Le Premier Jour des Printemps!

It’s the first day of Spring (Printemps) and the Parisian tourists are celebrating with Free Macarons! Hundreds of study abroad students, foreign tourists, and well disguised French natives line up outside a dozen Pierre Herme shops scattered along Paris to pick up 3 amazing macarons…for FREE! We got a group of 5 and planted ourselves around the block at the end of the line. As we snaked our way up, we discussed the crazy flavor combos that we wanted to try:

Eden (pêche/peach, abricot & safran)
Magnifique (fraise/strawberry & wasabi)
Arabesque (abricot & pistache)
Huile d'olive & Vanille (olive oil & vanilla)

I ordered a Chocolat Chocolat, Arabesque, and a favorite of my Macaroniere (servers choice). It ended up to be a chocolate and nut combination. Perfect! I enjoyed my Macarons and headed off to the subway—I had big plans for the first day of Spring—while others continued on the Pierre Herme challenge. Pierre offers you a map of his stores and challenges Macaron lovers to visit every one, wait on line, take 3 macarons, and collect a stamp for your map. Macaron lovers that can visit all of the stores during the first day of spring will get a box of 58 free macarons at the last stop! This is obviously sugar crazed madness, but 3 BUers completed the challenge.

Not me though—I headed over to Pere Lachaise, the famous cemetery. It’s a huge cemetery with winding cobblestone pathways and giant headstones jumbled among the graves. Even with 2 maps, it was impossible to navigate but I was able to find some of the biggest celebrities of the 20th Arrondisement.

Classic French Finds: Seurat, Colette, Rossini, Delacroix
Highly decorated graves of: Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf

That night we met up at a bar called Footsie. The name is a play on words on FTSE, the London Stock Exchange. Above the bar, there are screens that display the current drink prices, but every 240 seconds the drink prices change based on demand. Wine goes up, beer goes down; should you wait to order your drink until the next round or demand an aperitif now? It really depends on what the person next to you is ordering!

Footsie
10 Rue Daunou
75002 Paris, France