Paris Journal 2008

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Well, that tropical storm Fay turned out to be a no-nevermind back home in Lee County, Florida, on Tuesday. It made landfall down by Naples and Marco Island. Our neighbor, Chuck, says Sanibel only had an inch of rain from the storm during the night, and only two-tenths of an inch during the day. So Fay wasn’t so much “fun” after all. Carol, Ron, Tom and I turned our attention completely to Paris yesterday. We went on one of those “Cooley-style marathon walks,” as Jim H. calls them. We started from the apartment on the rue du Canivet in the 6^th, skirting the upper corner of the Luxembourg Gardens. I wanted to check out the current photo display on the fence there, but this year’s display is minimal. It consists of just a few large photos from the news, and I guess the photos change daily or almost daily. I had read last week in the paper about the photos of the conflict in Georgia being vandalized, but they were quickly replaced. The photos we saw also documented damage from the conflict in Georgia, and nobody had vandalized them as of yesterday. There is some kind of special exhibit about Émile Zola at the Panthéon, so we decided not to spend time there. We wanted to be outdoors, walking. We went by the beautiful and historic St. Étienne du Mont church, the one I like to call by its older, more historic name, Sainte Genevieve. Then it was time to show Carol and Ron the delightful, ancient shopping street, rue Mouffetard, ending with the park next to the St. Médard church, where we met a nice cat. Actually, we saw several nice cats yesterday. Carol wondered why Mouffetard escaped Haussmann’s boulevardization of Paris. The answer is, Mouffetard is on a hill. Hills do not make for good boulevards. We ambled up rue Monge to climb the steps that lead to rue Rollin, perhaps one of my favorite streets in Paris when I daydream about perfect places to live there. We went back down the steps to wander up the rue Monge to the pseudo-old door that leads into the Arènes de Lutece, the important Roman ruins of an arena turned into a ball field for the local kids. We exited the arena at the rue Navarre and took the rue Lacepede over to the southwestern entrance of the Jardin des Plantes. We climbed the mound at the Jardin, looked at the remnants of the old zoo there, and wandered up through the fascinating garden. Then it was time to cross the Seine on the Pont Austerlitz, making our way toward the Promenade Plantée, a planted walkway created in 1988 on the site of a former elevated railway. First, we had to stop for beer, water, and coffee at the Bercy, a brasserie at the corner of the rue de Bercy and the avenue Ledru. We climbed up to the Promenade and walked it (4.5 kilometers), then walked on the Allée Vivaldi, which I think of as an extension of the Promenade. We headed down through a charming part of the 12^th arrondissement and then had to endure the ugliness of walking through the underpass that allows us to traverse the many tracks leading to the Gare de Lyon. Emerging from that mess, we found a pedestrianized street, rue Henri Desgrange, that leads us to the Paris Omnisport end of the beautiful Parc de Bercy. So from there we walked through the entire length of that park, coming to the end at the Cour St. Emilion, when it started to rain. We took refuge under the umbrellas of the Nicholas café, only to see that now they do not open the bar au vins until 6:30PM. It was only a little after 5PM. So we decided to try the place next door to it – a wine café that was advertising a “Happy Hour” with cocktails and pints of beer for €5. The name of the place is Le Vinea Bercy. Our server seemed to be amused when Carol ordered a Mojito. It wasn’t the drink he thought a lady like her might order. I asked about exactly what was and was not included in the Happy Hour price deal. The wines and champagne by the glass were not included (although the wines were already priced at €5). But, our server explained (as I thought he might), the three cocktails listed that were made partly from champagne were included. One that is particularly popular, he said, was this one made with rosé wine, champagne, and vodka. I said “C’est pour moi!” And he seemed to be amused by that, too. Ron ordered a pint of beer. No surprise for the server there. Tom ordered mineral water and a coffee. The server said, no cocktail? Tom explained that he is a water drinker. And the server said he was, too, and shook Tom’s hand. Funny, after he so enthusiastically promoted the popularity of the cocktail I ordered, it turns out that our server doesn’t even drink. Carol’s Mojito arrived with so many crushed mint leaves in it that it looked almost like a drowning salad. My cocktail was like a kir royal on steroids. Both Carol and I had fun sipping our cocktails for over an hour. We all shared a plate of toasted baguette slices adorned with a bit of tomato sauce and healthy melted slabs of mozzarella. We were outdoors on the terrace, but protected by big canvas umbrellas. It rained. It poured. The band playing under a picnic tent down the Cour a little ways had to pick up and move into the covered passageway to avoid the downpour. When we’d finally finished our Happy Hour and a half, we went through the passageway to get to the number 14 metro station. But we had to stop and listen. The group, called the Anne-Marie Jean Trio, played Brazilian jazz. They were absolutely great. What a treat. The Cour St. Émilion (called Bercy Village by some) has live music on Tuesdays and Thursdays, all