Skip to main content

At La Grande Epicerie Paris

Canal St. Martin

After walking along the Canal St. Martin today, I decided to take the metro across town to check out the gourmet grocery store of Au Bon Marché, La Grande Epicerie Paris on 38 Rue de Sevres. I tried to ignore the first glass counter of tempting delicate cookies and sweets and walked towards the back of the store. I walked past the deli and olives counter to the "plats a emporter" which had various Asian dishes like noodles, egg rolls, and sushi. I thought about taking out some of the dishes but decided against it as I was really hungry after the long walk and couldn't wait to go back to the hotel before eating dinner.

Plateau Bac

Behind the bread section is a small restaurant with high tables and bar stools. I checked out the offerings and decided the Plateau Bac looked very appetizing indeed. This is a seafood concoction with shrimps, a generous helping of coquilles (scallops) served with rice and vegetables (string beans, tomatoes, white onions, carrots, and zucchini) and a bowlful of tuna salad with cucumber, corn, rice and onion rings on a bed of mâche or lamb's lettuce. They also gave me a piece of baguette. All for 12.50 euros. What a treat! The scallops were tender as were the shrimps and the vegetables were not overcooked (as commonly found in many European restaurants).

After dinner I walked around the store to check out the chocolates and cookies and picked a box of Tuiles Amandes, almond cookies which are not too sweet and the perfect partner to after dinner coffee or tea.

On my way back to the hotel, I walked down Rue de Sevres where there are many chic stores like Furla, all the way to Rue de Grenelle where Prada and Valentino hold court. On the corner of Boulevard St. Germain and Rue de Bellechasse I passed by Gosselin, a boulanger and patissier and bought two more sweets - a beignet with apple filling and a simple galette au sucre which was a good thing because I got lost along the way and ate the beignet while trying to find a metro station. Does it seem like I was famished? Yes, sir! I only had one meal today and on top of that, I walked across Paris.

Bon appetit!

* * *

Photos by Charie

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Filipino Struggles in History - Carlos Botong Francisco

In 1968, Antonio Villegas (then Mayor of Manila), commissioned Carlos "Botong" Francisco to paint the history of Manila for Manila City Hall. The series of large scale paintings was called  Kasaysayan ng Maynila  (History of Manila).  The paintings deteriorated over time and no attempt was made to preserve these historical canvases until 2013 when Mayor Amado Lim sent them to the National Museum for extensive restoration. Four years later, in 2017, Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada and the Manila City Council signed an agreement with the National Museum to leave the paintings at the museum so they may reach a larger audience in exchange for museum grade reproductions to replace the originals. Kasaysayan ng Maynila was later renamed Filipino Struggles in History and is now on display at the Senate Hall of the National Museum . Carlos "Botong" Francisco died in March 1969, a few months after completing the paintings. He is one of the first Filipino modernists and

The Art of Carlos Botong Francisco - Progress of Medicine in the Philippines

Pre-colonial period Pag-unlad ng Panggagamot sa Pilipinas (The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines) is a group of four large-scale paintings depicting healing practices in the Philippines from pre-colonial times to the modern period. Carlos Botong Francisco was commissioned in 1953 by  Dr. Agerico Sison who was then the director of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) together with   Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing of the National Museum, Dr. Florentino Herrera, Jr. and Dr. Constantino Manahan. These oil on canvas paintings measure 2.92 meters in height and 2.76 meters in width (9.71 ft x 8.92 ft) and were displayed at the main entrance hall of PGH for over five decades. Owing to its location, the artworks were in a state of "severe deterioration" at the beginning of the 21st century from exposure to heat, humidity, dirt, dust, smoke, insect stains, grime, termites and an oxidized synthetic resin used in an earlier restoration. These canvases were restored three times, the last was

8 Heritage Houses of Iloilo

Lizares Mansion The province of Iloilo on the island of Panay has a rich trove of heritage houses, left over from the sugar industry boom in the 19th century. Iloilo also had the largest port in the Philippines at that time which facilitated the export of sugar to foreign shores and deposited money in the hands of the sugar barons. The barons dropped their earnings into the acquisition of properties in Negros and the construction of beautiful homes in Iloilo, many of which are located in the vicinity of the Jaro Cathedral. The Lizares Mansion was built in 1937 by Don Emiliano Lizares for his wife, Concepcion Gamboa and five children. The family fled to safety when World War II broke out and the house was occupied by the Japanese military. The family returned to the house after the war but left once again after the demise of Don Emiliano. It was sold to the Dominican order in the 1960s and was converted in 1978 to a private school, Angelicum School. The mansion now houses the