The Long Walk and the Horrible Lunch

As I left the Swiss Embassy I was clearly in a more business section of town. The number of high end cars increased radically, the number of people in business suits with briefcases went through the roof, it was lunch time and they were out doing what they do at lunch.

And it was a very beautiful part of the city. I have several pictures to show in fact.

They are sadly...backward in order. Not even completely backward but all mixed up. Sigh! Oh well...deal with it.

This was taken as I laid down on a big grassy field over by a rather high end restaurant. I desperately wanted to enter these gates but there were police stationed all over here. I heard a rooster crow in there. It made me think of home.

This was that restaurant I mentioned above. Porches, BMW, Mercedes parked out front. Nice.
Funny how I use cars to judge the quality of an area.

This is, a famous building...right across the bridge. This is the far side of it up Rue de Winston Churchill.

As I left the embassy I entered a giant park...stretched for a very long distance. Guess I was closer to the tower than I thought! I tossed around the idea of walking over...but today was the Louvre so I skipped it.

This is the front of the famous building. Don't ask me the name because I didn't write it down. Like most historical places in Paris it was undergoing massive cleanup.

This was at the bottom of the park, south of the river. It was another tempting place to examine...but no, another day.

This was along the bridge and approaching Churchill Street. There were many columns and carved statues along this area...all gilded like that. The absolutely sparkled in the sunshine. I marveled like...well...a tourist.

"We shall never give up, we shall never surrender".
Amazing man.

From the Embassy I cruised up along the park, over the bridge...and headed east towards the Louvre. When I got to the rooster fence I entered a beautiful park...so quiet and, well, fun. There were people everywhere...eating, laughing, playing in sprinklers. No homeless asking for change, no litter on the ground. It was just delightful.

However...there was a MASSIVE police presence in this area. In fact, as I left the park and started into the high end tourist area...I came across a heavily guarded building. Police were stationed all around armed with serious looking sub-machine guns. I didn't linger nor take pictures. I walked...

And walked...

And dear lord I walked some more.

Soon I was in Tourist Heaven. The street was lined with such a variety of places. I could have bought t-shirts, caviar, tours, Eiffel Tower pencil sharpeners, Tour de France jerseys, thongs (with PARIS! with glitter on them), even silver by the pound. I could have possibly made some money exchanging various currencies from the exchanges that were everywhere. Everything was much more expensive too...and the tourists...UGH. Yes, I am one of them but YOW it was packed. I've never heard so many different languages spoken. I was bumped, jostled, nearly run over, spilled on, sweated on, and just generally bothered by it all.

I needed food.

And I sorta got it.

I'm really tempted to skip this whole bit. Really I am. It was awful. Screw it...you deserve to know...

Le Carrousel.

Don't go there.

It was one of the busier places along the street, and towards the tail end of the district. I knew the Louvre was right around the corner so I figured a full meal would help me make it through the vast halls.

It was "seat where you want", so I tucked myself in a corner where I could quietly sweat for a bit. Long bloody walk, high bloody humidity.

After a long wait (not a big deal, used to it now) my waiter came over. The menu was complex...but repeated most things in decent English. I again went with a two item meal...entree (starter) and plat (entree). Funny huh?

Anyway I started with a terrine champagne. I know what a terrine is...pretty much a very fancy meatloaf. Technically it is a forcemeat cooked in a mold, and a classic buffet item. Quite often it has fois gras or other items.

Mine was made with dog food.

A dog food pate, very cold...with pickles on the side. There was also some very unhappy lettuce, an extremely old tomato...and the most half ass attempt at a field green garnish I have ever seen in my life. It was brown on the edges. I was seriously unhappy. I ate most of it though.

Note...avoid bread sometimes. As I sat and watched the waiters they would bring the uneaten bread from the tables and dump it in a basket. Then when a new table came in they would scoop it up, bare hands, and drop it in a basket. The bread had been cut so long ago that it was all completely hard. Awful.

I sat and cried silently as the waiters, and cooks, stood...in the kitchen...and smoked. They made some cell phone calls. One waiter sneezed, rubbed his hands on his pants, and grabbed more bread.

I stopped eating bread at that point.

The second course (and final thank god) was a turkey filet...overcooked...with sauce Normandy and a giant pile of fries. The garnish actually made me laugh out loud. It consisted of a sad cucumber round with two tomato skins next to it. Yes...just skins. Old mildly crinkly at the edge skins.

The sauce was so similar to a "just add water" powder that I have made the mistake of trying myself in the past. The turkey breast, though still moist, was way over done on the edges. The fries however were excellent and I ate them all...eventually scooting them out of the sauce so I could actually enjoy them.

Alas, we can't always win.

After lunch...the Louvre. And after the Louvre a loooong walk back here.

It all felt great though. I accomplished two very important things today...and have very little time in Paris left.