A Day in Paris

Two years ago when we came to Paris our friend Betsey highly recommended the Brasserie Balzar for a meal. We didn’t make it that trip so decided to have lunch there our one day in the city. It has survived since 1886, undergoing updating over the years. The restaurant is elegantly understated, very simply decorated with starched white tablecloths covering tables placed tightly together. The waitstaff have to pull out the entire table for the person sitting at the back to be seated. They are all dressed in black trousers or skirts with white shirts and black vests with long white aprons wrapped around their waists as they did in photos taken in the 1920s. It was fun to eat in a traditional Paris brasserie.

Walking back to our hotel we crossed a bridge to the Ile de Cite. The bridge railings on both sides held thousands of padlocks bearing the names of lovers. I first saw this on a bridge in Buenos Aries several years ago. A custom that I haven’t seen in the US.

Many cities are now providing bicycles as transportation around the city. I don’t know if Paris started this but there are banks of bicycles every two or three blocks and we see riders everywhere.

Turning a corner in our walk, we encountered the most wonderful scent, butter and baking. Patisseries and boulangeries are on nearly every block but this one held the most amazing array of pastries. A mound of raspberries, strawberries and currants dusted with sugar atop a circle of flaky pastry and a layer of some other confection was stunning to look at and stunning to see the price. 42 euros or the equivalent of nearly $58. It was to serve six. We did not try that one.