Substance Alimentaire (AKA Food!) and Stories

We ate very, very well whilst in Paris. 

We had a list of things people wanted to do, and on the top of Bill's list was to sit and have charcuterie and wine. We found a very friendly cafe in Monmartre, aptly named Smiley's Cafe, who could accommodate a walk-in group of 8 for lunch. The place was packed the two hours we were there, indicating the whole nighborhood thought Smiley's was an excellent lunchtime choice. It was delicious and a lot of fun!

Charcuterie

After lunch, we had just enough time to metro our butts over to the catacombs (the one thing I added to the list of things we wanted to do) to see the human bones stacked up very creepily. Alas, the line to get into the catacombs stretched down the street, and after waiting in line 30 minutes we had only moved 10 feet closer to the entrance. We did walk through a cool cemetery to get to the catacombs line, though. 

Graveyard

We made our way towards the Eiffel Tower, where we had early dinner reservations. Having had such a full meal just a few hours before, none of us were hungry enough for our pre-puchased three course meal in the Tower. But we all made the sacrifice and ate heartily once again! 

Post dinner group selfie under center of Eiffel Tower

The next morning Bill and I set out early with Brian and Regine, determined to get into the catacombs. We arrived 3 minutes after they opened the catacombs... and the line was just as long or longer, and wasn't moving. Sigh. We gave up on the catacombs.

We walked to a nearby cafe for breakfast and asked the waitress (in French) if she spoke English. A brusque "No" was the reply. 

I hoped we could at least get a coffee, so I asked, "Cafe?" and the woman half shruged her shoulder as if to say, if you must. We sat down and Brian declared he wasn't feeling the love, so we got back up and left. 

We walked 5 minutes down the road to a much busier cafe, where we got a smile and shown to a table by a friendly young Parisian who didn't really speak english either. And within a few minutes a bounty of breakfast breads were presented along with jam, butter, coffee and tea. We were so glad we left cafe grumpy and found cafe happy! :-)

Yes, we ate very, very well in Paris.  

Bread-y breakfast