First Day Back in Paris

Recently a stateside friend asked, what's the first thing you do when you get back to Paris?
Recover from jet-lag - or try.

But I know what he was really asking me is - 'what's the first thing you do to celebrate your return to Paris? '
Because, and I'm sure this is true for many return visitors to France, there must be rituals.

And there are rituals, but I tend to downplay them. Rituals can be mistaken for habits and habits get boring - fast.

Breaking Fast.

If you're flying in from the US to Paris, you'll normally arrive in the morning. That sorry excuse for a roll and a plastic container of yogurt you received in flight don't measure up to breakfast, and, after waiting for the Air France Le Car shuttle bus from CDG to Montparnasse during morning rush hour traffic, you'll be lucky to get into Paris before eleven am.

We used to have breakfast at a cafe/brasserie called 'L'Ocean' across from the train station. Now that 'L'Ocean' has closed its doors, we've shifted over to another local bar/tabac which has recently metamorphosed from a tabac into a non-stop brasserie called 'Le Petit Sommelier'. The lunches might be two or three euros cheaper at restaurant chains (like Indiana) or the pizza joints - but where else would you get freshly mashed potatoes and a huge plate of roast chicken for thirteen Euros?

With jet lag, I'm never really quite sure whether I'm hungry, thirsty or just exhausted. So, it's important to find just the right place where we can sit and stare at the passing scene with glazed eyes and not seem out of place. We've always had this hopelessly idealistic idea that we'd find the perfect little brasserie, preferably in the same building as our apartment where we might return after an extended absence - and the waiter - or bartender might remember us. (This might have worked in the fifties or sixties, but not in the new millenium!) After ten years, we haven't 'exactly' found that certain neighborhood bar/brasserie to call 'home'.

So, if there's a return ritual, it would be 'looking for a brasserie to call home'. That's not to say we don't know a few of the waiters in the neighborhood as well as owners of the one of the local Chinese restaurants on Gaite. The Liberte at Edgar Quinet is a little to far flung to be called our 'local bar' and the Chinese restaurant doesn't serve breakfast, so I'm optimistic about Le Petit Sommelier although right now, my jet-lagged brain is playing tricks with the name - is it really "Le Petit Sommelier, or is it "Le Petit Sommeil"?

Le Petit Sommelier
Avenue du Maine
Metro: Gaite
Across from Gare Montparnasse
Plat du jour: 13.50 Euros
Glass of House Wine 4.50 Euros