Taste of Paris
The food I had in Paris was fantastic, too. I liked the concept of French eateries. There was a café for coffee and a quick bite, a bistro for a casual meal, a brasserie for a more proper meal, and a restaurant for formal dining.
When Marc fetched us sandwiches from a cafe, I was disappointed to see a skinny baguette wrapped in a piece of paper. I was expecting a french roll with layers of meat and vegetables pouring to the side – American style. But when I bit into the baguette au jambon, I was pleasantly surprised by the perfect harmony that such a simple combination of ingredients played. Baguette, butter, and ham were so delicately flavored that they didn’t fight over the attention of my sense of taste, but they complimented each other to please it.
One evening, Marc’s mother cooked us a homemade meal. She said she cooked the meat for several hours. I can’t remember what meat it was, but the sauce was very thick and flavorful with wine and meat juice, and the meat was very tender.
We spent new year’s eve with Marc and his cousins, both of whom were as lovely as Marc. We had dinner at a teppanyaki place. It was a strange experience to have Japanese food in Paris, but Marc said Japanese food had become increasingly popular. After the meal, we went to a small rustic bar in the basement, where a man played an old piano. We had drinks and kissed on the cheeks at midnight. It was cheerful but not noisy, merry but not drunken, utterly delightful start of 1999 in Paris.