Henry Nguyen, his wife, and daughters arrived in Saigon two days before us. They had the identical routing and almost reserved their room at the Indochine, but at the last minute they made some changes. Chuck and Henry had been corresponding for a while prior to our departure, and he was the first of many people we were eager to meet on this new voyage of discovery. He suggested we meet at the Paris Deli, indicating that it was his wife’s favorite breakfast spot. Visions of piping hot croissants, café au lait, tarte tatin, and oh, my carbs!! It was a comfortable walk from the hotel to the Paris Deli; however, be warned that Dong Khoi Street is replete with ritzy boutiques and shops; at the end of the street that faces the side of the Caravelle Hotel, new construction of a shopping mall has already started. I will take you on a tour of Dong Khoi Street and acquaint you with its shops and the dresses in the windows that are still calling my name.
Since we were awake at about 4:30am, we already had our first breakfast and were quite ready for the next.
The restaurant has a corner location, and on its side must have been parked a hundred motorbikes. In fact, Henry and the family had arrived on their very own motorbike and parked it right outside, like everyone else. This is not their first trip to Vietnam, as Henry is a Viet Kieu, meaning a "foreign" Vietnamese, whose parents still live here.
As we come through the door, I begin to ask one of the staff if a family with two little girls has arrived, at which moment a man going up the stairs stops, turns around, and says, "You must be Aimee." We found our guy! We ordered croissants, naturally, with tea for me and juice for Chuck.
The Paris Deli is all retro in décor, and the aroma of patisserie never leaves your nostrils. They also serve quite an array of sandwiches and even pizza. It’s a two-level restaurant, and they will bring your food upstairs for you after you’ve made your selections.
As we sat down and got acquainted, we learned a little bit about the various shopping venues; Henry’s wife told me that I could find anything I wanted at the Ben Thanh Market, and she was almost right. We discovered that Dong Khoi Street was originally Tu Do, which means "freedom", prior to the North winning the war. Henry indicated to us that many other street names were changed and were dedicated to South Vietnamese heroes. One gets a sense that the South has not really embraced the North fully, despite their defeat. We also talked about the Trung Sisters, for whom Hai Ba Trung street is named, and you’ll find widespread use of the name throughout Vietnam.