CDMX Markets Tour

Trip date: April 2015

Can we just talk about travel for a minute? Not the romantic views (pushed upon us by people who clearly never travel) of perfect timing, pleasant customer service, everything going according to plan. Let's talk about the reality of cramped flights, surly airline people, and all day travel which feels like work instead of vacation. Travel is work folks, it is hard, it is frustrating, but it is rewarding more than any paycheck out there. I've had my share of ups and downs on the road, and I know there will be more, but let me just tell you this one little story.

I woke up at 5am for my American Airlines flight to Mexico City via Dallas/Fort Worth from Seattle. I am not a morning person, let's leave it at that. My phone showed an alert via TripIt that my flight was delayed from 8am until 11am. I called AA and an agent told me they had me rebooked on the 11am, I would make a connection in DFW but maybe not the one I had planned, which sucked as I was meeting my friend Forest there. But at least I had a flight and I was happy as I went back to sleep for another hour.

Upon re-waking at 8am I received a text that the flight would board at 8:30am. WTF??? Let me just say that there was major stress as I quickly called a cab, then tried to get someone on the line from American, while rushing to the airport for a delayed flight that I was now sure to miss. At the airport there were other passengers trying madly to check in under the same circumstances and desk agents refusing to check them in or tell us the status of the flight. FinallyI was able to get an agent to check me in, I ran to the gate, only to find that the crew hadn't shown up for the new time yet so we finally left at 10:30am. I was pissed. To top it off the flight only had vodka on board- no wine, beer, gin, etc.- just vodka. The definition of 1st world problems.

As we were landing in DFW I realized that my plane was pulling up to the same gate as the connection to Mexico City was set to leave from. Fantastic I thought, I have made my original connection and Forest was there to meet me. I checked in with the gate agent and she informed me that since I had already been rebooked my luggage had to take the later flight, it could not stay on the plane that I just got off and continue to Mexico City with me. If I chose to fly with Forest my luggage would not, and they wouldn't deliver it the hotel I'd have to wait for it there. WTF again???

I chose to fly with my friend, we made martinis on the plane, my bag wasn't there when we landed but the nice guys working in baggage had it delivered to the hotel during the night. Jesus, how hard is good customer service. I know that is a long story, it was even longer to live it! Enough, let's talk about Mexico City!

I'm obsessed with huge cities and Mexico City had been on my list for years. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint. Mexico City went by DF (Federal District) for years but recently that has changed and now it is CDMX. The first part of my stay was for Tales on Tour and we stayed at the Hilton Downtown Reforma. Although a business hotel, the Hilton had great spaces, and our room had great views. Most importantly it was a great location for sightseeing.

Forest and I booked a Market Tour with Urban Adventures on our first full day in town. We met our local guide Cesar at 8:45am near the Zocala (a massive main square) and were thrilled that we had him all to ourselves. The city of almost 9 million people (21 million in the greater area!) was surprisingly quiet at this time of day.

The first stop we made was to the Abelardo Rodriguez market. This neighborhood market has some incredible murals, if you know where to look, done by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and students studying under them. They have pretty much been forgotten and even a lot of the locals don't realize they are there! We stopped for a mamey fruit shake and then queued up for tamales at an unmarked stand. Delicious and not some place we would have spotted have without Cesar.

From here we walked to the Sonora market which is also known as the witchcraft market. Although chilangos (the term residents of CDMX go by) are primarily Catholic, witchcraft is an old and still normal practice by the majority. The market had everything from various candles and soap, all with a specific wish-granting purposes, to dried herbs, plants, and even animals for creating potions. The market also had a lot of non-witchcraft stuff like shoes, toys, and even pets!

We got on our broomsticks, I mean we grabbed the subway and then hopped on a locals' bus, and continued on to the Jamaica market. This is more of a traditional food-centric market. We sat down at the very busy Carnitas Paty counter and ordered some delicious tacos. I chose to have the mixte version, where one of the guys chops up an unique assortment of pig parts; think head-to-tail literally.

