I’m late. I’m sorry. I do actually have a full time job (that affords me the content for this blog) and just bought my first house.  Life has been a little chaotic getting back in the groove of things.

Coincidentally, I went with my husband to view our home together for the first time, the morning of our flight to France (back in September). After two weeks abroad of contemplation and frustration of finding a home, we pulled the trigger as soon as we were back on American soil.

My husband and I had both been to France before…but it had been about a decade since either of us had gone. We had both done the touristy bullshit around Paris….gone up the Eiffel Tower, visited the Louvre, The Palace of Versailles, etc….so this time, we wanted to go off the beaten path and enjoy France as the locals do.

On our first leg of the trip, we stayed in the Republique neighborhood of Paris.  It was a little more urban and hipster than what we knew Paris to be.

Also, I must clear the air before I write any further.  For anyone who has the preconception that the French are rude….Y’all are crazy.  Show them respect and kindness and they will show you the same decency in return.

First meal after we landed…..We had to wait HOURS to eat.

You can see the pure exhaustion on my face (unless you’ve never seen my face before, then, HI! I don’t normally look that tired).

So let me explain.  Here’s what is a little quirky about food consumption and restaurants there. Unless you’re going to some American chain like McDonald’s or KFC, the restaurants there are only open for a very short amount of time.  11-2 for lunch, and then nothing is open again til close to 7pm…and then the kitchen stops serving around 10pm.

So if you’re straight off the plane and starving around 3pm, good fucking luck trying to get real food.

So here are a few places we visited (don’t worry, my other blog posts will have more, promise!)

Angelina’s is known for their hot chocolate and their breakfasts.  We opted for their basic package with pastries and hot chocolate….very hearty, very rich, very Parisian 🙂

Galeries Lafayette is a department store that has multiple buildings spanning several blocks.  One of the buildings was their food court and catered goods.  We had a field day walking around checking out the awesome selection.

Clown Bar  was an extremely eclectic restaurant in Paris.

I won’t go in depth with what I ate here, but there were several firsts for me.
This was the first restaurant I had ever dined at that had their cutlery stored in a pull out drawer in the table.  Both sides of the table had a little handle on the right hand side, that pulled out with your essentials.  I thought it was extremely clever and cool.

Another first for me, pigeon.  My whole life, I regarded pigeon as a second class poultry.  In the States, they’re usually associated with hovering around trash and congested, polluted city centers. So imagine my surprise when I realized people actually ate them.  Typing that out just now, I realized how narrow-minded that sounded; I mean, especially coming from me….someone who regularly eats a-typical foods.

In case you’re wondering….They’re a little more plump than quail, and as fatty as duck, without being too gamey.

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Veal brain.
Definitely a first, and probably a last for me.  I never thought I would ever consume any type of brain in my life….or marry someone that would have the guts to order it.  Haha, shout out to my husband for truly bringing out my inner foodie.

For the record, it was disgusting.

Not so much the taste, but the consistency.  It was like a gritty, soft serve, soft tofu that just kind of mushed and formed a congealed shape.  It took on the taste and aroma of the liquid it had been bathing in…an Asian inspired ginger onion broth…..but no matter the taste, my brain couldn’t get past the fact that I had a baby cow’s mushy, pasty, gritty, squishy brain melting on my tongue.  It is still sad and gross to think about, 7 months later.

Anyhow, I will leave you here…next France entry coming soon!