Two weekends ago my wife and I took our last trip to Paris before our move back home to Canada. We went to explore the Montmartre district, which is the hip and artsy neighborhood where the Sacre Coeur Basilica is located.
It was a Saturday in August so the area was extremely busy, as expected. I assume that they were all tourist. I'm guessing that the locals avoid the area on weekends during peak tourist season.
We stopped for a French breakfast at a Cafe called Au Cadet de Gascogne.
The Cafe and the food weren't anything overly special but there was space to sit and it was a good central place to people watch.
The Cafe is located in a busy square surrounded by restaurants and the area itself is known for its many artists, shops and galleries. Many of those artists set up booths in the square to sell their paintings and to do caricatures. It's definitely a unique part of the city and a fun place to sit and watch people go by.
Breakfast isn't an important meal in France like it is in other parts of the world. Its generally quite light, consisting of coffee and juice with a piece of bread and jam and maybe a croissant or pain au chocolat. Hotels will provide an assortment of cheeses and charcuterie, hard boiled eggs and maybe cold cereal, but I'm pretty sure that all of those extras are more for tourists.
Anyway, I got a standard breakfast of coffee and orange juice, pain au chocolat and in this case an omlette. An omlette is somewhat unusual in my experience for breakfast but I figured I'd give it a try.
The orange juice is typically fresh squeezed but in this case it was just the store bought boxed variety. I know this is going to sound super pretentious but I don't like the boxed variety of orange juice 😆. I generally find it to be too acidic and chemically tasting. It usually makes me phlegmy in the back of the throat so I just tend to avoid it. I don't have that issue with fresh squeezed though so I started drinking it in France after many many years of not touching it. I know, I know, I sound like a snob here.
So anyway, my wife drank the juice so it didn't go to waste.
She got a crepe and jam with her coffee. The jam was a cheap version and there was too much of it, but all in all it was fine. I'm not trying to be overly critical here or to act like some sort of food authority, I just don't want people to think that I'm trying to sell them on this particular location or that this Cafe is a strong recommendation of mine.
Simply, the food was fine and it was a decent spot to watch people. We enjoyed our time but you could get the same experience anywhere in the area, so choose at random or whatever other spot that looks decent.
Bonus Coffee
At the end of the day we had some time before our train back home arrived so we grabbed afternoon drinks at another Cafe outside the Gare du Nord. Beer for me and a cappuccino for my wife then back home by train.
That pain au chocolat looks so delicious, the best one I had was in Nice, they just don't make it them so fresh and delicious in UK
Yeah France is on another level when it comes to pastries and bakeries in general. I always joke that the worst baker in France would make a fortune in Canada. There would be no competition. The very expensive artisinal bakeries in Canada are basically just like an average bakery in France haha.
You been spoilt during your stay in France, it's gonna be so painful when you get home ! When are you leaving?
Yeah definitely. We leave on the 14th of September. So just a little over a week. I'll miss Europe 😔
You couldn't have timed it better to avoid Hivefest 😅
Hope all goes well with the move back home
I know. It's pretty disappointing in that regard. 😕 this was probably the only Hivefest that it would have been easy for me to attend. It's only about 4.5 hours from where I currently live. I could have easily driven to Amsterdam no problem.
THere's less and less painters, but if you come at the right hour, sometimes you'll see a good one painting a canvas in Monmarte!
There were quite a few people selling their works when we went on a Saturday. I'd say there were between 20 and 30 vendors that day.
Good morning. At least I think it's morning, I read this while drinking coffee so it must be. But don't expect me to know what day it is!
Whaddup? We're gonna cross that one off the list in about two weeks, light breakfast in Paris it is.
Nice! That will be fun. Enjoy your time in France.
I feel the same about orange juice. It is not a snob statement , just a fact lol. Fresh is better.
Haha yeah, it's so true. I don't need all of the extra chemicals, sugar and additives.
I think there are no vitamins left in those juices. Cold pressed and fresh juices are the only way to get the best out of the fruit.
Agreed 👍
Hi @leaky20
It looked very luxurious even though it was on the side of the road. That's how luxury is performed in Paris.
A very pleasant place to sit and enjoy breakfast, watching people go by. It's like enjoying the crowd.
But for people who like silence while enjoying coffee, there are other options, right?
Have a nice trip
It was mostly a pedestrian road. Other than the odd delivery truck there were no cars going down that part of the street.
There were other options of drinks there and other options of restaurants and Cafe haha
Gosh. I haven’t been in Paris for over a decade. I do remember all the bistros and outdoorsy sinning places with great pastries and coffee.
This makes me want to make a plan for next summer.
Yeah Paris Cafe's are sort of unique and have their own look and feel about them. I will definitely miss them when I go back home.
Oh no! That makes me sad somehow. I like your unique perspective on the many places you visited and will miss that. May I ask which province is home for you, and whether we can expect Canadian travel blogging?
Yep the expat time is coming to an end. We are moving back to Ontario. It's probably one of the worst provinces for travel posts. Haha. There isn't much there to do and see. I'm sure that I will find some places to write about but they won't compare to Europe. I still have a major backlog of trips though so I'll continue to post about Europe probably until January at least. Our Portugal trip was back in May and we have gone to all sorts of places since then - Andorra, Provence France, Bavaria Germany, Austria and more France. It was a busy year trying to see as much as possible before we move back.
