Lunchtime in Paris

Chinese New Year in Paris 2008 - part 2

Today was the big parade in the 13th arrondissement

We had excellent weather

A lot of people were out today to watch the parade

Fireworks along the parade route

Lest we forget the upcoming Olympic games

Even more colorful than yesterday's parade

Happy New Year!

The tail end of the dragon

There were huge crowds in all the restaurants so I stopped off in Belleville on my way home and got some take out stuff. These were delicious

I bought other things as well for our lunch today but I'm saving the photos for another post tomorrow

I took a whole bunch more photos that are not parade specific so I'm going to make another post on some of the interesting things in Chinatown and yes, it will be about food. Until then

Happy lunching!

Chinese New Year in Paris 2008 - part 1

Today was the big parade in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris.

So, lots of photos but not much food - there was nothing to eat...

Luckily it was a beautiful day. We got to the Hotel de Ville early to watch the preparations. People were posing for photos with the dragon.

And then there was the dragon dance with lots of fire crackers

There were quite a few dragons in the parade

More dragon

All along the parade route the Chinese shops put out offerings

I particularly like this lettuce and clementine decoration. Perhaps I will get one for my office.

These creatures were the ones to take the offerings

It got really hazy because of all the smoke from the fire crackers

Some colorful costumes

I really liked this guy in yellow

Over 1500 people took part in the parade

Paris has never been so colorful

The parade made us really hungry so we afterwards we stopped in Belleville for some lucky spring rolls.

And some lucky har kao

And some delicious lucky noodles with prawns and broccoli

Very tasty and that's it for today. Tomorrow I'm off to the 13th district where there will be another parade and of course another lunch.

Happy lunching!

Gung Xi Fa Cai!

And here to start things off, because I just can't wait until Sunday, is a link to the very interesting Chinatown Paris site and some really nice things that I bought today at Tang Freres (Tang Brothers - link in English) in Belleville on my way home from work. And please if you have the time check this out as well it's the Yellow River Concerto!

A really nice lunch of roast duck, mixed vegetables and noodles for only 5.50 euros.

One half of a roast duck with soy sauce for 7.50 euros. Very tasty.

Here is the styrofoam container it came in with the duck motif.

And I''ve been trying to increase my fruit and veg intake (5 per day for good health and a long life) so here is the very delicious, wonderfully juicy orange I had for dessert.

Tomorrow I will be going to the first of the Chinese New Years parades starting at the Hotel de Ville in central Paris at 2 pm. Let's all pray for nice weather.

Happy lunching!

Lunch from Tang Gourmet - Paris Belleville

First of all, Happy New Year and  Bonne Année 2008, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.
Today I went to Belleville to have some soup,

This is a Soupe Phnom Penh and costs 5.80 euros. It was pretty good but I think I still prefer pho (which they also serve) - soup is much more fun when served with a bunch of greeenery and sprouts to mix in.

I got the soup here at Da Lat. I've been eating here for years. And then, after my soup I was wandering around and discovered:

Tang Gourmet in Belleville! Hurray, I will no longer have to go all the way to the 13th arrondissement. Now Tang Gourmet is only two metro stops away. There is a lot of take out stuff and they also have tables inside where you can have a very inexpensive lunch. Sandwich (banh mi) fries and a beverage for 4.20 euros. That is cheap for Paris and there are a bunch of other different combos that won't cost you more than 6 euros.

Here are some of the interesting things I bought:

Mini nems - 10 for a euro. I've never seen mini nems before and these we really cute and delicious.

Check out the size - this 10 cent euro coin is 19.75 millemetres in diameter.

I also got this white radish paté. I'd never tried or even seen  this before. This slice cost 0.60 euros.

Here is the inside, and it was really pretty good. I just think perhaps it should have been accompanied by something. Next time I will ask for suggestions on what to serve it with.

Here is the lotus flower cake which cost 2.10 euros. I had to take the photo while it was still in the bag because it was a fragile thing and somehow started to come apart during the metro ride home.

This is a close up and I'm sure it is some kind of fried pastry because it reminded me of those Swedish rosettes my grammy made...mmmm. I'll try to get another one sometime and I'll be more careful bringing it home because it was a beautiful thing.

And so all was going well and I was getting along quite inexpensively until I saw the barbecue counter...and so I splurged for 500 grams of échine de porc (pork something - the cuts are different here).

Delicious, succulent, and much much better than salad. The 500 grams cost 6.50 euros and it was well worth it.  So I suggest that you check out Tang Gourmet the next time you are in Paris.  Nice friendly service, good food,  and the price is right.

Happy lunching 2008!