Chinese in Paris
"Hmm..." you are thinking. "Why eat Chinese food when in Paris? Why not just gorge nightly on French food?"
Well, it just so happens that our traveling companion, Rob, the male half of Rob and Jacquie, the other white American guy on this trip, is fluent in Mandarin. When I say fluent I mean speaks Chinese like a Chinese person. When he is speaking Chinese, he is Chinese. Sooo... not dragging his freak ass to Chinatown/Belleville would have been a big mistake.
He actually went willingly. In fact, I think it was his idea, only he uttered it somewhat sheepishly as he was probably thinking the same thoughts as above. But it was a great idea - not just because we got some great food out of the deal, but because it added another layer of experience to our trip overall.
As I mentioned in my previous post, this part of Paris is different than what you find in most tourist brochures. For me, it was more real. It helped me understand what it might actually be like to live in Paris. Where I could live, anyway. Afford an apartment on the Ile de la Cite? Non. Buy one in Belleville? Peut etre. And If I did, I would have a great bar to visit and could regularly find fantastic food that didn't cost too much.
Speaking of fantastic food, Rob took us to Restaurant Raviolis - a tiny little place that specializes in delicate yet flavorful dumplings and big, beautiful bowls of noodles (see above). When we walked in, a young lady was near the back of the room, patiently wrapping delightful looking pork dumplings by hand. When we ordered our dinner, she proceeded to do the same for us. Fresh and handmade. Lovely.
Anyway, Rob handled everything, in flawless Mandarin. It was fun to watch our server's face as perfect Chinese came out of this very un-Chinese looking person's mouth. But she recovered well and they carried on about the menu, what was good, what we should try, etc. All of this was very handy, as nobody there spoke any English. French, yes. Mandarin, yes. English, no. We could have gotten by on our limited French (Marissa's is actually pretty good) but I doubt we would have been able to do nearly as well.
By the way, I would say this was French food. These are people who have moved to Paris and are making a living serving food to Parisians. They prepare it with care and they serve it with pride. I can't think of anything more French than that.
Much of the fun of traveling is seeing what a place is like outside of the tourist spots. Definitely, definitely, definitely visit the Louvre and The Arc de Triomphe, and the hundreds of other wonderful Parisian highlights. But don't forget to visit a part of town where people actually live everyday lives and work and think about paying the bills - and if you can get fabulous handmade dumplings and a big bowl of tasty noodles while you are it, all the better.
