Paris street food

Who loves crepes? I for one, certainly do. What about sugar waffles? I like those too. How about Doner Kebabs? Count me in. Street side cafes with any manner of delicious coffee, wine, beer, and artisinal lemonade? Often serving beef tartar, shell fish, and small sandwiches, graced at times with offal? Oh yes, can I have more?

India and the rest of Asia have quite an excellent tradition of street food. They have some extremely tasty morsels to be had, whereas the west generally frowns upon "street food." I'm here to say, SHAME ON US ALL for thinking that way. I remember one of the best things about Philadelphia was the abundance of food trucks. Those delicious greasy feast halls which are kitchens on wheels and covering every square inch of university campuses in the philly area are nothing at which to scoff!

So it is in Paris. Not everything mentioned above is actually "Street food" as we might classify it, but to be completely and utterly fair, most of it is, and I'll count the street side cafe.

In my attempts to see a more authentic paris and be away from tourists (when possible) I went to the Les Halles. Apparently the Les Halles were formerly a series and huge market stands selling anything that could be bought in Paris at the time. Also, because of all the food sold there, I'm to understand it was teeming with rats.

Well, now, it is no longer teeming with rats. Not visible ones anyone. That's right, invisible rats! Or at least a plethora of them have moved back underground. The les halles is currently a large shopping area with a beautiful fountain in the center. It is fairly close to the Notre Dame and also houses a few monuments which are odd in shape, and odder in location. In any case, amongst the shops, monuments, and lovers hanging out at the Les Halles, you'll also find some DAMN good street food. Les Crepes du jambon, fromage, et l'ouef. Oh my many gods, I haven't had a crepe that good since I lived in Philly. Ham, egg, and cheese. How can you go wrong? (Vegetarians excluded from this portion of the conversation). After one crepe, I decided is was good enough to have a second for dessert. I went with Nutella and banana for the second offering. Good stuff. What's that? Waffles for second dessert? Alright!

So, after stuffing my face full of goodness I take a little tour around the Les halles and allow myself ample time to get ready for more food. Well, I failed a little. In no more than 15 minutes I ran across a wine bar serving beef tartar. It was all over. That was the end of that afternoon. Lunch, then second lunch. I felt like a little hobit. I had to wait for dinner for hours and hours just to make sure I didn't eat myself into a frenzy (dangerously close).

A few days later... That's right Doner Kebab crepes. Oh my, if there were ever anything so devilishly good in the world, it would be truly hard to beat the idea of shawarma IN A CREPE! That is a disturbingly good idea.