Last Sunday, taking a cue from the Vegan Paris blog, I hit up the Raspail Organic Market that is held every Sunday.
The fresh fruits and vegetable stalls were so diverse and vibrant, but also very expensive. I honestly can't image getting all my groceries from this organic market because I would be so broke!
There were so many incredible vegan things that I wanted to buy, that I walked up and down the market several times to carefully decide what I wanted to spend my dwindling amount of cash on. I've always been an indecisive person, and when I have too many vegan options set in front of me, I just don't know what to do with myself .
First, I bought an English breakfast muffin from this one bakery/pastry stall. I asked about their other pastries on display (muffins, cookies, etc), and while some were made with soy milk, they weren't vegan because they also included eggs.
But then I found this other bakery vendor with vegan croissants and fruit & nut bread!
It probably would've been more 'French' of me to get the croissant, but the fruit & nut bun looked so sticky-good that I went with that instead.
In addition to food, there were also loads of non-edible products, such as clothing, flowers, and beauty products such as these vegetable soaps.
I also saw some of the same vendors that I saw at the other organic market on Batignolles, including the vegan pie and vegan crepe sellers. I got one of their steaming hot chickpea pancakes with creamy basil sauce on top, to enjoy while walking around the market, which was pretty fantastic.
I also couldn't resist getting a slice of savory pie because I enjoyed the lentil pie last time so much.
This time, I went with their mushroom pie with some kind of melty cheese on top, which the lady said was vegan. However, I'm rather skeptical because it tasted so much like real cheese! Did she understand my French properly? Can vegan cheese really taste that authentic? hehe...
Anyway, I took my loot to the Luxembourg gardens nearby and had myself a wonderful outdoor lunch.
Since it was Sunday, I also visited the American Church in Paris and sat in on their contemporary service in the afternoon. It felt weirdly familiar, kind of like the church I used to go to in PA.
While heading back to the apartment, this loooong parade of hundreds of rollerbladers came down the street! It wasn't a race or anything, they were just rollerblading... for fun. And I thought rollerblading was dead after the 90's.
Then on Monday, I visited the Père Lachaise Cemetery! I'm not sure what compelled me to visit a cemetery of all places, but the thought of seeing the resting places of some of the great artists and thinkers was quite intriguing.
The cemetery was truly impressive. One might think that it would be a like a scene from a Halloween movie or 'Thriller,' but actually, it was all quite beautiful.
Each tombstone and grave was unique in form and size that it was like walking through a literal village of the dead, with miniature houses and villas.
Some of the famous grave sites that I found to pay my respects to were that of Eugene Delacroix, Theadore Gericault, and Jim Morrison (these three are pictured above), as well as Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust, and Chopin.
Next, I headed to the Place de Vosges where there were lots of young people hanging around, suntanning in bikini tops and picnicking on the grassy lawn. The weather was scorching hot! The temperatures during my trip have been totally spastic, going from 60F all the way to 95F and above today! Such a drastic jump. I was shivering cold last week and now I'm getting roasted.
There on a shaded bench, I had myself a light lunch that I put together before heading out. I packed a sandwich using the English breakfast muffin from the Raspail Organic market, some 'Tartex' vegan pate, two slices of smoked 'Wheaty' deli meat slices, some greens and tomato slices.
The English breakfast muffin was much larger than your average store-bought one, and it was nice and dense with plenty of gritty texture on the outside. The deli slices felt a little rubbery when eaten on their own, but they were perfect when added to the sandwich.
After hanging out at Place de Vosges and reading, I walked towards Bastille and ran into yet another health food store called "Naturalia." I really need to stop finding these shops because I always end up buying stuff, and I'm sure you guys are getting sick of seeing grocery store photos!
Like all the other places, this one had numerous different nondairy milks (including quinoa, sesame, and spelt milk!), various vegan cheesy spreads, and tofu products. With so many of these health-food and biologique shops, being vegan in Paris is seriously so much easier than I expected.
The other day, I also went out for a jog! Just because I'm on vacation, doesn't mean I should neglect my fitness, right? I've gone on two runs now, and I've gotten to know the layout of Paris a lot better, just by going through the smaller streets and residential areas. Even though I don't know all the streets and directions, I've found that all I have to do is spot the pointy Eiffel Tower which is visible from my friend's apartment, and then run in that direction. I took my old digital camera with me to snap these pics of the Eiffel Tower along the way.
Paris is actually surprisingly small (I think much smaller than Seoul) and it doesn't take long to get from one point to the other. And even if I do get a bit lost, I always seem to find my way again just by checking the maps by the metro or bus stations. Infact, I think the hardest part about running here isn't navigating the roads, but it's actually side-stepping all the dog turds that decorate the sidewalks. I guess Parisians don't pick up after their dogs. I had wanted to run earlier during my trip, but for a long time, the weather was pretty cold and drizzly, and after almost 2 weeks since my last run in Korea, I was positively itching to get moving. Thankfully, the skies have cleared up and it is summer temperatures now. Another great thing about running here is that since it's summer, the sun doesn't go down until 10pm! So even though I went out around 8:30pm, it will still plenty-bright (and safe) and there were loads of people out and about, especially by the Eiffel Tower.
In addition to running, I've also done a few P90x workout DVDs that I loaded onto my laptop! They were a good backup workout when the weather was too rainy for running. Even my sister joined me on one of them. It was pretty funny jumping around, kicking, and doing squats with my sister in the hotel room. I hope we didn't cause too much of a racket for the guests below us...
Well, so now my blog is all caught up to today, which is my LAST day here before I head back to Seoul! Me so sad... I hope to fit in as many things as I can in the next 24 hours, so I better skedaddle!