France: Rue Cler, Paris

We were not at all in the mood for anything terribly adventurous after emerging jetlagged, tired, sleepy and extremely worn out from our horribly uncomfortable flight on our first day in Paris, and the rail strike greeting us as the first piece of news upon arrival on Charles De Gaulle did not make things any better. All we really wanted was a nice lunch at a decently-priced place where we could order things that we knew with our limited French vocabulary. Our trusty Rick Steves guidebook recommended a street called Rue Cler, near the Ecole Militaire Metro stop, which had lots of cafes and market stalls. So off we went to Rue Cler. It's one of Paris' nicest market streets, with lots of food on offer.

First stop for lunch at Cafe du Marche, the corner of Rue du champ du Mars and Rue Cler. We arrived there just before noon, and the place filled up very quickly.

Nothing like a nice Bordeaux red to cheer us up. I can't remember how much this was, but it was definitely less than 5 Euros.

The husband had the entrecote with potatoes (around 12-14 Euros), which made him a very very happy man.

I had the duck confit for around the same price. The duck confit was crisp, not too oily and extremely tasty.

Our lunch - we were literally packed shoulder to shoulder.

Nothing like a freshly brewed coffee to perk you up

By the time we were done around 1pm, there were people standing around waiting for tables.

We decided to explore the rest of the street to check out the food displays.

One of the delis with an amazing display. Sadly, we didn't buy anything since we were staying in a hotel and not an apartment. There were so many yummy things for sale - terrines, cheeses, seafood, sausages, smoked meats, grilled meats...sigh.

But we did manage to have space for dessert - crepes from a roadside stall!

We had the nutella with banana.

Extremely yummy : )