THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2008

Morning as usual. A bit of laundry and shopping.

In the afternoon, we went back to the Promenade Plantee (see Wednesday, August 27) and visited the section we did not see Wednesday of last week. So instead of going southeast, we went northwest. The part of the Promenade we visited is basically similar to the other half. However, what we did have was a wonderful view of our apartment. You can see it in the center with all of the flowers on the balcony, hence the name of the apartment, Le Balcon Plante.

As we walked we spotted a good possibility for afternoon tea so when we finished our walk near the Paris Opera de la Bastille, we went down off the promenade and tried it out. The people watching was good but Alexandria's hot chocolate wasn't very hot and made with water instead of milk. Oh, well. Try again.

Tonight was dining out night. We went just around the corner from the apartment on the rue de Cotte. It was called Le Cotte Roti. We found out it has been open for only about one year. Newly redone with only about 15 tables. We were warmly welcomed and shown the menu written on large slates that were on the wall and also brought to the table. The formula meal was 3o euros which included either entree (French use this as the first course) and plat (main course) or plat and dessert. For an extra 3 euros, you could get all three. This seems to be a reasonable rate for the small bistrot type of restaurant, which incidentally we prefere. The meal was very good with portions being a manageable size. Incidentally, the French have not yet discovered the doggy bag, or baggy dog as one of my French friends calls it. Just outside the restaurant we came across the car pictured below. I understand people can rent their cars out for ads as shown.

We have been on the lookout for small bistrots with good prices to try out. We have found several with the "formule" down around 11 or 12 euros, but usually the choices are limited and some only have the price at noon. For example, le Duc de Richelieu where we ate our first local meal (see Monday, August 26), today we could have had fish soup, which Alexandria loves, salmon, and a dessert for 11 euros, about $16.