Paris Day III

Playing: Oxford Comma-Vampire Weekend
Reading: Atonement by Ian McEwan

Before going on the trip, I made breakfast reservations at Ladurée, which were rather unnecessary. If you want to eat in the cafe part of Ladurée, you can pretty much walk right in and they have a table ready. I ordered Le Pain Perdu Tiède Ladurée with the Chocolat Chaud Ladurée. Le Pain Perdu Tiède Ladurée was some of the best French toast I've ever had. It was light and fluffy without being too sweet. Originally, I was skeptical of its plain appearance, but I highly recommend it. The hot chocolate is intensely rich and worth trying, but by my second cup, it was too much. 

Of course, I had to order some macarons at Ladurée before leaving. I ordered the Framboise, Marie Antoinette, Citron, Petal de Rose, Sel du Caramel, Fruit Rouge, Cafe, Vanille, Chocolat de Ghana, Fraise Menthe, Pistache, and Melon. Vanille was by far the best macaron I have ever had, but the Citron is very good too. After having a macaron at Ladurée, I have to admit that all the macarons I have ever had just don't even come close and I find it hard to eat macarons in California now.

After breakfast, my family and I walked to Le Petit Palais, which was absolutely incredible. The building itself was beautiful and completely lit by natural light, while the inside housed some lovely paintings, pottery, and sculptures. Inside the courtyard is quite pretty and would make an amazing area to sit around in for afternoon tea.

Afterwards, we visited Les Invalides, which had a very impressive WWII exhibit. My brother and dad have been subjecting me to war museums all my life, so it's gotten to a point, where I'm rather content at one and actually enjoy it. Napoleon's tomb is right behind Les Invalides too, so you should definitely check that out. Le Musée Rodin is worth visiting, since it's so close to Les Invalides. Also, it's set up in an old hotel and surrounded by beautiful gardens. However, the museum has a really creepy sound track of people wailing and moaning going on at all times.

Recommended by my friend, Katrina, Cafe Constant was our next stop for a very late lunch. The waitress forgot to give our order to the chef, so we sat around for about 40 minutes before our meals even came. The Foie Gras was good, but considering how much we paid, I felt a bit ripped off that we only got one slice of it. The bread it was served on was buttery and fluffy, which was preferable to the plain toast we got at other restaurants.

Katrina recommended the Roasted Chicken with Herb Butter and Mashed Potatoes specifically, so I had to try it. I enjoyed the crispy skin on the chicken and it was nice having some fresh red onions and tarragon to top off the potatoes. The main problem I had with this place was the slow service, which was probably an abnormality on their part, and the small portions. The food was good though and they made up for the slow service by offering complimentary dessert.

We could see Le Tour Eiffel from Cafe Constant, so we just kept on walking towards it. It was so crowded at the base of Le Tour Eiffel that I quickly ran off to the park by it for better photos. Since it was so crowded, we decided against going up it. Afterwards, we walked around the River Seine and by then it was close to dinner time, so we started to look around for a place to eat.

We ended up at Le Wilson, where I ordered the Quiche Avec Legumes et Saumon. Somehow Le Wilson managed to get a ridiculously creamy texture out of the broccoli they put in their quiche and I don't even like broccoli, but this was really good. I liked how every bite of the quiche came with a large chunk of salmon too. Overall, a great day and I wish I could go back to Paris right away.