Paris – late night snacking

During the last few nights of our stay in Paris, our friends Katiana and Jason, who are both French and live in France, hung out with us and allowed us to experience, and understand, French eating culture a bit more in-depth. You can get by in Paris with very little or no French at all, but nothing beats local knowledge. From what we experienced, dining out is not to be rushed, it’s to be enjoyed and savoured. We were just getting a late night snack at about 1 in the morning, but started with bread on the table and an apéritif called Pastis, an aniseed flavoured liqueur that’s about 40 % alcohol, which you dilute with water. Next was a bottle of white wine, and a croque-madame – a ham and cheese toastie with a fried egg on top, and Crème brûlée for dessert. I love that dessert is not really optional, but totally expected. Dessert with every meal from now on!