Our train from Strasbourg was on time and we got into Paris-Est right around 1230. From there it was a snap getting back to our apartment.
After two nights at various Christmas Markets and watching me enjoy myself whether it was doing the flanuer thing, spending the morning on Rue Montorgueil, or just deciding where I was getting my morning croissant from, the Missus was ready to get into "shopping mode".
And so we unpacked, put in a load of laundry, and headed on out.
Passing thru some very familiar places.
And places we had just recently gotten to know.
Past Place Venodome.
All dressed up for the season.
Down Rue Saint-Honore.
The Missus knew the way by heart.
As before, we were treated like royalty at our destination with a personal shopper, some light refreshment……
And as several times before, we left, the Missus happy, our credit card not so much….but such is life.
Chanel
31 Rue Cambon
75001 Paris, France
We then headed out, with no objective in sight, just enjoying the day and came across the Petit Palais.
Life many of the places we visited on this trip, we had passed by the Petit Palais many times and finally decided to visit. Free admission made things a lot more attractive as well. The Petit Palais is an art museum, housed in a beautiful building that was built for the 1900 Paris Exposition.
It houses many several well known works and also temporary exhibitions (of which there is admission).
We were here on a whim, so had no agenda in mind. We'd just be wandering and enjoying things.
There's a grand portrait of Sarah Bernhardt.
It is by Georges Clairin and is said to be a favorite of the Actress who kept it all her life. It was donated by her son after her death.
Being that we're in the Les Halles area a good amount of time during our stays, we enjoyed this work.
Which captures the busy, chaotic place that "the Belly of Paris" was during the 19th century.
We also noticed folks actually painting as well.
It seems like this is an art group or class enjoying Petit Palais.
We got some tea and coffee and settled in the Terrasse and just enjoyed the place.
Petit Palais
Av. Winston Churchill
75008 Paris, France
We then started to head on back to the apartment; doing our share of lèche-vitrine – window shopping (literally translated as "window licking" in French) along the way. Though not everyone wanted us "licking their windows" it seems!
The Missus wanted something for le goûter (tea time) and we decided to stop at Fou de Pâtisserie on Rue Montorgueil again.
She chose the La Tarte Citron.
It was a "tart" tarte indeed, not overly sweet and the Missus enjoyed it.
Fou de Pâtisserie
45 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France
When it as time for dinner, well, a few days previous, we passed what looked sort of like a modern Japanese restaurant. The tiny place was packed and I cracked up at the name "Onii-San" which means "older brother" in Japanese. So, we walked on in and made reservations for dinner.
We were welcomed and seated. Looking at the menu; it became apparent that this was a pseudo-Izakaya, featuring some interesting dishes. The staff; except for one person we saw in the kitchen was French, so this was going to be an interesting meal. I need to apologize for the photos as the lighting in the place was quite flakey.
We placed our order and soon enough, the dishes started arriving.
First off, the Tempuras de Legumes – Vegetable Tempura (14€/$15.25US).
The batter was a bit too thick and heavy for tempura, the dashi was actually pretty good, nice savory tones. The vegetables were too hard.
The Shiitakes (15€/$16.35US) was interesting.
There were only four halves of mushrooms in this…like 2 Shiitakes! The wakame cream was kinda weird in flavor, mildly savory-oceany, but also milky. There was a interesting bitterness to the dish. We later found out that there sansho pepper in this. The ikura were actually trout caviar and were quite good; salty, with a sweet finish.
The Aubergine (Eggplant – 15€/$16.35US) was another con-"fusion" dish.
The eggplant was on the undercooked side for our taste. We liked the blanched watercress as it had a pleasant bitterness that went well with the sweet-soy-wasabi flavors in the sauce. Not sure about the cheese though as it just didn't seem to belong here.
Things took a nice turn for the better with the Tuna Tartare (26€/$28.40US).
The tuna was chopped nicely; it almost melted in your mouth; the shiso really enhanced the dish as did the trout caviar The ponzu sauce added that savory-sour-tangy component and the wasabi cream added a nice richness. We weren't sure about the brioche, but this seemed more like Japanese milk bread and was quite good.
Speaking of Milk Bread, I saw Toro Sando (26€/$28.40US) on the menu and just had to order it. It was our favorite dish of te evening.
Initially, I took a look at the fish and it sure didn't look like toro; but it was surprisingly tender. The breading, while not the best, still had a bit of crunch. The bread was fairly fluffy, buttery, with a mild sweetness. The wasabi mayo was a perfect match and the ponzu shallot worked so well with seafood. This was a surprisingly good sando!
On an interesting note; while searching for addresses I found that Onii-San opened a Sando shop named Ototo last years as well! Makes perfect sense.
While this wasn't a perfect meal, it was an interesting fusion, sometimes "Con"- fusion. While we've been used to French cuisine with Japanese touches; this place went in the opposite direction, with interesting results. Such is the ever changing state of food in Paris!
Onii-San
82 Rue des Archives
75003 Paris, France
Our accommodation was just 2 long blocks away. We passed the "very blue" Mairie de Paris Centre, the "Mayor's Office" along the way.
We had a day trip set for the next day, so it was off to bed early for us.
Thanks for stopping by!
It was as we remembered; a bit too dense and bready for our taste. But it was fun just to be here again after all these years.
No, this wasn't cheap, but the meat, while being a tad more chewy than I prefer was quite beefy, the broth had a nice beefiness, was decently rich, with good five-spice tones, not overly salty, with a mild spice to it.
The dumplings were quite large; the wrappers too brittle and chewy. The filling for the jiaozi were very beefy, with nice celeri tones, seasoned quite well, but quite tough. We were surprised that the black vinegar-soy dipping sauce was not half bad. This was our least favorite dish of the meal.
The rice was perfect, but the sauce was greasier and milder in poultry flavor than what we'd had earlier and the turkey meat was more chewy/tough as well. 
And even though it seemed pretty busy along the whole 500 meter route, there was a laid back vibe to things. And so, we actually enjoyed this night market more than the 
The woman working was quite a good salesperson. She saw the Missus and I walk up and immediately started conversing with the Missus. And apparently this tactic worked as we got a Hujiao Bing – a pepper bun. 
As you walk within the park, you'll come across amazing trees. An example would be the "three generation tree". Where one tree grew upon another, each serving as a base for the next generation, a symbol for all who some here.
There were very nice wooden paths and bridges making Alishan a very easy visit. Perhaps too easy for the Missus as She was getting kinda bored with the whole place. Whereas I enjoyed the view and the trees. Oh the stories they could tell!
It was cooked to a perfect medium rare, loved the beefiness. I was told this is grass fed beef, so I expected it to be more toothsome. The cauliflower was delicious; at least that's what the Missus said as She quickly poached them all from the plate. The jalapeno mashed potatoes were quite creamy and not really spicy at all.
