All The Way To Beef Tartare!

Starting today, our friend Armel, who is originally from Paris but now lives in Vancouver, was able to meet up with us for our last two days in Paris before going to his friend’s wedding in Croatia.  We’ve been looking forward to these two days for a long time –   it takes a stroke of luck to have your schedule coincidentally match up with your friends so that you travel to the same place without travelling together!

Trusting Armel to guide us to the best French food he knows, we decided today was the day we would finally try beef tartare, which I’ve been wanting to try since we saw it in Lyon, a few weeks ago.  Because we all slept in (Armel had jet lag and we had a bit of insomnia, possibly from our excitement), we didn’t actually make it to the restaurant, Le Sevro in the 14th arrondissement, for beef tartare together, but Armel gave us directions over the phone and we made it there just before they closed for their afternoon break at 2 pm. We ate our beef tartare – which was good, but had a very buttery texture so I couldn’t stomach more than half my plate – while waiting for Armel, and because he was still on his way when we finished eating, we ordered two coffees as an excuse to stay at the restaurant a bit longer.  I would recommend anyone to try this restaurant’s beef tartare, but don’t order a coffee – it will set you back 5 euros per cup!

When we met up with Armel, we spent some time in the14th arrondissement, checking out some of the places Armel spent part of his childhood, before walking over to the Jardin du Luxembourg area in the 6th arrondissement to find Pierre Hermé, a world famous pastry boutique started by a man of the same name that now has 7 locations in Tokyo and 4 in Paris.  After picking up a box of macaroons, which is what they are most famous for, we headed to Le Bon Marché (considered by some people to be the first department store ever opened), to do a bit of shopping.  We walked around for a bit, but no one really wanted to buy anything so Armel suggested we take a break from walking and sit down for some dessert at Ladurée, another luxury cake and pastry chain based in Paris.  Because it was late in the day, our menu choices were pretty small, but I had the best passion fruit tart I’ve ever tasted and was glad to have a rest while eating something really yummy.

We decided to go check out Chinatown – Paul and I haven’t been anywhere with a Chinatown so far this trip – and walked over to Notre Dame then hopped on the metro.  Since the dessert left us feeling not too hungry, we decided to just eat a bit at Armel’s parents restaurant, La Mangue Verte (100 Avenue d’Ivry) when we got to Chinatown.  They specialize in Vietnamese dishes and it was some of the best Vietnamese food I’ve ever had – and I’m not just saying that because Armel is our friend!  I seriously could eat there everyday if I lived nearby…

After dinner, Armel took us for our first car ride around Paris and drove us around the Arc de Triomphe since it was pretty late and traffic had died down.  If it was during the day, I’m not sure if any amount of begging would have enticed him to enter that crazy huge traffic circle – it can take a few full rounds to get out sometimes!  We stopped for some ice cream at Häagen-Dazs on Avenue des Champs-Élysées (which is really popular in Paris for some reason) before heading back to our hotel for the night.

I have to say, having a local who’s also a friend show you around is so much better than just exploring on your own!  It’s too bad we don’t know many people in different parts of the world!  Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings…