Paris Part 2: More Food Please

Ciao Stranger,

Before I get on with where I had left off last time, I think we all need an update from my admirer, Creepy Carlo. Remember him from over a month ago? Mr. Shoulder Squeezer? The one I went on a 3 hour night walk with? Guess what? He's back from Thailand and he hasn't forgotten about me! JOY......While I was in Paris, I started receiving phone calls and texts from him.

He even found me on WhatsApp. At least he's trying. I should give him some credit I suppose. I hope I don't magically run into him somehow in the city, that would be awkward. If he calls again, I'm giving my phone to my room mate to deal with it :) 

Saturday
When in Paris, one must eat delicious food. And that's exactly what we did. Len took us to Bistrotters, a delicate little bistro that serves about 20 customers in a quiet neighbourhood. It's rated incredibly high on TripAdvisor with over 700 positive reviews. The food was scrumptious! You can tell that each item on the plate was made with patience and skill. The flavours complimented each other well and I have nothing bad to say about the food. You know the chef took his time preparing everything. You can taste it. I ordered the fish while Eddy had the braised pork belly and we all finished the meal with some dessert.

The restaurant is also well known for their collection of wine. It's part of the French culture to drink wine with your meal regardless of the time of day, and our table was the only exception, all because I'm a party pooper. Here's part of their wine collection and the three satisfied customers in the background. Come here with your date for a great lunch/dinner out. You won't regret it. It's everything you ever dreamed of in a Parisian restaurant. Fresh baguette, French waiter, wine cellar in the floor, small tables, menu on the board, and a relaxing atmosphere. However, be prepared to spend around 30-60 Euros each when coming here.

After brunch we strolled to the Montmartre area, famous for the original Moulin Rouge. Since I didn't see any shows, and it was in the middle of the day, I really don't have much to say about the place. We then headed to the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur, situated on top of the hill with a great view of the whole city. It's really quite stunning, especially since it was nice out. But there is one downfall to this area, and one so big that I'm not sure I would want to go back there again.

That's these lovely fellows. Near the entrance of the church/park, there's about a dozen of these guy holding strings in their hands, trying to tie them on your wrists. Once they get you, there's no way you can get the stupid string off and you'll be forced to hand over 20 Euros to these scammers. Are you thinking who's stupid enough to let someone tie a piece of string on your wrist? Well, look at the picture below. They get you alright. They practically pounce on your arms and if you don't know what's going on and lose your train of thought for one second, then you're done. Be warned, keep your hands in your pockets when walking around this area.

 

Aside from those fellas, the rest of Montmartre is definitely worthy of experiencing. If you happen to come on a sunny weekend afternoon, then you might be lucky enough to see a show you'll never forget. If you look closely at the picture, you'll see a guy climbing the lamppost with a soccer ball (football) on his head. What's going on? Well, it's slightly hard to explain, so I will link you to a youtube video for a better explanation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3jE0j6gsig (at least watch the first minute of it)

Behind the church there's some smaller streets that depicts exactly what I wished Paris would look like. Dozens of artists sitting around, painting and drawing sketches/portraits, cafes serving coffee and pastry shops with croissants and crepes. It was perfection, and definitely my favourite part of the city. It was just too damn cute. I wish I had more time there. Grab a tea, a book and sit there people watching all afternoon. Mmmmm.

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This is what I mean. How can you resist eating inside one of these restaurants? It's just calling for you to gon in. 

That night we went for some Pho because it was getting quite chilly outside and we wanted some soup to warm up our belly. I haven't had Vietnamese food in 4 months, so this was definitely refreshing. This is apparently one of the best Pho restaurants in Paris as well, located in Chinatown. Made me feel like I was back in Surrey.

Sunday

Eddy and I decided to attack the Louvre today. The well known museum featured in The Da Vinci Code. Alright, so it's not really famous because of the book but for the most well known portrait on Earth: The Mona Lisa. The museum is absolutely outrageously big. Miles and miles of endless collections from all over the world. It's said that in order to see everything the museum has to offer, you should spend about two weeks in this place. Most people will just see the Mona Lisa then leave. I pretty much did the same thing. I'm not an art connoisseur, so I don't really know how to appreciate all the paintings. They're...nice? Anywho, look at all the people crowd around in the Mona Lisa room. The one you're looking for is the glassed off painting at the opposite end of the wall. Yeah, the smallest one.

