Paris (Chinatown)

Ooh-la-la.  Arrived today for two week stay. Will give keynote address at a conference on migration in the Americas on Wednesday at Univ. Paris VII; then a week vaca (J. arriving on Friday).  Hotel is at edge of Latin Quarter (which I had in the past thought, by way of free-association, to be something akin to the French quarter in New Orleans, but which I have since learned refers to the Latin language spoken by students at the Sorbonne during the Middle Ages).  But I am really in the 13th, aka Chinatown, which is more heavily dominated by Vietnamese; and also a heavy dose of Cambodian, Lao, Thai, in addition to Chinese.   Took a walk along Avenue de Choisy and Avenue d'Ivry--restaurants and souvenir shops much as you'd find in any Chinatown.  I picked the busiest pho restaurant to try a bowl of special beef pho.  It's all in the broth--this one was deeply flavorful and aromatic. And came with fresh lemongrass in addition to basil, bamboo shoots & peppers.  Then I parked myself at a cafe/bar and over a cafe au lait I finished reading Amitav Ghosh's amazing book, Sea of Poppies.  BTW, for those who know of my love of the rare mangosteen fruit (see Taiwan/PRC posts from last year), I saw them for sale at a Vietnamese fruit stand near the hotel. Imported from Indonesia, quite unripe and sold only by the bag, so I did not indulge.