Weekend in Paris

It was Wifie’s birthday today. For the occasion we took off to Paris for the weekend leaving the rugrats with their grandparents.

Having arrived yesterday and after day of shopping and good food - and the inevitable walking around town - we went to the thearte. We saw “Le Dieu du carnage“ or rather “The God of Carnage” by Yasmina Reza with Isabelle Huppert at the “théâtre Antoine”. The play had gotten some pretty good reviews and did not dissapoint despite a small moment where even the actors got caught up into the spirit of things and shared a giggle.

After resting a little - did I mention we walked a lot - we headed off to the restaurant. It is located on the enchanting “Ile Saint Louis” in the middle of the Seine. Our resevation at “Mon Vieil Ami” was at 9:30 which gave us plenty of time to lounge around and enjoy the sunset. Upon arriving at the restaurant we were told to wait a few minutes while our table was being dressed. That’s when, to my utter surprise I recognized one of the other patrons in the place: Prince Philippe and one of his daughters (I can’t remember which one). Not wanting to intrude on what was obviously a familiy outing we did not press for an autograph or a handshake. Besides, the security detail had already taken note of our recognizing him. After he’d stepped out we were shown to our table. The meal was very pleasant and although the starters were not so great they more than made up for it with an excellent main dish and a great dessert. The wine was good, and more importantly well priced. Given all of that this place definitly has my thumbs up.

This morning we took it easy and headed down to the Eiffel tower after breakfast. We didn’t go up because a) there was a huge line and b) the top floor was temporarily closed. After wandering a bit we headed down to the Marais, the jewish quarter of Paris centered around rue de Rosiers, to get some food and shop for gifts for the kids. As is now customary for us we got our sandwiches from the famed Jewish boulangerie, Sacha Finkelsztajn“. If you are ever to go there you can’t miss the the signature yellow facade.

After eating our pastrami sandwiches we headed over to the Maison européenne de la photographie where an expo of Valerie Belin was taking place. It was an enjoyable visit although her work it seems did not quite do it for my wife. It was now getting time for us to get our bags and head home. The kids were surely waiting for us and we were equally anxious to see them agan. After a short trainride we were back home, in Brussels, and the weekend was over, it had gone just as quickly as I had feared.