Paris Journal 2009 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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Yesterday evening we took a
pleasant stroll down to the Square St. Lambert, a nice neighborhood park near
the town hall for the 15th arrondissement. The park was surprisingly void of
people. It started to rain, but only
very lightly, so we went on past the handsome town hall and through the Place
Adolph Cheriou, which brought us to the rue Vaugirard. I like to try to image this long
street as it once was, a country road that led to the village of
Vaugirard. It takes a lot of
imagination. It is very much a big
city street now. Our first stop on Vaugirard was
the little dead-end street, Square Vergennes, where I like to imagine that we
could live someday. There is a house
at number 5 that I particularly admire.
It was only built in the 1920s, I’d guess, and it has a big old
grapevine growing in front. At the end of this little street
is a glass museum, the Atelier
Barillet. These days, the museum seems
to feature more than just glass, but rather many kinds of materials and
modern design. It often is called
simply 15 Square de Vergennes. Going on in the drizzling rain,
we ambled down the rue Vaugirard to the rue de la Convention. I found myself thinking that it is on
streets like these, not the too-chic and too-expensive gentrified rue du
Commerce, that people of the 15th arrondissement really do their
shopping. If I looked for a butcher shop
down there, I bet the roasted chickens would be less expensive than they are
near us, on the rue du Commerce. As we started back up on the rue
de la Croix Nivert, our favorite Indian restaurant in Paris, called Banani, appeared. Tom had no clue it would be there, but I
did. I was in the mood for Indian
food. The food was better than
ever. I always have the lamb
korma. This time, we ordered a pakora
appetizer which featured eggplant, and it was very fine. The sauces were all excellent, and the
cheese nan was divine. The service was
impeccable and very polite. The
kashimer rice was the best I’ve ever had.
And the prices are very reasonable. Banani is beautiful inside – all
red and gold, with white linen tablecloths and good lighting. The servers were dignified and
somewhat formally dressed, with red and gold brocade vests, white shirts,
black ties, and black slacks. They are
mostly Pakistani, I think. There was an not-so-lovely bit
of news in the Tour de France coverage in the French papers that didn’t make
it into the English newspaper. Two of
the riders, Oscar Freire and Julian Dean, were shot. Yes, shot. It happed at kilometer number
165 in the stage between Vittel and Colmar.
It was in a wooded area, where there were no spectators along the side
of the road. Oscar said, “I was climbing the
hill at Bannstein and I heard the shots.
I sensed a pain in my leg and immediately put the two together. Then Dean had a bloody finger. When I told a team doctor that he was going
to have to extract a bullet from me, he didn’t want to believe me!” The newspaper reports that the
gun was probably a “carabine” or pistol with compressed air. The two teams involved, Garmin
and Rabobank, notified the gendarmes who were present with the Tour. The Dutch team, Rabobank, will file a
complaint with the police. About filing the complaint,
Oscar said, “It is important to set the example and for the security of the
tour. If one does nothing, someone
else will perhaps himself also have a bad idea. This is crazy, crazy, even if we are aware
of the risks with the crowds. I never
thought this could happen. One
imagines a lot about the people along the route, the demonstrations, etc.,
but not that!” Oscar has just a light flesh
wound. Dean’s finger was grazed by the
bullet. Oscar enjoyed showing off his
bandage that night at the hotel.
Neither one of them have been hurt enough to affect their racing. Sign
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Sunday, July 19, 2009
Banani’s card gives you some idea of what the
restaurant’s interior looks like.
Demolition at the huge, ongoing Beaugrenelle urban
renewal project is still underway.
Some parts of the project are being completed, while others are in
early stages. The irony is that
Beaugrenelle was itself an urban renewal project back in the 60s or 70s.
Another view of the Radio France project. Note the rare, large gas station in the
foreground. There are few of these in
Paris. Many filling stations are in
below-ground parking garages, and are quite small.
The duck at UNESCO again, with its duckling. I wonder where the other ducklings are? |
