First Day in Paris

After Copenhagen we flew to Paris just to grab a few precious
days before heading home.  I was meeting
Fred who had a meeting in Berlin and lucky for us Emily decided to join
us. 

We got to Paris around 1130. 
Dropped off our bags and begun a full day.  There are two spots that we must always have
lunch when we are in Paris.  One if the
Japanese restaurant at Le Marche des  Enfants Rouges. I know that the other
restaurants there was just as delicious but somehow I have to always go to the
Japanese spot.  Just as good as I
remember.

We stayed in the Marais. 
I love this shot.  This defines
Paris.  The top apartments of an old
building with the windows wide open and a few flowers hanging on the balcony.

There are a bunch of new stores in the Marais.  Galleries are also everywhere and it was not
like that 5 years ago.  This store, The
Broken Arm, is adorable.  Two really well
curated floors of both men and womens clothing. 
There is also a small restaurant attached to the store.  We peeked in. 
The food looked really good. 
Maybe next lunch?

We walked into a variety of stores and finally decided that
coffee was needed and snuck into a small coffee shop, Marcovaldo, and had a little apple
strudel.

There were not many exhibits that were jumping out at us and
we definitely wanted to stop in a museum. 
Emily wanted to know if I had ever been to the Musee de la Chasse Nature. I
had not so we went.  Very cool
place.  Loads of old guns and of course
stuffed animals.  Taxidermy is just so
cool.

We were exhausted after getting up at 6am to get the flight
over so we went back to the hotel and crashed hard.  Dinner was late and Fred was going to meet us
there.  I do like to return to some favorites restaurants but I
always like to try out new too.  We had
two reservations.  One was able to change
from 2 to 3 people but one was not. 
L’Affable was able to and I am really glad they did.

We were definitely the only Americans here.  A neighborhood restaurant in the 7^th
right near Rue de Bac.  A great vibe and
a wonderful meal.  Classic Parisian
restaurant. 

I started with roasted mushrooms served with crispy Italian
ham and a soft egg.  Mix this all
together and dig in.  Insanely
delicious.  The combinations of those
flavors just work.  Salty, intense, eggy
and earthy. 

The pork terrine was beautiful.  It came out in an oblong red Le Cruset piece
and they cut off a huge slab for Emily.   Fred had a salad and my picture came out
terribly blurry. 

Emily had the poached cod. 
I loved the color palette, basically all white.

Fred and I split a veal chop for two.  Huge piece of veal comes out of the kitchen
and then they return to the kitchen to prepare it.  Perfectly cooked and then sliced in two with
the bone taken out with a reduced red wine sauce poured over the top.

Had to have the cheese for the last course. 
Their cheese come from Bartholew around the corner.  My favorite cheese shop in all of Paris. 

The perfect meal to kick off a short two day trip.