Day 8 - Covered Passages; 13,700 Steps

The covered passages were built in the early 19th century and were a precursor to the modern shopping mall. They allowed people to shop out of the weather and off the dirty streets.  There are not many left, but those that remain have shops and cafes, and are pretty much grouped within the 2nd arrondissement.  The first one I visited was Passage du Grand-Cerf, which took me to my next destination...

Before leaving home, I bought Le Food Passport online, and today I picked up my Passport at a little tea shop near the market street Rue Montorgueil, which is close to the neighborhood where I've stayed previously.  Le Food Passport allows you to visit artisan food shops and get a tasting with a coupon.  You can buy 6 tastings for 35 euros or 12 tastings for 45 euros.  Naturally, I went for the 12 tastings.  Actually, some of these are more than just tastings.  At the tea shop where I picked up my passport, I got samples of three different teas.  They do cold brewed teas of blended flavors and serve it as iced tea, but without ice.  The the teas are infused with fruits and herbs and the three I had were delicious.  I especially liked the herb tea, and the green tea was infused with Golden Delicious apple.  I bought a cup of the herbal tea. I enjoyed talking with the young man who owns the shop with a partner.  He got the idea when he lived in Taiwan.

I walked around Rue Montorgueil for awhile, enjoying my "old haunt."  It was really busy with lots of people around.  I had lunch at a place on a side street that specializes in dishes made with fresh mozzarella.  I had gnocchi with cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.  It was really good. I had the Cafe Gourmande for dessert, which was an espresso with three small bites: a custard with raspberry sauce, a molten chocolate, and a terimissu (still don't know how to spell it).  It was fun watching a grey cat stalking pigeons, but I think it had little chance of catching one.

Another shop on my Food Passport was just down the street from the restaurant and this one specialized in eclairs -- nothing but eclairs -- and each one was prettier than the others.  I had a chocolate eclair with an espresso.  I feel like I need to buy something as the coupons are a way of getting people into the shops to buy their products.

I then walked toward the Grands Boulevards, taking a bus part way.  I visited two more covered passages, Passage des Panoramas and Passage Jouffroy.  The shops were interesting and I even found something I wanted to buy, but the shop was closed with a sign indicated they would be back at 1:00, but they still weren't back at 2, so I moved on.

I walked down Rue Vivienne, through Place de la Bourse (the French stock market), where they were having a flea market or "brocante".  It had rained quite hard a little while before, so the vendors, were all taking the tarps off their wares and trying to dry everything off.  I've decided that flea markets really aren't my thing.

Passage Vivienne was next up and it has a lot of book shops - all French books, of course.  It is quite beautiful.

I then walked over to Place des Victoires and caught the #29 bus back to Place des Vosges, and walked home from there.  I rested for awhile, then went to the G20 supermarket to pick up a few things.

Another stop on my Food Passport is conveniently on the same street as my apartment.  Rainettes specializes in frog legs.  I had never had them before, but was game to give them a try.  My coupon was good for two frog legs and I bought a glass of wine to go with them.  It is true: they do taste like chicken with maybe a little fishiness.  I think I can take them or leave them.  It is hard to get over the dissections I did in biology all those years ago.