Mary Kay of out and about in Paris blog, http://outandaboutinparis.blogspot.fr/ Had included me in her invitation to a bloggers breakfast held by  aussieinfrance  http://www.aussieinfrance.com/fraussie/ in her beautiful apartment over looking the Palais Royale. I was so excited and fascinated to meet these people, (and now I can name drop) femmes francophiles http://femmesfrancophiles.blogspot.fr/,  Kristen from http://manandwomaninparis.blogspot.fr/ who is bravely trying to introduce kale to France and two other ladies who manage to live in Paris, invent things, write blogs, have lives and children, go cycling in the Loire, pick mushrooms, make TV programmes etc etc. I was quite overawed by the energy of theses ladies and could have listened to them all day. http://parisweekender.com/ and photographer Carams http://www.carams.fr/

Suddenly my broken phone rings,……The arrangement with Michael is he would only ring  in a dire emergency as, even though it still worked, as I could not see the broken screen  or call him back.

 So I tear myself away from these fascinating women and hurry to our meeting place, the American church on Ave George V.  Of course he is not there, but by this time, in my head, the least that has befallen him is that he has wandered to the wrong area, been kidnapped by some psycho, gangsa,  wrapper (as per TV series Spiral) and is being held hostage, tied up in the boot of a car….  I will have to remortgage my house to pay the ransom and this will mean I would now have to work till 80 to pay it off!

Half an hour later, to my relief,  he strolls into the church. totally unconcerned….he had only been unable to find his navigo pass!…. So that did it!  I had to bite the bullet and pay for a new screen for my iphone.

We share a sandwich/salad  lunch overlooking place d’Alma,  Amazing how they blend cooked pearl barley, berries,apple, dill and  spring onions in a mustard dressing.  I must try this at home.
I paid homage to the  nearby flame that has come to represent Princess Diana at the entrance to the tunnel where she died.
As we watch all the well heeled tourists, Parisiennes and fashionistas pass by, who exist in this posh area of Paris..  I laugh to myself at the Trip advisor post about what not to wear in Paris. It is 78 degrees and I see everything from short shorts and flip flops, white gym plimsolls,men sweltering in  business suits, women looking cool in pretty  floaty shoulderless dresses with  impossible high platform shoes.  About the only thing missing is a bikini!  Then we go back to the Republique area to find a mobile phone shop to repair my phone. One hour and 69 euros later I am back in business.

So, on to more interesting things  than my neurosis! LOL!

Pho is Traditional Vietnamese food which I had tried in January when I was in Paris with my friend Lizzie. Vietnam of course was once a French colony so there is a large Vietnamese descended population in  the “Chinatown”area which is bordered by Ave de Choisy and Ave dl’Itale.. ( metro line 7 get off at Place  d’Itale) The whole area is full of Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants and other businesses, although I do not find the architecture inspiring, it is interesting to look around the area.

We found a likely looking place PHO13 at 135 Ave de Choisy. We ordered from the menu although we were not quite sure what!
As I understand it, you get the soup with noodles, chicken  beef or in the case of Michael, prawns and vegetables in it and you add herbs, sauces to create your own unique dish.

Served with beansprouts and mint leaves.

Watching the other diners, I tucked in using chopsticks and a spoon. Testing the soup with chill sauce, hoisin sauce and the herbs  It seemed to be OK to lift the bowl and drink the soup from it so I did that also.

Michaels prawn soup.