First day in Paris

I'm here! Finally, back in Paris! We arrived early this morning, after a long, cross-country, transatlantic journey - one that was filled with unexpected flight delays but followed by favorable flight re-routes and better seats! Despite the almost full-day travel, I had this fresh burst of energy as we landed in Paris. Je suis arrivé!

Since it was way too early to check into our hotel, we took a short walk to Rue Cler, the renowned open market street that's just a stone's throw away from the hotel. We chose to return to Café du Marché, coined the "living room of Rue Cler" by Rick Steves, to have our first meal. Brunch was a simple meal of French ham and cheese omelette with jus d'orange et cafe créme but for some reason, everything tasted so fresh, flavorful and downright good! Not an imagination nor exaggeration but there's just something about Paris that awakens all my senses!

When we were here back in December last year, I knew we would return but didn't have a clue that it would be this soon and that I'll actually get to live and experience the Parisian life for several months. This will take time to sink in. I am looking forward to this week of vacation with D; we plan to cover the sights and sounds of the City that we didn't get to during the Winter. I will miss him terribly but at the same time, it's been a while since I felt so passionate about anything; I can't wait to start pastry school and I'm totally ready to immerse myself into the Parisian life, language and culture!
A toast to a new beginning!

We had a casual celebratory dinner at Les Cocottes, one of the many restaurants owned by the great Christian Constant.  Good bistro food, served individually in Staub cast iron pot (cocotte) but it wasn't just the presentation - you could taste the quality in the ingredients and the flavors were far from simple fast food. D had the plat du jour - fillet of sole with gnocchi and chanterelle mushrooms. I had the beef stew with pearl onions. Perhaps we were just famished but found the flavors to be really wonderful. For me, the highlight was the dessert, bien sûr! Their signature chocolate tart was simply devine and I've just got to make sure I learn how to make this tart! D took some pictures of dinner, just a few (click on photo below for link). It's only the first day, we've got plenty of time (and 50G of memory card space!!) and the week is still young......
It's good to be back in Paris again! I'm fully exhausted now so bon nuit everyone!