A postprandial Paris promenade

After I left the Café Louis-Philippe, with a good hearty lunch and some wine under my belt (or "behind my tie" — what tie? — as you might say in French — derrière la cravate), I headed north into the Marais proper. I still had more than two hours to make it to the Gare d'Austerlitz to catch my train back to Saint-Aignan.

The scene above shows a famous fast-food place on the Rue des Rosiers, which is the heart of the old Jewish community in the now-trendy Marais neighborhood. All these people are lined up to buy a falafel sandwich and take it someplace else to eat it. I did this once, on a summery day, with friends (Evelyn, Lewis, Marie, and Linda). We took our falafel and crudités sandwiches over to the Place des Vosges and found a bench where we could sit and eat them.

On another subject: I didn't take any pictures yesterday, and I didn't have to do any eavesdropping. English and Australian friends came over for a lunch that lasted most of the afternoon. This is my note to myself so that I won't forget the details.

On the menu:

• as hors-d'œuvres, smoked cod liver canapés + little puff-pastry shells stuffed with snails in garlic-parsley butter
• creamy corn (garden-grown, BTW) and potato chowder as a starter course
• for the main course, braised Belgian endives and ham in a cheese sauce (gratin d'endives au jambon)
• goat's- and ewe's-milk cheeses pre-dessert (because we really needed to eat more cheese)
• for dessert, a Walt's special blueberry tart
• Chablis, Irancy (Burgundy), and a couple of our local Touraine wines to wash it all down

Most of the recipes were fairly simple, but a lot of prep work went into making everything, much of it from scratch. It all made for a very pleasant afternoon of conversation with interesting guests.