Our neighborhood, Le Marais, is a quaint, bohemian area of Paris. Its narrow winding streets seem to reveal hidden gems with every turn. There are lots of boutiques, bookstores, vintage shops, parfumeries, and an overwhelming amount of adorable corner cafes (how to choose?!).
Since Nick and I are continuing to work on EST, we spend our mornings and afternoons exploring the city, and our nights working.
Determine to shop the fresh markets for our dinners in (I have romanticized every part of this trip), I took to the streets on our first night, heading to the fromagerie for cheese, boucherie for meat, boulangerie for a baguette, wine store, and a fruit stand.
Paris seems to wake up at night, when the streets are aglow and everyone pours out of their offices and homes to shop, smoke cigarettes, and enjoy an aperitif with friends at the bistro tables that line the sidewalks.
First, I had a moment of pure BLISS walking through this scene. I imagined I was Julia Childs experiencing french cooking for the first time.
But, with little-to-no French vocabulary, my bliss soon turned to a chaotic frenzy as I tried to order said meat, cheese, and bread from across the tall glass displays and bustling shoppers.
About two hours later (Nick beginning to worry where I had disappeared to), I reentered our apartment with:
1 fully roasted chicken
1 lemon
1 baguette
3 mystery cheesees
a bottle of champagne (delicious, and only cost 2 euro!!!)
....and a heaping carton of the shiniest strawberries I'd ever seen.
It was a smorgasbord, but a delicious one at that!
Many more adventures and learning curves to come, I am sure, but for now,
au revoir, mon ami!
Emily