Bistro des Lavandieres

The day we moved into our new apartment, we ate lunch at this bistro just a few doors down from our building... well, I ate lunch. He was "celebrating" Ramadan, so he couldn't even have a glass of water! At the server's recommendation, I ordered the Estouffade, the house specialty, a dish very much like pot roast, my favorite! I soon became a regular here and passed many delicious afternoons chatting with Beatrice, the server/owner, about the guests, her life and mine, and the challenges of owning a restaurant in Paris... she had been in advertising until the birth of her first child, and her husband was a pastry chef...







Mmmmmmm... steak frites! I never orderd this here, but everything I tasted was de-lish...







Unfortunately, they had to commute from the west outskirts of Paris for several years because the rent for an apartment above the restaurant was too high, and the geographically opposed responsibilities of parenting and running a business had proved too taxing... now they were in the process of closing the restaurant. Her husband would return to his pastry cheffing, and she was looking forward to where life would take her next.


At the end of October, her kids were on vacation and accompanying them to work. Their daughter Eponine wants to be a vet, so I promised to stop by with Filou.



Cute, no? I love her tie! The American couple sitting behind her gave her and her brother dollar bills and took several pictures of the two, inspiring me to do the same... take pictures, that is. Aren't you glad they did? It's always an out-of-the-moment experience to get behind the camera...



... Oh, and of Napoleon, their "chat de garde."


I wonder who's fending off the mice now...





...now that the windows are all painted white, and the dishes and wine glasses and kitchenwares have all been taken away.