A dark, wet and wintry afternoon was perhaps not the best time to visit the Paris Catacombs and the cimetière de Montparnasse, but it was a perfect day to tuck into the nearby Crêperie de Josselin for lunch.
There are signs at the entrance to the Catacombs warning that children and people of a “nervous disposition” might be disturbed by the sight of the bones of millions of Parisians stacked floor to ceiling along hundreds of meters of corridors.
Josselin, on the other hand, is totally kid friendly. Really, there is something grandmotherly about the place, all lace and bric-a-brac. Nothing here to make a person nervous.
Unless you’re one of those people who fears butter.
There’s a huge slab of it on the kitchen counter here, sitting there like a bastion of Bretonly (sorry) love, waiting to go onto the hot griddle where buckwheat batter is transformed into crisp edged galettes. You can go simple and classic, ham cheese, egg and ham, mushroom… Or dress it up a bit. I love the Maraîchere, filled with spinach, cream, cheese, an egg, and topped with strips of bacon.
Cider is the fallback beverage, but you’ll see kids drinking what looks like milk. It’s Lait Ribot, a slightly fermented buttermilk.
The room is a little noisy, a little hectic, and on the weekends a little romper room, but at under 10€ a head, I really can’t complain about any of this.
Crêperie de Josselin 67 rue du Montparnasse, 75014 Paris 01 43 20 93 50?
I love this place, and hold their 10 euro formule entirely responsible for whatever butter my frame may be carrying.