This picture was taken at the front of the line, zoomed in and cropped. She's supposed to be looking at you from all angles. Is she looking at me? Is she?

After the Louvre the rain started coming and going in random spurts so Eddy and I had to play hide and seek with the weather. We went into a popular cafe for lunch that served freshly made sandwiches. Tres Bon.

Without knowing where we were headed, we had actually walked to the Latin Quarter, a lovely area with expensive boutique shops (all were closed since it was Sunday). We found a bakery store and Eddy had to buy a baguette and take a picture with it because that was the French-est thing he could think of. There you go buddy, I hope I made your dream come true. Let's just say he got a lot of stares for eating a plain baguette while walking around town.

As I mentioned in the last post, you will find these kebab shops everywhere in Paris. Yes, the ones that also makes crepes too.

We found the Notre Dame! A Gothic church featured in the novel/movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The interior is quite pretty with all the mosaic window work. Definitely not the prettiest church I've seen in Europe so far but I guess it's one of those must see places.  Been there, done that. Next.

For dinner Len took us to the best crepe place in town: Creperie Josselin. A 45 minute line up in the cold later, we got inside. By the time I sat down, I was expecting to eat the best crepe I've had in my life.

I was NOT disappointed! Eddy ordered something so magical I can hardly believe it's a crepe. If you go there, you must order a savoury crepe (I ordered a sweet one and it was quite average). That cheese, that spinach, that egg. Pure perfection. Eddy loved it so much he was making inappropriate sounds the whole meal. Slightly disturbing. Let's just say the next time I go there, I'm not taking him with me :)

After dinner, Eddy and I went up the Tour Montparnasse, an absolute eyesore from the rest of Paris since it sticks out with its 59 floors height but when you're standing on the top of this ugly blocky building, you'll be thankful for the view. Eddy and I waited 55 minutes up there so we could catch the Eiffel Tower sparkle (which happens on the hour every night). Yep, definitely worth it, especially since no one else was up there. This my friend, is Paris.

Monday

We felt as if we had explored most of Paris by then and decided to do a day trip down to Versailles. We bought some food at the local grocery store and hopped on a train and went to the Château. When you see it, there's only one word that comes into your mind: royal. It is massive, covered in gold painting and oh so magnificent. Sadly, the château was closed that day since they were filming something inside (ugh).

View of the garden. What a backyard this is. Even the trees you see in the horizon is still part of the palace. Just acres and acres of trees. It took me 20 minutes just to walk to the pond you see in the middle of the picture there. Bizarre.

Our unhealthy picnic. Trying out some French chips (pesto and pizza flavour, both were surprisingly good). Lying in the sun on a Monday afternoon, life doesn't get much better than this. Come in the summer and you can go on a boat ride with your date in the lake. Or bike/segway in the garden. Wait, why am I here with my brother again?!

Finally met up with Carl in Versailles as we were leaving and came back to Paris together. We had to take a picture to prove our successful meet up. And then we proceeded to Lafayette because I was curious about this mysterious shopping center I've heard so much about.

  

The very view I've seen in pictures. What did I think of this place? It's shopping heaven. All my favourite brands united together, with everything in stock. In other words, my wallet's worst nightmare. Why did I suggest to come here again? Let's just say Carl and I didn't walk out empty handed.

For dinner we went to this chain restaurant: Flam's, a pizzeria that has crusts so thin you can barely call it a crust. It was definitely something new and quite good. What can I say, everything I ate in Paris was exceptional.

Before I came here, I had absolutely no expectation for this city. I've heard that Paris was an overrated city from so many people that I expected the worst. Rude people, dirty city, overcrowded, expensive and nothing like the romantic fairytale you dreamed of as a child. But unlike what I was brainwashed to think, I actually loved this place. I had a great place to stay, ate amazing food, saw beautiful architectures, didn't wait in any lines, did some shopping and had a great time in the city. It may have helped that Eddy speaks French and we had Len, a local show us all the best spots in Paris. Either way, don't worry Paris, I'll come back to you soon. Just you wait <3