The French Food Adventure - Day 2

 Day 2 - A visit to Montmarte and the Aardman exhibition

We were up and out of the hotel fairly early excited about eating at Poilane bakery, the croissants served there are said to be the best in Paris! We walked along Rue Du Cherche-Midi eagerly looking out for it but despite the website saying it was along this street it just wasn't there. This was hugely disappointing but in need of some breakfast we headed towards Le Parisien on a nearby street.

I had initially promised myself I would avoid an English breakfast so the Parisienne looked like the perfect option. I do like my food though and figured that as the Anglaise was the same with extras I would go for that instead, the more things I tried the better I thought!

Everything seemed to arrive at once and was difficult to get into one shot, lets take a closer look at what this €14.00 breakfast consisted of.

The croissant was really fresh as was the bread, I never eat yogurt but decided to eat it and actually quite enjoyed it with the sugar mixed in.

The coffee was excellent and the orange juice freshly squeezed served over ice.

I spread real butter and jam over the fresh crusty bread, something I would never usually consider this time in the morning but really delicious.

When my wife's scrambled eggs arrived at the table we were both gobsmacked, if it was entered in a bland looking food competition it would have won hands down. My wife ordered it with cheese but found the flavour of the cheese way too overpowering, I loved it though and ensured nothing was left on the plate.

My ham omelette was visually more pleasing but taste wise the scrambled eggs were the winner, great ham though.

Montmarte is our favourite area of Paris and an area my friend John recommended visiting for good food. Just after exiting Abbesses metro station be sure to look back at the stunning Art Nouveau entrance. I recommend using the lift at this station as it's the deepest (118 feet) on the entire Paris metro, we used the stairs and our legs turned to jelly!

We headed up the steep hills towards Sacre Coeur, the giant Roman Catholic church. These ladies were clearly having more fun climbing these steep slopes than we were!

As we reached the top we spotted a cross being carried through the street for the Good Friday Ceremony that was taking place later in the day.

We had considered going inside but with a ceremony about to start there was no chance of entering as a visitor today.

As we admired the amazing views across Paris some important looking vehicles started to arrive, we decided to head back down into the streets of Montmarte.

Beside this carousel song sheets for the ceremony were being given out, we took one but got bored of waiting for it to start. It was looking like rain and it was almost lunchtime, time to search for more food!

The Easter eggs we spotted in Paris were expensive but impressive, there was clearly much more focus on how they looked rather than what was inside them here.

These ones looked amazing too but is that macaroons I could spot in the background?

These ones were much smaller than the ones we had tried yesterday, my wife chose pistachio as she always does and I went for raspberry.

 These were possibly the best I have ever tried, the raspberry flavour was incredible, the texture was just right and the colour so vibrant.

The streets of Montmarte are lined with no end of restaurants and patisseries, it was just a case of choosing wisely.

The display of  Barbapapa drinks in this sandwich shop window caught our eye and suddenly we found ourselves in a lunch dilemma.

A croque monsieur was on my list of things to try in Paris but having read about the croque madame topped with an egg I decided to wait a little longer.

 

All of these quiches looked delicious, perhaps we should buy some and eat it on a bench somewhere?

If I bought some quiche could I manage a filled baguette too I wondered.

I had to try this cheesecake but how would I fit everything in?

We decided to think about our food dilemma over a beer.

Next we ordered an espresso and noticed other customers eating incredible croque madame's served with salad, we wondered if eating here might be a better plan just as the heaven's opened. We decided to explore further for more food whilst putting our brolly up.

There were quite a few places offering Japanese food.

These fruit tarts were being sold in different sizes, they looked amazing.

These sausages just had to be tried, I was tempted to buy an entire hot chicken but was still trying to build up an appetite.

At €2.80 each they were quite expensive but smelt delicious.

The piping hot chicken sausage was so good with a firm texture and slightly spicy flavour.

Had these snails been cooked I would have most definitely tried some.

Trying to keep dry under an umbrella with a frilly edge covered in a cat and dog print we found the famous Moulin Rouge.

 We briefly sheltered inside whilst admiring the artwork.

We were trying to get back to the restaurant area when we got slightly lost in a huge cemetery, it's the final resting place of many famous artists who lived and worked in the Montmarte area. 

This was very strange, the face was carved into the stone.

With the rain getting heavier we dashed into a quirky little shop selling a great range of vintage items from labels to Eiffel tower scissors.

If tiny plastic people are your thing then this place is for you!

Le Sancerre was our final choice for lunch, with the rain still pouring down eating food on a bench in the street no longer seemed an option. We ordered a glass of wine and a croque madame each.

The croque madame was huge and the salad came with a really nice dressing.

The bread was topped with ham, lots of emmental cheese and an egg, just look at that yolk!

From Montmarte we jumped on the metro to Art Ludique to take a look at the Aardman Exhibition.

As well as short films from Morph to the Lurpak advert to watch on the screens there was no end of things on display here.

No photos were allowed in here but stealth photography is something I can't resist.

Morph was a favourite of mine when I was younger.

 Underneath the exhibition we spotted a graffiti event with DJ's and a bar, we were tempted to go in and have a few drinks. With a music festival to go to tomorrow though we decided alcohol would not be the best plan tonight and headed back to the hotel.

Bacon 3D Bugles made a great snack back at the hotel.

A Lindt bunny finished Good Friday off nicely!

Click here for day 3
A look at the Eiffel Tower before heading west to Vernouillet for the Psychobilly Stomp Festival.