パリ番外編２：無印

Rにはパリに来てまで無印～？！と笑われたけど、現学生として文房具はやっぱり無印しかない！

それにしても無印は最近アメリカでも進出しつつあるけど、パリではかなり浸透しているようでロールパリ人にも大人気でした。店内もかなりの混み具合。Rは無印の存在をそれまで知らなかったためパリにまで来て日本製品の無印を買い込むあたしを見てかなりドン引きをしていたけど、その後タイに行った際に「バンコクの無印で旅行用のグッズを買い込んだよ～」とのメールが！ 店内ではあたしを散々からかってたけどその横でしっかり品物チェックしてたのね　笑。

パリ番外編１：電車のドア

パリ地下鉄は珍しく手動ドア。なので到着前から皆ハンドルスタンバイ 笑。3日目辺りから真似するようになったらRが「パリ人になってきたね」だとさ。けど運転手さんは停車数秒前にドアロック解除するので動きながらドアが開く状態。危険じゃないのかな？

Paris (Jan/Feb 2015) X - Day 6 Picard

Nothing is as quite as brilliant as Picard's in France. It's a "freezer store" meaning that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING in the store is frozen. It's a bit of a weird sight when you first enter the store because it's just rows and rows of frozen cases. The prices are slightly higher than the frozen food you will find in normal supermarkets but the quality and variety of the food are impeccable. You can find everything from steak to appetizers you'd take to a potluck. The desserts are to die for and there's a huge selection of soups and entrees of all kinds. I'm happy to say that Picard launched its first experimental store in Japan last month!

最近日本でもオープンして話題になったフランスに本店がある「ピカード」。店内全部が冷凍食品！店内に入ると冷凍ケースが並んでいるだけのシンプルな内装なので最初はかなりビビります　笑。普通のスーパーでも冷凍食品は売っているけどここのは若干値段が高い分質は高い。奥様方の持ち寄りお茶会に持っていく一品から前菜・メイン･スープなど種類が豊富。もちろん加工食品だけでなくそのままのお肉や海鮮類も常備。特にお勧めはデザート。オーブンに入れるだけで作りたてのスイーツが食べれます♪ 日本でも行く機会があれば是非♪

We tried the tartetatin and it was delicious!!!! 

Paris (Jan/Feb 2015) IX - Day 6 Coffee Break 2

We were quite frugal with eating out but after walking around the Louvre for 4-5 hours, we definitely could use a nice coffee & sweets break. R brought me to his favorite boulangerie he used to frequent when he was living in Paris. It's a bit fancy with a great patisserie section as well

パリ滞在中はほとんど外食はしなかったものの、さすがにルーブル美術館を4-5時間歩き回ったらかなりクタクタになってしまったのでRがパリに住んでいた頃のお気に入りのパン屋さんでお茶をすることに。パン屋とはいえ、カフェやデザートも置いてあるので観光中に一休みしたいときにおすすめ（でもルーブル美術館付近ではないです　；＾＾ というかルーブル美術館は館内以外付近にはカフェがない・・）

 R lectured that American hot dog is crap and this is what the French "better" version of "le hot dog". Yes, I agree that the bread was very nice and that cheese wrapped around the sausage was exquisite BUT I want my ketchup/mustard/relish for my hotdog! :P 
フランスのホットドッグはやわらかめに焼いたフランスパンの中にチーズを巻いたソーセージが入っていてかなり食べ応えあり。これで350-450円ぐらい。ボリュームがあるしお得♪　でもアメリカ人としては個人的にはあのパッサパッサのパンにグリルされたソーセージがドーンと入っていて、ケチャップとマスタードと漬物がどっさり入ったホットドッグが空きなのですが・・・（Rには「邪道」と言われそうなので黙ってましたが　汗）



I was a bit skeptical when he said they have the best cheesecake (c'mon, cheesecake how much more American can it be??).  Turns out, it's quite nice. It's a must-have and the best part is that it's not inflated priced like all the American dessert places seem to be nowadays.

ちなみにお腹が空いていたのでデザートを二人でシェア。R曰く意外にもここはチーズケーキがおすすめだそう。アメリカのコテコテしてチーズーケーキとも日本のあっさりめのチーズケーキとも違って、重くはないけどチーズの味がしっかりとしていて味が濃厚！

Content after getting some food..and voila this is his haircut he got at the hair salon!　やっと食事にありつけてやっと顔が穏やかに

For anyone looking for a nice place to grab coffee and sweets, I highly recommend it :)

Thévenin Bakery
Address: 5 Rue Notre-Dame des Champs, 75006 Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 45 48 16 92

Paris (Jan/Feb 2015) VIII - Day 5 Pompidou

Beacuse we wanted to take advantage of the free entrances, we were bold enough to go to a second museum,The Centre Pompidou of Modern Arts. Neither of us are modern arts kinda people so many of the exhibitions were...."unique". Not my cup of tea but interesting building and displays for sure.

Paris (Jan/Feb 2015) VII - Day 5 Coffee Break I

For those you know me, I always have to go to Starbucks and McDonalds in every country that I travel to. I don't particularly like McDonalds but being one of the most ubiquitous stores in the world, I always get the urge to see what local flavors and culture that's engrained in the menu. I do not mean to downgrade or hate local coffees but Starbucks will always be my number one go to coffee. Plus I always love to check out their dessert menu because it usually reflects the local culture as well. We had the chocolat fondant mi-cuir which was quite nice - it even had some golden sprinkles on top.

By the way, I gave R a hair-cut since he was scared of going into a hair salon. Looks much better right?  I even gave him the royal treatment of washing his hair and styling it. Seems like this inspired him and he went to the hair salon the next day to get it nicely styled by a professional. That look to come soon ;)

Paris (Jan/Feb 2015) VI - Day 5/6 Louvre

One of the reasons Paris is such a great place for many young people is that for many museums and anything with art there is a discount or even free if you're a student and/or under 25 years old. Since R is under 25, he can practically get into any museum in the city free any time. As a student, I should be entitled to this too...except I encountered the problem that 1) Switzerland is not an EU country, hence my student card is invalid 2) I'm over 25 y/o hence, I disqualify :T

Luckily, many museums are free on the 1st of every month, so of course we took the advantage of going to the Louvre. 

Yay Japan

Mona Lisa madness