we took the RER (suburban paris rail) to la vallee outlets this morning, and good thing we got there when the stores opened because within two hours, there were lines just to get into half the shops! in order to cover the most amount of relevant shops in the least amount of time, we split up at the outlets and met two hours later at starbucks. kevin had picked up a pair of loafers and i had a shirt and a scarf. score! :) while there were lots of european designer outlets, we've both been trying to be more careful to avoid compulsive shopping so we were pretty happy with our purchases!
headed back into the city and were seated relatively quickly at le comptoir du relais, a cute french bistro at the hotel relais st-german that came highly recommended by a number of friends. kevin had the nicoise salad and i had the joues de boeuf confites (red wine-braised beef cheeks). the salad was very good, and quite similar to the maison kayser one we get for lunch in the states actually. the beef cheeks were super tender and the flavor was robust, but not heavy. the service, however, was as i'd read on reviews online - our waiter could not muster up even a hint of a smile for us. oh well.
walked around rue de rivoli and stumbled upon building 59, a six floor building dedicated to (squatted by) local artists. pretty cool building and reminded me of the artist studios we visited in gowanus in october.
it was dark by the time we finally made our way to the hotel de ville for the magnum photos exhibit, and after a 60 minute wait, we finally made it in! i'd heard of robert capa and henri cartier-bresson, mostly from kevin, but this was my first time seeing a large collection of their works, and a very extensive collection it was, ranging from the 1930s to present day. it's a little sad that black and white film photography, and photojournalism, in general, will be another relic of the past with the development of color photography and video.
headed back into the city and were seated relatively quickly at le comptoir du relais, a cute french bistro at the hotel relais st-german that came highly recommended by a number of friends. kevin had the nicoise salad and i had the joues de boeuf confites (red wine-braised beef cheeks). the salad was very good, and quite similar to the maison kayser one we get for lunch in the states actually. the beef cheeks were super tender and the flavor was robust, but not heavy. the service, however, was as i'd read on reviews online - our waiter could not muster up even a hint of a smile for us. oh well.
it was dark by the time we finally made our way to the hotel de ville for the magnum photos exhibit, and after a 60 minute wait, we finally made it in! i'd heard of robert capa and henri cartier-bresson, mostly from kevin, but this was my first time seeing a large collection of their works, and a very extensive collection it was, ranging from the 1930s to present day. it's a little sad that black and white film photography, and photojournalism, in general, will be another relic of the past with the development of color photography and video.
what happened next? after the exhibit, we headed over to frenchie to learn that it was closed until january 12th. sad! fine, off to the next restaurant of choice, josephine chez ducomet in montparnasse. fully booked! shizer! tired of wandering around the city, we decided to go to les deux magots, a famous cafe by our flat with a rich history of writers frequenting the establishment. kevin had the veal and i had the duck breast. i thought mine was tastier :) but actually the highlight of the meal was not the entree or the wine or the pierre herme 2000 fuilles dessert, it was the amiable and attentive personality of our waiter, olivier. what a treat!
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