Day 3: Picnic in the park and dinner with Aude

Saturday, August 11 (Happy Birthday, Howard!)


Dave:

I woke up very tired today. Fortunately, I was considerably energized by the prospect of a visit to Le Bon Marche's Grande Epicerie, which is Mecca for anyone who spends as much time and money at Whole Foods and Granville Island as we do.

La Grande Epicrie is the 1995 Chicago Bulls of grocery stores. The store features every type of deli meat, cheese, meat, produce, and wine you could imagine, with 6th man Tony Kukoc represented by the splendid assortment of confections including macarons, eclairs, and tarts. I would post more photos, but moments after I attached the appropriate lens and began taking exposures, an undercover security officer shut me down. As such, my only evidence of having been to the Epicerie is this photo of a fish head:

We purchased as much as we could carry: brie, cheddar, roquefort, baguette, vin rouge, vin rose, chorizo, pate de campagne, orzo pasta salad, tarte provencal, etc., then walked down the street for a picnic at the Jardin de Luxembourg. The garden is vast and has a timeless quality. Immaculately manicured trees border wide strolls, children's laughter carries over from the centrally located playground, and the warm breezes invites you to stay a while. After finishing our lunch and sitting, comatose, for several hours, we proceeded to the far side of the garden, which contains a large pond where children float toy sailboats.

In your face, starving masses

Not shown: the other 3/4 of our food

After the Jardin, it was time to return home and prepare for dinner with our friend Aude, who had invited us to a restaurant called L'absinthe. The restaurant was an excellent selection and featured very traditional French cuisine (read: outstanding buttery goodness). I tried an absinthe and learned that it has the texture, flavour, and colour of cough syrup, and that Marilyn Manson apparently has his own brand.

Marilyn Manson personally approved this photo

After dinner, Aude took us on a night walk through Paris. We walked through Place Vendome, where all the famous jewelers and watchmakers keep storefronts (apparently because the natural lighting is excellent in Vendome), and saw the Ritz. We also walked through Place de la Concorde, home to numerous landmarks. We stopped for a cocktail at Buddha Bar, which is a neat Asian themed bar - think Tao without all the Vegas types. The girls ordered sensible drinks and I had something called 'The Ultimate' which cost 20€ and came with a little umbrella. Worth every penny.

Aude drove us to the Champs Elysees metro in her little Renault and said goodbye. We went back to the hotel so tired and stuffed that we couldn't even eat Berthillon.

p.s. random observation: Paris is home to the most well behaved dogs in the world. They're all extraordinarily calm, none of them need leashes, and they carry themselves with a quintessentially French nonchalance. Tony would not fit in here, but we love him anyways.

 

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