Wednesday, August 3
Everyone knows airplane food is horrible unless you are going first class on one of the better airlines but you always hope that something has changed since your last flight. Yup, it has. It's gotten worse. I ate it all as I was starving and thought when are they going to tell us that we can bring our own food. I've often thought that I should pack myself a good prosciutto sandwich on a crusty baguette but either I don't have the nerve to do it or I'm just hopeful that it can't be that bad. Well it always makes you appreciate your first meal on terra firma even more.
Thursday, August 5
Took a cab from the airport to the hotel and as we had had a pitiful breakfast on board we had a quick wash and headed to tiny spot for lunch that Ross discovered on a trip to Paris five years ago and each time he makes a point of going for lunch. No tourists to be seen in this spot. Run by Parisians of arab origin and catering to locals, students, city workers, office workers, there is always a line up at lunch time. Sandwich Grenelle is on Boulevard de Grenelle and makes me think of the Seinfeld episode about the soup nazi. You line up and you better be ready to order as they want to keep the line moving. You can have a sandwich grec (gyros or shawarma depending on where you come from) freshly shaved onto a delicious homemade pita bun with whatever sauce or fixings you want to put on it --but don't hesitate or the cross-eyed man behind the counter whose job it is to dress your sandwich will become impatient. I felt as if I committed a huge faux pas as I didn't respond quick enough but it was really hard to tell if he was talking to me as his eyes were looking in a different direction. Ross and the kids swear by the sandwich grecque so I also have gone that way but there are quite a few other choices and I was tempted by the merguez sausage, a North African lamb and beef sausage.
When we sat down to eat it, yummmmy so good. The pita bread, the warm thinly sliced meat and then the french fries that come with it. French fries that are golden and crisp and cooked at the perfect temperature that they had have any oil on them. This is French fast food.
After a nap to help our body clock, out we went to find dinner. There are so many places to chose from that you can go nuts trying to decide. We stopped at one of the many red awning covered restaurants and had pizza for me with a great mix of vegetables on it. Thin crust, not overdone on the mozzarella and artichokes, eggplant and peppers. And of course, there is the olive oil with chili peppers floating in it to drizzle on your pizza. Ross chose the lamb chops with more french fries --so good I had to steal a couple of them from his plate. While we waited for our dinner the waiter placed a little bowl of green and black olives for us to munch on --I must look up if these are the picholine olives or not . Once upon a time I used to be able to tell you the names of the different types of olives. Of course we had to have dessert -- the totally French and ubiquitous but no less delicious --crème caramel with its burnt sugar top and creamy richness beneath.
After this typical French meal we must do the typical Italian thing or maybe tourist thing and that is take a stroll after dinner. I follow Ross blindly, he always seems to steer us in the right direction and we end up on the Champ de Mars walking closer and closer with hundreds of others to the Tour Eiffel. It is 9:53 p.m. and at precisely 10:00 the Tour Eiffel lights up with hundreds of sparkling, flashing lights. No matter how many times you see it, it still never fails to delight. The perfect end to our first day in Paris.
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