13.5 km to Origines Cacao (Shinbashi): Fraicheur

So, today (Tuesday) was the day is was not supposed to rain so much this week, which was pretty much true, although there was a little on the way out. I did 1 3/4 laps around Meiji Gingu Gaien, with 1 lap in 6:05, which beat my old best but involved a lot more foamy spit than I like in my runs, so I think I'll work on a different distance next week. I took the counterclockwise route around Akasaka Palace and continued along Aoyama Street until it connected up with the moat route. I joined the path there and continued until Hibiya Park and then turned south. I should have gone back the way I came (although then I would have had to run against the pack with cake, which you can, since there are always some people going the other way, but usually not runners). The problem with heading west first to head back to Akasakamitsuke is all the major cross streets. Fortunately, I have exercises to do while waiting. I stopped at Paul's at Yotsu Station for some bread for my diner and at the 100 yen shop for a few things. Of course, I continued jogging all the way.

The far point was the Shinbashi branch of Origines Cacao, which I had never been to and had forgotten about (I suppose I had noticed it on the card that I had gotten from the Jiyuugaoka branch, which is a little bigger and has a small bar/cafe area). They had all of two pieces of cake left at 8 pm. I got the one marked new, which was the Fraicheur (フレシェール) for 497 yen. It's an Earl Grey scented (?) white chocolate mousse flavored by a passion fruit and orange gelatin. I had low expectations, but it was extremely good, with a great balance of flavors and very rich. Great cake again from a great shop.