Day 4 - 20th March - Paris (Part 7)
Fontaine des Innocents
The fountain reminded me of Rome
Skateboarding around Fontaine des Innocents
Fontaine des Innocents
A wonderfully muddy photo at ISO 100, 1/105 from the Fuji FinePix F300EXR
Side of Fontaine des Innocents
"Mona Lisait" bookstore (it's a pun meaning "Mona Read")
"Prix Massacrés"
A very colourful expression
I don't know why I took this. It seemed a good idea at the time.
Semi-elaborate métro entrance of Étienne Marcel
Tour Jean Sans Peur: this lone house is another remnant of medieval Paris (15th c.)
Fuzzy dog
"Euro Fried Chicken Halal"
In one sense they're right: Turkish food *does* unite Europe
Eglise Saint Leu Saint Gilles
"les chaueeures confortable qui vous permet de marcher mieux"
At first I thought this was a welcome call for comfortable footwear. Then I noticed the glaring grammar and spelling mistakes. Perhaps this is a commentary on one of the many follies of women?
I was going for a concert, so I popped into a restaurant for dinner.
Soup aux légumes maison (House Vegetable Soup) 5,8€ (it wasn't worth it), Kir à la pêche 4€
The bread was definitely not crusty and a little stale (this was not the first or even second time a bistro had given me non-crusty bread; it'd happened the previous night but I hadn't been so hungry then). The soup was alright
Moules Marinières (white wine mussels)
The portion was very generous for 11€ (despite the small mussels). The taste was okay (though the liquid was like brine) but there was a bit of sand (I told the waiter and he said "quelquefois, ça arrive". It doesn't happen even sometimes if you're a Kualit Establishment!). Of course I asked for mayonnaise and was charged an amazing1,5€ for it.
At first I ordered a Charlotte à la mangue (Mango Charlotte) which was recommended but since the mussels were disappointing and more importantly I was quite full despite lunch being 500ml of Coke (I didn't finish my food) I managed to cancel it.
The restaurant, "Au P'tit Boulevard", was not crowded but it was a bit early (before 7) and it was on the way to the concert so I had risked it. It dind't look like a tourist restaurant (e.g. the name).
Tour St Jacques at night
Pillar just after bridge near Conciergerie and Notre Dame
My concert was at Sainte-Chapelle. It was a really tiny concert with few rows (7 rows of 6 seats each - I was in row 6), the tiniest I'd been to there (well, I'd been there maybe twice). Bach's Cello Suites were not popular. On the upside, this meant the 25€ ticket was no different from the 40€ or 35€ (or 30€, I forget) one. Actually in reflection that was still quite expensive, but I took it as a contribution to the arts and the upkeep of Sainte-Chapelle (and hopefully not so much the pockets of the event management company).
Pre-concert atmosphere
Extract 1 from Bach's Cello Suites
The acoustics worked. I think because there was less stone than in a normal church.
Extract 2 from Bach's Cello Suites
He used the famous prelude for his encore. Somehow I was expecting that.
I was intending to go to another concert the next day, but I realised I couldn't keep it up 3 days in a row - whether for concerts or other nocturnal activities. Also I had a spot of flu.
Pillar just after bridge near Conciergerie and Notre Dame
Returning to the Latin Quarter I noticed everyone was congregating at "Aup'titgrèc" (a presumably Greek place).
Aup'titgrèc
On closer inspection the menu wasn't so Greek. Notice also the Halal options (given that they serve pork and alcohol, though, this is presumably not a "100% Halal" outlet. Maybe it's a 50% Halal one)
My favourite part of it all was that it was just beside a Turkish shop.
Normally I am wary of any place the Japanese endorse, but Routard endorsed this place also (albeit in 1994/1995). It also closed at 12:30am. Ahh, the student crowd!
Lonely eating
A very cheap set menu of a restaurant along the street. The restaurants there were all very cheap.
About Rue Mouffetard
"No peeping"
When I got back to the hostel I found out that they were out of linen. Which didn't really bother me that much, but it was a good excuse to run out in pyjamas, sandals, a fleece and a jacket for a crêpe.
While there I asked one man at the counter if they had Souvlaki and Gyros and he said they didn't. He said he was not of Greek origin, and that people preferred crêpes to gyros.
Banana Nutella (1€ for the banana)
It was not freshly made (a premade one was used) but the edge was still slightly crispy and the Nutella was very generous. I suppose compromises must be made to accommodate student budgets (maybe that's why Routard never returned to endorse it).
There's a 183€ fine for not clearing dog shit. Very good.
Apparently African people don't eat fruit traditionally.
There were a helluva lotta PRCs (or people with PRC accents) in Paris. I think they were the largest non-French speaking linguistic population, outnumbering even Americans.