Sleep is for the weak.  Up at eight to pack and prepare to move house.  The plan is lunch at Le Petit Canard (with my baggage) and then make my way across town to the next AirBnB.  Plus I suppose some other stuff.  We’ll see how much time I have to complete this post or what else I do after moving anyway.  I’m sure it’ll be fine…

Writing the next morning after setting up my charging station here at the second AirBnB.  This place is Fred’s actual apartment.  He is sleeping in the other room.  His cat is sleeping on a chair in here.  Another small Parisian apartment but palatial compared to the last one.  No complaints; just statements of fact.  I’m just a guy with a suitcase; my space requirements are minimal.

So, I packed up in the morning yesterday and arranged all of my things so I was ready to vacate AirBnB One.  Then I went for another photo walk.  I ended up back over at Bar le Paradis talking with David over another hot chocolate.  I asked and he said no problem for me to leave my bags there while I went to lunch.  Even though this probably meant a little more walking with the bags, I figured I’d rather not have them with my while in the restaurant.

I quickly went back to the AirBnB and gathered my baggage and trekked back to Bar le Paradis.  Stuck them into a small closet housing the spiral staircase leading up.  Then off to lunch.

I arrived right on time.

I hope to visit this restaurant again.  It’s a farm-to-table centered around the humble duck.  The place is packed full of duck tchotchke.  More importantly the food is to die for.  They have a couple of different fixed price options and you can also order from the various menu items.  I took the large option so I could really dig into the duck they offered.

I started with some foie gras, which came with toasted wheat, baguette slices, and both date and onion jams.

Second course was sliced duck breast with a mushroom sauce, served with green beans and mashed potatoes with chestnuts and nutmeg.  I have never had more tender duck breast.  The mashed potatoes were amazing and have inspired me to try some new things in that area.

For desert was crème brûlée.  The crème was soft and creamy and the brûlée was as thin as you can imagine (maybe a bit thinner).  Delicate and perfect.

There were three wines.  I’ll have to pull the name of each (of two) wines from my photographs.  The proprietor also gave me a small glass of plum liqueur.  I can pull the name for that as well.

Then I made my way back over to Bar le Paradis to fetch my baggage.

While there I pulled the photos I’d taken of David and the bar and sent them to him.

Next I made for the Metro station Barbès–Rochechouart to catch the four to Strasbourg Saint-Denis to catch the eight to Ledru-Rolin and up to the street again.  A quick walk and I’m at AirBnB Two.  Fred is great.  We smoke copious amounts of quality imported weed and talk about all the things.

He has a meeting to manage at 17:00 so I prepare myself for a taking a walk.  I bring my recorder to capture street sounds.

I wander a while using my usual style which might be called Ooh, Shiny.  I just pick a direction and when I see something I adjust accordingly.  Pretty sure I’ve walked in a lot of circles due at least in part to the erratic street structure (compare to a grid) but that’s ok.  There’s still a lot to see.

Eventually I come to a place called La Fontaine and drop in for a Ricard.  Talk with a journalist working in global politics.  He is very polite talking with me in my meager French (I’m greatly limited by a small vocabulary).  He is with two friends and they all live nearby.  I bid my adieu and walk for a while again.

I come to another place called B B O Bar.  And drop in their for another Ricard.  I sit next to two women speaking maybe German or Swedish.  I never figure it out.  But they are deep in their conversation so I move to a table near some folks speaking English.  One is from NZ and the other is Italian.  A Spanish couple they know arrives and joins them. We talk for a time.

During this time Fred has finished his meeting and we have texted about what to do next.  He says he is cooking if I can bring a bottle.  So I make my farewell from these fine companions and head back to see Fred and fetch a bottle in the way.

Fred and I eat cauliflower he has prepared with butter and pepper and a bit of fine ham.  This and that bottle of rosé.  Fine simple meal with a fine companion.  Up too late to write last night.  So here I am writing and charging all the batteries this morning.