Happily Homesick

Some mornings I wake up and can’t believe that I am living in Paris. On
other mornings I wake up and I cannot believe I am living in Paris.
Today I had one of those other mornings that started with a bad case of
homesickness in one of its various disguises. Instead of enjoying
another lazy day exploring the city I woke up craving pancakes, extra
crispy bacon and a cold glass of milk. None of which are readily
available in their true state for at least 1,000 miles. Don’t even ask
me how many kilometers. By noon my stomach had added chocolate chip
cookies, real ones, to its list of demands. Staring into my fridge and
opening and closing my kitchen cabinets was getting me nowhere. Since
feeling sorry for myself is only entertaining for a half an hour at
best, I eventually got around to doing something about my pathetic
situation.

First, I called up my expat
friends: an Aussie, a Canadian, a Brit and a Southern Cali gal, to find
out what they did when they found themselves in similar situations. And
I must apologize to them again for mentioning a painful topic. Still
their first suggestion about where I should go was rather rude. I do
understand though as some of them were suffering from a serious lack of
crumpets and barbecued salmon withdraw. Sadly, there is nothing in town
to assuage those cravings. However, with a stiff upper lip my British
friend did offer one tidbit. She mentioned that on some weekends she
dashes off to the nearest train station, picks up the enormous Sunday
edition of the Herald Tribune and spends the rest of the day at home,
curled up in her favorite chair with a good pot of tea and the paper.
Not a bad idea but my Californian friend has taken a more defensive
approach.

While her typical Southern Cali glow
makes it pretty obvious that she doesn’t have a drop of Latin American
blood in her, she has become the reining Queen of the Rio Grande—the
eastern tributary, at least. She has mastered her beloved Tex-Mex
favorites and demands that visiting friends and family from the US
refill her cupboard with all the necessary ingredients. So when I asked
her for her favorite Mexican resto in Paris, without a false sense of
modesty she proudly said, “Chez Moi!”

I
admire her sense of initiative and was inspired to try and make some
chocolate chip cookies. I started where any other homesick American in
Paris might—by logging on to download a good recipe, but then I had to
search for another site to convert the measurements into metric units.
That was only the start because my little experiment also meant calling
around town to figure out where in this city of lights a girl can get
some Nestlé’s chips. The end result … looked like something that had
splattered on the sidewalk after a very long drop. Luckily, I have
never been one to judge by looks alone because they tasted pretty darn
good.

However I did start looking around for
places that serve a little bit of home away from home. This is not at
all an affront to the croissants of Paris. And we all know that the
just the idea of a fresh, warm baguette has launched 1,000 planes.
Sometimes though, you just want to eat something familiar.

Breakfast in America
www.breakfasti-in-america.com (in English)
17, rue des Ecoles, 75005
Phone: 01-43-54-50-28
Métro: Cardinal Lemoine, line 10 or Jussieu, lines 7 and 10
You
can start and end your day here as they serve lunch, dinner and happy
hour drinks like Coronas till the early morning. Check out their
website for specific brunch and bar hours. And don’t forget your
college ID for Happy Hour discounts.

Not only
does this place give you the real diner feel in the middle of Paris,
with gleaming barstools and plenty of Americana memorabilia on the
walls, they also have pretty good pancakes. True, they don’t offer a
glass of cold milk to wash the flapjacks down but en revanche, they
understand the concept of a “bottomless cup a’ joe”.

Joe Allen Restaurant
www.joeallenparis.com/paris (in French and English)– still has prices listed in Francs or www.joeallenparis.com which requires plug-ins to view
30 rue Pierre Lescot, 75001
Phone: 01-42-36-70-13
Métro: Les Halles,  or Etienne Marcel, line 4
Dark,
wood-paneled interior, Marvin Gaye and Al Green playing in the
background, waiters and waitresses alike in white shirts and ties and
linen napkins. Must be Joe Allen. Open since 1972 this place offers a
classy alternative to the Hard Rock with a menu that includes the full
range of expected entrees from hamburgers and fries to barbecued ribs
with corn on the cob. Of course there’s the cheesecake with fresh
strawberries and apple crumble with a scoop of vanilla to tempt you
also. Sit on the terrace and people watch when the weather is nice or
stop by for brunch on the weekend. While you might not melt into your
seat from a feeling of overwhelming satisfactions, as the French like
to say, the food is correct.

DeliKate
67 rue D’Argout
Métro: Sentier, line 3, or a short walk from Étienne Marcel, line 4 and Les Halles
Open 10 to 7 during the week and 11 to 7 on Saturday.
Any
place that has PBJ on the menu is OK with me. (That’s peanut butter and
jelly for those of you born outside of the US of A.) Plus this homey
little deli, situated on one of the side streets in the Montorgueil,
neighborhood has everything else quintessentially American from TexMex
to bagels, brownies to cheese cake. You can even score a handful of
Oreo’s if you come on a good day. You’ve gotta love a place that where
you can watch MTV while catching up on the latest gossip in Vogue over
a BLT.

Bitter End
20 rue St. Pierre, St. Germain en Laye
Phone: 01-34-51-90-09
One
must go a little ways outside of Paris to find the best fish and chips
according to my British connection. This pub also offers a large beer
selection, televised rugby matches on big screens and occasionally live
music. Go for the food and stay for the fun crowd full of Brits.

Cafe Oz
www.cafe-oz.com (in French and English)
several locations including:
18, rue Saint Denis, 75001 (near rue Lombards)
Phone: 01-40-39-00-18
Métro: Châtelet

184, rue Saint Jacques, 75005 (near the Sorbonne)
Phone: 01-43-54-30-48
Some
might say that the best way to get decent Australian food in Paris is
to catch the train to London where you can find plenty of outback
homecookin’. If you aren’t ready to go to that extreme and you are
willing to look beyond Vegemite, then you might want to try either of
these bars. However they are better known for their beer selection, DJ
spun music, parties and lively international crowd then their authentic
Aussie tucker.  Word of caution, check the site if you must but it
is seriously outdated!

Groceries
For those of you desperate to do a little home cooking here are two must have addresses-

The Real McCoy
194, rue de Grenelle, 75007
Phone: 01.45.56.98.82
Métro: Latour-Maubourg, line 8
Open: 10-8pm 7 days a week
They have hundreds of US grocery items and home-made goodies.

Thanksgiving