Paris Journal 2012 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
Find me on Facebook 2011
Paris Journal ← Previous Next
→ Go back to the beginning
|
Where are the ugly ducklings? They seem to have gone missing. Until this year, there was a youth hostel/cheap hotel across from the St. John the Baptist of Grenelle church. It was a source of irritation in this otherwise peaceful neighborhood. The irritation was the drunk, generally English-speaking young tourists on a budget who would be loud and disorderly in the middle of the night, as they stumbled back to their budget accommodations at the 3 Ducks. We call these clowns the “ugly ducklings.” The 3 Ducks still has its web site going, featuring an obnoxious video that just screams “party, party, party till you drop!” Hey, you know, that’s just not what Paris is all about. I want to say to these kids, “Please come to Paris to experience Paris. Please do not come just to continue the kind of drunken partying that you did on the weekends at college back home. You can do that again when your trip to Europe is over.” The first time I walked past the 3 Ducks this summer, I saw the construction fencing and the extensive work that has begun. The place had been so beat-up that I wasn’t surprised. The building itself has some real charm; it has what I call that “old village-y look” that dates back to when this was the village of Grenelle, and it was outside of Paris. I wonder what this building was originally used for? Could it have been a single-family home? The parsonage or rectory for the church? The building deserves to be restored; I’m not sure if its
clientele will deserve the niceties that the restoration might produce. We shall see. On va voir. The 3 Ducks evidently closed this past Spring for “renovation” that looks more like reconstruction to me. There was nothing in the news about it. I googled away but could find nothing at all about its closing. Then I turned to Facebook, where I found out that 3 Ducks had closed in the Spring and would re-open supposedly in 2013. The fact that the closing happened with no notice and no information makes me wonder if the authorities shut it down for insalubrity or something like that. I would love to hear what the neighbors really think of the 3 Ducks hotel/hostel operation. Anyway, I don’t miss it. The establishment was an embarrassment to English speakers. How many, many times the clientele of the 3 Ducks have disturbed our sleep! For that, I am allowed these paragraphs of complaints. Now that that is done, let’s talk about dinner last night. We are feeling more up to our normal selves, having totally recovered from jet lag now and having a week’s worth of rest (with no rude awakenings by ugly ducklings). Last night, we were ready for some serious, creative, and fun French food. On Monday nights, many of the best restaurants are closed because Rungis, the wholesale food market south of Paris, is closed on Sunday and Monday. But there are exceptions. Not all fresh food comes from Rungis. Axuria, a new operation in an old restaurant that was called La Chaumière, is a place we discovered last year. On August 6, 2011, I wrote about this “discovery,” and the place has delighted us every time we have been there (except for one off night last September when a bad server was there; fortunately, he seems to be gone). As I knew it would be, Axuria has been discovered by more of the locals this year, so it quickly filled up last night. We were lucky to get a table by arriving early (7:30PM or so). The only other English speakers there were really Mandarin speakers: a couple who had to rely on their English to get by in Paris. We spoke English only to each other, of course; we speak French to the French. We were immediately served a mis en bouche which consisted of good black olives and a few thin slices of excellent saucisson (dried sausage). But then there appeared a second mis en bouche! Two little bowls of frothy lobster bisque were delivered to the table! I hesitate to call it bisque, because it was so light and ethereal. There must be another word for it, but I don’t know what that word might be. Whatever, I loved that frothy lobster concoction. Axuria takes its name from a cooperative that produces milk-fed lamb in the French Pyrenees. Although this lamb is a specialty of the restaurant, the chef (Olivier Amestoy, also a product of the Pyrenees region) is a master in seafood (and vegetables, too, for that matter). For an appetizer, we shared the croustillants de queues de langoustines au basilic, balsamique de Modène. Each tender, juicy prawn tail was wrapped with a basil leaf in a fine layer of crispy pastry. Four of these divine things were resting in a little salad that had a bit of delicious balsamic vinaigrette sprinkled on it. The main course was a special of the day, filet de limande sole – a small, flat fish from the North Sea or North Atlantic – that was accompanied by a fascinating and delicious millefeuille of vegetables. Also on the plate was a smooth little serving of potatoes puréed with some kind of stock and a rich, green olive oil which lent some color to the mix. The dessert was the famous soufflé au Grand Marnier. I can’t describe the experience any better than I did last year, so I repeat: Without thinking, and somehow intuitively
knowing what to choose, I immediately asked for the soufflé au Grand Marnier. Tom didn’t have enough time to think
about it, so he just ordered the same. It turns out that this soufflé au Grand Marnier is well-known and loved by fans of
soufflés. Not only did it look fantastic when it finally arrived on our table,
but when I dipped the special spoon into it and inserted the bite of soufflé
into my mouth, I had to close my eyes and relish the supremely wonderful
thing that was happening with my tastebuds. Oh
heavens. It is worth many times what they’re charging for this soufflé.
Please don’t tell the chef, Olivier Amestoy.
Tasting this soufflé is one of the best things that could ever happen to you,
trust me. A new addition to the décor of the restaurant is a statue of a lamb wearing a hat – no doubt a tribute to Axuria, the co-op selling milk-fed lamb. And I note that the décor of Axuria is a modern exception to the warm-color tradition of French dining rooms. This one is composed of cool colors, and the effect is cool. Take a look. There was nothing simple about this dinner. Each item took a lot of work and creativity
to prepare and present: edible
art. We do appreciate that, very
much. Chapeau, Olivier! So, we have really taken the dining up a notch this week, working out way onward to places like Cristal de Sel. Cristal de Sel, on the rue Mademoiselle, is in what seems to be the original center of the village of Grenelle, as is the 3 Ducks and the Saint John the Baptist church. Curious about the original use of the 3 Ducks building, I pulled a history of the 15th arrondissement off the shelf in the apartment to examine it for clues. There was nothing about that building in particular, but I did find something interesting. Below is my translation of this description of the Grenelle environment of the past. Keep in mind as you read this that the center of the village is essentially the church, which was originally constructed in the 1820s. “In spite of the installation of three public fountains beginning in 1832, the community still had a reputation in 1836 of being extremely unhealthy. The Guide to Walking in the Environs of Paris compares Grenelle to the Pontins swamp, and affirms that waters that are putrid with soap and other noxious influences give the mal’aria to tourists who venture there. The sewers (6 km) were only constructed in 1860.” [From page 43 of Vie et Histoire XVe Arrondissement, 1986 and 1991.] Vaugirard, to the south, was an older, more agricultural village. Grenelle, on the other hand, was created/developed in large part, as far as I can tell, for factories, their owners and operators, and the workers. That world, in the 19th century, was not a pretty one, in terms of health. The 15th arrondissement may well be at its healthiest now, especially with the pedestrianization of streets like the rue du Commerce, cleaner cars and trucks, and increasing incentives to walk or use public transit instead of cars. Much infrastructure work has been done, too, in the past decade, and the factories, alas, are long gone. Here’s to living well in le quinzieme
arrondissement! Suggestion: Want to see some great old photographs of Paris? Check out Paris En Images. |
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Souffle
au Grand Marnier at Axuria Restaurant.
Frothy
lobster bisque – a little gift offered at the beginning of dinner.
Prawn
tails and basil leaves wrapped in a thin, crusty layer of pastry, with a
smattering of delicious balsamic vinaigrette.
Limande-sole fish filet with a millefeuille of fresh vegetables and a purée of potatoes
and rich olive oil.
A
little lamb in a hat appears to be thirsty at Axuria.
The
notorious 3 Ducks Hostel undergoing extensive work.
|