We made friends with a local woman who was having lunch with her dad when he noticed me adding the super hot sauce to my taco. He told Cesar to warn me, which he did, and although the sauce was spicy it wasn't uncomfortable to me. Dad shook his head and told Cesar I must have chilango blood in me, a great compliment I thought! We also tried the most delicious drink called tepache, which is fermented pineapple juice with tamarind in it. Seriously amazing, if anyone in Seattle is making this, I need to know about it.

After a stroll thru the market, checking out the huge wheels of queso, pig heads, yellow chicken, hominy, etc. we headed to the flower market. Huge warehouses full of the most gorgeous floral displays, as well as stalls selling all varieties of flowers in bulk; super pretty to see and amazing to smell.

The floral market also has some fruit and vegetable stalls, we stopped at one to taste raw jicama sprinkled with chili powder and lime juice. Delicious.

Just outside of the flower market we sat down at a small open-air restaurant called Huaraches Ramoncita, located in a cute courtyard to taste their specialty, huaraches. The fried masa dough is oval in shape, resembling the huaraches sandals, with an indention on the top, ours was filled with refried beans, nopales (sautéd cactus), avocado, and fresh salsa. I'm sure I don't have to tell you have scrumptious this was!

We had told Cesar that we were both pretty curious and fearless eaters and really were also interested in trying the pre-Colombian fermented alcohol called pulque. Since we had proved ourselves on the tour, and had offered to buy him a few rounds, he took us to the very popular local haunt Pulqueria Duelistas. The drink is very tasty, but the texture is a tad strange. We had a great time and loved this bonus experience.

I wrote more about drinking around CDMX, including Pulqueria Duelistas, here.

By the time our tour ended after 1pm we had covered a lot of ground, seen some really interesting markets, had insight we wouldn't have had on our own, and tasted some amazing food, mysterious fruits, and historic booze! And my travel luck had reset itself thanks to Cesar.

Also, as we made our way back to the hotel we noticed that now all 9 million people seemed to be out and about!

All CDMX photos here.

Other posts from this trip:
Mexico City; From Street Food to Fine Dining
Sights on Mexico City
Mexico City; More Than Tequila

Hurray For Hollywood!

Trip date: September 2015

I am known by my friends to have a mini cocktail kit with me when I fly. My 30k-foot repertoire includes an Old Fashioned and a gin martini. On a flight to LA last fall for a long weekend getaway with my friend Lauren, I added a new morning friendly cocktail. I packed a mini of coffee liquor to my TSA approved ziplock bag; then ordered a cognac (Lauren got a whiskey), a creamer, a seltzer water, and a cup of ice from the flight attendant. Pour 1/2 a mini of coffee liquor, 1 bottle cognac, and 1 creamer over ice. Stir. Top with seltzer (although recently I have been forgoing the seltzer). It reminds me of a brandy milk punch!

Our friend Mary picked us up from Burbank airport and we headed straight to Petit Trois for lunch. We had a short wait, which we passed with some delicious cocktails, and then were seated at the pass for a front row view of all the deliciousness (Chef Ludo was working). And the food looked great too. I absolutely loved this tiny little bistrot hidden in plain sight in a sketchy looking strip mall!

Lauren and I chose an adorable Airbnb in Echo Park as our home base. Our 2-bedroom, 1-bath home had great views and an absolutely fantastic patio. It was crazy hot that weekend, so having a shaded patio to have morning coffee and afternoon rosé on was wonderful. 

That night we headed out for a cocktail crawl in Hollywood. Lauren and I met her brother at our first stop, Good Times at Davey Wayne's. If you grew up in the 70's as I did, you will feel right at home as you walk through the refrigerator door opening and into the shag-carpeted, groovy living room-esque bar. You'll also feel right at home here if you are a hipster. It was a fun spot with good "fern bar" style drinks, a great patio, and some decent grub. This is owned by the same people who have La Descarga, they really like a theme!

