Suzie decided today to treat the boys (and herself and me, of course) to lunch out today and some very nice restaurant. We decided to return to a restaurant called Le Reminet, at which, longtime readers of this blog will know from this post, we had eaten during our first trip to Paris. So after a leisurely morning sleeping in and lounging around the apartment, we took the Metro to Place St. Michel, the nearest stop. Since we were early, we had a chance to walk around the area, which is directly across the Seine south from Notre Dame.
After 15 minutes of strolling, we headed for the restaurant. 
It was exactly as we remembered it, small, classy, yet friendly. We all ordered the “menu” and ended up completely satisfied. The first course was Salad Charcutiere, which was similar to German potato salad, with potatoes, onions, cornichon, delicious ham, with some kind of dressing. Excellent. It was served with an endless basket of fresh, soft yet hearty bread. After taking our time savoring our first course, the main course arrived. The boys and I had ordered perch, which was baked and served with rice and a butter sauce. It was perfect — fresh and perfectly cooked — and the butter sauce was rich but not overwhelming (the rice had also been mixed with butter, and was oh so good). Suzie had duck, which came with potatoes reminiscent of home fries (but much tastier), and while I am not a duck fan, Suzie said it was excellent. After savoring that for some time, our dessert came — some kind of strawberry creme, served cold in a small bowl with a cookie on the side and strawberry-filled cake at the bottom of the bowl. Intensely strawberry-ish and rich. Wow. Suzie and I finished the meal off with a cafe creme and an espresso, respectively. The whole experience could not have been better — the food excellent, the space and the furnishings elegant and comfortable, the owner very kind and understanding of the our bad French. At the end of the meal, Suzie told him that we’d eaten there 4 years ago, and came again to celebrate our first week in Paris, and he said to come back again such we were Parisians now. Tres cool.
After the meal, we walked around a little bit more, to the Place St. Michel and the large fountain there.
The rest of the day was not so successful, as Will and I were going to play tennis at the Cite Universitaire nearby, but after getting ready, walking there, and finding the courts, it came to pass that they were all locked, much to Will’s disappointment (he is still smarting from being beaten by his old man in Santa Rosa, and wanted revenge). So after returning to the apartment, I made an on-line reservation for Tuesday afternoon with the Mairie de Paris tennis site for one of the courts down the street near the Porte d’Orleans. Will’s revenge will have to wait.
Finally, my attorney readers will find this story interesting: There are no parking meters in Paris or its suburbs, but almost all on-street parking is “pay” parking, because in order to park in most spots you have to find the nearest “horodateur” and buy a ticket to put on your dashboard. Absent the ticket on the dashboard, you are considered to be illegally parked and are given a ticket. But recently, a young student who had a particular problem with horodateurs (running up a fairly significant number of violations) sought the assistance of a group called “40 Million Drivers” to defend her. An attorney for that group did some research and found that there was nothing anywhere in any French law that authorized giving someone a parking ticket for failing to display a ticket from an horodateur. And they convinced a judge that they were right. The horodateur violations that have been given out forever were not authorized by any law, but rather were, in the words of 40 Million Drivers, “a pure invention of administrators.” Now if we can just do something about those County Center parking tickets….
Categories: Travel -- France