Author Archives: vicentesf

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About vicentesf

Exploring life one meal at a time. Cause I'm not a foodie, I just like to eat!

Heinekens – La Perle

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Heinekens - La Perle

50 cl 6,70€
La Perle, Paris FR

We came to this cafe for a late afternoon snack because it had really good online reviews. And boy was it popular! There was no place to sit outside when we arrived so we just grabbed some beers and waited for a table to open up. Like I said, hardly anybody eats inside here unless it’s during the heart of dinner service. We finally got a seat, ordered some food, chatted, and watched all the random people walk by – a perfect way to spend an afternoon.

National Museum of Natural History
National Museum of Natural History, Jardin des Plantes. Omg, we walked here one sweltering afternoon and I was sweating like crazy! The grounds were beautiful though and there were plenty of plantlife to admire. I really couldn’t check out all the plants though because it was just too hot under the direct sun. I do love how all the trees were perfectly trimmed to form beautiful walkways and there were plenty of open areas and benches to rest and relax.

Croissant and fruit – United Airlines

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Croissant and fruit - United Airlines
Cantaloupe, honey dew melon, butter.
San Francisco (SFO) to Paris (CDG), United Airlines

Nothing says, “Welcome to Paris!” quite like an United Airlines breakfast – NOT! This was a veritable slap in the face, lol. The croissant was limp, chewy, and rock hard in some places. And they served the cheapest fruit you can buy. Huh, I’m really not surprised at the quality and item choice from United though. I’ve never associated United Airlines with delicious food or outstanding service. C’est la vie!

Styrofoam Hummer H1
Styrofoam Hummer H1 (low mileage, always garaged), 2005, Andrew Junge, SFO Terminal 3.

Sandwich mixte – La Cooperative

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Sandwich mixte - La Cooperative
Ham, swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. 5,90€
La Cooperative, Paris FR

After a long day of sightseeing, we really needed some food on our way back to the hotel. We came across La Cooperative on our walk from the Louvre. It looked like a cute cafe and the clientele appeared to be a mixture of business people, locals and tourists so we decided to give it a try. The food was fairly good, but the service was really erratic. We were served by two different waiters both of whom were really difficult to wave down when we needed anything.

While this sandwich was pretty standard, the bread was really good. I also prefer the mayonnaise they use in France. It has a better consistency and flavor.

Drinks - La Cooperative

Coca-Cola light. 50 cl 7,20€
Kir au Sauvignon. 25 cl 5,70€
OK, I’m still baffled why drinks are SO expensive here! We spent more money on soda and water than we did our food. Am I just being a ridiculous American that I think this is outrageous?! 😦

Fountain of Warsaw, Jardins du Trocadero
Fountain of Warsaw, Jardins du Trocadero. The Gardens of the Trocadero are beautiful and a great place to view the Eiffel Tower and take photos. Of course I did a customary “jump” photo with the tower in the background, lol.

Pain au choco-framboise – Miss Manon

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Pain au choco-framboise - Miss Manon
Chocolate raspberry croissant. 2,40€
Miss Manon, Paris FR

French breakfast pastries, yay! This was pretty good. It was flaky and buttery, and the fillings were delicious. I have to admit that I wasn’t blown away though. A friend of mine gave me a false expectation that French pastries were gonna absolutely blow my mind. I mean, they were good but I think that some of the local San Francisco bakeries can hold their own.

Medici Fountain
Medici Fountain, Jardin du Luxembourg. This is a very peaceful section of the garden where people relax on benches on either side of the pond.

Grilled lamb chops – La Comete

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Grilled lamb chops - La Comete
Cotes d’agneau grillees aux fines herbes. With haricot vert and frites. 12,50€
La Comete, Paris FR

Mmm! While the lamb chops were tasty, they weren’t butchered very cleanly. The cuts looked beat up and a bit ragged and sad. The French fries weren’t as good as those of our previous meal, but at least they weren’t gross and greasy. But I do love green beans!

Wines - La Comete
Red and white wines.

Menu - La Comete
Menu.

Place Vendome Column

Place Vendome Column. This beautiful column is covered with 425 spiraling bas-relief bronze plates and topped with a statue of Napoleon.

Roast chicken – Ma Bourgogne

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Roast chicken - Ma Bourgogne
Poulet fermier roti. Served with French fries (frites). 18€
Ma Bourgogne, Paris FR

Wow, this roast chicken had an intense chicken flavor! I’m not sure it they added extra chicken flavor seasoning or if the chicken was just that good, but it tasted unreal compared to American roast chicken. I will say that the sauce/drippings was kinda salty, but the chicken itself was tender and juicy. The fries were also rockin’! We later came to find out that you can’t avoid the “frites” added to most dishes, argh!

Red wines - Ma Bourgogne

Beaujolais Villages. Verre 15 cl 5€
Sancerre rouge. Verre 15 cl 6,50€
I mean you can’t have a meal without red wine, right?! 🙂

Notre Dame Cathedral

Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris. This cathedral is SO frickin’ large that I couldn’t fit it into a single shot. They also had risers set up in front in celebration of its 850 anniversary so that also obstructed from taking a clear head-on pic. Wow, 850 years! It’s also amazing on the inside!

