We took the metro to St. Germain de Pres to see if we could find a croissant by the famous Pierre Hermes. No luck on the croissant in the summer (dang French August holidays again), but we did order a mille feuille and two macaroons. We planned to visit Laduree for their famous little macaroon morcels at some point so figured it would be good to taste Monsieur Hermes' macaroons too...for quality control. Our afternoon treat turned into a full on tourist attraction-esque photo shoot. But I'd say it was more photo worthy than most attractions! The mille feuille was creamy, nutty, flaky burnt caramel heaven. I misordered and was pleasantly surprised to find two in our box. Quel surprise!
Delicious macaroons from Pierre Hermes!
Mille Feuille
The next few hours were a goose chase for a number of recommended restaurants for dinner but they all were closed due to the August holiday closures most french take. We ended up back in our neighbourhood at Cafe L'Industrie for a perfect dinner of buffalo mozzarella tomato salad, escargots and duck confit. We topped it off with a duo of pistachio and cassis sorbet. Mmm...
The following day we got up early in an attempt to beat the tourist crowds to Versailles. We succeeded at getting up and out in time to pack a picnic and make it to Versailles just after opening, but to say we failed beating the crowds is a severe understatement. Hundreds of tourists lined up in s-patterns in suprising order for their numbers. We joined them with hesitance, but after getting up early and catching transit and a detour bus to get there we were committed. The Chateau itself was, while stunning, beautiful and grand (loved the hall of mirrors), it was probably not worth the line up. Les Jardins however, were very worth the trek! Had we known we didn't have to wait in as long a line to get in we would have skipped it all to enjoy our picnic in the gardens. The classical music blasted through speakers, the fountains gushed and the sun shone. And we drank wine, and enjoyed our baguette with manchego cheese, serrano ham, grapes and cherries we bought from the market that morning. Louis XIV himself would have certainly approved of our indulgences. It was perfect... if it weren't for all the damn touirists!
Enjoying Les Jardins at Chateau Versailles
Hall of Mirrors
The gardens expand a couple kilometers from the Chateau
Back in Paris we headed straight to Laduree for a sampling of their famous macaroons. Such a pretty shop. Although, plagued again by a line up! We ordered four: a citron-thyme, caramel fleur-de-sel, raspberry-anise and orange blossom and savoured them on some steps nearby. They each were so distinctive and delicate in their flavours, but we both agreed that Pierre Hermes were better! That's not to say that I'd ever turn down a Laduree macaroon though :)
Sweet tooth satisfied and re-energized we walked to Montmartre to one of our favourite spots, Basilica Sacre Coeur. The last time we were in Paris two years ago, we spent a long afternoon on its steps with a bottle of wine and we were excited to enjoy it again. We picked up a bottle of Grand Cru St. Emilion Bordeaux from a convenience store for 13EUR, and by convenience store prices we were splurging (the rosés we'd been drinking at our place were averaging about 3EUR). It's amazing the quality and value of french wine you can get at a convenience store! We also snagged a warm, fresh baguette, also at a convenient store, just delivered. Mmmm.
From the bottom of the hill Sacre Coeur sits atop, we could see hundreds of tourists crammed on the steps. Much busier than last time we were here, but this was Paris in August, not a Monday in March. We made our ascent up the steps and found a nice grassy spot to enjoy our picnic. We parked in front of a busker playing weird music and putting on an equally weird puppet show, so our attentions diverted to a group of sketchy looking characters who we surmised were casing the tourists in hopes one might put their camera down too far away from him, or be so amazed by weird french puppet dude they could be pick-pocketed. We watched them come and go, exchanging code words with their cronies, carrying non-descript bags and boxes back and forth and what not. At this point we were watching these dudes more than enjoying the scenery so we decided to move up higher to watch this awesome busker from Guinea. He was a football player and could dribble a soccer ball like a madman. On his head, down his back, with one foot, and up a lamp post dribbling mid-air. He was waaayyy more entertaining! And before we left we discovered the mystery of the sketchy dudes: they were attempting to sell bottles of water and Heinekens to tourists under the radar of the Police. I think our version of their story was much more interesting.
The next morning came with more torrential rain, but it didn't matter to us because we slept in, recovering from our tourismania the day before. We had little planned for today, but we did want to see if there was some activitiy going on at Paris' flea markets. When we got there we were welcomed by the beats and boomboxes of the hawkers selling knock off Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, etc. plus hundreds of stalls of ghetto clothing. We made our way to the antiques and curiousities area. This was more like it! It was massive to put it mildly. On a rainy August Monday, with 90% of the vendors packed up from the rain or on holiday, there was still tons to see. It would have been overwhelming and require a whole day of scouring if all the vendors were open. It was a good first taste of the flea markets, and the only things we bought were a pair of 1930's blue-green cute/ugly book ends, and a pair of earrings, for Mitchell of course.
We spent the afternoon back at Place des Vosges at Cafe Hugo, watching the rain and sun come and go with equal intensity, and filling our bellies with wine, steak frites, aubergine caviar and other french specialties while we wrote some of our blog. We shared the patio with locals, foreigners and Clive Owen and who we think were his relatives. Snagged a quick pic!
Our last day we enjoyed a morning croissant and relaxing stroll through the Marais, and passed Centre Pompidou. We rented bikes called Velib and spent 2 hours biking to the Eiffel Tower, passed Notre Dame, through St. Germain du Pres, and stopped at Ile-St. Louis for some famous Berthillion ice cream. The shop itself was closed for summer holidays (note the trend!), but we found a shop nearby selling the brand.
Centre Georges Pompidou
Notre Dame
We had dinner at Chez Janou, a spot in our Marais neighbourhood, highly recommended by our apartment host. It's known for its selection of over 80 pastis, and authentic Provencal-style food. We had a warm oven-baked chevre covered in a sweet tomato sauce with rosemary, and sopped up the leftover sauce with fresh bread. We ordered the cheapest red wine on the house menu, from Luberon (note: Brian and Emily..I like to think it came right from Peter Mayne's vineyards!), with Chez Janou for a label, and a bargain price of 14EUR. So far it was the best house wine we've tasted. So good. We shared our mains of beef tartare, and lamb brochettes, and dessert of classic clafoutis. Here we made our first 'friends', enjoying conversation with a group of Korean girls to our left, and two sets of couples on our right, some Kiwis and Aussies on similar trips as we are, between jobs and travelling.
Our last must-do in Paris was to enjoy champagne on the bridge over La Seine with a view to the Notre Dame where we got engaged. We packed up some pretty champagne glasses, and our bottle of Henriot Brut Souverain. We wanted to try something new instead of your typical Veuve Cliquot or Mumm's. This was the perfect way to finish our stay in Paris. Tres romantique!
À bientôt Paris, hello Amsterdam!
Here's a link to all of our Paris photos:
Picasa Photos - Paris
Loving all the photos! Makes me miss Paris..xx
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