From here I made a solo trip over to Power House, which is just off of Hollywood Boulevard and was quite a famous dive bar for about 70 years. It's been reimagined and is now super chill, elegant, and dimly lit, with gorgeous white tiles and antiques throughout the interior. I had a really well-made drink at the bar while waiting for Mary to come pick me up. We then proceeded to meet our growing group at The Walker Inn.

The Walker Inn is a "secret" bar inside of the Normandie Club. You must make reservations in advance, and you must buzz and wait to be let it. Once inside you'll find a seductively beautiful den-like bar along with incredibly creative and delicious drinks. It's dark and comfortable and I wanted to stay forever. Three rounds would have to suffice on this trip. 

(*11/16 edited to congratulate The Walker Inn on placing #37 in at the recent 50 Best Bar Awards; and their first time being nominated at that!*)

Lauren and I started our next day by sleeping in! That was quite a crawl the night before! Then we headed to lunch at Philippe's Original for French Dipped sandwiches. The sandwich was underwhelming to me but the atmosphere was fun; complete with old-school deli counter, sawdust on the floors, low wood stools at communal tables, and employees dressed in uniforms. These folks were taking their lunch break while we were there.

With it being such a gorgeous day out, we decided on a little walk around downtown. After we passed the historic Victor Clothing Co. building we came upon the Bradbury Building, which I knew nothing about but you might know from the movie Blade Runner. We were able to go inside and check out the intricate iron work in the foyer before continuing on to the Grand Central Market. LA's market has some fantastic food stalls along with some very interesting regional product stands. Not sure who is the "it" spot of the moment? Just look at the length of the lines! 

For me, no trip to LA is complete without a stop in at Bar Keeper, our friend Wes was working so we were able to pick his brain and buy some boozy new toys to bring home. Then it was back to the Airbnb to relax with some rosé and the sunset on our patio.

While originally planning our trip, Lauren and I discussed the fact that neither of us had ever been to the famous (infamous?) Bar Marmont. We remedied that by going for pre-dinner drinks. When a friend from Seattle happened to see we were in LA, he let us know that he was too and joined us. Love those types of randomness! 

The bar is quite beautiful with three separate areas; there's a small front bar, a large main bar with lots of seating at it, and an area with table and chair combos. Our drinks and service were both excellent, which we were happily surprised by. I'd go back! And I still need to get next door to the Chateau. 

We said goodbye to our friend Charlie and headed to Craft where we were meeting Mary, Chuck, Wes, and Aaron for dinner. The space is absolutely huge and has a real clean modern vibe to it. Chuck and Wes are friends with Chef Ray England who was in the house and cooking that night. Besides getting spoiled rotten by him and his team, the food itself was absolutely incredible! 

At this point you may be thinking that Lauren and I didn't do much besides eat and drink our way around LA. You'd be wrong, we ate and drank our way around LA in the company of very fun friends! We started the next day with brunch at the gorgeously decorated Faith and Flower, joined by Chuck and Dave. Their brunch is pretty well known as they serve an amazing large batch milk punch served to your table out of an antique fountain. I mean you can order just a glass but why not have the entire fountain? 

Our 3-hour brunch was filled with delicious food, lots of laughs, and of course flowing punch. The manager and the bartender got such a kick out of how much fun we were having that they each sent out something for us all; the bartender sent out a really good mini coffee cocktail and the manager sent out a fantastic assortment of cookies. They were having their own competition on which we would like more. The cocktail won but not by much!

After brunch I did feel the need to go for a walk so Lauren and I pulled up Atlas Obscura and decided to go in search of the old Warner Brothers Theater. We walked past some really interesting buildings on the way before finally reaching our destination in the Diamond District. A diamond exchange had moved into the theater but they hadn't changed anything. In fact as we entered we realized we were on the old stage complete with red curtain. I was stopped very quickly from taking more photos by the security, seems they get a little paranoid about pictures when there are cases and cases of diamonds around. 

