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Beautiful morning again in Paris - No rain and a little warmer today...Slept in a little and then launched for Goumanyat and Son Royaume to pick up "gray" pepper presented in "test tubes" that we had an important request for...alas they were closed, only open from 2PM to 7:00PM why didn't I know this? After all I'm in France. So, plan B flies into effect...now we are off to the Les Halle area looking to buy a wooden Tamis, ah success..but it can't be a metal Tamis - it had to be wood...so we found this at E. Dehillerin on Rue Coquilliere (all things cooking - quite a store!) that item in hand - we went off to lunch at: L'Aperge on Rue de Verenne

Chef Alain Passard, culinary superhero and renaissance man, plays the sax, has written a children's cookbook, excelled on cult Japanese TV show Iron Chef and is even said to be able to detect correct salt levels in a dish merely by sniffing it. But there's no denying he's best known for his public 'j'accuse' of red meat in 2001, followed a year later by the establishment of his organic kitchen gardens in the Sarthe. In fact, the Breton chef is no drum-banging vegetarian; the menus at his elegant restaurant close to the Musée Rodin, often include the finest game, poultry, seafood as well as those famous vegetables. Throwing out the rulebook is working: since purchasing L'Arpège from Alain Senderens in 1986, he's enjoyed unmatched respect from his peers. In 1996, L'Arpège earned its third star from the Michelin Dining Guide....A Random fact: All the waste matter from l'Arpège is transported back to Passard's gardens, 220km south-west of Paris, to be composted. All the vegetables are grown in three gardens, the largest of which is over 220 kms away and fresh vegetables are sent daily by high speed train to Paris for serving at L'Arperge.

Well, it's probably one of the finest meals I have ever consumed for lunch! The service was impeccable with absolutely no distractions, that would upstage the food, allowed. The decor is simple with only one picture on the wall (that of his grandmother who he first started to cook with) The food is the star and the focus of everything...there is no music as a distraction, the waiters are all absolute pros and knowledgeable. Service is key here - it's simply a serene experience. There is not one waiter assigned to your table! The food comes out of the kitchen into the center of the dining room (no waiters bring food out of the kitchen) it's done by food runners. As soon as the food appears in the room waiters know what table it's for and all the waiters pick up a plate and deliver to the appropriate table all at the same time (French Service), then they all resume duties at other tables until the next wave of food comes into the room. It's a service ballet...there are no busboys! It's very clear the service staff pay attention to the food first and you second (that's not to say you are ignored - far from it but it's all about the food for sure). The food is not served hot. This, we ascertained, was for taste reasons. It would appear that really hot food looses flavors and doesn't spend enough time on the tongue for the optimum taste....that's one of my conclusions anyway. From the first bite - the flavors are all that you think fresh vegetables should be but you haven't tasted for many a year. The level of flavors far surpassed my expectations right from the very first bite...The service staff explain all the ingredients, cooking technique etc and it's perfectly clear from how they communicate to the guest that Alain Passard is confident enough in his staff training to allow his relatively young staff to act on his behalf...he obviously has total faith in his front of the house operation. At the end of the luncheon Alain Passard came out of the kitchen and personally went to each of the twelve tables to talk to his guests. (I believe we were the only English speaking guests today.) These were not "fleeting, polite" thanks' for stopping by conversations - they were in depth with reference to his food. After every lunch and every dinner he comes into the restaurant and is served his own food, he does this everyday without exception - they told us he does this to not only keep a check on his skills but he evolves and elevates the food by doing this. I was amazed, he actually cooks this food! If this is not professional enough - they only work Monday through Friday..He insists he and his staff have the weekends off. This restaurant is not for the faint of heart, money wise, I would advise that you see your local banker and get a second mortgage before making a reservation! But, if you decide to go you'll know that every euro was well spent....that's a good feeling! When you have put the last morsel of the meal in your mouth - you'll say to yourself - this meal surely is not ending now! It's a restaurant you'll go back to even if you have to trade in your favorite Porsche! When in Paris don't miss this experience! We had a blast!

Today's Menu - - L'Aperge-Paris

Parfum. Arriere saison
Creme soufflee au speck

Betterave au gros sel gris de Guerande
Ronde de detroit,forono,burpee's golden, tonda di chioggia

Couleur, saveur,parfum et dessin du jardin
Cueillette ephemere

Celeri-rave Boule de marbre
Moutarde d'Orleans a la meule de pierre

Arlequin potager a L'huile d'argan
Chou,brocoli,carotte,nave,radis japonais,poireau

Coquille Saint Jacques de la cote d'Emeraude
Louis Passard

Dessert d,Automne

Sucrerie
Trois macarons du jardin
Coffee and Infused Teas

So, after that experience, it's back to the plan of the day....we then went on to see Brasserie Stella, 133, Avenue Victor-Hugo, (Métro:Victor-Hugo) a bistro that Catherine Ryan used to frequent when living in Paris. We then walked to the Trocadero Metro and proceeded to take the train to Republic and re-visit Goumanyat and Son Royaume for that pepper that we couldn't get earlier in the day. This was an interesting visit indeed, a pepper learning experience. First of all you are buzzed in and out of the store, the owner then engages you and determines what exactly you are looking for in spices and pepper. I explained I wanted some "gray" pepper and was immediately told that there was no such thing! It's Green, Black, and White only. Each color represents a "stage" of the preparation. Green being the virgin, the black being the caramelizing whilst in the drying process and white is the black pepper sans the "black skin" on the black pepper. That's the basics anyway...then it goes deeper...some peppers are not peppers at all and some peppers are mixed with others to create "blends"...boy it's getting so complicated - all the different salts/peppers available now is unbelievable, what ever happened to simple salt & pepper please! They do export to the USA and are FDA approved for mixing all these different spice elements into some incredible formations for food flavoring. Some very famous chefs consult with this company as regards peppers and spice. Oh and back to the original pepper" presented in test-tubes request...normally this is doable but today they were out of the pepper ones...only ones on display and available were for spices only.....What I thought as a simple expedition to get gray salt turned into an education, only in Paris, how great is this?

So, now it was back into the Metro and back onto the Champs Elysee and a quick visit to The Lancaster Hotel on Rue Berri for hot chocolate in the lobby bar and then to buy a new digital camera (lost mine today) before finally travelling back to San Germain and our apartment. Again, another full day completed - so enjoyable but... oh so exhausting...we will definitely need a vacation when we get back to San Francisco! So, it's good night from us>>> We are off the Lyon on the TGV tomorrow AM departing Gare de Lyon at 6:30AM.
No pictures today due to losing my camera. I have some on my cellphone that I'll upload in the next day or so....
Today's Ped Stats:
10,806 steps / Calories Burnt: 298.24 / 5.1 Miles walked....