I found it. The best thing in Paris. This time, anyway…
A friend asked me what I liked best about Paris this time around.
But were any of them the best thing about Paris? I started with my neighborhood. We were staying in a flat in the 10th arrondissement. This isn’t a place that gets described as posh or trendy. Actually, if you google 10th arrondissement, the first word it offers is “safety”. And in fact, it’s a multi-ethnic study in surprises. Down one passage (lane) off of our street, Rue de Faubourg Saint Denis, stylish restaurants and bars are packed until…well, actually, some nights it didn’t quiet down until just before dawn.
Another passage held stores and restaurants that looked like they’d just been airlifted in from Delhi. One block over, the Metro stop, Chateau d’Eau, anchored what one local resident called the African beauty industry. The block leading to the Metro usually had wads of dark hair blowing around like tiny tumbleweeds. Windows of shops were lined with wig stands showing glamorous hairstyles. When I peeked inside, the salons were packed with women getting beautiful braids, or stunning weaves. At the Metro itself, young immigrants ringed the entrance, and literally pounced on any black woman who emerged. “Ma chérie” we would hear, along with offers of le tissage (weave). Politely, they ignored me and my sensible old-lady bob.

If you went up the street toward the train station, Gare du Nord—and if you remembered to look up— you might see the incredible building-sized sculpture of St. Vincent de Paul. Placed in 1987 by the artist Jean-Pierre Yvaral, it uses slightly twisted blades of metal to create the shading.

Just past the train station is the Canal Saint Martin, with beautiful little cross bridges, restaurants, and shops.

[I still have a few drawings left from the Paris days that I was without wifi, so I hope you’ll bear with me as I use those up.]

Above pictures clockwise from top left: the perfect cafè crème from Au Petit Chavignol, bakery windows and (monogramed!) loaves at Poilâne, cherubs holding flower tubs at Jardin du Luxembourg plus little red-hat sailor with her ship, and model sailboat rental at Tuileries.
Oh, yes. And the best thing in Paris? Well this trip, anyway, it was the restaurant a few steps from our door. When we came to claim our reservation, the owner showed us a miniscule table that would have been a challenge for one person, let alone three. We pointed to the booth by the front window and asked if it was available. “Do you like cats?” he asked. Hoping he wasn’t talking about a menu item, we agreed that we did. He scooped up the fat, sleepy cat who apparently was queen of the booth and motioned for us to be seated. When done, he informed us that her name was Margarita, and that this was, technically, her booth. I scooted over a bit, Margarita curled back up asleep against me, and purred through the whole meal.
The best thing in Paris.
hah! so wonderful –
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So glad you liked it. I thought it was incredibly fun!
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That’s great. I think the best thing in Paris is people watching while eating petit dejeuner – can’t get bread or coffee like that in the States! And i guess if there was a act in the cafe, that would be better 😉
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Oh, don’t get me started on the bread! We would see people heading home from the shops with several loaves, and usually one of them would have the end already eaten. And I get that. How in the world do them manage to make such great bread?
And the people watching? Nobody minds in the least if you sit at a sidewalk cafe with the tiniest cup of (really, really good) coffee and people watch for hours.
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They buy and eat bread every day so it is fresh and there are no chemicals in it. Here we buy bread for the week. Even organic bread is full of preservatives and sugar. Why do we put sugar (often corn syrup) in our bread? It’s odd…
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I wish I’d taken the bread class at the cooking school—or at least taken a picture of their chalk board. It said “Flour. Salt. Water. Yeast. And nothing else!”
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Exactly!
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🐈 How wonderful that margarita allow you have your meal with you.🌹
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We saw Margarita the next day curled up on the sunny seat of a large motorcycle outside the restaurant. A man looked at her thoughtfully, turned around and sat down at the outside table. He saw my face and smiled. “Another coffee while she finishes her nap.”
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Interesting.
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Yes, the best thing sounds like a great resto in Paris with a cute cat purring away. I would have shared that booth with her too.
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Of course you would have! It didn’t hurt that they brought us this incredible flatbread/tarte kind of thing with our choice of toppings. (I picked the margarita option, of course.)
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Beautiful Barb … you’ve described Paris so well that I’d like to visit .. especially that restaurant where Margarita is queen!
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The funny thing is that it was actually pretending to be an Italian/American restaurant–Lucky Luciano’s. Practically calling your name!
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LOL … now THAT I can believe … the Italians don’t have the same phobia of having animals in their restaurants that some other Nationals (won’t name any in particular) seem to have.
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Another particularly fabulous thing was the number of dogs who were perched with complete savoir-faire on a sidewalk cafe chair, enjoying the boulevard life with their owner. My own dog could never have pulled it off.
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Makes one feel like they are in an Aristocats or Lady and the Tramp story! It’s a scene I’d seen so often that I didn’t think much about it … until visiting the States … we’ve got lots of pets, but they don’t usually sit with you in a restaurant (tell the truth they don’t much here either anymore the population of pets has grown lately, but you can still see them in the sidewalk cafes).
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I love your drawings – you found the true Paris.
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Thanks for the kind comments. At the risk of sounding too-tourist, I have to say that all of Paris is the real thing. I don’t think you could get tired of it.
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Love Paris. Could live there..fave spot: The Marias. Fave thing: wondering around the food shops! Sitting with a coffee watching the world go by! La vie en rose!
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Yes! Gotta love Le Marais. I don’t know the story of how those twisty little medieval lanes escaped Napolean/Haussman’s reconstruction, but it’s lucky for us tourists that they did.
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This post makes me long to visit Paris again Barb, it is such a wonderful city. I loved Montmartre particularly, all the street entertainment, artists and street cafes – wonderful 🙂
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I really have to agree with you. I think it’s that human scale that makes all the difference. In so many cities, everything happens high up, away from street levels. Gertrude Stein once said “There’s no there there.” I’d love to think she was talking about Los Angeles, but I think it was someplace like Oakland. But either way, it could never be said about Paris!
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Great blogs, Barb. Thanks. Took me back to our adventures long long ago…you didn’t blog them back then, though…
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The Blue Suitcase lives on!
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I love Paris and really enjoyed this post. There’s so much to enjoy in that incredible city.
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A meal with a cat? What could be better? There used to be a cafe in Tintagel, Cornwall, with the resident cat patrolled the tables. My partner and I had a table on the lawn one sunny day and the cat had parked himself–with a bit of encouragement–on the empty chair and was accepting bits of scone when the owner walked past and said to the cat, “Getting a bit above ourselves, aren’t we, Rollie?” And I thought, Only in England.
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And cats won’t sit by just anyone, mon petit… Big compliment to you as a worthy booth companion!
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Oh what a delightful post. I love Paris and reading this was almost like being there. And the cat part was perfect Paris. Liked the drawings also. You are multi talented and always a treat to read. Thanks for taking us with you.
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Thanks so much Eileen!
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I love paris and your post is making me to visit again after the lockdown.
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Any Paris trip is a good trip!
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