Being a traveler involves some planning ahead to make sure that you don’t miss something you want to do due to lack of certain knowledge (check out my adventures trying to locate a famous ice cream shop and a favorite falafel stand in Paris), but also means being flexible and being able to throw away all your plans and walk a city without a specific purpose to see where fate leads you…
This is how we found St. Michel and Passage du Panoramas…
St. Michel is an area right over the Seine on the Rive Gauche/Quartier Latin right across the Notre Dame cathedral. How we came about it, I can’t even remember. We got off from our L’Open Tour bus and were walking and I saw a small street that looked like it had a lot of movement… I asked Annie Mariel if she felt we should go that way… and we did.
St. Michel is an area with small pedestrian streets filled with restaurants from all over the world – French, Spanish, Middle Eastern, Italian, you name it… we decided to go for fondue that night. Not the best fondue we have ever had, but the reason why we were drawn to this particular restaurant was because it mentioned vegetarian options. A testament that not all vegetarian restaurants are good indeed… we had fondue with salade, potatoes, and bread. Could not believe the bread was stale. Sadly, the worst meal we had in Paris.
Another night we were a bit tired, but not so much to stay in, so we decided to go see a movie close to our apartment. It had to be in French and without subtitles. We had a great time… we understood the movie theme, but only got 50% of the dialogue. But, that’s part of learning and immersing yourself in a new language and culture, right?
After the movie, we walked a bit trying to decide if we were hungry enough to eat something. And then we saw this little passageway with lots of restaurants and decided that at least we had to sit down and try something. We were mesmerized by the insistence of this Croatian woman who kept inviting us to eat her delicious Coquilles St Jacques or scallops. I knew I was never going to please her by ordering the scallops, but she was charming enough to be our favorite spot there.
I ordered a fromage de chevre with tomates sechés au soleil (sun-dried tomatoes) with a salade and potatoes provençal. I really should have ordered these vegetables in a puffed pastry, but was afraid if they were made with some kind of stock…
For dessert, I tried the Tarte Tatin and Annie Mariel the profiteroles. The Tarte Tatin was warm and the whipped cream delicious. I need to try this soon for you guys… I took a stab at it before but was not very successful…
Goes to show you that letting things flow allows you to find the true heart and soul of a city… Bonne soirée.
KarmaFree Cooking 
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