We headed back to Echo Park using Uber Hop, which is a carpool type of ride share. We used this all weekend and never had anyone else share our ride and still got the crazy low rates. Between that and Lyft we easily got around all over town. 

We explored the cute little stretch of shops, including a really nice specialty food shop, on Echo Park Ave before returning to our house and patio for rosé in the shade.

Dinner that night was at the very popular and well reviewed Redbird. We started with cocktails in the bar and were joined by Chuck, Wes, Dave, and Lauren's cousin Gary. Well into round two, and past our reservation time, the hostess continued to tell us we'd be seated soon. This would be foreshadowing of how service would go the entire night. 

Our drinks were ok, not great. The vibe and the restaurant is very cool and unique; the building is an old rectory of a cathedral. When we were (finally) seated our table was in a beautiful open air courtyard.

The food was good, not earth shattering, but the service continued to be down right bad. And slow. Like really, really slow. Especially compared to our other meals that weekend, when the manager should have sent out a gratis dessert or something trivial to make up for it, they just shrugged off our complaints and sent us on our way, hours later.

Luckily our weekend of drinking and dining would not end on a sour note. In fact everything about our send-off brunch the next day at Terrine was over the top FUN! Awesome company? Chuck, Wes, Aaron, and Mary- check! Gorgeous space? Pretty outdoor courtyard and French bistrot style interior- check! Thirsty? Lovely brunch friendly cocktails- check! Hungry? OMG delicious American comfort food gets in bed with French comfort food and has a baby of French toast with caramel frosting, maple syrup and then a slice of foie gras! Add to that the fact that the kitchen sent this out to us as a gift because of our enthusiasm for brunch! CHECK!

Also adding to the fun factor was being able to watch a very posh private baby shower party being set up in the courtyard. It was quite mysterious as no one would/could tell us who it was for. This being LA we were on star alert. We finally saw some signage that it was Tori Spelling's kid's clothes line hosting, and then finally saw Natalie Zea make her very preganant entrance. 

We stopped into Heath Ceramics, which was not too far from the restaurant, and found some absolutely lovely items. One of the salespeople turned me on to the "imperfect" shelves where there are some serious discounts on pieces that have almost microscopic flaws. 

Then it was to the airport, LAX this time, and back to Seattle. A little fuller...

All photos are here. LA fun map is here. 

In Like a Lyon

Trip date: September 2014

Are you familiar with the word turophile?  A connoisseur of cheese; a cheese fancier. That is a badge I wear proudly and there is no place like France to really practice the art of being a cheese fancier! And no better place in France than Lyon to dive into many new (to me) cheeses!

Before hanging out on the Left and Right banks of Paris, I started my trip in Lyon. Because of a pilot strike on Air France my flight, which was suppose to take me from Seattle to Paris to Lyon, terminated in Paris. I hopped on a train at CDG and took it to an agreed upon station in the south of Paris where Forest picked me up and we drove to Lyon. Well she drove! I was super sleep deprived and jet lagged so after we stopped in the charming town of Auxxere in Burgundy for a bite to eat and a glass of rosé, I slept the rest of the way to Lyon.

We arrived late in the afternoon and found our Airbnb situated at the top of the hill in the 1st arrondissement (Croix Rousse). We had a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment with a patio overlooking Lyon. It was perfect!

The first night we walked down the hill to l'Antiquaire for a couple of drinks before dinner. It's a very good bar with a great cocktail list. I'd recommend it when in town for sure.

My first dinner in Lyon was at Leon de Lyon, a restaurant I was very excited about. Upon being seated I noticed their nice napkins embroidered with the restaurant name. Who knew this was a thing in Lyon; we'd see it in practically every restaurant we ate in over the next few days.

Our meal was good but not great, I'd go if you have time but I think there are other places doing traditional Lyonnaise cuisine better. We headed home for nightcaps on our terrace.

