by Wendy
Sunday passed in a jet lag fog, with the Roissy bus from the airport, sleepy walk around the neighborhood, settling in our hotel, slightly dazed dinner and early bedtime. Monday we woke a little more alert and very hungry. We wandered a few blocks to a place we spotted the evening before, Cafe Dalayrac, to order petit dejeuner, or breakfast.

It was a gorgeous day around 11am, and we sat on the border of outside/inside seating so we could watch the street scene and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. The basic petit dejeuner a la francaise is about 7 euros: boisson chaude (hot drink like coffee, tea or hot chocolate), une viennoiserie ou tartine (either a croissant pastry or bread with butter and jam), and jus d’orange (orange juice). For another 7 euros, you have petit dejeuner anglais, with an added dish of 2 oeufs au choix (eggs of your choice): au plat (fried sunny side up), brouilles (scrambled), or omelette. We opted for the anglais, which was delicious, and thus began our fond friendship with Cafe Dalayrac.

We visited Cafe Dalayrac no less than four times during our week in Paris.

The same place four times? you ask. Oh, definitely! Cafes are a part of daily life in Paris, and we loved having a local favorite. It was comforting in its familiarity and the food was reliably great, reasonably priced.

Paris has so many restaurants, from haute cuisine to fast food, and representing many styles of cooking from around the globe. But the cafe culture of Paris has always seemed special to me. Stop for cafe au lait, or have a leisurely breakfast. Take a seat in the row of chairs facing the street and drink a glass of wine or beer. Split a giant cheese plate with your travel companions and try to figure out why bread and butter can taste so much fresher and more flavorful in France. Sit in a cozy booth or elbow to elbow at tables crowded with Parisians and tourists during the busy dinner hours – request a non-fumeur area if cigarette smoke is bothersome.

We tended to lose track of time in the evenings, so we had a couple of late dinners at Cafe Dalayrac – including one around 11pm after taking the train back from a day at Disneyland Paris. My brother-in-law Jimmy loved the salmon dishes, my niece MJ loved the sweet slightly fried chicken dish, my sis Sunny loved the croque monsieur (more on this treasured sandwich in a moment), I loved the French onion soup and salad with beets, apples, grapes and toasted goat cheese. We all loved the deserts. And we all loved the frites.

French fries in France are fabulous. Really. Enjoy them with chicken, steak, burgers and sandwiches. Cafe Dalayrac served a beautiful basket of frites with many dishes, including the jambon (ham) and fromage (cheese) omelette I had for brunch on our last full day in Paris.

At the top of your list of foods to eat in Paris should probably be the croque monsieur sandwich – I think all of us ordered this at least once, in various cafes. It’s essentially a ham and cheese melt. If you’d like a fried egg on top, it’s called the croque madame. I also tried a croque poulet, which is made with chicken slices instead of ham. The traditional beauty pictured above was from the stylish Vesuvio brasserie on the Champs-Elysees.

Feeling like pizza? Pas de probleme. Many cafes serve pizza, and we loved the pies at Cafe de Paris, not far from the Louvre. We went there twice.

And don’t forget about ice cream, crepes and pastries in Paris (as if you would). This photo is from PAUL, a bakery founded in Northern France in 1889. We chose pain au chocolate, macaron cookie, fruit tart and eclair – in other words, the perfect afternoon snack. Luckily you can find PAUL cafes in many cities around the world, including Washington DC. Nice to know I can go there at home, when I’m feeling homesick for Paris.

Bon appetit!