Day Two: Adventures in Ordering

Number of Photos Taken: 173

Outfit: White jeans and a dressy salmon tank top

Meals Eaten: Two

Something I learned: When the service is bad, it’s not because “you’re American.” It’s equally bad for everyone.

            Seeking to discover a little more of the neighborhood, I ventured into the 5^th arrondisement for breakfast. After passing by many a place in search of the perfect “French” atmosphere, I came upon Café Richard. Something I’ve slowly come to learn is that at many of the cafés it is upon the patron to seat her/himself (most specifically learned by a waitress who flapped her hands and shoo-shooed me when I did not do this).

            I ended up at a quiet interior table with a window view in Café Richard. The waiter, who was older and thin with short gray hair, eventually made his way over to my table. I gave him my order (in French) with sweet intonation: a cheese omelet and a café creme. The coffee came just fine and is more delicious in Paris than anywhere else in the world (that I’ve been to so far). However, when my meal came out, I received a sandwich consisting of thick bread, butter, and Swiss cheese. I’m not quite sure what got lost in translation, as my minimal command of French had not led me astray thus far. But I rolled with the punches and ate my sandwich and looked out at the quiet street to my right.

While eating (enjoying the plain but good taste), a French woman with wild curly hair and sunglasses sat down to my right. The waiter brought her the menu in good time, but after that the timing became comedic. Every time she called out “monsieur!” he would continue talking to the woman working the bar. Eventually she got her coffee (plain coffee comes in very small cups a la Alice in Wonderland here). It was leisurely sipped as she smoked and checked her phone. Then came the issue of getting l’addition. It probably took her around twenty minutes. I felt for her dearly as at one point she had also asked for a glass of water that never came.

After breakfast I walked back to my current accommodations before heading toward the Louvre. I walked along the Seine under clear blue skies before crossing a bridge that led me directly to a side entrance of the Louvre courtyard. Crossing the bridge my eyes drifted across the plethora of locks placed along the railings, a couple taking wedding photos, and a bohemian boy who was playing guitar.

Locks on the bridge.

Each corridor off the central courtyard of the Louvre has a different kind of street musician playing (or singing) classical music. I walked by a cellist and then a flutist as I made my way toward the famous glass pyramid. While in my mind the crowds had been lesser, the pyramid and the triangular pools of water that surround it were just as good. In fact, it was amusing to see little rectangular blocks in this area that people can stand on in order to get those “my finger is directly on the top point of the pyramid!” pictures.

The Louvre

Once I was done gazing at its grandeur (museum-going is to come another day), I began a walk down the two-mile stretch that goes from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe. Through the Jardin des Tuileries I went. Parisians were sunbathing on its grounds, which have a more relaxed and intimate feel than Central Park in New York City. Next came the Champs-Elysee, which is somewhat comparable to NYC’s Fifth Avenue. Full of every store you can think of (French, American, English, etc.) with extra-extra-wide sidewalks, it’s touristy, but worth seeing. I ended up having dinner at a café called George V.

Café of the night. 

Looking across the street at Louis Vuitton, I enjoyed a meal of Onion Soup Gratinée, Sirloin Steak (I had ordered the chicken, but a friend of mine had mentioned the steak and confused the waiter…clearly not my food day), and Profiteroles avec Chocolat Chaud et Glace. The soup was amazing, the steak was of much lesser quality than you get in the states, and the dessert was to die for (as I’ve come to expect here). Even my waiter was good (a Paris native who had also worked in Santa Barbara and San Francisco).

My post-dinner viewing experience included the Arc de Triomphe at night, followed by a long walk toward the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. A quick nightcap at Café Grand Corona and then onto the Metro and to bed. J’adore Paris.

Arc de Triomphe at night.