dispatches from quilt city

Paris
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

So, we kind of fell down on the job of blogging the second half of our trip. I was usually just so tired and overwhelmed by the end of the day I was asleep before my head hit the bed.

On Thursday, we started the day with a tour of the Left Bank. We saw the Pantheon and the Sorbonne and did some serious shopping. We ate crepes by St. Sulpice and then wondered further into the Left Bank to Montparnasse Tower. The view is pretty spectacular from the top of the 59 stories and you get to see the Eiffel Tower (as opposed to when you're on top of it). We then made a visit to Tati, the French version of Walmart/Target. We learned an important lesson there - that cheap French crap is WAY better than cheap American crap. ;)

That night we went to Guy Savoy, a three star Michelin restaurant, and had the most amazing meal I've ever had. First, we were caught off guard when the actual, real Guy Savoy came out and greeted us. Then, we had champagne and a little aperitif (my favorite part of fine dining). They let you order half orders of everything. So, for the first course, Nicholas and I each had a half order of "Barely cooked scallops with potato and leek." Then, Nicholas had half an order of a "Marinade of the sea" and I had half an order or this "Artichoke and black truffle soup, layered brioche with mushrooms and truffles spread with truffle butter." It was seriously the best thing I've ever eaten. Round one to Sarah! ;)

For the main course, I had "Sauteed fillets of red mullet, liver sauce, herb dumplings and Maxim's potatoes." I don't know who Maxim is but those potatoes were amazing. Nicholas had "Whole grilled sea bass with sweet spices." Again, don't know what the spices were but it was like nothing else I've ever had. Round two to Nicholas!

Nicholas had a cheese course, which I sampled. And it is really difficult to say whether the French do cheese or bread better.

The dessert course was definitely the most absurd because it seemed like it never ended. We each got half orders. I got "Mille-feuille pastry with vanilla made to order" and the "Chocolate fondant with layered praline and chicory cream." Nicholas got the "Chocolate delight" and this blood orange dessert. They were all phenomenal and would have been enough on their own. However, they also came around with a dessert trolley and gave us samples of chocolate mousse, creme caramel with caramel ice cream, rice pudding with prune sauce, and the most amazing homemade marshmallows with lemon zest.

THEN, they brought out cookies and chocolates with my coffees. THEN, they brought out a little apple tart and chamomile ice cream. I was literally on a food high when we finally left three and a half hours later!

The next day we tried to get over our food hangover and went to explore Le Marais, a really great neighborhood on the Right Bank. Lots and lots of shopping. Almost pushed Nicholas to his brink. We went through the Jewish neighborhood and visited the Picasso Museum. We finished at the Pompidou Center, where we almost collapsed from exhaustion.

We almost lost each other after I dragged Nicholas to one last mall and he insisted on sitting at a cafe while I shopped. The only problem is the mall closed earlier than we thought so we couldn't get to our assigned meeting place. Luckily, I caught him just before he went into the Metro. We then went to dinner at a restaurant recommended by a friend who spent a semester in Paris, called Chez Paul. It was really great and very stereotypically French. We tried to go to a cabaret club afterwards but it was standing room only so stayed for a single song.

On Saturday, we spent the morning at the Flea Market on the outskirts of Paris, where I made some very exciting purchases. (See The Loot picture on Flickr) We ate a quick lunch and went to visit Le Grand Magasins. Turns out going to the biggest department stores in Paris on a Saturday is a really, really bad idea. I put in a good faith effort but officially shopped myself out. We were also French fooded out at this point and went to a delicious Italian restaurant for dinner. We had grand plans to go to a dance club, but we wimped out from sheer exhaustion.

Our last day in Paris, we basically just wandered around. First, to the Marais again, so we could grab brunch. Then, back over to Ile de la Cite to see visit the Rare Bird Market, which was pretty neat. Then we wondered over to Canal St. Martin and had deux cafes. Last, back to Montmartre to purchase cheap souvenirs and art. We spent our last afternoon hanging out with a lively bunch of waiters at the Place de Tertre. Our last meal was at a tiny vegetarian restaurant called Le Grain Folie. We ate next to a lovely British couple and had a wonderful conversation them.

One last loop around the Sacre Couer and we were off to bed. Luckily, we had an early shuttle that had to pick up another passenger all the way across Paris so we got one last tour of the city.

Unluckily, our shuttle was late and when we finally got to the counter they told us we were on standby. So, we rushed through the airport, convinced we weren't going to make it. However, when we finally got to the gate, they said we were never on standby. Frustrated but relieved, we even got to sit together.

A short 9 hours later, we were back in the good U.S. of A! ;)