Jessica's Perfect Day in the 1st

My friend Jessica (who I met while living in New Orleans) is a post-colonial French historian. So, she has had the great fortune to live on and off in Paris throughout her PhD to conduct research. She also had the great fortune of calling the Les Halles neighborhood home. As I've mentioned before, Les Halles was right in the center of the 1st arrondissement (e.g. the historic heart of Paris). Before I left for Paris, I asked Jessica for some recommendations of things to do in Paris. She shared some wonderful recommendations with me and over the course of my stay in Paris, I tried to complete Jessica's list which included walking through les passages in Paris. These are covered walkways with restaurants, boutiques, bakeries, and other little odds and ends shops. They are really fun for people watching. Here is one I stumbled across on my way to the National Library one day:

I also have a tendency to walk into any church that I pass by. The one bordering Les Halles is Saint-Eustache (a huge Gothic wonder). Interestingly, there was an altar dedicated to St. Joseph inside the church. This alter included a wood carving of market vendors. This caught me off guard because I normally associate St. Joseph with New Orleans and the Sicilian tradition of crafting elaborate food alters for St. Joseph's Day. I want to read up a bit more on the French connection to St. Joseph and trace the similarities/differences between the ways in which Italians and French people venerate this particular saint. I don't think it is a coincidence that the focus on food/St. Joseph is important to market workers in both locations.

Next stop was Jessica's all-time favorite gelato place. She actually said to me that if she only had an hour in Paris that she would go to this gelato shop! I have to admit, it was the best gelato I had ever had at that point (...I've found some spectacular places in Rome!) I took my cup of gelato to one of the street side tables and people watched as I happily dug into my tiramisu and nutella flavored gelato.

With my belly full, I walked along Rue Montorgueil - one of those classically charming Parisian streets peppered with artisan meat, cheese, and chocolate shops, restaurants, and flower shops. So much fun!

Look at these adorable piggy pastries:

And I thought the pink meringue was just lovely:

Eventually, I made my way home with a pep in my step. It's hard not to be happy when you are in Paris in late spring.