Of Paris, the food!

To finish off my travelogue of Paris, I am foregoing my Victorian poetry reading and reliving the memories of Parisian food.

What can I say about French food that has not been said already? Rich, creamy, delectable, délicieux! If you do nothing at all in France, at least eat well. It's the food capital of the world (remember Pixar's "Ratatouille"?).

On most days, for breakfast, we usually went into patisseries (bakeries) that boasted the most buttery and wonderful croissants. It almost seemed to melt in your mouth with how warm and flaky it was. Then, there was the pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants) which were so sinful when you considered how much butter and fat is within them. The best ones I had were during my last day in Paris since I finally got one that was fresh out of the oven and the chocolate ended up being rich and bittersweet.

A pain au chocolat (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

If possible, try to go early in the morning since French bread and pastries taste the best when straight out of the oven. Though eating them cold wasn't bad either, especially when you are consuming one while strolling down a wide Parisian boulevard.

My favorite thing, and I have a feeling, my travel mates as well, food-wise was the brasseries (creperies). These were open stands attached to cafes that sold crepes to go for upwards of 2 euros. And in 5 minutes, you had a warm, buttery, sweet, and amazing crepe in your hand, wrapped in a napkin, that you can take with you as you walked along the Seine (and yes, I did that and it was incredible). Of course, the variations available were a bit on the simple side, usually butter or sugar, ham/egg, fromage (cheese), or nutella (a hazelnut and chocolate spread), but they were still a good value for the price. What's so bad about getting filled up on chocolate?

An idea of what crepes look like (I made these back when I was at home)

If you want a fancier crepe with a variety of toppings, then going inside the cafe is usually the best idea (you don't want to carry a loaded crepe around, it can get very messy). One night, I had a crepe with chocolate sauce, vanilla ice cream, bananas, and chocolate liquer. I couldn't get a picture of it because I dived in too fast but suffice to say, it was the perfect ending to a meal.

The cheapest food in Paris was on the side streets. There, the cheapest (price-wise) food could be found. We spent a copious amount of time in the Latin District, a small area especially for college student.

Located south of the Notre Dame, near the Seine, we spent most nights looking for dinner there, if only because so many restaurants offered set menus for only 10 euros, which is usually less expensive than ordering á là carte. Though beware of the hecklers outside of the restaurant, they will try to get you to come inside their restaurants, most of the time, just look away and say "no" if you don't like the menu.

Despite that, for 10 euros in France, you could get a 3 course meal, which included appetizer, entree, and dessert. Dinner was heaven and when accompanied by red wine, I savored every bite of it. Usually dinner lasted about 3 hours since we'd end up engaged in long discussions while the waiters were slow to bring out of the food. Everything moves slower in France, especially when you're eating. After all, food is meant to be savored and dinner is the biggest meal of the day. I can't say anything more, just look at the pictures.

Mussels á là crême

Duck l'orange with baked potato (the sauce was so good, I was scrapping it off of the plate)

Chocolate souffle with vanilla custard

Contrary to popular opinion, Parisians are not very snobby at all. Understandably, they were not opening their arms in welcome but whenever I needed to speak English, they were very accommodating. Of course, it helps to speak French in Paris but it's not essential and no one's going to chop off your head if you don't. More often than not, I just ordered food in English to avoid mangling the language, especially since most restaurants had bilingual menus. It also helps if you ask them, "Parlez vous Anglais" ("Do you speak English?") before you start spewing out English, just to be polite. But otherwise, being in Paris helped me to realize just how universal English is becoming. Though the French accents still throw me since they're so thick and sometimes nearly indecipherable.

To close, being in Paris was akin to being in a dream, to coin a cliche phrase. You read about the sights in the book (or in this case, in a blog) and you see it in movies such as "Funny Face" and "Paris Je T'aime" but it's not until you are within the city itself that you are made aware of just what makes Paris so magical. It isn't just the sights or the sounds or the food, but everything melted together, the relaxed energy (except for drivers during rush hour), the history, that certain "je ne se quais" that makes it so amazing. And the crepes and pain âu chocolat? That's just the cherry on top.