June 6, Le Parc des Buttes-Chaumon, Canal

Saint-Martin, and Dinner

We took the Metro from Place de la Bastille to Place de la Revolution, changed lines and on to Bellville to check out a restaurant Sheila had chosen for dinner tonight. It was far removed from the tourist traffic and definitely not upscale, but It was highly recommended in Sheila’s travel book. The menu looked interesting, so we made a reservation for 7:30, and set off to explore. Le Parc des Buttes-Chaumon was gorgeous, its Temple de la Sibylle, inspired by the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, Italy, was perched at the top of a cliff fifty metres above the waters of an artificial lake and provided a stunning view of Montmartre. From there we walked down to the Canal Saint-Martin and followed a portion of the Michelin walking tour of the area. While portions of the canal were quite lovely, it was a little disappointing. The only real excitement came when Sheila left her camera behind after having coffee and she nearly ran into the waitress running after her to return it. It turns out that we need not have made reservations, the restaurant was nearly empty when we arrived. Despite feeling a little lonely, the meal did not disappoint. We began with grilled asparagus and fried capers, chopped black olives and fresh asparagus topping; grilled heart of baby romaine lettuce under smoked haddock cream sauce, sea asparagus (?) and dried herb flowers. Our plats (main courses: pork belly with vegetables (bean seeds, zucchini, carrots); and beef steak under a mint and lemon chimichurri sauce with potato dauphinoise (scalloped potato). Dessert: rhubarb tart (patterned with sticks of rhubarb) and two café allongé (somewhere between an espresso and an Americano). Well satisfied with dinner, we caught the Metro back to our apartment.