april in paris: day two

Breakfast at the little patisserie/boulangerie around the corner on Rue de Babylone. Boyar and I had pain au chocolat, Mika had a brioche au chocolat, and Miles had a pizza-like flatbread. Had little cups of espresso that I don't think were what Boyar thought he ordered. It was very good though, and felt very French. A man and his toddler daughter had stopped by on the way home from swimming lessons, and he struck up a conversation with us. He was from the Presidio in the City, and lives here now. I asked him for some recommendations, which was helpful. He said the little place across the street was good, and that's where we ended up at tonight for dinner. Very cozy and felt very down home. Simple and French. I ordered a paté so that the kids could try it, but I ended up eating most of it. Wait, I skipped from breakfast to dinner. Backtracking. After breakfast, we bought some sandwiches to go, then got on the Metro for Rick Steves' podcast Historical Walking Tour of Paris. Started at the Notre Dame cathedral, which was very impressive. The day was a bit overcast, so that added to the ominous feel of the gothic architecture. After Notre Dame, we went for ice cream at Berthillon where I thought I was getting a scoop of "poire" but ended up also with a scoop of "peche" when Boyar asked about it, and this was a very good thing : ) Both flavors were really good. Walked back along the same little street and went to a fancy cookie shop, which was beautiful, and also a place called Pylones where I got some cute wallets. I figured this would be my souvenir, and maybe a couple of birthday presents. Got a cute one for Miki. Also stopped at a blown glass shop that had adorable animals that the kids bought, along with lots of cool jewelry (which I looked at but did not buy). Took a picture of a couple of guys posing by the Berthillon truck that was parked outside; very nice and appreciative, they offered to take our picture, too, but then a car swerved by and I thought - no, that's okay! We are standing in the street! Cars drive fast even on these little tiny alley streets. (Boyar: How do you know they are a couple?) After ice cream ... onward to the Left Bank part of the tour, which was confusing but interesting. Walked through the Latin Quarter, which had things like a "patisserie tunisien" (which, I think, means Tunisian pastry shop) and lots of "ethnic" food. This is the "artsy" area of town, according to our podcast. Ate our sandwiches in the little park with the oldest tree (acacia) in Paris, and watched the pigeons trying to get food. Went across to the Saint Chapelle and Palais de Justice, but we did not go inside because the lines were long and I did not want to wait. Walked up to the Pont Neuf bridge and over to the Louvre. Impressive from the outside, we'll probably go there tomorrow (since it is supposed to be rainy).

Eventually found the Metro and figured out how to get back to Vaneau; walked up to the Bon Marche and the Saint Germain area, which I really liked. Nice shops, not as touristy. Almost ate at a place that was in the Access guide, but it was very, very empty and seemed dubious. Went into a store called Bathroom Graffiti, which had those cool Pantone chip items, like folding chairs, and Hello Kitty items and a t-shirt that said "I'm not a tourist, I live here!" and some cool headphones. Miles was looking at these ones with a big star on the outside, which seemed really cheaply made, and the salesclerk showed him some other ones by some Swedish company that looked very cool and had a better length cord than the one Miles has now. Although I had been discouraging him from buying new headphones (since Boyar had just bought these for him for his last birthday), I let him go ahead and get these because they made him so happy and he had been moping around for the past hour, and he said he would pay with his own money. As soon as he told Boyar about it, he had buyers' remorse. It was actually pretty touching. He said he did not feel happy if it made his dad upset. I am guessing that there are plenty of kids who are actually happier when they annoy their parents, and I am relieved that this is not the case with our son (at least not at the moment). Things seemed to smooth over, or at least I am hoping that's the case, since Miles is pretty happy about his new headphones. By this time, Miles was now happy (because his headphones made him forget he was tired and hungry), Mika was eating her leftover half-sandwich, and Boyar and I were famished and tired. Went to the big La Grande Epicerie across from Le Bon Marche and checked it out. It was very late by this time, and it was pretty slim pickin's. Almost bought some roast pork, but then I realized it would be about $20 for one pound ... which seemed a bit high to me. Mika found a bottle of Coke with her name on it. Literally. Pretty funny. It was some special edition bottle with the singer-Mika's name on it, but since it looks the same as our Mika's name, we bought it anyway. She also wanted chocolate mousse, which we got from the refrigerator case.

Kept looking at other restaurant menus on our way back, wanting so badly to find a restaurant that seemed to welcome us. It is then that I found I had a hidden talent: deciphering French, even though I really don't know any French. It is very handy to know words like "tartare" (raw) and "cheval" (horse) -- especially when they are on a menu. Together. We kept walking, and found ourselves back in our neighborhood at the little red restaurant. Ultimately, eating here was perfect for us -- nice, friendly and very French. No CPK or Pasta Pomodoro tonight!

I amused myself with the realization that we ate all three meals from one block near our apartment: breakfast and lunch from the patisserie/boulangerie, and dinner at the restaurant. Supporting the Vaneau-Babylone economy!

Okay ... very tired ... everybody is asleep ... time to join them. Au revoir.