Merci

Yay,  I finally made it to Merci, Paris's coolest, three story lifestyle concept store located in the upper Marias. If you read fashion magazines, newspapers, blogs then you know that you cannot miss a visit to Merci if you are in Paris. The store did not disappoint. An eclectic and ever changing mix of Fashion ,Kitchen, garden, lighting, furniture, stationary, books, and 3 cafes, so you can do spend the entire day and have breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Loved it.  Shopped, drank tea, people watched and then went back again two days later.

http://fashionpost.jp/travel/13019?lang=en

Merci

111, boulevard Beaumarchais, third.

Merci-merci.com

Paris

You can't go to Paris and not drink hot chocolate.  There are some really famous, beautiful and amazing places to get the stuff but we were cold and wet and this place looked pretty cool. They had heaters and furry blankets outside so even though we were cold and wet and it would have been great to be cozy and warm inside, we chose to sit outside. All the better to people watch of course.

I don't know about anywhere else but when you order hot chocolate in paris,  You don't just get a cup of it dropped in front of you.  You get a small cup of super thick melted chocolate,  a cup of hot frothed milk, a glass of water and a small piece of caramel ( to add a little flavor to your drink)

Then it is up to you to put it together.  I prefer less chocolate and more milk and yes the piece a caramel adds a little something, something. I just eat the leftover chocolate with a spoon.  so good

We loved him! Don't let anyone tell you the french are not nice people. 

There was a group of french girls sitting next to us drinking wine wrapped up in the faux fur blankets.  I was wishing my gal pals at that moment.

Eat here-- Dishoom, shoreditch

One of the best food experiences on our most recent visit to London was a night at Dishoom.(I took horrible photos but it doesn't matter, when I look back on this in the future, It will spark my memory of how much fun we had that night and how much I enjoyed the food). 

 Since the second largest population of Indian people reside in London I thought it would be the best place outside of India  to give it a try.
  Dishoom has been modeled after the Bombay Cafes that flourished in the Indian city during the 1960's. We missed our reservation due to getting lost, and since it is quite the hot spot we had a 2 hour (yup) or so wait but it was well worth it, the first part of the wait was outside in the cold but there was a constant flow of complimentary Chai or Mint tea drinks coming from the kitchen to keep us warm. 

The second part of the wait was in the bar area where we struck up conversations with other people, drank  munched on appetizers and did some serious people watching.

 The crowd was super diverse and the vibe emanates the faded elegance of old Bombay.  It was worth the visit for the decor alone. The food was fantastic and again worth all the waiting.  We will definitely be return to Dishoom on future visits to London.

I am still fantasizing about the calamari and the three dips shown above.  Every restaurant on the planet does calamari but these were the best I have ever eaten. Absolutely fantastic

  the house chai –  a chocolate one, a naughty chai (dark chocolate syrup, chocolate shavings, Bourbon and chai) and   one laced with Bailey’s ideal on any cold day or night.

Dishroom menu