Just quickly - today we stopped at Popelini, a relatively new and amazingly delicious tiny store in the 3rd that only offers cream puffs - but think cream puffs of all different flavors (caramel, chocolate, raspberry, pistachio, praline, etc). They were small but incredibly rich - we tried the caramel and the chocolate noir - we both liked the caramel the best though the chocolate noir was intensely rich and I can still taste that chocolate flavor on my tongue about 5 hours later.
We were pleasantly surprised to learn, upon reading this article when we got home, that we had in fact been served by the owner of the store (she's only 26!) - so its a good thing we took her advice to wait a few minutes in the store before devouring our treats as they are best at room temperature. Cake Love, eat your heart out. It's all about Popelini for me from here on out.
However, best line of the day goes to Mr. Oil. We were standing in Poilane (a bakery), and he says, with a completely straight face, "I really must get serious about flan this week."
After our afternoon exploring the 3rd and the 11th, we stopped by Parc Monceau only to realize that on a sunny summer day, the place is more crowded than any university green. People of all ages and walks of life lounged on the grass or conversed while sitting on shaded benches. Various rose gardens throughout the park, along with other flowers, are in full bloom, so as you walk through, you smell the flowers. We must have seen about 40 strollers, at least. The playground was full of little kids, from tiny babies (smaller than ours!) to big kids, everyone basking in the beautiful day and enjoying Sunday in Paris. Since most everything is closed, there is little to do but enjoy the park and spend time with friends and family. Hard to complain about that!