The next day we had lunch at Daniel & Denise outside on their patio. Now this was what I expected from a traditional brassiere. Everything we had was absolutely delicious. And our service was fantastic. And there were embroidered napkins again! And cheese for dessert!

We strolled around the Bocuse des Halles after lunch; it is an absolutely beautiful market which has both stalls selling delicious assortments of meats, cheeses, sweets, etc. as well as a good number of dining selections. This is a great place to pick up high end picnic items or just come for lunch. And cheese!

We passed a cute wine shop on our way to the car so dutifully stopped in for a glass before heading back to the apartment.

Besides incredible cuisine, Lyon is also known for their traboules, or passageways, which connect the city via a maze of semi-secret alleys and stairwells. We used one of the more public ones that night to get down the hill. Within minutes we had descended a series of stairwells instead of having to make our way down the turny, twisty, cobblestone streets.

We took possibly the world's shortest metro (just two stops) and made our way to Juliette Café for cocktails. The space here is absolutely adorable and our light snacks were good but sadly the drinks were just ok. Go if you're in the hood.

Moving on, our next stop was Black Forest Society. New at the time, this cocktail den mixes its German theme with hip modern art. Although we felt our drinks were a bit on the sweet side I would recommend a stop in for the cool interior and very unique cocktail presentations.

Last on our bar crawl was Redwood. If you like rum this is definitely your place! We had so much fun here, our bartender was super enthusiastic and our drinks were excellent. He even made us a DTO mini slushie!

It was beautiful crossing the river that night, the bridges and the city all lit up. We walked to the base of the hill and took an Uber Pop up to our apartment.

Our last day in Lyon was jam packed. We started the day by looking for some of the non-public traboules. We had stopped at the tourist office on our first day and asked for a map of the old passages, the women who helped us was nice enough to point out a few ways to spot the ones still in use by the locals. We headed to one we could see on the map but once we got to the row of apartments we could not figure out which door it was, or what buzzer to possibly use to unlock it. While sussing this out we did come across the Fresco Vegetale which is a cool living wall and mural (Lyon is also know for their murals).

Back to the business of finding the taboule, a woman saw us looking at our map and asked if she could help. When we told her what we were looking for she just shook her head at us and told us the private passages had all been closed. Liar. Another person also looked at us suspiciously when we inquired but didn't help. Finally we approached two men and upon asking again, one said he didn't know what that was. Not local. The other asked why we were looking. Bingo. He then explained that the locals really don't like others using their passages as they are usually part of the building's courtyard. He was born and raised in Lyon. And then he took us into the door we had been standing in front of for about 20 minutes- hidden in plain sight, a not so obvious button under the listing of the residents unlocked the door!

His friend had never even heard of these passages even though he lived in Lyon now, it really is a local thing. In minutes we exited all the way down by the river and right by our next stop, La Fresque des Lyonnais. The entire facade of this building is painted depicting 30 of the city's best know celebrities posed in faux window balconies.

We continued on across the river to the more public and documented traboules and spent a few hours going through them. Most of these are more like courtyards leading to different apartments, not as interesting as our peek into a real one but great none-the-less!

Time for lunch! We made our way to Le Sud, one of four of the Bocuse cafes. It was a gorgeous day to sit outside on the terrace and enjoy a 3-course lunch, a cold bottle of Burgundy blanc, and cheese for dessert after all our walking! And they had the napkins! I wish I could comment more positively on the service. Let's just say it was off.

We walked back into the old town and took the funicular up to the cathedral where we could check out the gold gilding, stained glass, and views of the city below.

We sat for a quick rosé break before we headed back up to our apartment to get ready for our last evening in Lyon, we'd covered a lot of ground!!!

