Paris: Our culinary quest for edible perfection

I just read three pages on images in medieval art, and I have no clue what I had just read. I hate when that happens. But you know what that means? Blog time!! Hmmm….I still have yet to record my Parisian experience….

My favorite thing about Paris was the food. In a fight, French food would destroy all other food. Jennifer and I actually splurged a little in Paris and ate at a couple quaint little cafes. We had slept the night before, so unlike our first day in Dublin, we were well energized. We found our hotel pretty easily. The tricky part was learning how the metro works. They don’t label the lines very well. After dropping our backpacks off at our room, we headed to the Arc de Triomphe. Honestly, it’s not that amazing of a sight, but it does mark the top of the Champs Eylsees. It was lunch time, so we stopped at the first café we ran into (another rarity…usually we wander around for a while trying to find the best and cheapest place only to discover everything’s pretty much the same). The café we stopped at had this really neat deal where you could get a drink, a sandwich, dessert, and coffee for about 7 euros. The desserts looked amazing, so I was immediately sold. The café was fairly touristy, so thankfully the servers spoke English although it was no English I could understand. They didn’t speak my type of English either. I enjoyed the pointing method. I chose this chicken sandwich on the most delicious garlic bread, a sprite, this chocolate and banana pastry, and I was given a receipt for my after meal coffee. When I was given my coffee, I was surprised to receive a shot of espresso. Now I had always inwardly rolled my eyes at the people who would come into the Mulberry ordering only a shot of espresso, but I decided to remain open-minded after all, it seemed to be a very Parisian thing to do. It was heavenly. Taking a nibble of my chocolaty pastry and sipping on my espresso was one of the best things I have ever done. And yes, drinking my double shot, I did feel slightly better than everyone else.

Another noteworthy culinary experience of mine was going to another café before strolling over to Notre Dame. I had this huge pizza thing which was good although it was nothing special. What I’m talking about is the pistachio macaroon I had for dessert. I had read that the macaroon was somewhat of a big deal among French pastries, so I knew I would regret not trying one. I had a choice between coffee, chocolate, and pistachio flavored macaroons. I opted for the green one. It wasn’t as aesthetically pleasing as the other pastries on display. It had a round cookie shape and like I mentioned before it was a rich sea green color--not the most appealling color for any food. My first bite was life altering. It had a nice crunch to it, but it remained moist on the inside with a type of cake and filling in it. Oh…it was such a beautiful experience.