A Visit to Yakland & Other Stuff

We decided to give the Tibetan Restaurant a try.

Expanding onto the sidewalk is very common in Paris because the sidewalks are very wide.  (In some places, cars can park.)  The bars usually make it an outdoor space while the restos enclose it.           

     


See!  It really is Yakland.

Susanne just wanted a salad, I ordered a three course meal.  Her salad on top, the nicer one with tomatoes.  Instead of tomatoes, I got rice vermicelli.

The dressing was the standard French oil & vinegar with sprinkled sesame seeds.  It was heavier on the vinegar, no other seasonings added.  Bland, which turned out to be the theme of the meal.

All these dishes BTW have Tibetan names.

My main course was steamed beef-filled dumplings.  My first thought was "only four?" until Susanne pointed out a second basket below with four more.

The tomato based sauce, served cold, with an ever-so-mild cumin background flavor.  Again, kinda bland, as were the dumplings. 

I would've liked maybe four dumplings plus a small serving of another Tibetan main dish.

Dessert was yoghurt with honey & sesame seeds, partager.

Excellent.  Susanne loves the yoghurt here, sweet & smooth, not at all tart.

I don't always translate the French words I toss in.You can go to:

<http://translate.google.com/>

for a word or a phrase.  But for a paragraph or more, the translation can be pretty grim.  I joined a FB group here for the illegal milongas (the only way they're announced), all in French  The time/place stuff is easy to decode.  But translating the comments is pretty grim.  Try this for size:

"Very pleased to have relived a hardback milonga, after all these years. Thanks all, I confess that it is my milongas favorite, perhaps because they involve everyone, each responsible for the implementation of its small piece of cardboard. And above all, a hardcover soil remains one of the best soils that is: uneven, certainly, but slippery and soft as a carpet. Thank you all! (Translated by Bing)"

I would say "Mis-translated by Bing".  Again, I digress.

 

We were the first customers of the evening.  A bit later a group of four arrived and that was it for our whole meal.

Contrast that with A La Biche au Bois, empty cuz we like to arrive early, but jammed by the time we leave.

 A shrine against one wall.
















As we were leaving & stepping onto the sidewalk, another tourist couple was strolling by restaurant shopping.  They asked what we thought.  We said it was good, but not worth coming back to.  That's all they needed as they thanked us & moved on.

Moving along...

Our apartment has a new feature this year, an automatic trash can.  Approach it with poubelle, the lid pops up, drop it in & the lid shuts.  Why, in the land of sky high electricity costs the landlord would install a vampire appliance, well I guess his tenants come first.  

A bonus...any time you are feeling low & need some respect, just walk by & it salutes you.   









Today we took the bus to Gare St. Lazare to see the new shopping mall   It turned out to be  a bust because about half the shops were the same as the U.S.  Here are some pics, no particular order or theme.

The big advantage of the bus is that a they throw in a street tour of Paris at no extra charge.  It's hard to take photos because of the window reflections & things go by quickly.

Here is an obvious casualty of the Syrian uprising.

That's our bus reflected in the window.











Great photos are often the luck of the draw.  Couples kiss alot in Paris.  It's hard to take a photo unless the camera is out and ready cuz the kiss doesn't last that long.  Here's a far less than great kiss photo because just as I was ready to snap the pic, the man on the left, black shirt/jeans passed in front of me & when the shot was clear, it was over, mostly.

 











On the way to the Gare, the bus passed in front of l'Opera Garnier as they call the old opera.  Here is a shot hastily taken & thus poorly composed.  The window smudges are included at no extra charge.  Of the five composers grouped on the right, Beethoven is 2nd from left & Mozart is 3rd from left.  Can't read the others.

 

We walked back to our bus stop & passed the Opera House again.  Couldn't get a decent overall shot because it is under exterior renovation...sandblasting & such.    Here are some details.

Crowning the very top is a guy (obviously) holding up a lute.  His younger brother is perched atop the Bastille column, similarly (un)dressed.  The lady below must be the happy lookout judging from her tiny smile.

Susanne liked this big old bald eagle.  An American symbol in Paris.













 

Here is part of one side with busts of some semi-famous composers.  The famous ones (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven) are on the front.  There's Lute Man on top.










We stopped for lunch at an ordinary restaurant frequented by those who work nearby.  As far as I could tell, we were the only tourists...it was loud & busy.  We wanted something light & cold, it was going to be 91 degrees today.  We both ordered a cold chicken plate with a salad (aka crudites) & potatoes.  We were amazed how that hit the spot...not at all fancy or gourmet, but one of the more appreciated meals we've had.

Getting an interior shot of the place was challenging because my point-and-shoot doesn't have much of a wide angle lens.  Most Parisian bar/restos have tables for two that are separated (by only an inch or two) or shoved together for groups.  This shot features the two guys very next to us. (We shared the water pitcher.) The fellow in black is being served by the only server there.  And boy, did she hustle!  Constantly in motion.  The place was jammed when we arrived shortly after 1pm & cleared out promptly at 2pm.