tag: friendship

I’ve been thinking about how small the world is this week. I went out to meals with two lovely girls who reminded me that, no matter how far from home I feel sometimes, it’s often miraculously easy to find people with whom you have a connection, even on the other side of the world.

Julia and I first got acquainted in college. We lived on the same floor in the dorms during our first year at UCLA, but we didn’t really travel in the same circles so didn’t hang out much. Years later, we both found ourselves in Paris, connected through our respective significant others who work together. Bizarre coincidence, that. Julia is great fun to hang out with and has progressed much farther in her French studies than I have. Hearing her chatting away with the people we encounter when we go out inspires me to get a better grip on my motivation.

This week, we met up at NoGlu, a new gluten-free restaurant in the 2nd. As far as I’m aware, I believe it’s the only entirely gluten-free restaurant in Paris. It’s only been open two months or so, but there are so many people who are intolerant of gluten that it’s a miracle it’s taken this long to catch on. The food was hearty and comforting and the service warm. Without the hint of the traditional baguette slices on the table being supplanted by a warm, dense bread that might have been oatmeal-based, I would never have known the kitchen was working with such a limitation.

NoGlu
16 passage des Panoramas, 75002 (Richelieu – Drouot)
01 40 26 41 24

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Posted in: dining out, paris | Tags: autumn, fall, food, french food, friendsgiving, friendship, gluten free, gluten-free paris restaurant, gluten-free restaurant, gratitute, les mauvais garcons, marais, noglu, paris, paris restaurant, party, passage des panoramas, restaurants, thanksgiving, travel | 4 COMMENTS

This week, we visited the Salon du Chocolat, a huge chocolate expo at the Porte de Versailles. It was a chocolate, and people, overload — perhaps we should have expected it, since there are very few foods that people are more passionate about than chocolate.

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Posted in: dining out, life, paris | Tags: apartment, autumn, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, chocolate fountain, cuisine, fall, food, friendship, fromage, nougat, paris, paris restaurant, party, salon du chocolat, salon du chocolat paris, sherry, spices, tasting menu, tea, travel, verjus, vin, wine | 16 COMMENTS

Like Elaine from Seinfeld, I’ve always been something of a man’s woman. I have a lot of dude friends and not too many girlfriends. In fact, I remember in first grade that my two best friends were boys. I still talk to both of them on occasion. One is an expat in Vienna and other brews beer. Apparently first-grade me knew how to pick ‘em.

But I do crave female company a lot of the time, especially here where friends are precious and few. There’s nothing quite like girl talk. There’s that ineffable quality in women, especially in gossipy one-on-one sessions, that makes me open up a little more than I am usually wont.

Ariane is one of the first friends I met after moving to Paris. She’s an artist. I have never seen her without some kind of sketchbook in her bag or in her hand.

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Posted in: dining out, paris | Tags: art, breakfast, chez jeanette, claus, drinks, food, friendship, girlfriends, lunch, merci, paris, paris restaurant, petit dejuner, travel, wine | 8 COMMENTS

This week, one of my best friends came to visit the city. I got to walk him around and do all the fun touristy things I never think of doing on normal days.

Frenchie
5-6, rue du Nil, 75002 (Sentier)
01 40 39 96 19

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Posted in: dining out, paris, Uncategorized | Tags: architecture, arts, book store, cafe, cemetery, church, cimetière du montparnasse, eiffel, eiffel tower, frenchie, friendship, louvre, montparnasse cemetery, musée du louvre, museum, notre dame, paris, paris cafe, paris cemetery, paris restaurant, pyramide du louvre, restaurant, shakespeare and co, shakespeare and company, telescope, tour eiffel, travel, wine | 5 COMMENTS