champagne de Paris

Paris in the middle of August turns out not to be so bad - it's not too hot and the roads are very quiet so cycling is a lot of fun. Many of the best restaurants are closed, but lots of smaller places that cater for tourists and die-hard Parisians are still open, including chez Stella, close to the jardins du Palais Royal where we had lunch yesterday. The proprietress is really called Stella, the three course menu is 13 euros, a half litre of quite acceptable vin rouge du table costs 3,80 EUR, and when you ask for a carafe of tap water Stella shouts to her husband in the back for 'champagne de Paris'. The tiny 28-seat restaurant is decorated as if it were Stella's own front room, there is a fridge in the room with the special chalked on it and desserts are sliced and served from a sideboard by the door. There's no till and no card machine, all the cash goes in a draw in the writing desk in the corner. We had a salmon terrine, bavette (undercut) with onion sauce, chips and green beans, and for dessert, I had a chocolate cake and sam had a banana clafoutis. Both came with plenty of creme anglaise, which Stella was whipping up when we arrived. It was a lot of fun and an excellent rapport qualite prix for the quartier.