Well, yesterday I finally gave in to the Frenchness of things. After I took my final exam for the French practicum course, decided to go shopping around the Republic/rue Temple area. I came in search of a bag to replace my backpack, but I ended up I buying myself a pair of black leggings instead. All the women around here seem to wear them, under skirts, shorts, even pants. Sometimes as pants. So, I figured what the heck.

When I got off the metro back a t Ledru-rollin, I went to this place called Ble Sucre that’s supposed to have the best madelines in Paris and got myself a 4-pack to eat at the little tables out front while watching kids playing across the street at a park. They concept of sugar glazing madelines was a slight improvement over the ones I used to get from a Monterey bakery that were sold in the Cornucopia grocery store, but they weren’t worth the more than $1 a piece I paid for them. They did have some interesting looking shiny fruit pastries/tortes that I intend to try later on though.

The price list at Ble Sucre. Click to see the bigger (more readable) version.

There’s a patisserie on almost every other corner here, so I actually have a lot of choices.

Here’s a Caramel Royal (chocolate pastry cream on a pastry crust layer) that I got just a couple blocks down the street (on Rue Traverserie) from my apartment.

On the way back, I noticed an used book store (livres anciens) across the street from the Pimlico (health food store) and bought one of Simenon’s Les Vacances de Maigret in the original French to read. Actually, I got the idea of buying the book from that Horatio Hornblower story wherein he learns French by reading a copy of Don Quixote. I’m sure it won’t be easy, but at least it’s a mystery book so I’ll be unraveling two mysteries at once in translating it.