We arrived in Paris in the early afternoon. We applied several lessons learned from our previous trip here four years ago:
- Always buy Métro tickets from a human being rather than a machine;
- Ignore any solicitations; and
- Build up your upper body strength before the trip so you can haul your suitcases upstairs. The French don’t have an equivalent of the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Elevators in a Métro station, if they exist, are well-hidden.)
Our rental apartment is just outside a Métro station near the old Les Halles market. Rue Montorgueil, a major foodie street, is only two blocks away. Despite its central location, it’s reasonably quiet–at night. This morning was pretty cacophonous, since it’s a back to work day. We chose the courtyard-facing bedroom. Our traveling companion for this leg of the trip is our friend Roger from Nyack (NY). He arrived from Reykjavik before we did.
View from our flat.
We had dinner on our first night at Comptoir de la Gastronomie, a gourmet shop/restaurant on Rue Montmartre. Julian and I started out with asparagus gazpacho, while Roger had mackerel mousse with cucumber and aspic. For the main dish, the guys had two huge mounds of pork ribs. I was in need of vegetables, so I had pasta with a mixture of fava beans, fennel, tomato, mushrooms, and zucchini. A fine repast was had by all.
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