Paris, France

Walking and steps are a Parisian way of life.  It is a way of life that we gladly adopted as it cleared the way to a bountiful Parisian diet.  Our recipe for Croque Madame, an open-faced ham and cheese sandwich topped with an egg, is featured below.  We blissfully ate it in Paris with no guilt after our many steps to find it in a Montmartre cafe.  It will make a wonderful Sunday brunch entree to celebrate this weekend.

MAPPING THE DAY

Each morning at about 11 a.m, after a light “petite dejeuner” (breakfast) in the hotel, we stepped out onto the Rue de Rivoli.  This day we were off to the Montmartre district on the Metro.  It is the highest hill in Paris.

 

LOCAL STORY

Several long city blocks to the Concorde metro station, down the stairs, through the turn-style, down the tunnel, down another flight of stairs to the platform we trekked.  Onto the metro, then off.  Up a flight, then another, then another one that seemed to never end.  It turned, and turned as we stepped up and up and finally exited the Abbesses metro station in the heart of the Montmartre neighborhood.  Charming and exuberant, the Montmartre is the Parisian destination we dreamed of visiting.

Our first stop would be the Basilica of Sacre-Coeur.  Up more steps to the Funicular that carried us up the hill to the foot of the steps to the cathedral.  What a view of Paris, what a view of a beautiful place.

 

  

 

Then we meandered through the hilltop neighborhood to visit shops, galleries and view points.  There was a museum that told the story of an artists colony of days gone by.  The museum’s Chat Noir, who basked in the early Springtime sunshine, posed for a photograph.

 

    

 

Place de Tertre was filled with artists selling their street art.  We admired the talent and bought a couple originals of city sights to spark our memories back at home.

 

    

 

With each step, we longed for more.  This is a magical place and the day could not have delivered more to delight our love of Paris.

 

   

VIEW FROM THE TABLE

Our miles of walking and the endless steps rendered us hungry in the late afternoon.  We dipped in to a local’s cafe for beer and an open-faced ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg on top called Croque Madame.  Before the meal came, we asked for the” toilette” to wash our hands.  Of coarse, the server pointed to a long staircase down to the basement.

 

  

 

Ahh the Parisian life of walking and steps.  There was no guilt for these two beers and a delightful cheesy sandwich.

 

  

CROQUE MADAME

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