summer, from about 6 to 8PM. We took the slick, modern, fast number 14 metro to Chatelet, that monstrous underground maze. Finally, we found our way out of the ground in the right place, near the Seine, by the Tour St. Jacques. We walked through the park at the Tour, admiring the renovation work, and crossed the Seine at the middle of the Ile de la Cité. Carol asked what the Hotel Dieu was, and Tom answered. Check out the web site. It seems that there really is a 14-room hotel as part of this big old public hospital near Notre Dame. Somewhere along the way there, we decided to dine at the Bouillon Racine, a glorious big Art Nouveau restaurant on the rue Racine. We all enjoyed our dinners very much. This is a good place to go in August when the more intimate restos are on vacation. The address is 3 rue Racine in the 6^th arrondissement, Tel. 01-44-32-15-60. And the night before, the four of us also dined well at La Petite Chaise (see restaurant recommendations) in the 7th. Speaking of restaurants, Jim H. sent the informative e-mail below with some good recommendations. Le Petit Mabillon 6 rue Mabillon, 6^th arrondissement, Tel. 01-43-54-08-41 Maddy had a hunger for Italian food but the two nearby that we knew of (near the Carrefour de l'Odeon) were too expensive for what you get so she scouted around and found the one named above.  We tried it and found it inexpensive and good for what it is ... Italian food.  If you go, it appears very small inside off the street so sit at the sidewalk tables if they please you or enter and ask for the jardin which is the lower level and very pleasant although tables are close together.  The pasta dishes are €10.50 and the selection is large; the entrees are around €5-7 and we saw others sharing them.  Maddy had the Salad Petit Mabillon and I had mozzarella with capers and anchovies as entrees and we both had veal scallopini (au citron and pizzaiola) but neighboring tables had pasta dishes that looked very good (particularly the pate Mediterranee with clams and mussels.)  If we had been smarter, we would have shared an entree (€6) and had pasta dishes (€21) plus a bottle of water (€?) and half carafe of wine (€7) and gotten out the door for less than €40 ... next time. Worth a try for an inexpensive meal ... perhaps the only one in this neighborhood. Pêres et Filles 81 rue de Seine, 6^th arrondissement, Telephone: 01 43 25 00 28 Just this side of rue de Buci intersection, this is an apparently very popular bistro at which we had a very good dinner, although not inexpensive because everything is a la carte.  We did notice that most of the French people around us were ordering only plats without entrees although the entrees, as is so often the case, were the best of the meal: Maddy had little raviolis stuffed with (something?) in a cream sauce and Jim had a cold blend of avocado and crab meat with a mild curry sauce that was excellent.  The seating on the sidewalk was interesting with all of the passers-by and the service was excellent.  Easy enough to get a table for two around 8:00 PM but for four it would be necessary to reserve to get a good outdoor table.  Good experience and different from the usual brasserie fare. Le Bistro de la B 9 rue de Bièvre, 5^th arrondissement, Tel. 01-43-25-09-88 We had taken a Cooley-style-marathon walk through the Fifth and early on up near the Quai de la Tournelle we saw a restaurant with a blackboard out front advertising the plat du jour: gigot et flageolets, one of our favorite French country dishes.  Fast forward to dinner time and we walked back to see if the plat du jour was still offered in the evening; it was.  Nice stylish bistro with a very nice patron.  Excellent meal at 17€50 for two courses or 22€ for three.  We started with salade chevre chaud and paté de canard & fois gras and then two plats du jour.  Only one other table was occupied at the time (two Brits who didn't have a clue) so the service was personal and very nice.  When we commented that it was unusual to find the country food, the patron told us that they specialize in the country dishes for their plat du jour so it is a very good place to watch for these old favorites that none of the brasseries offer.  Recommended. (Walk up Blvd. St. Germain past St. Michael and just past the Maubert Mutualite metro stop, rue de Bièvre will be on your left.) Sign my guestbook. View my guestbook.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008 Rue Rollin is one of my favorite streets in Paris. It is quiet, has no cars, and ends in a solemn circle called Place Benjamin Fondane. Mr. Fondane, like others who’d lived on this street, was a Jewish writer who’d been deported to Auschwitz and was murdered in 1944. Cheese shop on the rue Mouffetard, in the 5^th arrondissement. Monument to George Cuvier, at the corner of rue Cuvier and rue Lacepede, near the Jardin des Plantes. Mr. Cuvier was a Baron, a naturalist, and zoologist. Nice, well cared-for cat with blind eye in the park next to the St. Medard church at the end of rue Mouffetard. View of the Paris Mosque from the rue Monge. Anne-Marie Jean Jazz Trio performing at the Cour St. Émilion on August 19. Tom was amused by this image of Sacre Coeur as a cymbal stand. I wonder how many people would not understand this image? The poster promotes a jazz series on Montmartre. Jams and jellies are called “confitures” in French. Whatever you do, do NOT call them “preservatives,” because “preservatif” in French means “condom.” Spectacular golden pyracantha berries on the Promenade Plantée.

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