Shah and i decided to follow Mama on his daily food-shopping on Sunday. Since Mama has his own driver, we could just tag along in the car.
First we stopped by the villa to have our breakfast. This was the morning that i fell in love with baguettes here. I am OBSESSED with baguettes now. Forget the croissants. Baguettes are why people come to Paris! I did have a croissant at first, but then i devoured half a baguette with two squares of cheese. Shah too. I'm really glad Mama offered us baguettes that morning, because before this i didn't think they were a big deal. Was i WRONG. Mama made tea for him, but i asked for coffee in case i get sleepy in the afternoon. Best breakfast ever in Paris, so far.
Our first stop was the morning market. I don't know where it is, but Shah told me it's in between two train stations, Le Sablons and Pont De Nuilly. It's just like pasar tani in Malaysia that Mak always goes to. Just colder and even though the things that are sold are the same, everything seemed foreign. And i guess there are no people selling cheese, salmons and tunas and flowers at pasar tani, i think.
The seafood available were simply glorious. We saw huuuge prawns and fishes. Agak jakun, of course. And typical me squealing at the sight of an alive lobster or crab.
I'm sure i've seen fresh tuna before, but i was still surprised to see the meat-like tuna fillets there.
Thon is tuna.
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| The fillets in the middle are Thon, or tuna |
Shah and i didn't plan on buying anything; we just followed Mama around to see what he buys.
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| That's Mama in the beige jacket; Me nyibuk at the side. Looking at veggies |
Shah and i also oohed and aahed over the silliest things (totally jakun), like seeing spring onions with the onions still attached.
Honestly though, have YOU ever seen spring onions in Malaysia with the onion bulb still attached? No right? I thought so.
This stall next to the veggies stall is LOADED with cheese. And i don't think i recognize any of them.
The flower stall took my breath away. I want ALLLL of them! (guna Sophia Grace punya suara)
I read that Parisians buy flowers just for the heck of it. That's the way they "enjoy" life. And i'm on board with this, totally. I LOVE fresh flowers. When Shah and i went for our 'honeymoon' in Cameron Highlands (having no kids means we get the privilege to treat all vacations - work or not - as 'honeymoon'), Shah bought me a bunch of daisies, my most favourite flower, and i gloriously let the daisies sat on our tv cabinet until they all wilted. I've always loved daisies, but looking at the flower stalls here, i'm beginning to think i don't know my flowers. Maybe daisies aren't my favourite after all...
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| The flowers on the left look like cabbage from far - the prettiest cabbages i've ever seen though! And what ARE these cherry-like flowers? |
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| They mix mushrooms (YELLOW mushrooms) with fruits; i wished i had taken photos of the raspberries, because they seem to love raspberries here. I like them too, just on pastries, though |
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| Crab dia ada yang still gerak-gerak. More squeals ensued |
Paris is big on bakeries. And pastries. They're all about carbs yet they're all slim (howww).
Shah and i were fascinated by all the breads lying out in the open (as always, jakun. me more than sheh though, i'll admit that). I must have looked like such in awe, because a nice lady behind this bread stall kindly handed me a biscuit-like thing with a big smile; i wish i knew what it was. Maybe it
is simply 'biscuit' (bees-coo-eat).
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| Biskut percuma untuk sayaaa!!! |
I actually hesitated when she handed me the biscuit (rasa bersalah nak ambik free food), so Shah reached out to take it from her. But she sort of pulled it back and waved it out of Shah's way and said, "Not for YOU. For HER!" Jokingly, of course, but it's still for me anywayyy. I took it and said, "Thank you so much!" I still felt guilty anyway, so i made Shah buy something from her stall. We got this chocolate cake that looks like souffle, all sunken in the middle, but not souffle lah of course. We asked for the name, but i've forgotten it. It was delicious! Before we left, i said to the lady again, "
Merci beaucoup, au revoir!" (maygh-see boh-coo, ov-wagh/wah) which means thank you very much, goodbye.
My French is bad, excusez-moi. I'm trying my best OKKK. Any corrections are welcomed!
Next Mama headed on to buy halal meat. He told Shah and i that there are plenty of places that sell halal meat here in Paris, but he trusts the ones that have the AVS logo. I got the impression that AVS is like JAKIM in Malaysia. Maybeee lah. We went to one in Simplon, near Porte De Clignancourt.
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| That's Mama ordering meat |
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| That's me being all poyo in front of Boucherie Essalam; you can see the AVS logo on the window |
There seemed to be a lot of Muslims in this area. There were people selling fruits and veggies and pasar things along the road too, and some of the ladies wear tudung. There are also loads of halal stores here. We went inside one of them, which sells things primarily from Arab, it seems. You could also get olives and pickles and cheese in here.
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| Unidentified pickled things and a selection of cheese; there are Arab cheese here and i think that Mama put one of them in his lauk veggie haritu, SEDAP GILER OK |
As Mama concentrated on getting things for his kitchen, Shah and i amused ourselves by taking photos of ourselves tengah-tengah orang ramai lalu-lalang doing their Sunday shopping.
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| Sheh and I <3<3<3 |
Moving on to our next stop: Little India. In Christchurch, Little India is this halal Indian restaurant that Shah and i and i'm pretty sure ALL of Malaysian students LOVE. In Paris, or La Chapelle to be exact, it is this place that is full of Indian shops and restaurants. You can find sari shops here (!) and record shops selling Tamil music (!!!).
I wish we had gone inside those stores, but no time.
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| Mama in the top pic, random guy in bottom pic; you can see the shops at the back |
After getting whatever he needed, Mama took Shah and i to a shop that sells international calling cards. Little India isn't the prettiest place in Paris, but they have daun kari there OKKK. I even found terung pipit in the shop Mama went into! And i bought that, yes (proud to say i've cooked them too, hnghhh, and first time ever, and in paris too!), alongside normal sized onions (the bawang besar we are used to, not like the weirdly shaped ones i found in Monoprix), garlic, sardine and chai teabags (i fell in love with chai in nz too, how appropriate to buy them in 'Little India').
La Chapelle isn't the prettiest place in Paris that i've been to so far, no. It's alright. But i have to give it to Paris, everywhere i go, there are these sweet-looking buildings that i just lovelovelove, like this one.
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| All apartments, i think? Sweet kannn |
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| Sheh and Mama walking towards the calling card shop |
The last place that Mama had to visit is a patisserie called Bechu, which is on Avenue Victor Hugo. I always think of Shaheera whenever i see pastry shops like this; she would appreciate them more than i do, i think!
Shah and i went inside just to see what sort of things they offer. And it's a whole lot.
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| Yum |
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| YUM |
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| Not sure if those are doughnuts, but if they were, those are the hugest doughnuts i've ever seen |
We didn't buy anything. Not because we don't want to, it's more because we don't know how to say "Which ones don't have alcohol? We want those" in French and also because there was quite a line there and we don't want to slow anybody down, especially Mama.
We were supposed to go straight to Mama's villa for lunch after Bechu, but Mama decided to take us somewhere exciting first, but more on that soon! xxoo
