Paris Day Two

the green door is the entrance to our apt. building



playground at Luxembourg Gardens




old school carousel


catching the rings!



Luxembourg Gardens


riding the pedal bike






fresh saturday market one block from our apt. Everything was fresh!




M. people watching from our window



Our living room



The stairs in our building. M says they are full of ghosts...




Yesterday we went to the Luxembourg Gardens. It was like a magical Renaissance childrens playground. Everything was manicured and beautiful. I was surprised it was not overly crowded. The Parisians were jogging and people watching while sitting in the famous green chairs in the gardens. Tourists were walking around taking in the beauty. M. rode an ancient merry go round, rode a pedal powered car and played in the coolest kid playground. We took the Metro to get there. It was a bit hairy figuring it out, but once we were on, it got easy. Everyone here seems to be somewhat content with their job. Not like in the states where certain jobs have disdain. It must be because here no matter what kind of job you have you still can make a living and be taken care of with health care and medical. Wow what a concept! There was a young man in the Metro that was just there to help people figure out the system. He approached us while we were looking at the map, and showed us the right way to go. Can you imagine being approached my someone in the US? In Chicago? New York? For help? No way.
In my effort to find soy creamer (or soy milk even) we found a french version of a health food store. It was less health food store and more food boutique. Everything is in small quantities. There were super-tiny shelves at the bottom of a shelf dedicated to milk alternatives. I did see hazelnut milk and almost tried it. We tried in vain to get D her half and half for coffee, but I think is just not available here.
Last night was Ze Kitchen Gallerie for dinner. We got there at 7:30pm and were the very first in the restaurant. It was $150 Euros for dinner! Yikes! The website had a price fixe menu listed that turned out was not available when we got there. First course was the most amazing lobster ravioli in a lemongrass and coconut broth. Perfectly seasoned. Every bite was an expolsion of perfectly balanced flavors. My entree was seared duck breast and duck confit with a cherry sauce. I could not taste the cherries in the sauce however. The duck was over thinly sliced daikon with mini-mushrooms. Maybe crimini? The entree was good, but not off the charts. Although M. ate almost half of my duck dinner, trying to convince me it was not duck, but steak. My sister had shrimp tempura with grilled squid and daikon radish as well. We both thought it was very over priced for the food. I calculated it was almost $40 for just the lobster ravioli appetizer after converting from euros.
We talked about this during dinner. In the land of the US where the overall food quality is poor, this would be a standout dinner. Especially since so many US restaurants are about big portions and just really miss the mark for good or dare I say passable? food. For us, however having SF being our dining playground, it was just another fine dinner. The prices ended up being more than Gary Danko in SF, and I thought you get quite a bit more bang for you buck at Gary Danko. Bonus however; the waitor spoke perfect english and no one seemed to mind a bit that we had a five year old playing with her polly pockets while we ate. To note; both table on each side of us at Ze Kitchen Gallerie were speaking english. Seems that word has gotten out to the Americans that this is a destination.
Today:
Calder exihibit at Pompido Museum
Taking Batobus boat to Eifel Tower