paris diary: place de la bastille

we stayed in a basic, comfortable hotel in the heart of place de la bastille, one of the most happening parts of paris. it's kinda like the lower east side in manhattan, shoreditch in london, the mission in san francisco. it's where the youth of the city stay up till the wee hours of the morning hanging out at cafes till 1 am and then hitting the clubs until the sun rises. it's where you can feel the raw energy and pulse of the city. it's where the streets may not be spick and span but there's never a dull moment. while we didn't exactly keep up with the frenetic pace of the neighbourhood, we did enjoy the vibe of the area including hanging out at the typically french cafes where you sit at a table on the curbside, put on your shades, get lots of sun and spend all day sipping coffee and people watching.



i had a spendid salad at falstaff cafe, one of the better known cafes in place de la bastille. falstaff is popular for its wide selection of beers on tap. somehow, i did'n't feel like beer since i wanted to save the calories for all the cheese and chocolat. i opted for a simple salad instead.

the simple salad turned out to be quite a filling meal - now i understand how some french women can survive on salads alone and maintain tgheir svelte figures! my salad had quite an unusual combination of ingredients - lettuce, avocado, corn, carrots, blanched green beans, tomato and ranch dressing. i thoroughly enjoyed the texture of the different ingredients and how they combined together to create quite a hearty meal for lunch.