My friend from class, Dominique, and I met up late morning at Starbucks. There are only a handful of Starbucks scattered across the city. It certainly isn’t the hangout we’re familiar with back in the States, probably because the café culture is so prominent here. But there are a few families with children, the occasional pair of star-crossed lovers, and lots of gay men. We relax for a few minutes with our tea of coffee, taking in the fact that we’re living in Paris.

Our destination for today is Place de Madeline, a very nice shopping area on the Rive Droit (right bank) of Paris. Here we find all sorts of haute couture – Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Prada. Out of the corner of my eye I spy a Furla store and immediately make a b-line for the door. There a few designer brands that I particularly enjoy, and this is one of them. Furla is an Italian company who makes beautifully handcrafted purses. Since spring is just around the corner, all the purses are in creamy shades of pale blue, pink and yellow. A petite purse in robin’s egg blue catches my eye. It’s rather feminine, but I can’t resist. After all, won’t my brown over-the-shoulder purse be quite gauche once spring arrives?

Around the corner, we find a retail store for Maille  – some of the best Dijon mustard I’ve ever had. We duck into the store to see what they have on display. They carry 36 unique flavors of mustard, everything from apricot with curry to fig and coriander. It’s quite an amazing collection, so I take my time to read each description. I opt for one with garlic and lemon and another with fresh herbs. They’ll make nice accompaniments to the dishes from class.

Next stop is the shoe store. I had heard about this place from a friend of mine who just purchased several pairs. The shoes are fashionable yet extremely comfortable. You can actually walk in them rather than just wearing them to the car, the restaurant and back home. Dominique finds three pairs that she likes, while I settle on two – one pair of strappy black heals and one pair of orange and black walking shoes. I think my feet will be very happy.

Shopping bags in hand, we realize it’s time for lunch. Since we passed Maxim’s on the way, we go back and look at their café menu. There’s a chef at school who worked in the restaurant for most of his career, so we’ve all been wondering if he can help us get our internship here. Since this is like studying, we grab a table and are greeted by Pierre, our server who speaks both English and French.

We begin our meal with Kir Royals – Crème de Cassis in champagne. We haven’t eaten most of the day, so we decide on the prix fix menu, which offers an appetizer, main course and dessert. We also order a bottle of fabulous Burgundy wine to go with our meal. Dominique has duck pate, veal and crème caramel. I select a salad of frisee with warm goat cheese, duck confit and chocolate mouse. The meal is good, but not out of this world. I think they save their efforts for the restaurant rather than the bistro. We teach our server some napkin folds after several glasses of wine. He thinks we’re quite entertaining, and I’m sure we are because we’re rather tipsy.

At the metro, we say a quick goodbye knowing we’ll see each other again in four hours for a little salsa dancing with the rest of the gang. After a quick nap, I’m ready for the evening. Our group meets up at a Canadian café on the Seine where we have a few drinks and decide where to go. After figuring out where the club is, we’re on our way.

The salsa club is packed with bodies, and the air is hot and humid. Those who don’t know how to dance are taught by the rest of us. It takes me a while to get back into the rhythm, but once I get going, I dance for two hours straight. When I come off the floor, I look like I’ve just gotten out of the shower. We all have a great time and vow to do this more often.

Yes, it was a perfect play day in every sense. But I am looking forward to Sunday where I can have some downtime and study my recipes from the previous week.

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