Paris Journal 2015 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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The first third of our summer stay in Paris is now over, and so it is time to reflect. This summer has been less stressful than many. We no longer have a real estate transaction in the works. I’m no longer president or board member for a nonpartisan political committee. Tom will be revising a textbook, but he hasn’t had to start work on it yet this summer. We’ve eaten at a different restaurant every night this past month (except for two visits to the local pub, Le Commerce Café, when we had to dine super early because of a business phone call and when we were too tired to go out to a real restaurant). Finally, we’ve been doing more shopping than we normally do. After our normal weekly grocery store errand, we stashed the food in the kitchen and went out again, this time without the shopping trolley. We returned to H&M, where I was able to try on those slacks that the sales clerk wouldn’t let me try on the evening before. They fit really well. I also bought a necklace and a dress that will go beautifully with the fancy cardigan I bought a few days ago. Also a few days ago, Tom bought a long scarf. Men really do wear long scarves in Paris. I selected a color that goes well with his new leather jacket and with his old classic sportcoat. We’re prepared for another cold snap, but this weekend and the early part of next week will be pleasantly warm. There’s not a cloud in that French blue sky this morning. Last night’s dinner was up in the 7th arrondissement again, this time on the rue de l’Exposition. That’s an adorable street with a clock at one end, where a building crosses over the end of the block. When you go through the archway under that clock, immediately on your right is La Fontaine de Mars, the bistrot where Michelle and Barack Obama dined in Paris, on the rue Saint Dominique. We might dine there sometime, maybe even tomorrow. I suspect that the reason it was selected for the Obama’s visit was that there is a separate dining area where it was possible to provide the appropriate security. For us, however, it is possible to go to a tiny and cute-as-can-be bistrot like Le P’tit Troquet, just a block away from La Fontaine de Mars. One columnist wrote that when the Obamas dined at La Fontaine, there were about five or six people at that table, and that Barack paid the tab, which was about 300 euros. That’s not bad at all for a nice bistrot in the 7th arrondissement. Our tab last night, with the 20 percent Lafourchette.com discount (on food, not beverages), was only $67.70, but we shared a starter course and shared the dessert. That’s pretty close to an average of what we’ve been paying for dinners this summer, including tip and tax. Our repast began with a mis en bouche consisting of a little glass of salmon mousse, repleat with tiny chopped veggies. Very nice. We shared a starter course of grilled shrimp served atop a small serving of risotto. It was also quite good, but I thought the risotto could use more seasoning.
Tom ordered the classic beef bourgignon, which was rich and wonderful (below).
I had the rabbit leg (below), which came with a violet mustard sauce and some expertly sautéed potatoes, which I shared with Tom because his beef bourgignon only had a couple tiny potatoes in the pot.
The décor of Le P’tit Troquet was utterly charming. Owning a little restaurant like that is such a good excuse for shopping the brocantes (brick-a-brack sales).
Service was very friendly and welcoming – entirely done by young women. Foreigners were seated in the front dining room (the nicest) and locals were seated in the back dining room. That’s just the way it was. Sharing the front dining room with us were two tables of Asian visitors, an American family, and a young English-speaking couple (American or British). Once again, we think the little nearby hotels were referring their guests over to Le P’tit Troquet. The restaurant was prepared for them, with menus done beautifully in French and English. Dessert was the classic profiteroles, which we shared. All around, the dinner was a pleasant experience, and the walk home across the Champ de Mars, with the Eiffel Tower standing tall in the evening sky, was just right. |
Saturday, August 1, 2015
The
rue de l’Exposition, looking toward the bistrot La Fontaine de Mars. The blue banner on the right marks the back
side of the Romanian embassy, which is located in an old hôtel particulier on the avenue Bosquet.
We
walked by this place on the rue de l’Exposition a
couple days ago, and the shades were up, revealing
a group of women knitting. But it is
actually the headquarters for a quilting group, which will be showing their
art on Thursdays in August.
The
dining room at Le P’tit Troquet.
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