Somewhat to my surprise, I was able to change my flight home, so instead of stopping and changing planes in Washington, I took the non-stop from Paris to San Francisco. This meant getting up a bit earlier than I would have otherwise, and doing without a trip to the fitness center this morning, but it also meant getting home about 6 hours earlier — which is always a good idea.

I expected to eat breakfast in the hotel this morning — but at the last minute, I couldn’t bring myself to spend 23 Euros when I wasn’t all that hungry. It was too early to try the 7 Euro croissant and coffee in the bar, so I went out anyway, and found a bakery nearby which opened just as I got there at 7am. I had coffee and croissants and spent a little less than I would have in the bar, but at least I got a bit of exercise in the bargain.

The trip home was uneventful, which is just the way I like it. Now, all I have to do is stay up for a few more hours so I can get adjusted to Pacific time.

Shabbat Shalom!

Somewhat to my surprise, one of my colleagues asked me tonight if I was serious about going to Rue de Rosiers and eating falafel — I thought about it for a few seconds and decided that shwarma last night didn’t mean I couldn’t have falafel tonight, and said “yes”.

So we bought zone 3 tickets (1.90 Euros instead of 1.30 for zone 1) and took the Metro to St. Paul. Then we wandered around the area for a bit, checking out some shops (but not buying anything), before heading to the proper street for dinner.

There were lots of restaurants to choose from; finally, I succumbed to the lure of the “Artisanal Pita” sign on Mi-Va-Mi (which also got a good review from Megnut), and we sat down for a repast. Doug had the deluxe shwarma plate; I had a simple falafel sandwich (very good, though I didn’t see anything fantastic about the pita); and we split a half-bottle of Kosher L’Pesach Bordeaux. Nice and cheap.

I was still a little hungry and in a mood to do some comparison eating, so then I went to L’As du Fallafel and had another falafel. Yummy, but I’d have to say Mi-Va-Mi was a little bit better (though slightly more expensive).