Day 11

So, the family's out of town for the weekend. I woke up to a quiet apartment, which was actually very nice. Before I left Macon, I got used to waking up to an empty house, so it was almost a return to normalcy. I had toasted pain d'epices (it's a dense, sweet, spiced cake-like bread sweetened with honey) with cherry jam for breakfast, along with a nice cup of hot tea. I made another cup of tea, then returned to my room to begin researching a place to go for lunch.

My original destination was a restaurant called Le Petit Saint Benoît, a small, affordable, but well-established bistro that happened to be in my arrondissement. I set out on my walk, beginning to enjoy the cooler weather. I finally got to the restaurant, though, and saw that the prices were out of my range, though the fare was classic French food. I regrouped, turned around, and walked back to the main street I had turned off of, Boulevard Saint-Germain.

The Saint-Germain-des-Pres area is named for the former Abbey in the 6th arr., and has long been noted for its bohemian atmosphere. Two of Paris' most well known restaurants are no more than 100 yards from each other in this area- the Café de Flore & Les Deux Magots.



I wound up choosing Les Deux Magots, and overall I had a decent experience. The place was obviously crowded, so I didn't have extremely high expectations for the service.

The table setting was nothing special, but I liked it enough to take a picture & share :)


I ordered a smoked salmon sandwich, and it was actually really good, if still a bit expensive for me. I did have to remove the cucumbers, but that wasn't such a bad deal. The salmon was still really tasty, either way.


And after that picture, my camera died. I wandered down Boulevard Saint-Germain a bit, but it started to rain, and I didn't have an umbrella, so I figured it was probably time to head back to the apartment. On the way, I grabbed a pastry as a late dessert- another croissant-like creation with custard and chocolate chips. So yummy. Just before I returned to the apartment, I stopped in at the little grocery store across the street and got myself some chicken soup to have for dinner. I've been wanting some since I got here, so I finally indulged myself. And it's definitely soup weather outside, so it works.

I returned to the apartment, dropped off my soup in the kitchen, and made myself another cup of tea, and retreated to my room. I think today, the gray weather actually helped. I called home, and mamma remarked that I sounded very relaxed, which I then realized was true. I'm a creature of calm & quiet, and today has been very restorative. With a belly full of chicken soup, I'm off to knit for a bit, then go to sleep. Tomorrow- the American Church in Paris awaits.


ps- discovered this video while rambling through this blog this afternoon. Do please watch. It actually made my day.