earthiness was amazing.

The Poached Pear with Cocoa Tuile was not overly sweet.

And all in all, this was a fine meal.

One of many that we've had in Paris over the years!

Automne
11 Rue Richard Lenoir
75011 Paris, France

Paris – Bercy Village, Kodawari Ramen Tsukiji Revisited, and Takumi Patisserie

January 6, 2024 mmm-yoso Bakery, Desserts, France, Japanese Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

It was a winter Sunday morning in Paris and after my morning croissants we had to decide what to do for the day. We had already spent nearly two weeks in Paris and the Missus was getting fidgety and really needed different stuff to do each day. So, I thought that Paris might be pretty crowded on this day, so why not head out to Bercy Village, formerly wine storehouses the area was converted into a "shopping village" in 2001. It was just a 15 minute metro ride from Chatelet to Cour Saint-Émilion. Plus, we'd never really visited the 12th Arrondissement.

It was an easy walk to the Village.

It was a nice paved, pedestrian street. Surprisingly quiet for a Saturday morning.

We'd arrived just before most of the shops opened, at about 945. And just strolled up and down the courtyard. The Missus explored some shops, but didn't find anything of interest. There were quite a few chains represented; Sephora, Five Guys, Nicholas, etc. I'm thinking this must be nice for locals, but it was not very interesting for us. Except for a few things.

There is a really nice park right across the street from the mall and we really enjoyed our walk there.

Then we decided to head on back. While on the metro, the Missus decided that She wanted the ramen from Kodawari Tsukiji again. The Pyramides stop was just one further from Chatelet.

The shop still had open seats in this most interesting seafood market themed ramen shop….

Not being too hungry, we got the Sea Bream Tatare.

Loved the shiso in this dish as it added a nice palate cleansing mintiness to the dish. The fish was tender; the rice a bit mushy, but the beany-sweet miso and shiso tones carried the dish.

Like on our previous visit; we got the Sea Bream Paitan Ramen.

And any doubts about the Missus having truly enjoying this on our previous visit was erased as She loved it just as before. Maybe She is ready to have niboshi ramen again on our next visit to Japan! The broth as a bit richer this time around, the noodles slippery with a nice chew. As you can see, that tamago was perfect and still warm….you know my pet peeve regarding cold eggs. The sea bream was tender and we finished the entire bowl…again.

Looks like the Missus has Her favorite ramen spot in Paris now!

Kodawari Ramen Tsukiji
12 Rue de Richelieu
75001 Paris, France

The Missus wanted something for Her "tea time" and I thought that perhaps getting some Japanese Cheesecake might fit the bill. It would also be interesting to see how that measured up in Paris. And since we were in the area of the city dubbed "Little Tokyo", I thought it might be fun. I had a place named Takumi Patisserie on my list which was close by on Rue des Pyramides, so we headed on over.

There's quite a selection here. The young man working was really friendly as well.

The Missus inquired about the cheesecakes and then decided upon Her "test". She asked about how "jiggly" the cheesecake was. Apparently, the young man was ready for this as he brought out a cheesecake and proceeded to show us how it jiggled like a true Japanese cheesecake. The Missus was sold. So we bought one. And when it became le goûter (tea time) the cheesecake was presented.

So, this was bit sweeter and more dense than what is preferred for Japanese Cheesecake. It wasn't bad. And…….when I tried to wiggle it around; it didn't do the "jiggle". Hmmmm. To this day, the Missus and I joke about seeing that jiggling demonstration at the shop. We think they have a "stunt cheesecake" on hand to show folks!

Takumi Patisserie
29 Rue des Pyramides
75001 Paris, France