A Quiet Lunch at Montparnasse

 A Quiet Lunch at Montparnasse

After the train ride from Angoulême and the sudden return to the bustle of Paris, I realized I was in no hurry.

I had arrived at Gare Montparnasse with plenty of time before I could check into my hotel. My suitcase was with me, the train journey was successfully behind me, and for the first time that morning there was really nothing I needed to do.

So I stopped for lunch.

I found Dépôt Légal, a cute café and restaurant tucked into the shopping area of Gare Montparnasse. It turned out to be exactly what I needed. Instead of rushing directly out of the station, I could sit down, put everything beside me and simply catch my breath.

The restaurant felt surprisingly removed from the commotion of the railway station. There were marble-topped tables, deep green chairs, greenery draped overhead and strings of warm lights suspended among the leaves. Large windows brought daylight into the room while travelers sat scattered around me, many with suitcases close at hand. It was unmistakably a restaurant in a major railway station, but it didn’t particularly feel like one.

I started with a cappuccino.

It arrived in a white Dépôt Légal cup with a little piece of chocolate tucked alongside the saucer. A glass of water sat nearby, and even the napkin beneath my fork and knife carried the restaurant’s lovely green botanical logo. These are the little details I notice when I finally have time to stop moving.

Then came lunch.

The Perfect Cobb Salad

I had ordered the Cobb salad, and when it arrived, I knew I had made the right choice.

This was not a little side salad.

The bowl was filled with lettuce and beautifully arranged toppings: sliced avocado fanned along one side, tomatoes, radishes, roasted chicken, bacon, egg and Bleu d’Auvergne, the wonderful blue cheese from the Auvergne region of France. A creamy dressing was drizzled generously across the top, with herbs scattered over everything.

The menu price was €20, and for a substantial lunch in a Paris railway station, I was very happy with my choice.

After the richer meals and wonderful dinners of the previous week, the salad tasted especially good. It was fresh and filling without being heavy, exactly the sort of lunch I wanted before continuing on to my hotel.

And I didn’t have to hurry.

That may have been the best part.

Around me, Paris continued moving. People finished meals and collected their luggage. New travelers arrived. Servers crossed the room. Somewhere beyond the restaurant were the trains, platforms, shops and crowds of Montparnasse.

But for a little while, none of that concerned me.

I sat at my marble table with my Cobb salad and cappuccino and enjoyed the luxury of having nowhere I needed to be until hotel check-in.

Even the little bowl on the table caught my attention. It was filled with individually wrapped La Perruche sugar cubes, another wonderfully French detail. After a week of photographing grand châteaux, medieval architecture, enormous landscapes and dramatic skies, I was still finding pleasure in photographing something as simple as a bowl of sugar.

Perhaps that is one of the things this trip has reinforced for me.

Travel doesn’t have to be filled with important destinations every minute of the day.

Sometimes the memorable part is the space between destinations.

A delayed train. A suitcase beside your seat. Fields passing outside a window. Someone playing a public piano in a railway station. A cappuccino. A beautiful salad. A quiet table where you can finally sit down and realize:

I am back in Paris.

There would be plenty of time to explore.

For now, lunch was perfect.