I almost forgot to tell you. Really I did.  After having found a couple of gems thanks to the bouquinistes I went to lunch where I reviewed my purchases in between luncheon bites and a delightful red wine. Where did I go? Well as I had mentioned earlier, there is a great restaurant just nearby called  LES BOUQUINISTES (how odd is that with the bouquinistes just nearby?) located at 53, quai des Grands Augustins with a view that looks out onto Notre-Dame and the Pont-Neuf. I had heard from confidential sources (which is all that I am a liberty to disclose) that they really liked the place with a lovely ambience and even a little on the hip side -well that sold it for me, hip as I am. But so that others will not scream and fall on their swords at my blatant lack of impartiality, I do know of someone who thought the restaurant reminded them of a MacDo with nicely starched linen tablecloths. I don’t think restaurants are the business of pleasing every Dick and Jane rather just those who appreciate the preparation, presentation and degustation of fine food made with talent and creativity. This restaurant hits all of that and more. 
I will tell you what I like about this place. Despite its elegance it is quite often frequented by art dealers from the nearby galleries and the occasional bouquiniste (bookseller) from the quais across the street. It has that Left Bank-ness to it. So I had no reservation about leafing through a first edition which I got at a steal or admire my nice set of prints of olde Paris – which you can never have enough of. The trouble is going to be finding the right frames which I know will cost me handsomely.
The menu at Les Bouquinistes is small but carefully thought out with the Chef taking advantage of many of the seasonal ingredients. The wine list is extensive, with 180 wines and 12 champagnes – that’s right count them 12. Pricey wines if you want to go down that road and if not there are some other very good selections on the wine list. In fact I was lucky enough to find a very good (affordable) bottle of Burgundy and thoroughly enjoyed it and it paired very well with my meal.  

I started with a salad of green asparagus, poached egg and Dutch cheese. I should admit though that I really gave it some thought because another selection – equally as healthy- was the foie gras in cream sauce. What caught my eye on this selection was the artful combination and I was really curious to see how it would all play out. The smoky flavor of the cheese combined with the egg and asparagus has my vote; it was an outstanding choice.  I profess to having a hard time saying no to roasted langoustine, mushroom and vegetable raviolis. You think about it. Think of that combination it’s simply mind blowing! The earthiness of the mushrooms combined with roasted flavor of shellfish. Langoustines, by the way, are miniature lobsters for lack of a more technical term. Find them. Buy them. Eat them.
I wasn’t going to have desert – as part of my effort to be more about the main course and less about desert- well that’s BS because if I see “Crème brulée” and a lovely little sorbet well the Crème wins over a bowl of sherbet any day, thank you. Another desert that’s a weakness of mine is the orange Grand Marnier Tiramisu; it was there staring at me from the menu. As a matter of fact, a difficult choice would be between the Crème, a Mousse au Chocolat and the Tiramisu. Three deserts anyone? Living on the culinary edge the way I do has its price that’s why they were my last deserts. Forever.