The Crepe Lovers

The crepe lovers are my dad and stepmom who arrived my second to last Thursday in Paris. They were quite jet lagged on their first day, but when I met them Friday night after a long day of work they were rested and ready for their street crepe experience.

I had hoped to leave work early that day, however, I was finishing up a report that took longer than expected, and I had taken a long lunch to get a pedicure. Not the easiest thing to find in France as pedicures are expensive and most French women buff and polish their own toes. But, I passed by a nail salon on the way to work, took down the number and made an appointment for lunch. It was very similar to an American pedicure except the lady didn't speak any English....ok, it was exactly like an American pedicure....

So, back to the point of my story... I met my parents in St. Michel for a crepe dinner and a drink. They had eaten a (cafe) crepe the day before and were already hooked - another set of American crepe lovers were born, but they hadn't yet tasted the real deal. I took them to my favorite crepe guy in St Michel, and we dined on street crepes which were fantastic. I think out of all my guests they enjoyed their crepes the most. Then, I took them to the infamous Piano Bar where we drank wine and listened to the regaling tunes of Pianoman Chris. A good night of sleep had left my parents in much better spirits, and I managed to keep them out until almost 2 am. The late setting sun in Paris helped. In the summer it doesn't go dark until almost 11, leaving you feeling like it's 6 pm when its actually 9 or 10 pm. Trippy.

Saturday morning we started our day with some good old-fashioned museum touristing. Yes, it's appalling, I had been in Paris for 4 months, and the only museum I had been to was the Centre Pompidou. However, I decided to end my strike against the tourism industry and visit not one, but two touristy attractions. First, we went to the Grand Palais to see the Andy Warhol Exhibition. The exhibition was focused on his work with portraits - no Campbell's Soup cans for you Campbell's lovers, but it was incredibly interesting. After the modern art we headed for something a little more traditional and well known...the Louvre. I was slightly hesitant to visit the Louvre on a Saturday holiday weekend as I expected it to be filled with tourists widely swinging their camera lenses this way and that, trampling each other to get that perfect shot of the Mona Lisa. This was not the case. At least not at first. We entered the Louvre at the Porte de Lions entrance and there was NO LINE. Not one person. C'est pas possible, I said! No line at the Louvre on a Saturday...holiday weekend...in May...and it was raining outside. How we stumbled upon an unknown side entrance is beyond me, but we were able to enter with ease and make our way through the museum. Once we got to the Mona Lisa the tourists and crowds appeared, but we were already inside so it didn't matter as much.

Everyone says it, and I'm going to say it here. I don't see the big deal about the Mona Lisa. It's a tiny painting of a homely women who is smirking. I understand her face is perfectly symmetrical, and there is ''mystery'' behind the smile, but it doesn't move me like a Van Gogh or interest me like a Warhol. The Louvre in general I find to be massive, confusing and slightly boring. Fortunately, I think my parents felt the same way, and we managed to finish our art history lesson in under three hours. Just in time for dinner. I took them to Rue Montparnasse - the street of creperies I discovered when Stephanie was visiting - so they could taste the crepes at Creperie Josselin. Although I love a good off-the-street jambon and fromage crepe, these fancy restaurant crepes with their delicious ingredients were a welcome change. I would especially recommend the melt-in-your-mouth salted butter toffee crepe...

After dinner we went for a French movie...well, an American movie with French subtitles. We watched ''Night at the Museum'' which was the perfect movie to end our day. Not only was Napoleon a character, but so was the giant head statue from Easter Island which we had seen at the Louvre.