Dinner and a Show in Paris

We knew the Eiffel Tower had a beautiful light show, so we chose to get dinner not too far away so we could walk back for the spectacle. This cafe just a few blocks off the park was where we spent our evening.

To try something new, I ordered a salad with smoked duck breast (the slices of meat around the edge) with a slice of foie gras on top and potatoes. It was a really interesting combination. The duck breast had a nice smokey flavor, kind of like bacon really. And the foie gras had a salty taste to it, and consistency of the filling in a deviled egg. Not too bad at all!

After dinner we headed over to enjoy the sunset and await the lightshow. What we didn’t realize ahead of time was that there are no open container laws in Paris. So everyone around us had wine and other drinks along with picnic dinners. (mental note for next time!) And EVERYONE was smoking. There was this haze over the grassy area from all the smokers! Which made it clear that the lawn we were on was mostly locals and not tourists…. and despite the smell of smoke, it was cool to be around people who were making this a part of their normal lives instead of gawking like tourists do.

Hah! Totally didn’t intend to give myself a hat! All well…

As the sun faded from the sky, more and more people arrived on the lawn. And we had a visitor named Ali join us with his acoustic guitar.

He must have played Hotel California half a dozen times for us. I was leery of him initially as I had read a lot of bad stories about pick pockets and thieves in Paris. But he and his friend turned out to just be two guys who were bored and looking to make friends.