Sweet and sour chicken – United Airlines

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Sweet and sour chicken - United Airlines
Served with fried rcie, side salad with ranch dressing, dinner roll, butterscotch brownie.
San Francisco (SFO) to Paris (CDG), United Airlines

Ugh! I would say that this was a joke of Chinese food, but I’m pretty sure sweet and sour chicken is an American invention in the first place. I’m just gonna say that this was NOT good, yuck!

Hanging art installation

Hanging art installation, SFO Terminal 2.

Open flame chicken meal – Goood Frikin’ Chicken

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Open flame chicken meal - Goood Frikin' Chicken
Marinated over night in an herbal marinade, cooked slowly on open flame til tender and done. Served with macaroni and cheese, side salad, olive oil pita, and garlic dip. Half chicken $11.75
Goood Frikin’ Chicken, San Francisco CA

I love the marinade that they use for their chicken! It’s SO delicious and I end up devouring the entire chicken, skin and all. Actually, the skin is my favorite part, hehe. Although their mac and cheese isn’t oozy-gooey I still love it. It’s full of cheesy flavor and works well with the Mediterranean spices used on the rest of the food. And of course I could eat stacks of their pita and garlic dip. Noms!

Leek and bacon quiche – Miss Manon

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Leek and bacon quiche - Miss Manon
Quiche poireaux, lardons. 5€
Miss Manon, Paris FR

Ok, we made an amateur tourist move this morning. We wanted to eat at this cafe/bakery so we waited in longish line to look at the display cases and order our food before we grabbed a table. WRONG, lol! So they charge differently if you eat the food there (with service included in the price) or take the food to-go. So we ordered our food and informed the woman that we wanted to eat it at a table. She told us that we need to be seated and then order our food. UGH, so difficult! Not really, but I WAS a little annoyed because I was SO hungry. We finally get seated and then have to wait for the one lady servicing all the table to make it around to us. Now I know never to wait in line if I’m gonna eat the food at the restaurant. 🙂

The quiche was pretty tasty, but I wish the crust was a little harder. They had reheated the quiche before serving, but the crust was limp and lifeless, almost soggy. The egg filling was delicious though.

Cafe creme - Miss Manon
Cafe creme avec emulsion – coffee with cream and foam. 4,50€

Pont des Arts bridge
Pont des Arts bridge covered with love locks.

Salade Comete – La Comete

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Salade Comete - La Comete
Smoked salmon, mushrooms, tomato, haricot vert, cucumber, hard boiled egg. 9,90€
La Comete, Paris FR

We were searching for an early, small dinner but all the restaurants/cafes were packed. It was such a warm evening that we really wanted to sit outside at a sidewalk table to enjoy the weather and to people watch. Everybody else seemed to eat outside regardless so why not do the same? We walked around for quite some time before we ended up at Cafe La Comete.

Our initial idea of getting a small meal quickly ended when we realized the portions were quite large! The prices were, however, much more reasonable than our first meal in Paris (which I thought was slightly overpriced). The food here was good, but nothing special. I’d never seen a salad completely veiled in thin layer of smoked salmon though – that was new. Our waiter was really cool, a little rough around the edges but friendly and accommodating (and easy on the eyes). We haven’t really had to fumble with our French at all so far since everyone speaks English anyway.

French baguette - La Comete
French baguette. Complimentary

Place setting - La Comete
Place setting.

Jardin de l'Hotel-de-Sens
Jardin de l’Hotel-de-Sens, Le Marais. We were walking around the neighborhood near our hotel and passed by this cute garden with low hedges and beautiful flowers. I also love the red accents on the building’s dormers.

Endive salad – Ma Bourgogne

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Endive salad - Ma Bourgogne
Salade d’endives au bleu des causses. Blue cheese, tomato, carrot, chives. 10€
Ma Bourgogne, Paris FR

This was a simple but very tasty endive salad! The blue cheese came in large cubes tossed with the chopped endives in the center of the plate and was simply dressed.

Paris Plages 2013
Paris Plages 2013. During Paris Plages, they create artificial beach areas along the northern bank of the Seine River. These sandy oases were great because it was SO hot while we were there. They even have misters, showers, and plenty of food/beverage stations and seating areas. And of course the people watching was spectacular! 😉

Penne pasta with meatballs – United Airlines

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Penne pasta with meatballs - United Airlines
Side salad with ranch dressing, dinner roll, butterscotch brownie.
San Francisco (SFO) to Paris (CDG), United Airlines

Ugh, I’m never liked the meals on United international flights. They’re usually worse than bad cafeteria food, but I guess they succeed in their goal of being heavy and fattening and making you fall asleep so you’re not a disturbance on the plane. This pasta was actually passable as decent microwave food though. The salad and roll were throw-aways, but the brownie was pretty tasty. 🙂

Classic board games exhibit
Classic board games exhibit, SFO Terminal 2.