steak-frites

Believe it or not (mom and dad), I had my favorite meal in Paris last night and it was steak-frites. I'm not a red meat eater so this is a big, big deal for me. My friend John took me to his favorite restaurant in all of Paris: Relais d'Entrecote. He told me that they had the best steak-frites in Paris so I'd been physcing myself up all week to at least try some steak-frites while I am in here. I was ready to order the steak, but not prepared for the fact that there was no menu, steak-frites is literally the only thing they have. So upon sitting down John asked me how I like my steak, I said VERY well done, of course and he said right, bien cuille (a French term I have never had to use due to my lack of meat eating). So the waitress came and took our meet temperature order and then brought us the salad that comes with the meal: lettuce, dijon dressing, and chopped walnuts. I joked that I would have been happy with the salad alone. Every other salad I've had here has been garnished with balsamic and olive oil so I was REALLY ready for a change in dressing. After the salad came the steak-frites, they didn't look too fancy but it was amazing. Entrecote cooks and serves the steak in a pesto-mustard sauce which is even good on the fries. Just when we were about to finish the waitress brought out the other half of the steak and served us more fries (they do this so that it won't get cold while you're eating). I ate my entire steak (dad, you would have been so proud!) While eating our dessert of equally amazing profiteroles for John and creme brule for me the older ladies sitting next to us leaned over and informed us that this was their 2nd time to the restaurant in the 5 days they'd been in Paris - that's how good it is! I am already wanting to go back, but unfortunately my budget won't allow that for a while.... The restaurant itself is in the Saint-Germain de Pres area, and lucky for us we didn't have to wait but as we were leaving at 9pm there was a line all the way down the road. The simple, homey, and very French atmosphere and AMAZING food is well loved in Paris...it's the kind of place that people only know about from either being a Parisian or from a friend's recommendation. I feel privileged to have been passed the secret and I plan to take everybody who visits me in Paris to this amazing find!

Aside from that exciting night not much else has happened! Me and my four best friends here book our plane flights for fall break to Italy - it was an exciting and stressful event, as we are dealing with 5 different opinions and 5 very small budgets! I plan to take advantage of the AMAZING weather we are having in Paris this weekend do a lot of outdoor sightseeing...

P.S. - I had every intention to take a picture of my fabulous steak feast but got so engrossed in the food that I forgot....next time!