There is a Canadian vanlifer named Chrome Valdez who is in Ontario right now. He found some neat stuff for his YT channel. Whether something is boring, is very much in the eye of the beholder. So just keep it coming. Hey, you can always go to Quebec for some of that old-timey stuff.
Yeah I actually have found a few places that I want to check out that I haven't been to and some that I want to revisit. There are some places in Ontario just not nearly as many as in Europe - obviously hahaha. Yeah Quebec isn't too far for us really. 7 hours I think. We have driven that distance here many times so Quebec will be an option for sure.
I do like a light continental breakfast too, but as a starter, before my full English Breakfast 😂... with freshly squeezed OJ too. I'm not keen on artificial fruit juices.
Breakfast is my favourite meal, so I like it heartily.
The omlette looks awesome. I'm curious, what kind of omelette was it? fairly plain mushroom, onions or did it have a lot more?
I LOVE Omelettes, but I haven't had one in a long time.
Right now I'm #ParisDreamingOfCoffeeCroissantOmeletteCrepeWithCreamandMore
Yeah I like a hearty breakfast as well. Canada does big breakfasts so I'm used to them. Though they aren't as big as a full English in the UK haha.
Yeah artificial fruit juices are just sugar and other crap. Orange juice especially has a weird chemical in it. It's not possible for a brand to make a consistent tasting product year after year with fruits that change flavor depending on the season and harvest. Thats were additives come in. Fresh squeezed tastes a little different everytime you get it even if the oranges are the same. Sometimes its sweeter and sometimes it's more tart just like when you buy any piece of fruit from the store. So the fact that products like Tropicana or Minute Maid always taste the same really tells you something.
Omlettes are a bit weird in France. Often there is nothing in them. They're basically just a fried egg haha. So it wasn't like an English omlette with stuff in it. I'm not sure why they call it an omlette really.
That's a really good point. I was never big on buying juices, so you have put me off even more haha!
Oh, I'm disappointed to hear that about the omelettes, but not really that surprised, I guess.
I will head down to the supermarket a little later and get some mushrooms to make an omelette or something 😋
That's a good plan. Good luck! 👍
Haha! yeah, it's a nice walk through the woods.
😆🤣
Two countries I want to know since I was little, I even say I want to live in Canada, I am fascinated by those two countries, Wow your photos are fantastic, they are so colorful and beautiful, but the best of all is the food and the coffee in them. The coffees in France look so beautiful and cozy, I think it must be a magical experience.
Yeah? What is it about Canada that draws you to it?
Almost all the Christmas movies I watch on nexflit are made in Canada, it has very nice natural landscapes, nice people and lots of snow, they always show very tasty food and flashy desserts, I love that because in my country we don't have things like that.
Oh I see. That's interesting. Yeah it's definitely the land of snow. It does have nice natural landscapes in some areas. But its also a very large country try so not all places are the same and some are much nicer than others. It really depends on where one lives I suppose.
I love Montmartre! My hubby and I stayed there pre-kids for one of our trips across the Channel. It was the best weekend we've had in Paris. I specifically wanted to be further out in the Arrondissements... as we had previously stayed in Place de la Republique and similar busier central Paris touristy areas. Granted Montmartre is touristy but we stayed just down the road from the Sacre Coeur and had a small bakery on the corner... which was Heaven in the mornings. The Sacre Coeur itself is just beautiful...one of my favourite churches. The one day we took an early evening stroll and found ourselves within no time outside the Moulin Rouge. We nabbed a table across the road and drank G&T's at 2 am whilst watching the blades of the Moulin turn round, the street all lit up. It was such a great spot to watch the world go by... I think Paris is another city that never sleeps. hehe this post brought back great memories. Thank you for the share❣️ !LUV !ALIVE !PIZZA
Yeah Paris is quite the place. It definitely ranks very high on my list of capital cities and destinations in general. There is so much to do and see and it's a very beautiful city. It sounds like quite the trip that you had. Amazing! I'm glad that you enjoyed your stay there.
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That looks like a good place for coffee, food and people watching. I haven't done watching people in a long time. I used to do that a lot, sit in one of the cafes I frequent where I can do just that.
Haha yeah people watching is a fun pastime lol
Maybe I should go do that again soon :D
Amigo @leaky20 Dude how nice the cafe looks and being in Paris must be the ultimate. The photos show that the place is very nice and I loved the breakfast. Agreed with you about the boxed orange juice though. I like the natural orange juice. I hope one day to visit Paris. From Cumaná 🌞, Edo. Sucre, Venezuela receive a big greeting and for your wife too. I wish you enjoy a lot and share with us another experience. A pleasure to be here in your post.
Yeah Paris is definitely worth a visit if you are able to. I hope that you get to see it one day.
Greetings!
Thanks for stopping by.
Th omelette and crepe look so delicious. Thanks for sharing. 😃
You're welcome. Glad you liked it. 👍
😃
I love the atmosphere there
Yeah it was very nice
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