(Paris, France)

After our lengthy walk through the Latin Quarter, we were suffering from a little bit of big city fatigue.  Rather than trying to find the “ultimate” Parisian restaurant, we decided to eat our final Parisian meal within a 5 minute walk of our Montparnasse hotel.  I did some quick online research, located a few “candidate” restaurants, and created a brief tour.  We agreed that we would eat at the first restaurant with that certain “je ne sais quoi“.

Much to our surprise, the winner of our random dining walk was “Aquarius”, a vegetarian/vegan restaurant on rue de Gergovie.  While I doubt that vegetarian dining is the first thing you think of when you think of dining in Paris, it turned out to be a restaurant with a long history.

I went for a Moroccan couscous plate, while my wife went for lasagna.  Even the beverages were a little different:  we had certified organic cider!  Our main courses looked great.  While I enjoyed the couscous, my wife thought that her lasagna was the best she had ever tasted…vegetarian or otherwise!

The patron was fascinated with the arrival of Canadians in his restaurant, and spent quite a bit of time talking proudly about vegetarian cuisine generally and his restaurant in particular. It was the kind of personal connection that we hadn’t expected to find in such a big city.

In retrospect, however, I think it all makes sense.   The back streets of Montparnasse simply don’t see the tourist crush one sees in more fashionable parts of Paris.  Restaurants here need repeat local business in order to survive.  You get that through good food and connecting with your clientele.

To celebrate our dining victory, we strolled around our new favourite Parisian neighbourhood.  There were fresh fruit and vegetable markets (see photo at the top of this post), independent bakeries, and tiny shops specializing in the smallest of niches.  The restaurants were from all over the world, reminding me a little bit of Toronto neighbourhoods such as Kensington Market.   It was an unexpected connection to home, in an obscure corner of the City of Light.

The last day of a long holiday can sometimes be sad.  I’ve often tried to cram as much uniqueness as possible into that day, in anticipation of less exciting days ahead.  But there was something different about this day in France.

From Rouen to Montparnasse, we had enjoyed living like locals more than on some previous trips.  Sure, we were about to go home, but there are unique niche shops and restaurants like Aquarius everywhere…even in the small city we call home.