Vday Bday in Paris: Part Deux

More good times in Paris, continued!

Monday was our hipster day - Meredith is weirdly into all things hipster so she chose some up and coming gentrified arrondissements to explore.  Betsy and I are NOT into all things hipster so we smiled and nodded and went along with it, and naturally we are now glad we did.  :)

Our morning started with a train over to Gare de l'Est in the Canal St. Martin area (10th arr.) and a stop at Bob's Juice Bar, a tiny little cafe that serves fresh juices, smoothies, and other light breakfast and lunch options.  We all got healthy green juices and then wandered...a mere two doors down to a cute restaurant, Holybelly, for breakfast/lunch.  Holybelly is a "newcomer to the neighborhood and fan favorite on the foodie blogs, offering market-driven and classic cafe dishes, along with coffee that Americans love - since a good cup of joe is hard to find in Paris."  (Meredith's description, God love her.)

So fresh and so clean.

Watering hole at Holybelly.

Sweet Potato Saag Paneer for my lunch!  

Their staff was very friendly and clearly don't take themselves too seriously, as their Wifi password was "MacauleyCulkin" and they keep a couple of arcade games in the back.  Another fellow patron looked like Jesus of Nazareth himself ("No way!  We were JUST TALKING about you!") so that's when you know it's good.

And look!  Just around the corner from THAT restaurant was a fun patisserie we'd read about: Du Pain et Des Idees!   We hadn't gotten enough to eat with our juice or lunch so we got a light snack here.  How can you not?

My chocolate pistachio "escargot" wheel.  Didn't disappoint.

More wandering and then...look!  Another patisserie we'd read about: Libertine!  If you're really going to thoroughly review the patisserie scene, you've got to get something at eat place and let everyone sample it.  Again, it didn't disappoint.

Perhaps our favorite patisserie find of the trip was this chewy chocolatey loaf of happiness that Betsy got, and we proceeded to eat the rest of the afternoon.  Thanks and sorry, B!  MAN it was good.

It was then shop-til-you-drop time.  We walked and walked and walked, eventually making our way into Le Marais again, popping into cute clothing and jewelry boutiques along the way.

Merci, a fun and popular "everything" store

An afternoon drink break at le Jardin d'Hiver

This picture encapsulates the essence of B.  I love it.

More shopping, and then more wine at Frenchie Wine Bar, another popular hot spot opened by Gregory Marchand - who happened to be at the wine bar that night!  Cool!

And after a long day, we retired and relaxed at Le Comptoir du Relais in St. Germain des Pres for an amazing meal.

Escargots!

Seared tuna steak covered in a colorful veg medley.

Betsy's Beef Cheeks, which actually looks like an amazing macaroni soup.  So good!

We ended the evening at the famous Cafe de Flore, next door to the equally if not more famous Les Deux Magots, for dessert and a lot more wine that we ultimately regretted the next day.  At least I did...when I was doing deep breathing to prevent getting sick on my flight the next day.  Shoot!

Our funny charming waiter

Just 4 Americans being deep thinkers and intellectuals like the patrons of years past, no big deal.

The next day, Betsy and Hannah wandered off to Montmarte while Mere and I sprinted to Poilane for a jumbo bag of sugar cookies (not pictured) before I had to catch the train to the airport.  The rest of them left later that afternoon.  Sad.  

This was such a fun trip - fun because I was with my best pals, fun because the weather was oddly perfect, fun because we got to explore new neighborhoods that Mere scouted out for us, fun because we tried all new places that I probably never would have gone to, fun because everyone on the trip is a hilariously good time, and fun because this trip made us all happy and grateful for the chance to even be able to do this.  So thanks to Mere and B and Hannah for a great weekend in beautiful Paris!  Let's do it again soon!  No, but seriously.