Paris - Day 3

08-25: We slept in again. I am tired with some amount of back pain. Stuart made fancy scrambled eggs for us around 11:30a. We don’t want to eat too much because we are going to Le P’tit Troquet tonight at 8:30p. There is a story behind the visit there tonight. In 2000, when I came to Paris with my Mom, Deb, and my sister, we ate there! We did a little research on the place. It is in the same location but has changed. When we went it was a single dining area, very small, perhaps 6-8 tables. It changed hands in 2011, and has expanded to 2 dining areas, and a terrace out front with maybe 8 tables. They were busy and the place rarely had an empty table. I should say we did not see the second dining room in the back, but there was a steady stream of diners. One thing has not changed; it is still very quaint and “old Paris” décor in my opinion.

The food was fantastic. The menu is not as small and not written on a chalk board either. The menu is one page with starters, mains, and desserts. A few sides are offered as well. Stuart ordered the beef bourgionnone and I chose the Angus shoulder steak. Both were absolutely delicious. But I am getting ahead of myself! First, they took our wine order. Next, they returned with a small appetizer of smoked salmon and a bread basket, along with water. We each ordered a starter. Stuart had the Pork and shrimp meatball skewers, grilled on a Binchotan with papaya salad. There was also a nice portion of dill and parsley on the plate with an excellent dressing with just a little pop of spice. I ordered the Heirloom tomatoes, peach, Kalamata olives, anchovy, and basil pesto. This dish was also fresh, bright, and tasty. We shared each dish. The anchovies on my salad were the best I’ve ever had. I would order them every time if they tasted like that! Our mains arrived with tantalizing aromas and they were an epicurean’s delight. Stuart’s beef was as tender as butter, as was my steak. He had carrots and potatoes in his cast iron pot that stayed nice and hot. Neither of us could finish our main, but that did not keep us from having dessert! We did manage to finish the Fraisier cake, which is a French classic strawberry cream cake followed by a Grand Mariner digestive. While we ate, there was a brief rain storm. Between courses we chatted with a mother and daughter from South Carolina and charming table mates. Even though we walked to Le P’tit Troquet we opted for an Uber to take us back. What a wonderful evening.

France - Day 2

08-24: We slept in pretty late this morning and then got to work on the rest of the unpacking. We also have a washing machine so we took advantage of that and did some laundry. Stuart walked to the grocery store and got a few more things but I stayed here resting my back from our long day yesterday. A bagged salad and our leftover pizza were our main meal of the day. Later we had cheese fruit and crisps for a light evening snack. 

It was quite amazing today to be contacted by Don and Lisa ball. We met them on a recent cruise with friends Paul and Maureen. We had no idea they were even in France. They are in Lyon right now but they will head back to Paris shortly. We have arranged to meet them Saturday for lunch. Because of that we canceled our cooking class but that's okay we would rather meet with them and have lunch than go to the cooking class. We have plenty of things booked already! Of course, the day is not complete without a few hands of cards!

London to Paris on Eurostar

08-23: We were up and out of our not-so-great hotel by 9:00. We're told to arrive at the Eurostar station in St. Pancras no later than 10:15a, we were early. We had a wonderful ham and cheese, buttery, flaky, delicious croissant, and a latte since we arrived and plenty of time for the train. I don't really know what we expected on Eurostat, but it was just like riding on any old train with any old seat we didn't upgrade we just had regular coach seats so it was just a 3-hour train ride. No frills, we envisioned something special, though I am not sure what. At times we did see some interesting scenery that was mostly after we crossed the Channel and went into France. There are a lot of fields for farming. We did see corn but unsure of what everything else was. Most of the time in London we were in tunnels or walled areas so you couldn't see much. The actual Chunnel under the channel takes about 20 minutes, but it's just like going into any tunnel, which it is. We had a hard time getting an Uber on the way out of the train station but eventually we made it to meet Véronique at our Airbnb. We put a few things away after admiring our small kitchen, living area, which is clean and bright. We are feeling a little hungry now and we walked to the Rue Cler area. This was one of the main reasons we booked this location in the 7^th Arrondissement, easy walkability to Rue Cler, Eiffel Tower, and more.  It is pretty quiet there on Sunday and Monday, but we found a friendly restaurant, Tribeca, and shared a pizza and a salad. A walk back to the apartment, with a short stop at a small market for a few things. We played a few games of cards, and we are ready for bed.

London - Day 3

08-22: This morning we did a bit of housekeeping to prepare for our Eurostar trip to Paris tomorrow. Last night Stuart walked to a nearby store and got us each a pastry and a piece of fruit for this morning. We decided to just walk around the area today and see a bit of Westminster. We stopped for lunch in a “Proper Pub” but they are proper – they do not serve food, only drinks. The barkeep told us about the Good Warwick just around the corner, so we ate there. I had a salad with shrimp (really overcooked) and Stuart had the tiniest spring rolls we have ever seen, but they were good. We added a tiny lamb skewer to that and called it lunch. The lamb was tender and juicy with garlic dipping sauce. Everything is very small portions to what we are used to. On we walked heading back toward our hotel. This is a very populated area with apartments and small hotels, with a few larger hotels sprinkled in. We decided to stop at Marquist of Westminster for a drink. Stuart went back to the hotel and got our cards to play there. They welcome that and have several games to offer as well. We stayed a long time, as there is not an easy way to play cards in our room with no chairs or a table. We ended up ordering dinner. We split a chicken, leek, and mushroom pie with a side of mashed potatoes, broccolini, and peas. What a delicious and filling meal. We really enjoyed it. Back to our hotel and we did a bit of organizing to be on our way tomorrow morning.