Paris Journal 2011 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com

Photos and thoughts about Paris

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As we strolled into the park at the southwest foot of the Eiffel Tower, two young women passed us. I recognized them immediately as two of the Gypsies who constantly try to scam tourists near the tower. The scam that these two use is the one where one of them comes up to you and asks, “Do you speak English?” If you are naïve enough to say yes, she gives you a card with a sob story (always fiction) in an attempt to get you to give her money. An accomplice is nearby. The accomplice looks to see where you keep your money on your person. Then an assessment is made as to whether or not you’d be an easy mark for a pickpocket. And so it goes on. These young female Gypsies have diversified, and have added some other acts to their repertoire. One is to dress up in an Ape or a Sphinx costume or somesuch, and enthusiastically insert herself into the photos you’re taking of your friends or family, with the Eiffel tower in the background. After the photo is taken, she holds out her hand (or paw) and asks for a tip. Again, someone else watches to see where you keep your money. There’s a new act involving a broom, evidently, and I don’t know yet what that involves. But one of the two Gypsies who passed us as we approached the tower had the traditional clipboard with the story for the “Do you speak English?” scam, and the other carried a broom. They were wearing matching hot-pink tight-fitting long-sleeved t-shirts. I was curious. We followed them to the area under the Eiffel Tower. There were gathered a group of these young Gypsy women, who were listening to instructions being given to them by the Boss Gypsy. The illegal vendors of Eiffel Tower trinkets were out in force, too, but they were being cautious. Many now just stand around, holding the trinkets out, or they crouch with the trinkets spread out on a small blanket on the ground in front of them. These cautious ones no longer aggressively approach you and ask you if you want to buy an Eiffel Tower for a euro. A few are still a bit aggressive, and one or two even dared to start to approach me, asking me to buy. I respond, “C’est illégal,” and they back away quickly. Several days ago, I saw a tall, blond young man buying an Eiffel Tower trinket from one of these guys. The young man then put his wallet back in his back jeans pocket, whose opening with the moderately fat wallet made for easy picking. What a shame. He’s going to have that wallet taken for sure, I thought. The police are out watching. In addition to the police, there are a few soldiers in helmets and camouflage uniforms patrolling amongst the crowd under the tower. They carry AK-47s. No kidding. I found an article about enforcement against the illegal vendors in Le Figaro. It explained that the police are frustrated by putting effort into arresting these perps, only to have the justice system turn them loose with no punishment. All this scamming and pickpocketing is so unfortunate. It cheapens what is otherwise a beautiful, glorious scene. I wish there was some legitimate kind of work that could be offered to these folks, and that they’d be willing to do it. But I leave that to the experts. This is why people go to college to study social work. Social work in Paris is challenging, I’m sure. We crossed the Seine and skirted around the northeast side of the Trocadéro, through the lovely park around that side of the Palais de Chaillot. We noticed that the museum in the Palais de Chaillot now features Architecture and Patrimony (Heritage). This museum opened in 2007, and we haven’t yet seen it. We are fascinated by these two subjects, so I made note of the opening hours and admission, as well as the web site for the museum. This morning, after checking it out on the web, we decided that this is a place we must see. We continued up to the Place du Trocadéro, where we checked out more Bernadette and Eddy Bénézet restaurants, including Le Coq. Several of the restaurants around the Place seem to be interesting, but Le Coq is a place we really must try, we decided, even if it is a bit expensive and some customers have found the service to be crude. The interior and the menu are intriguing, and some reviewers love the food there. Unfortunately, like La Gauloise, Le Coq au Trocadéro has no web site. We continued on up through the little streets of the 16^th, headed for the Place Victor Hugo – one of Tom’s favorites. On the way there, we passed through a shopping mall that consists of a number of small shops plus the most enormous grocery store I’ve seen in Paris. It is called Casino. We exited the mall, and there in front of us was a very old covered market building on the rue Mesnil and the rue Saint Didier. Only now do I realize that the old covered markets were the precursors to the modern shopping mall. We briefly visited the Sainte Honoré de l’Eylau church on the Place Victor Hugo. I’m sure we’ve been there before, but I did not remember the Turkmen Bokara Tekke rugs that cover the entire floor of the sanctuary. People were starting to come in for the 6:45PM daily mass (every day except Saturday). We sat quietly for a short while, admiring the simple beauty of that place, and then we went on, circling the Place and its majestic fountain, and continued on toward home on the avenue Raymond Poincare, where we saw another church, a chapel with a beautiful façade, that is also part of this same parish. We visited the park at the lower end of the northwest side of the Trocadéro, sitting on a bench for a while, admiring the Victory Dance statue. After crossing the Seine with the masses, we walked right under the Tower, stopping briefly to check out the menu for the Jules Verne restaurant. So expensive! We discussed where to stop for dinner, finally deciding on La Gauloise because I simply had to try the macaroni with morel mushrooms. I’m so glad we did. This is no simple macaroni and cheese. It is macaroni, in a sauce that is dark and savory, and yes, it has some cheese in it – maybe a very fine Salers, I’m not sure – and the morels are dark, flavorful, and plentiful. It was everything I expected and more. To be sure I had my vegetables, I started with the gazpacho, which at La Gauloise is a smooth, velvety, light-bodied intensively tomato soup, served ice cold. Tom ordered the brochettes of Aubrac beef, and while flavorful, he found the meat to be not-surprisingly chewy. It was served with a frizzy green salad. He also helped me eat the generous serving of Macaroni aux morilles. At home, I continued to read In Their Blood, a novel by Sharon Potts. I knew it was set in the Miami area, but last night I was delighted to find that the bad guys in the book are associated with Big Sugar and the South Florida Water Protection Agency, which we all know is really the South Florida Water Management District. Juicy, good stuff. Sign my guestbook. View my guestbook. Note: For addresses & phone numbers of restaurants in this journal, click here.

Friday, August 12, 2011 Near the Pyramid of the Louvre is a new sign, in very good English, explaining why it is not a good idea to buy things from the illegal vendors. I’m still trying to figure out the nature of the “underground” or “clandestine” organizations that are referenced. Are they organized crime involving more than counterfeit items? Are they involved with human trafficking or other violence? I continue to research the topic on the internet. Young female Gypsies receiving their scams-for-the-day instructions from the Boss beneath the Eiffel Tower. The victory dance statue in the Jardins du Trocadero. We keep running into these musicians from south or central America near the Eiffel Tower. ← Previous Next →