Paris Journal 2015 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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Now, now is the time. This is the quiet time in Paris. This week, leading up to the Feast of the Assumption on August 15, is the peak of vacation closings and Parisians gone on vacation. Far fewer cars are zipping through the neighborhood streets and avenues. Now is the time to rediscover the neighborhood. We wandered out without any plan or agenda. We strolled aimlessly at first, then, when we realized what we were enjoying, we developed a vague plan. We walked through the side streets of our quarter, pausing frequently to admire an architectural detail or peer into the window of a shop whose keepers were soaking up the sun somewhere in Provence. Streest like Gramme, Lakanal, and Fondary are so close to us, but we don’t meander on their sidewalks very often. Beginning with the usual stroll down the trendy rue du Commerce to the square in front of the St. John the Baptist church, we took a sharp left and wandered up the rue Mademoiselle. Bacco, a new restaurant that we like, was closed for vacation. So was the Russian restaurant, Chez Mademoiselle, that I’ve been wanting to try. An entire building has been demolished in the middle of that block. We stood and stared at the gaping holes its demolition has left in all the surrounding buildings. Lots of Visqueen is attempting to keep out the occasional rainshower. We noted the presence of a Picard (gourmet frozen foods) shop that is within easy walking distance of our apartment. We turned on the rue de la Croix Nivert and again on the rue Lakanal, where we paused to admire bas relief images of Adam and Eve over the doorways of a 1930s building at numbers 19 and 21. We noticed an organic grocery (closed for Sunday) that we did not realize was there, right next to the tiny FranPrix grocery. We peered into courtyard doorways that had been left open to reveal mysterious, hidden gardens and half-timber buildings. On rue Fondary, we saw the Maison de l’Escargot, which has been in business selling escargots for over a hundred years. The door handle there is a lovely carved wooden snail.
We noted that the harp store is conveniently located next to the American conservatory of music, also known as the Koenig American music conservatory and kindergarten. This bi-lingual preschool was founded by Juilliard graduate Joan Koenig 27 years ago and has over 400 students between 2 and 6 years old. At the corner of Fondary and Lourmel, we admired the picturesque La Succursale, a true wine bar. It serves about 20 or 30 some different wines by the glass. At Happy Hour, the proprietors do offer a discount on beer, too. The only food items offered are cheese or charcuterie plates, so it really is not a bistrot. Remarkably, the Succarsale opens at 7:30 in the morning, supposedly for coffee. But there are plenty of Frenchmen who still like to have “un petit vin blanc” in the morning.
With few other pedestrians scurrying by, we were able to take our time, pause a lot, stand and stare. We had another leisurely walk in the evening, through the Parc Saint Lambert and over to Le Cap, our favorite bistro on the square in front of the 15th arrondissement’s stately town hall. There I had the best confit de canard (duck leg) I’ve ever tasted. It was sweet and crunchy on the outside, sticky and tender on the inside. Absolutely lovely!
Tom had a beef and pasta dish that he thought was superb.
We each had one of the incomparable tarte fine aux pommes, just as we had done on the previous Sunday. It’s the best apple pie we’ve had this summer and last.
The previous night (Saturday), we had the best hamburger ever in Paris. That was at the Bermuda Onion, at the top of the Beaugrenelle mall. We were given a table by the window, where we could admire the waterfront view. The music played on the sound system was disco – not great for dining. Tom later noticed that the Bermuda Onion had a club located next to the restaurant; that explains the disco music. The action probably doesn’t start there until after we’ve gone to bed. But the music played at Le Cap is fine jazz. I think it might have been the TSF Jazz radio station. We continued the jazz theme when we arrived back at the apartment, selecting a CD of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong tunes to play while we sat on the balcony, admiring the pink and blue sky. |
Monday, August 10, 2015
Bas
relief images of Adam and Eve at 19 and 21 rue Lakanal.
A
door opened to reveal a hidden courtyard.
Looking
toward the avenue Emile Zola from the rue Henri Duchene.
A
mysterious, ancient storefront on the rue Fondary.
Signs on
display in the Musée Carnavalet.
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