We started the day off with what we thought was an easy French request...cheese. We were in search of a fromagerie and passed several that were closed. What started as a simple morning walk turned into a full on quest. After walking all over Le Marais it became apparent that much like the fish market in Paris that is only open on Tuesday and Saturday, even in France there is a time and place for cheese.
Not one to come home empty handed we stopped at a local boutique natural food store (think Whole Food's tiny French baby cousin) with a cheese counter and ordered some Brie, Roquefort, and chèvre. Roquefort is a blue cheese with a quite strong flavor after a quick Wikipedia search we found that it gets its blue/green patches from cave mold from a special cave in France. Like beer, wine, and so many other accidental microbiological discoveries the cave mold that makes delicious cheese was found when someone left their bread and cheese in a cave. The bread was consumed by the mold but the cheese became magically delicious. That must have been one hungry or brave man to return to his moldy cheese and eat it. Either way we are all a little better off thanks to his discovery.
For lunch we went to a Moroccan restaurant around the corner called Le 404. The owners own several other successful restaurants in Paris but this one was superb. The 17 euro prix fix menu included an appetizer and main course. The appetizers (called entrees here in France) were a fried pastry with chicken and a fresh salad spiced with mint and cumin. Both were flavorful. The interior of the restaurant feels like you have been transported to an old world exotic locale. The main courses were both massive and delicious. Tagine, a traditional motto can stew served in a clay pot was filled with simmering lamb and potatoes. Grilled chicken skewered with a huge bowl of vegetables in spiced broth with couscous was the other main fish. The two plates alone could have easily fed 4 people. We went home very pleased and very full.
We spent the afternoon reading and napping ( still not quite on French time, more like Spanish) and then went out for what we thought would be a nice long walk. We only made it about a block when I turned to Sean and said "I know it is not very humid but it feels like its about to rain". The air just had enough breeze and an eerie stagnant quality that I thought rain. The clouds overhead were grey but not ominous. About 30 feet later we heard the thunder and decided to turn our promenade into a cafe stop. No sooner had we ordered two espressos and sat under the awning when the sky opened up and it started to pour. We watched as the people around the Pompidou center scattered and as the wind kicked up blowing rain under the awning we too moved closer to the interior. Like most of the Paris thunderstorms it rains fast, hard and for a short period of time. By the time we finished out espresso it was clear enough to hurry home without getting soaked.
We played cards and read until we were hungry for dinner around 11pm. Not as much was open as the day before (Mondays in the US are an especially slow night) but we ended up in a Chinese restaurant Iris on our block. Even at 11pm both floors of the restaurant were full. We were the only white people there. We had pan fried dumplings, general tso's chicken and a spicy pork noodle dish. Everything was delicious and spicy. The general tso's had whole chili peppers in it and buried in the crisp breaded chicken were a few small bones. I probably have tiny pieces of bone in my belly but it was the best Chinese food I have had in a long time.
All in all it was a relaxing day and now we both feel refreshed and ready to tackle the D'Orsay and Fish market tomorrow.
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