Food + Drink
Aux quatre coins du vin – Hoping for the opportunity to try a few local wines, I booked us at a wine bar on Saturday night where we shared a card that allowed us to get a 3, 6 or 10 cl pour from the machines. I enjoyed the red options (many local and some international), and learned that I enjoyed French Malbec. However, Eric tried five whites and didn’t really like any of them. Strangely, there was not a large selection of French whites and it was hard to know the variety of the wines in some cases because the dispensers only show the front label. Disappointingly, many of the wines are fairly pricey for the quality. There were also less food options than I was expecting, more like limited snacks. We were hungry so we ended up ordering the truffle croque monsieur and the hummus which were both fine.
Still hungry after dinner we went around the corner for gelato at La Maison du Glacier, a black sesame for me and a mint chocolate for Eric. Delicious and worth the short wait in line.
Bruno Gass Huitres – I discovered this oyster truck online before our visit. It is only open on Sundays and located in the middle of a full-on flea market near Basilique Saint-Miche. You can get any six oysters of a few varieties for 1€ each – shucked! I managed to choose a sweet (vs salty) variety and waited my turn. The oyster liqueur was pretty salty so I followed other diners leads and added a generous squeeze of lemon and then ate the oyster with a fork. Delicious.
La Taupinière – Reservations are a must for dinner – I made ours via their Facebook page two weeks earlier. We had multiple people waiting on us but all were pleasant. I ordered their specialty, a lightly seared steak tartare with the traditional cream sauce and mushrooms plus a salad and fries. Eric had the Caesar salad which came with crispy fried chicken and ham plus a “not too fishy” dressing. I had a glass of French Malbec and Eric ordered the Bordeaux white – we split a lovely creme brûlée to finish.
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Bread Party – We stopped in for breakfast pastries on our last morning. My pateis de nata was very (too) crunchy and Eric’s chocolate croissant was fine, not memorable.
Sights
Our apartment was centrally located so we walked everywhere, using the tram only to get to and from the airport and the stadium. We did a lot of the more touristy things on a previous visit, so it was mostly about the rugby. Our brief visit to the shopping street included our normal faves Pull and Bear, Mango, and Zara but they were mostly in fall clothing mode and it was stupid hot outside so we came away with nothing. The highlight for me was a few new street art pieces.
