A trip… on the… Paris RER…

An old… friend…

From our… London days…

Was meeting us… at her local internet café close to where she works… in the 13th arrondissement… on the edge of Paris.

We hurriedly jumped on the train… which took us straight to our destination.

The… Paris RER… “Réseau Express Régional“…

Is… awesome… not pretty…

It’s a huge and powerful machine… a rapid transit system… that connects Paris efficiently to the outskirts and suburbs of the city.  Arriving at lunchtime… (during our friend’s lunch-break)… we are met by our dear friend… and escorted to her favourite haunt in the area…

The… Arobase Café…

A quaint little place… with tables and chairs pleasantly dispersed inside the cosy room which leads to a pleasant “térrace”…

A friendly bar… with a huge blackboard informing the regulars… and the not so regular clients… of the day’s menu…

The place specialises in… bagels… which reminded us of the bagels we sampled in the dazzling city of… New York.

We ordered the sesame and poppy seed sprinkled bagels… filled with aubergine, courgettes, hummous, and dried tomatoes… which arrived piping hot to our round wooden table… in little adorable baskets… accompanied by a fresh green salad with baby balls of “chèvre”.

Catching up with our news… and discussing the French elections – which has been the prominent topic… or… “sujet de discussion”… everywhere… be it in… “le journal du jour”… covers of magazines… French as well as international … and off course on every conceivable local TV channel… as well as the international…

Our friend… who is a local and a regular at this very pleasant establishment… highly recommended the desserts… which were unforgettable… with hot pots of aromatic tea accompanied by a pot of cream… followed by a truly delectable “crumble” tart… made outstanding by the addition of a layer of white chocolate between the layers of crumbly dough… raspberries… and crushed almonds…

Never has… the humble crumble… been more delicious.

We also sampled… the pecan pie… and the very American cheesecake… all were brilliant.

Having solved… the urgent and dire problems of the planet…

We bid our friend goodbye and…

“À bientôt”…

Promising to repeat the… Paris RER… trip again…

“Très bientôt”…

a.