Pre dinner cocktails were had at the very well known Monkey Club bar. It's another cool place mixing antique decor with creative and well-made cocktails. Forest's friends met us and then we made our way to the Restaurant l'Institute Bocuse. This is a fine dining experience in the Bocuse culinary school. We had an absolutely lovely meal with exceptional service housed in a great space, with de-rigour embroidered napkins, modernized Bocuse classic dishes, delicious Burgundy in the glass, and cheese for dessert! A great last meal.

Forest and I stopped into Le Bar du Passage for a nightcap, it is a very cool looking place that has been around for a long time. Unfortunately the drinks and the service were quite bad. Pass if you have other places on your list.

We packed a lot into 3 days, I'd happily go back and explore more of this gorgeous city. I found it to be much more than just a gastronomic destination. I loved the cool modern parts of the city mixed in with the older, historic areas. And of course the hidden passages, gorgeous views,  and series of bridges added to all that eye candy.

As much as I was loving Lyon, we'd be on our way to the Burgundy region the next day! Forest and I were ready!

All photos of Lyon are here and my map is here.

Paris- Right Bank

Trip date: September 2014

Although I had loads of fun on the Left Bank, Paris' Right Bank is hard to compete against. There is so much to do, see, eat, and drink! Let's start with the eating and drinking.

I'd heard about the kouign amman at Ble Sucre for years but hadn't made my way to the patisserie in the 12th. On a lovely, sunny morning I rectified that, getting both an absolutely outstanding kouign amman and some of the best madelines I've ever had. There are a few tables and chairs outside which is unusual for most patisseries, and I enjoyed my treats with a view of the quaint square that the shop is in. They looked to have nice lunch selections as well. Get there!

I happened to find myself in the 11th one afternoon, quite close to Bistrot Paul Bert , so I popped in and requested a table for one. I've had an absolutely outstanding lunch at their next door restaurant L'Ecailler, but hadn't been to this city favorite before. It's a wonderful old-school bistrot with very traditional dishes. I chose a 3-course lunch prix fixe for 29E and thoroughly enjoyed my oeufs d'mayonnaise, beef tartare with frites, and superb cheese plate. I did have one small issue when I heard the bartender tell the waitress that the wine she was pouring me was old and he would open a new bottle. She assured him it was fine and brought me the glass which I tasted and sent back. The bartender opened a new bottle and brought it to me with a big smile and knowing nod.

Le Regalade has three locations now, I was excited to try the one in St Honore with a girlfriend for lunch one afternoon. It's a prix fixe menu that also incorporates each table getting a terrine of their beautiful house-made pate. The problem was we never got a terrine. The service was down right bad. What's up with service in Paris these days? I'm not referring to gruff or snotty attitude, I'm talking about not knowing what the hell is going on! Anyway the food was actually stellar, like I'd-go-back-and-eat-there-again-even-though-the-service-was-crap stellar. And I finished lunch with this AMAZING rice pudding with caramel sauce, supposedly that is a single serving!

We left the dim waitstaff and continued catching up over a bottle (or two) of rosé at the very old school Le Fumoir Cafe, right behind the Louvre. A great stop when you need a little break and are in the area.

Perhaps my favorite meal of the trip was lunch at the Michelin starred Passage53. The interior of the restaurant is pretty much a blank canvas of white and it is very small, making it impossible for groups more than 6. The food and service were both stellar; finally some good service in Paris during a visit that was sorely lacking in it. Forest and I chose the smaller 4-course tasting menu with wine pairings. You don't actually get a menu, you just chose how many courses, and they ask about allergies, etc. Nothing makes me happier than some surprises! Also our waiter went out of his way to pair different wines for each of us so that we had some good shared tastes. In France 4-courses really means 5 as you are going to get an amuse bouche. Additionally, we chose to share a caviar course which was this amazing potato gnocchi, biscuit, and mascarpone.

I will absolutely be returning, for either a longer lunch or a posh dinner, count me in!

