Last Meal in Paris: Chartier

Aujourd'hui, c'est un jour triste. I leave Paris bright and early tomorrow morning, and I'm finding it very hard to leave. Not least because I hate packing and have accumulated a number of new things to stuff into the same amount of space. But I will definitely miss this lovely city, especially now that the Christmas lights have gone up and I've finally learned how to dress for the weather.

Despite a frustrating case of jet lag, I've managed to do a lot of touristy sight seeing while still feeling like a local who lives in a fabulous apartment, (almost) seamlessly manages the Metro, shops for local produce at the Bastille market, and (gasp!) cuts in line. I've even had an almost complete conversation in French with a real French person. It's been très cool.

So for my final dinner, we couldn't do anything but have a delicious French dinner at a bustling brasserie just a short walk down our narrow, cobblestone street. Chartier was the perfect fit; an historic restaurant in a beautiful old building, it was a memorable Parisian dining experience and a wonderful way to close out my trip.

Mes amis!

Blanquettes de Veau à l'Ancien. I'm so sorry baby cow! You were delicious, but I'll probably never do this again.

The one that got away...

Poire Melba Chantilly. Oh my.

The waiters write your orders on the table and the bill from memory. No calculators, either.

Au revoir, Paris! I'll miss you terribly! But I don't doubt that I will be back, and next time I'm bringing melatonin supplements (for the jet lag).

Paris: a New Visitor Arrives!

After our triumphant return from Brugge, I got a good night's sleep and left bright and early to pick up our friend Tanya at the airport. Our ride back into the city was much less crowded than it was on my arrival, which meant having to deal with fewer snarky complaints in French about the size of our luggage. Lucky Tanya.

Tanya did much better than I did on my first day, and after a brief respite at home, we ventured out to see the city. We made our way first to La Bourse, which is like the financial center, and where there is a little street market with lots of produce, dairy, and food stands. We decided to start our day with hot, crispy sandwiches of merguez, a spicy Moroccan lamb sausage, grilled onions, and cheese. They were delicious, but left our mouths and fingers coated in bright red grease that our one napkin couldn't completely manage.



We discovered a beautiful new plant next to the city library, and I had to resist the temptation to nibble on the brightly colored berries.


We stumbled upon a lovely garden at the Palais Royal (I think. Near there at least), where in typical tourist fashion we disturbed the people sitting quietly in the afternoon sun with our oohs and aahs, camera shutters, and maps.


We wandered over to the Louvre and into the Jardin des Tuileries, which is beautiful even in late fall. Only half the trees had started giving up on their leaves so there was still much greenery, and even more people out to enjoy the day. We stopped and sat for awhile at a fountain full of ducks and seagulls, but had to leave when they all started flying around in flocks above our heads, endangering our outfits and hygeine.


We walked the whole length of the park, and then made our way down to the Seine. The water was only slightly murky, despite the recent rains, and it was surprisingly clean! We couldn't have asked for a nicer walk; there was no wind, and even though the sky was filled with dramatic clouds, the sun seemed to be out the whole time and we never felt any rain.


We found some hooks to play on. Any thoughts as to what these are? Places to tie boats when the river has risen? Old horse/carriage lockups? Whatever they were, we wanted pictures. Tanya posed very gracefully:


I, just slightly less so:


And then OH MY GOD I ALMOST FELL INTO THE SEINE!!


Just kidding. There were some big steps leading down to the water. The policemen on the boat in the background were completely unconcerned, but a passerby stopped and said, "Nice shot."

First meal in Paris

Question: What could be better than watching a block of cheese get all browned and gooey under a table-top broiler and scraping away the melted bits to eat with baguettes and perfectly boiled potatoes?

Answer: Very few things.

Raclette is an ingenious excuse for eating several servings of cheese in one sitting, along with heavy starches and various meats and pickles, if you want them.

Voila, l'appareil:


Et le fromage:


Et, bien sur, the happy customers:

Omid, my kind host and current Teaching Assistant for the district of Versailles.

And moi, after a sleepless overnight flight, three train changes on the Paris metro at morning rush hour (rather unpleasant), and an eight hour nap, ready to enjoy all the lactic delights of the town.

Sadly, this would be the only cheese I would eat for the next three days, but as I ate half of that sizable block, I think my digestive system was probably ok with it. I have since gone on to eat all kinds of brie and chevre, and just purchased a cheese from Bourgogne that looks and tastes like butter. And with a week and a half left of my trip, I imagine I'll find plenty more to eat in the fatty, cheesy, and delightful category.

Moral of the story, I will never be vegan.

Brugge!

I am absolutely in love. Brugge is a city after my own heart in so many ways: cobble stone streets so my shoes are always clicky, 9% alcohol beer, ADORABLE HOUSES, friendly people, canals, and stores that sell nothing but cheeses and cured meats. Plus Flemish is a wonderful language to listen to and I would imagine to speak, and don't get me started on the fries, waffles, stews, chocolates and other deliciousness these people have cooked up.

Mostly though I am in love with the beautiful neighborhoods that make up the city center and the clean, picturesque waterways that intersect them. And now I'll try to demonstrate my new-found love with an unnecessary number of photos:

A brief moment of clear sky on our last day.

Some cobblestones (maybe not cobblestones by definition but it's just easier this way):




And now, my first Belgian beer in Belgium (our server called me a "real lady" for ordering this):


My sixth Belgian beer (in Belgium), a delicious tripel called Straffe Hendrik that's made in Brugge's last working brewery:


An unbelievable warm goat cheese salad from a tea shop called Cafe au Lait (Nordzaandstraat 28):


And lastly, how I felt pretty much constantly while in Brugge:

Early view of Paris

Subway stop close to where I'm staying, around 5pm.

NYC

My first view of the city:


My welcome to the Cornell Med School dorms (after signing in at security):


I admit that I was really intimidated by the thought of visiting New York. I'm just a small fish from a small pond in the slow-moving, relaxed, and often passive Pacific Northwest, and the thought of the fast-paced, populous and traffic-congested New York I'd seen on TV was kind of scary. Luckily for me, I have ambitious friends who got their butts in gear and started grad school there, so I had built in tour guides/fellow explorers, and even a surprise welcome sign!

My first day I spent about three hours wandering Central Park, which was beautiful. I spent about half that time in search of the Conservatory Garden, eventually realizing that the maps function on my phone puts me about 20 yards east of wherever I actually am and I'd been wandering in its vicinity for about 20 minutes without ever seeing it. That was thanks also in part to some small hills that blocked it from view. I eventually did find it, by which time I was much more interested in the bathroom than the gardens themselves.


That's me! With New York in the background!
The Brooklyn bridge:

With Freddie!


And one of the only other moments I took out my camera, when I found a grocery store called Garden of Eden! So many things to love about that.


Basically it went like this:

Day 1: Central Park and rooftop bar with triple hot alcoholic chocolate.
Day 2: The Met, Soho, Greenwich Village, Gray's Papaya hot dog, Brazilian food, and Bhangra dancing.
Day 3: China town, Wall Street, Brooklyn.
Day 4: Astoria, Queens, really cool sculpture park (photos to come), lamb on a stick.
Day 5: Bowling Green, Statue of Liberty for afar, Brooklyn Bridge.
Day 6: Artichoke Benedict at Norma's, MOMA, a 30 block walk to Union Square, drinks at the Empire Hotel of Gossip Girl fame.
Day 7: One last bagel!