Paris is AWESOME when you're not with the tourists

Today began with a market at Aligre, where I was prepared to buy Kangaroo saucisson  (in honor of Zippy) but Mom wouldn't let me. So instead we got camembert and goat cheese. Also there, we got my beloved Prosciutto di Parma (jambon de Parme, en Français) which is my absolute favorite thing in the whole wide world I think. I felt like the market was about the same size as the Le Mans market, food-wise, but there were a lot more scarves and jewelry and other vendors. People there were super patient as I attempted to speak French to order food! We then went to Holy Belly, recommended by Tony Bourdain himself, which was like a little slice of Chicago tucked away in a side street of Paris. I got skate (the fish) and some cidre and I was content.

We stopped at one of the best boulangeries in the city, Des Idees, where a beautiful apricot tart was purchased and later smushed into my bag. However, it was still salvageable and totally delicious. While walking down the Saint Martin Canal, we got to watch a boat really, really slowly pass through the locks of the canal and then we went to a second, atelier chocolat. Except this time, this one had a tea room. Jacques Genin is where I'm going to work when I refuse to leave France at the end of the week. The had chocolate, caramels, chocolate covered caramels, and these Pâtes des fruits which were like eating little cubes of different flavored fruit jelly covered in sugar. It sounds kind of weird, and some of them were, but they were also super delicious. Rhubarb was the personal favorite.

Before returning home, we stopped at another boulangerie, a fromagerie, and multiple cooking stores. The cooking stores were like "Sur la Table" but for real chefs and we just looked there. The boulangerie and fromagerie were to pick up more food for the smorgasbord that was our dinner. Back at the apartment, we ate ate saucisson (3 kinds), cheese (3 kinds also), baguette, prosciutto, butter (amazing), and then random pastries that we'd picked up throughout the day for dessert. It was a wonderful meal and also great to have a chill evening because we will be up early for our adventure with French driving (they're crazy) and Champagne! A demain !