Marché Rue Mouffetard

Armed with my new Carte Orange (monthly metro pass), I am ready to venture beyond the 6th arrondissement, where I've spent the last couple of days. One of my favorite things about Paris are the open/farmers' markets and not many can beat the one on Rue Mouffetard. Sundays are generally pretty quiet since most stores are closed but Rue Mouffetard was packed with vendors and people. I picked up some cherries, some cheese, and bread. When I saw the line outside the boulangerie La Flûte Gana, I knew I had to stand in it. (I somehow have a strange attraction to long lines - I figure there must be a reason although some places were disappointments.) La Flûte Gana was not one of them. I think their bread is even better than Poilâne's. They have this foccacia bread baked with cheese and prosciutto that is out of this world. I could eat just that for days. I was surprised that this bakery was not among the long list of recommended bakeries that I've researched. I would put it on top of the list so far.

What was on my list was Eric Kayser Boulanger on Rue Monge. Someone had highly recommended it on Chow Hound. I figured that it couldn't be too far away from Rue Mouffetard, but obviously I really don't know Paris that well. More than two subway stations later, I finally arrive at my destination. Fortunately it was open on a Sunday and I picked up some pastries and a croissant. Maybe if I didn't walk so far to find the place I would say it was worth it... but you don't have to make the mistake that I did - take the metro to Cardinal-Lemoine on Line 10.

Favela Chic (Paris) - QQ

After a long day of walking around, I decided I needed a nap. I thought to myself, just an hour and I can get up to grab dinner and walk around some more, but I almost had a repeat of last night (sleeping all the way through) if F hadn't called. F was introduced to me through a mutual friend since I don't know anyone in Paris so I only met F in person for the first time tonight. She is probably one of the coolest people I've ever met AND seems to know half of Paris. So F tells me that there is a farewell party for one of her expat friends at this bar/club/restaurant near Place de la Republique. I've never been to a club in Paris so of course I had to check it out.

I make my way over to Place de la Republique but I wasn't sure which direction the club was. I asked a couple guys for direction - trying to practice my French - but they answered me in English. Sigh, this happens to me all the time - is my French really that bad or is it just obvious that I'm a tourist? It must be the former because just a few steps away a woman stops me to ask me for direction (so I must either look like a Parisienne or I just look very approachable :-). I finally find the club and there was a line but it wasn't too bad. I must say the website (http://www.favelachic.com/paris/) looked much better than the club inside (does "favela" mean "shabby"?) The club was completely packed it was nearly impossible to move. I manage to find F and her friends - all the men were expats and all the women (except F) were French. Everyone was extremely friendly. The music was loud and was a random mix of American songs from Prince's "Kiss" to Kelis' "Milkshake." The club seems to cater to mostly an expat crowd, a lot of Americans but also many from other parts of Europe (met a guy from Spain and another guy from Luxembourg). There were quite a few attractive men but I think most of them were not French. It seems that a lot of people were like me, who were in Paris temporarily or just visiting. It reminded me a lot of my experience in Beijing last year where everyone seemed to be transient. I guess there must be a big community like that in Paris as well. When I think about it, that group in Beijing also tended to be more attractive on average. I wonder, are attractive people naturally more transient (always looking for new adventures) or are the more adventurous people more attractive (because they have more worldly experiences)?

Bonjour Paris!

So my first day in Paris wasn't off to a great start... My flight was delayed, American Airlines broke one of my luggage so I ended up having to lift it everywhere, and then after having dragged my luggage through the streets of Paris and up two flights of stairs to my apartment, I decided that I needed a little nap before I go exploring. By the time I woke up, it was already midnight and the day was over... Oh well, I guess I needed to catch up on my sleep anyway.

My second day was off to a much better start. Having slept so much the night before, I woke up early and decided to venture out. Most places were not open yet but I like Paris in the morning - it was so quiet the city felt almost deserted. I walked by Pierre Herme, which is a 3-minute walk from my apartment, but it wasn't open until 10. I'll have to come back. I went to the famous Poilâne boulangerie (which I figured would be open early) and picked up some croissant, pain au chocolat, and apple tart. I was surprised no one was there - it shows you how early I was. Most places don't open until 10 so I decided to go back to the apartment first. I went back down to Pierre Herme shortly after 10 and there was already a line out the door. As we were standing there, tour bus after tour bus drove by us (I guess it's a busy street) and the people on the bus looked at us with longing eyes, some probably wondering why we were in line and the others wishing they were there with us. When I finally got in the door, I could see rows and rows of beautifully crafted desserts ahead of me. There were so many I want to try, but I didn't want to be greedy. After all, I'll be here for a month and the store is literally a few steps from where I live. Okay, I'll just take one of every flavor of the macarons then (there were ten different flavors ranging from jasmine to caramel). I also wanted the "secret" ice cream one, but they told me that they don't have that. Hmmm, you truly don't have it or did I not say the secret password right? I'll have to try again another day.



I needed to go get a SIM card for my cell phone so I decided to eat at a brasserie right across the street called Le Gueuze. It was pretty touristy but I sat outside with a view of the Pantheon so I can't really complain. I order Les Moules Payssant (mussels with wine, mushroom, and ham in cream sauce) and I couldn't believe how big it was. It was tasty although somewhat inconsistent (some mussels tasted great while others were quite bland).

In the afternoon, I wanted to find a café to people-watch (isn't that what everyone does in Paris?) and realized that finding an empty chair at a café on a Saturday afternoon in Paris is harder than finding parking space in Russian Hill in SF. OK, I don't need coffee that badly.

Alas, I have not forgotten my mission - even though I didn't get to sit down at a café, I've been people-watching ever since I arrived. It's too early for any conclusions yet, but so far I've definitely seen more good-looking men in Paris than in SF. When I first arrived, some really cute guy helped me push my luggage through the turnstiles (it was stuck), and then I ran into some model (I think) getting ready for a photo shoot. If I weren't dragging my luggage along, I for sure would have tried to get a picture of them!