Day 560 : Meandering the streets of Paris

My last day in Paris already, gosh I cannot believe it! These few days have flown by! Today after a long run and a trip to the supermarché to provision for dinner, I set off in search of something I had seen in a shop window in St Germain des Pres the other day, a trip across the river via the Rue du Buci with its quaint cafes and fresh produce stalls and gorgeous flower market led me to St Germain and then back via the same route to grab one of Paul's (a French bakery chain) delectable mini baguettes or sticks of bread baked with grated gruyere and comte -- salty, savory, and all around satisfying. Best enjoyed when warm with a glass of wine or even a nice Kronenbourg 1664 beer. Continuing on via the Ile de la Cite to the Ile St Louis, no trip to Paris would be complete without a visit to my favorite Fromager Affineur -- Christian Le Lann with three locales throughout Paris, one is bound to discover fantastic cheese!

The window of the Ile St Louis shop is always overflowing with cheese-y delicacies but on this Tuesday at the end of August, their selections looked quite meager and one of three of their refrigerated cases wasn't even full of cheese unfortunately! But what was available, was definitely worth tasting. An ample selection of soft ripened / natural rind goat's milk cheeses from Loire Valley called my name; there were firm tomme du brebis and tomme du chevre au muscat and gruyeres and other alpine style cheeses; Roqueforts and Fourme d'Amberts; washed rind cheeses, Bries, Chaources, and more...So much for the eye to process at once! 

I settled on a small aged Crottin de Chavignol, a simple classic French aged goat's milk cheese that holds a special place in my heart. Perfect with a glass of rose, some crunchy crackers, smoked salmon and tomatoes for a picnic along the Seine. I continued on meander the streets of the Marais and the Beaubourg and along the Rue de Rivoli, what a fantastic city! Always something new to discover, always a reason to return, and always a restaurant or bar or shop to come back and visit.

Tomorrow bright and early, we are off to Porto for Fromagical's first experience in Portugal!