Paris Day Two

The sun finally came out today. Not only did it break down the chill factor but provided a better mood for the both of us. 

We found this bakery near Gare Du Nord station that always seemed to have a line. I assume this indicates that the food is fantastic as Paris is littered with bakeries. We lined up and bought a croissant filled with cheese and ham. 

I can't lie it was fatty and fantastic. Even their desserts looked great but we knew we'd be up for a lot more eating today and just needed something to tie us over until the next destination.

On our walk up to Sacre Coeur, we passed this takeaway looking store amongst a street of souvenirs and tourist traps. It didn't look like much and there were some Koreans eating inside... and we somewhat made a probably racist conclusion that Koreans must know good chicken with its chicken trend in Australia and decided to give it a go. 

It was a very deep fried dish. The sauce wasn't enough to go around. The burger was dry but it was enough to hit the spot. 

My wife let me choose the burger so she can choose the crepe. Nutella and banana crepe. Her favourite. I love the fact that they make it fresh on the spot and smother it with Nutella... really brings back our memories of Phuket street food.

We then found an ice-cream place, set amongst a small quarter filled with artists. We contemplated getting our portraits sketched to commemorate our honeymoon but advised against it because it would have taken so long. We saw this small, lonesome ice-cream stand. It was nothing fancy. It only had 8 flavours. We decided to just grab something to keep us going. It was really nothing special.

Our next pitstop was a bakery that won many awards for it's baguettes. I wasn't really in the mood just for a baguette and made sure to get one filled with meat. Ah.. I do miss the great combination of cold meats and chewy bread.

This next pitstop was a must. We just spent the last few hours shopping at La Fayette. Let me correct that. My wife spent the last few hours shopping. I spent the last few hours walking in circles as she couldn't decide what to buy. We searched for a place to rest our feet, with hopefully the option to people watch. I guess I can see the fascination of people watching... Unknowingly I bought myself a small bottle of wine which left me slightly light headed as I drank it on an empty stomach.

Our dinner location (Le Baratin) was situated in a place that didn't seem to have any tourist around. The night creeped up on us fast and the streets were dark already. We walked into some small streets in what seems to be quite a questionable alley and found this gem that I researched. 

As we walked in, we were greeted with the rude French hospitality that is oh-so-famous now. Fortunately they had one waitress who was able to speak English. She carries a massive blackboard menu to our table and translated each item to us. We quickly made our decisions based on some recommendations and waited patiently.

What I loved about this place was its all about the food. The decore wasn't anything fantastic. The chef was an elderly woman who was smoking and sipping wine in the kitchen as a cat was walking around her legs. 

Entree was squid ink calamari....

... and the best tuna I've had in a long time. She told us that this was caught fresh from the ocean that morning. The massive 60kg tuna layed across three tables apparently.

Mains were: Lamb for moi

and Seared Tuna for the wife. She definitely had the better dish... The lamb was well cooked but something about eating it off a massive bone took away from it's delicateness. 

This place was known more for the fact chefs love to come, eat and relax here. The food is good (it's definitely comfort food), the wine is flowing and the company must be fantastic if you speak French.

We finished the night off sharing a creme brûlée. It had so much vanilla bean in it and was deliciously fantastic.

The food side of the trip was looking up and we walked out very happy....