Lunch in Belleville

Lunch in Belleville is a very, very good idea. If you are anything like me and cannot go five days without some sort of Asian cuisine, Belleville is like a haven of delicious goodness waiting to be discovered.

We took the metro down (up?) to Belleville after our morning class and clutched each others' sheepskin coats in anticipation of the food and treats to come, much to the dismay of our confused fellow metro users. Unlike the first time, today we knew exactly what street we were searching for. We walked down the street holding our breath. You know when you are looking forward to something and want it so badly that you just cannot help but think up all of the saddest/most disappointing scenarios associated with what you await? Well we walked down the street holding our breath, for what if--god forbid--Tin Tin was closed on Wednesdays?

About twenty seconds later we found that it was, indeed, closed on Wednesdays. Nearing heartbreak, we soon recovered our breath when we realized we were, after all, in Belleville, which meant we were surrounded by endless choices of delicious eats. We went a few dozen feet back up the block and settled on Restaurant Da Lat because 1) we were too hungry to walk farther, and b) it was very full, which in food lover language is a very good indication of the restaurant's quality.

We were not let down. I ordered a Thai-style chicken curry soup with a side of rice (what's better than rice in curry soup?) and a Vietnamese iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk. It was by far one of the most satisfying meals I had eaten in Paris. It gave me the warmest soup belly ever. The only way I was going to be more content was after I ate dessert.

We walked to a bakery across the street (bakeries in Belleville are way cheaper than most anywhere else in Paris) and I got a nutella filled beignet (like a donut). It was beyond good. As I had been given no napkin, I had no choice but to use the residue of oil and powdered sugar on my fingers as hand lotion.

After this unbelievably successful lunch outing (see--sometimes the closing of one restaurant is a blessing in disguise. . am I deep or what?) I decided to stick around and explore the immediate surrounding area. I walked through a street market that specialized in literally anything. I saw combs, remote controls, stuffed Pikachus, and cheese. That's right, cheese. (I saw Compte, specifically.) After managing to escape the inexplicable crowd of the "market," I happened to walk down the coolest street in all of Belleville, maybe even all of Paris. It was absolutely cloaked in graffiti and street art. here were a few of my favorites:

Kooky and stunning, right?