Had to do some errands at Galeries Lafayette yesterday. Boy was it crowded! Lots and lots of Chinese and Middle Eastern tourists. It was the Ascension holiday, which means that a lot of people take four-day weekends. Basically it's hard to get much work done in Paris in May, what with the May Day (i.e. Labor Day), V-E Day, Ascension and Pentecost holidays, which are often combined with a weekend apiece. A nice run-up to the summer, especially if the weather is good.
I didn't have any milk and decided to get some at the gourmet store at Galeries Lafayette instead of making yet another stop on my way home. But of course, everything looked so good. An hour later, I got in the elevator with several other people. Everyone was in a good mood because of the holiday. We smiled at each other.
"I came in to get one or two things," I said, gesturing at my two full bags.
"I came in for cheese," said the man next to me. He had a grocery cart full.
"Even better," said another woman with a grocery cart. "I wasn't planning to go to the Galeries at all."
Mmm. The best tarte citron* I've ever tasted in Paris comes from the Japanese pâtisserie Sadaharu Aoki at Galeries Gourmet.
*Mine did not have any chocolate taste in it! S.A. must have changed the recipe.
