GETTING TO KNOW PARIS

Dear Caroline,

I’m still feeling a little not like myself but i’ve already spent too much time at home. I need to get out, even just for an hour. This week at school I started to explore the lunch options in the area. I had made a list of all the restaurants and cafes that were recommended on line and saved them in Google Maps. What a great little tool, I now have a tab called “Paris Eats” and if ever I am hungry I open it up and it shows me which is closest to my location. So far I’ve tried Mangez et Cassez-Vous, Gallika, Ernest & Valentin and Rolls. Paris is full of restaurants with a fusion of different cuisines, it’s not all escargot and steak frites and croissants.

Rolls is a Vietnamese place that makes rice paper rolls with fresh herbs and ingredients, the bacon one is my favourite. I has bacon, cabbage, spicy mayo, sunflower seeds for crunch and vermicelli noodles. It’s perfect on hot days when you want something light and fresh. Gallika is a greek joint with either souvlaki pitas or souvlaki salads. I always pick the pita so I can eat on the go… and get free extra tzatziki. Mangez et Cassez-Vous is true fast food a la française. Burgers and fries that’s it, but it is the cheapest meal, I think, you can find in Paris. And the burgers are MASSIVE, I could not finish mine. I got the herb burger which had, herb and garlic butter, onions, lettuce, a juicy beef patty and their signature cheddar sauce. It was a sloppy, gooey, delicious mess, but only a once in a while thing. Ernest & Valentin is your run of the mill french bakery with sandwiches, and pastries. At lunch they do serve a “plat du jour” which is usually hot and you can order it at one of their patio tables. I go there between classes when I need a little pick me up, they sell mini croissants and mini pain au chocolate for 0.80EUR and they are so cute. I think of you and you mini baking kit every time I order one.

Over the weekend I mustered up all of my energy and went to my first Parisian flee market. Have you ever been to a flee market? In Toronto we have some but it is more housewares or crafty things. I think Toronto prefers the Farmers’ Market or craft shows. Here in Paris, flee markets are where you find hidden gems for crazy cheap prices. Famously you can find classic vintage fashion by some of the big fashion houses like Dior, Yves Saint Laurent,  Jean Paul Gautier, and so much more! I found a beautiful Dior day dress for 10EUR, I was ready to buy it until I saw the size and it was way too small. Most of the fun is just looking for things, it’s not everyday you have high fashion in your hands.

After all the fun in the flee market, I wasn’t quite ready to return home. I was out in Paris, I should be exploring! I made the journey to my favourite place: La Grande Epicerie. It is the grocery store of all grocery stores, actually a lot of the sugars and sprinkles I sent you are from La Grande Epicerie. The last time I was here was May 2017 and I found the best salad of all time. The chicken salad that I call Paris Salad, it is in the family cookbook. Coming back to the store I was really hoping I would find the salad again, but it had been nearly 6 years, I figure they would have revamped their offerings. So you can imagine my joy when I saw in the prepared food fridge a little container with my salad, on full display! You better believe I bough it. It was as good as I remember it, garlic and herbs and chicken and potatoes and parmesan. The Perfect Salad.

Now I could go home, this was the perfect ending to my first venture out into Paris.