Back in Paris

Well, I'm back in Paris and the cantine is open again!

Eclairs AND cucumbers. Obviously the cucumbers were my more favoritest part of the lunch.

I tried the quiche and the cherry tart. I'm always amazed at how many choices I have. The pommes rissolees (swirly looking things) were really good too, they're basically mashed potatoes piped into a swirl and fried so there's kind of a crispy crust on them. Sound fun to make. I'm sure they don't make them there, I've seen them at the grocery store in the frozen food aisle.

I splurged a bit today and ate 6 points of food instead of 5. Which was too much!! The tomato was stuffed with a tuna salad and the bottom of the plate is covered in shredded (I'm assuming imitation) crab. There was also 3 tortilla chips on the plate for some reason.... I always get the meringue with creme anglais when available. And my free bread which I wrap up and have as a snack later. But the most interesting part of today's lunch is hiding under those onions on the big plate...

So, today's selection of fish was aile de raie which is, as everyone tells me, a ray. Well, the "wings" of a ray. From some searching on the internets, I guess it's actually a kind of edible skate, like this: (I did not take this picture, the cantine does NOT have an aquarium. Which is too bad.)







But this is what it looks like...after I've eaten all the meat off one side...

A close look at the bones which I thought were cool. Apparently people eat them except for the big piece along the edge. It's all cartilage and it's pretty crunchy and tasteless so I just left it alone.






I've changed my route to and from lab slightly, now I walk on the north side of Notre Dame. This side has all sorts of cool gargolyes! I especially like the ones with wings.

I walk through this tree-lined area that for a while I didn't even know existed. It's never crowded when I'm walking through there. Mornings are especially nice though this was taken this afternoon.

There's a statue/fountain here with pretty flowers all around.

Pretty flowers! Some looked like tulips before they opened up fully but I think maybe they are actually tulips, ruffled tulips??







Like this: (I did not take this photo! But I'm sure there's a flower there that looks like this) There's a couple dark flowers that look like this, with the rufflely edges, they look like tiny little lettuces on a stalk.