But the ultimate meal, and it was good enough for me to send my characters Hugo and Claudia there on a date, was at Il Vino on Boulevard de la Tour-Maubourg. The best because the vegetarian meal they prepared for my wife was as good as, if not better, than my own fabulous four courses. And again, fun service with the waiter taking great delight in making us guess each of the different wines he served us with each course.
Paris is more than food and the famous sights we all know about (and the wonder of them all being so close, so walkable!) The thing about Paris is that you can find havens of peace amid the pomp and glamor.
Step one way and be in the mix, eyeing the stunning Louvre before walking five minutes to a place of peace and quiet like the Jardin de l’Hôtel de Sens, where you can sit on a park bench and watch the pigeons, and the clouds.
Even places like the American Library in Paris can surprise. An unassuming frontage, yes, the usual rows of book shelves, of course, but did you know, the place has a secret door? Oh yes, and it’s to be found in the basement, a place that has its own delightfully eerie ambience.
There is one secret magnet in Paris for me, though, the place my wife and I know to meet if phones are lost and rendez-vous missed. It’s a spot that gives us a choice of two cafés, a place where three beautiful streets come together, funneling tourists and locals past as you watch and sip coffee. I won’t tell you where exactly, except that it’s in the Sixth Arrondissment, I can’t because it’s mine. Ours.
Well, maybe I will if you ask nicely.
After all, Paris is love, and love is for sharing...
WIN A COPY OF THE PARIS LIBRIARIAN BY MARK PRYOR - SEE PAGE 78
The secret garden of the Hotel de Sens, a medieval palace where a Queen once lived. The palace is now home to a library and art gallery - Bibliotheque Forney. it's undergoing renovation and re-opens February 2017. You'll find it not far from Notre Dame, at 1 rue du Figuier