Our Blog - Paris 2015 - Day 1
I know it is shocking for all of our friends, but we went back to Paris for a short vacation! For something different, we stayed at a B&B this time. It is called A room in Paris and it got really good reviews on a few sites. For me, it was like staying at the home of a friend who happened to have a big apartment in Paris. It was a very typical Parisienne apartment from the Haussmann era ... high ceilings, plaster moldings, old (creaky) wood floors, etc.
Our room was quite large with two large windows that overlooked the courtyard. There was an armoire in the corner next to this big (quite ugly) padded area, which actually covered up a door that went into the living room. Not sure if this used to be a dining room or parlor, but perhaps not a bedroom. The last picture gives a view of the long hallway that all of the rooms came off of and the original wood floors. The B&B itself has 3 rooms in this "apartment" which share 2 bathrooms with the owners. Then there are a couple other rooms in a separate "apartment" across the hall and they have private baths.
The living room was quite large with 2 big windows that over looked the street. The long dining room table was on one side of the room which is where we all had breakfast together. In the 3rd picture, you can see the little cabinet in the corner. This is where the breakfast was laid out in the morning, with 3 different cereals, meats and cheese, coffee and tea, juice and milk, as well as normally something special. One morning the lady who was working there made this wonderful apple tart.
A quick pic of Susan outside of the inner door. I say Inner door because, like most Haussmann design buildings, there was a huge green door on the street which then opened into the courtyard. From there, there are multiple Inner doors which go into each of the wings of the building. Then up the stairs from there and then the door to the apartment itself. The B&B is really quite convenient .. just a 5 minute or so walk from Gare du Nord. The second picture shows the big door and the very Haussmannian design building.
Here are a few pictures of the courtyard (yes, they park cars in there) and the exterior walls from the courtyard. As you can see, the courtyard walls are not as ornate as the ones on the road.
Once we got in and settled, we didn't really do anything else before dinner. The first night, we went to a very unique restaurant for us. It is actually in Montreuil, which is a suburb of Paris, but it was really convenient on the metro. The restaurant, La Table D'Emile, is a very typical French bistro with great food. We we lucky and got a day with live music.
Now, how we got to this restaurant is a bit of a story. As most of you know who are reading our blog, we lived in China for 3 years and while we were there, I took cooking classes at a French restaurant in a hotel. The chef who gave the classes, Chef Franck-Elie Laloum, had mentioned to us that his father owned a restaurant in Paris. Before we left, we had found the website for this restaurant and had emailed the owner to see if he was, indeed, Franck-Elie's father (which, as you can imagine, he was). A few views of the restaurant, which had both inside and outside seating. With the live music (and great weather), everybody was packed outside!
Here you can see the live music, a singer a guitarist. If you look to the right of the singer on the wall, you'll see a greenish poster .. that is Chef Franck-Elie! The poster is about the restaurant that he was Chef du Cuisine at in Shanghai for a few years, which is where I took the cooking classes. His father has the poster up at his restaurant.
We started with a charcuterie plate with various meats and sausages, as well as a few pickles.
We went with something for my main course that we think is "very french", which is Raie (or skate) with a caper and brown butter sauce. I had never had Skate before we moved to Paris and it isn't easy to get it in the US. I had asked at my local grocery store and was told it isn't really imported much. Skate is a type of ray and you eat the "wing".
The other main course we had was a hanger steak (in French it is called an Onglet de boeuf .. also something that we hadn't seen before going to France. Sometimes it is called da "butcher's steak" because butchers would often keep this one for themselves. And in typical style, it was Steak Frites (steak with french fries).
A view with all of the people in this outside covered area, enjoying the great food, wine, music, and hospitality of the owner, Robert.
Ahh... and then dessert! A passion fruit tart and an apple crumble. Yum!!!
As we were leaving, we grabbed a picture with the owner, Robert, and his wife. Wonderful hosts!
Go to Day 2