Warm crepes on a cold Paris night

The first time I tasted a crepe was at a garden party in Quezon City. There was a long buffet table, with birthday favorites like spaghetti and lechon. At the end of the table was a crepe station. I watched in fascination as the chef whisked, poured, swirled and flipped the crepe, then placed slivers of cream-drizzled mangoes topped with chocolate syrup. I thought it tasted alright, but I wasn't a big fan of desserts.

 

My next memorable experience of crepes was years later, in Paris in the middle of a pilgrimage. The days were filled with religious activities, so all the exploring was done at night.

 

After a 4 o'clock cruise along the River Seine, we decided to look for the bookshop Shakespeare and Company on Rue de la Bûcherie. From the Eiffel Tower, we thought we could follow the river toward Notre Dame cathedral, which our maps told us was very near the bookshop. When we got to the area, we saw a sign for the street we were looking for, but we couldn't seem to see Shakespeare and Company.

 

In the meantime, we wandered up and down the streets of the Latin Quarter. We saw several pubs, a pizza place, and Studio Galande, temple of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. We stumbled upon bookshops like Gibert Joseph and Librairie Simone Thomas, but still no Shakespeare and Company. There were other small shops, too, selling art supplies and charming trinkets. I enjoyed the window shopping, but I kept getting distracted by delicious smells. We had been walking for a couple of hours, and we were beginning to feel hungry.

 

Just when we were about to give up, we spotted Shakespeare and Company. We went inside and browsed the shelves, which were overflowing with books. The whole shop smelled like books, and there was very little space to move. It felt a bit like being in a small chapel--peaceful and very quiet. We went back outside and agreed it was time to find a place to eat. Just around the corner

 

As we turned a corner, we saw a friendly-looking creperie. While we were looking at the menu outside, a smiling man opened the door and gestured for us to come inside. He showed us to a table before disappearing behind the counter. When he returned with the menu, we asked where the washroom was. "Yes, yes, it's downstairs. I will go and show you. I'll show you how," he said.

 

Wondering what he meant, I followed him down to the basement. He opened the door to an immaculate washroom. The tiles were a spotless white, and there were several rolls of tissue paper. But the walls were covered with signs begging customers not to throw tissue in the toilet bowl.

 

In case you couldn't read, there was even an illustrated sign. And if that weren't enough, the man demonstrated, pointing at me, then to the roll of tissue, then to the trash can. I tried very hard to keep from laughing, and I assured him I would not clog his toilet.

 

When I got back to the table, I told everyone that they absolutely had to see the washroom. Every time someone would go down, the man would look at us sternly. I reassured him that my companions knew the rule, and he would grin and nod his approval. By the time everyone had seen the bathroom, it was impossible to stop giggling. The man didn't seem to mind that we were noisy. He was a bit of a joker himself, exclaiming loudly "I won!" when the lottery came on television. We turned to him in surprise, and he waved at us. "Just joking," he said before turning back to the stove.

 

We laughed until the food arrived. We split a savory crepe with mushrooms and cheese, and for dessert we split another crepe filled with Nutella and dusted with powdery sugar. The man didn't seem to mind that we were sharing our food. In fact, he seemed accustomed to it. He even served the crepes already split in half. We figured it was because his customers were mostly students, like a group next to us.

Delicious  

The crepes were delicious, and quite large. Although I didn't get to watch the man make the crepes, I knew he could probably do it with his eyes closed. The crepes were soft and buttery, and were also a bit chewy. The mushrooms were tasty, and the cheese was deliciously gooey.

 

With the giant Nutella-filled crepe, we thought the meal couldn't have had a sweeter ending. We were wrong.

 

After paying for our meal, we offered to make him a sign in Filipino. He laughed and gave us a notebook, where other customers had written bathroom signs for him. As we left the creperie, he gave us all bear hugs.

 

As we walked back toward the Eiffel Tower, the cold was almost unbearable. We could hardly feel our legs, and our fingers were freezing. We were exhausted, and kept quiet for most of the way. But every now and then, one of us would remember the bathroom signs, and we would burst into laughter. — KG/ELR, GMA News