Forest runs a group called The Chamber and they put on really fun and unique events on an ongoing basis. While I was in town, there was an afternoon of Tea & Tipples, held in a gorgeous private residence, and catered by a very talented baker. A small group of us enjoyed cocktails, snacks, and conversation. Very fun to meet other French people and also some expats. If you are going to be visiting the city and are looking to interact with some friendly folks, doing some fun things, inquire on their site.

One night Forest and I did a very enjoyable little cocktail crawl where the 3rd arrondissement meets the 10th. We started the night at The Little Red Door, which is aptly named.  I had a bar snack of their version of chicken and waffles (savory waffle with duck rillettes, yum!) and a Paper Anniversary Cocktail which included paper syrup. Very nice and really interesting. They had special guest bartenders that night, the folks from 69 Colebrook Row in London were presenting their own menu. We were handed escargot shells and were told to shoot the tiny cocktail inside, which turned out to taste exactly like a french onion soup. All very fun.

Next up was Le Mary Celeste. The place was packed, as is usual I am told, and the vibe was really fun and lively. I liked that the bar is set up in the middle, a bar-in-the-round. Lots of good drinks and people watching.

We finished our cocktails and made our way to the soft opening of Copper Bay in the 10th for our last crawl stop. What a gorgeous interior! Most everything is copper (natch), and the room is very spacious with high ceilings and huge front windows. Our cocktails were good but they hadn't really had time to work out the kinks, I'd suggest going in now that they've been around for two years!

Another night we went to Dirty Dick in the Pigall area, it had not been open the last time I had been in town. This rivals some of the best tiki bars in the states, no surprise as it is owned by an American. Both the drinks, the decor, and the staff were all top notch! Super fun and especially perfect for when the weather calls for a serious refresher.

Forest and I met a couple of girls at the (then) newly opened Lockwood, a very cool multi-level cocktail bar which I hear also has great coffee. We weren't there long as we were on our way to dinner at the highly lauded restaurant Yam'tcha. Forest and I both had talked of going here for a few years so we were excited. Unfortunately we were both disappointed with our meal.

The combination of French and Chinese sounds great to me, add to that a tiny jewel box space that only holds 20 and I'm on board. But everything from the flavors to the service were just not great. It started off good, with a couple of delicious bites, and then turned boring, and then just bad for me. The famed bun (bao) filled with stilton and cherry is not a flavor combo I ever want to have again. So 6-courses of ok to bad dishes for 136Euro. And all that is fine but on top of things we were stopped as we got into our cab by our waiter who realized they had under charged us. They actually requested another 50Euro from us in the cab! Not the actions of a Michelin starred restaurant and one that I won't be going back to.

For dinner one night some of us headed to Verjus Wine Bar. This little cave is separated from its bigger sibling restaurant of the same name, and serves a more casual menu along with wines by the glass. There are no reservations taken and we had to wait a bit at a bar down the street before there was room for the five of us. It's a great bar, and the meatballs, fried chicken bites, and cepes were all delicious.

Having friends who live in Paris also means that sometimes I get invited to their house for dinner. Beef Bourginon, made by my Parisian girlfriend in her and her husband's cute apartment in the 12th. With fabulous cheeses for dessert. Anytime thank you very much!

And one afternoon I went to the Musee de l'Orangerie. It had been closed for renovations all the years I had been visiting Paris, finally reopening a few years ago. The museum is best known for housing the huge works of Monet, Les Nymphes. I've seen Monet's works, I've been to Monet's museum housed in his old house. I get it. But these absolutely took my jaded breath away. Go. (No photos allowed)

Also at the museum was a special exhibit of Emile Bernard. I totally enjoyed learning about this artist, and the layout of the show gave a great complete look into his career. I also felt that he was the original "selfie" guy although again, no photos were allowed.

It was Fashion Week so after I browsed the collection of Paul Guillaume I left the museum, passing by many of the events, models, show goers, and stunning windows like this one, on my way to meet a girlfriend for some outdoor rosé.

Good luck fitting into that dress if you've eaten and drunk even half of what I've outlined here!


My Paris map is here and all photos are here.