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

Photos and thoughts about Paris

Sign my guestbook. View my guestbook. 2010 Paris Journal ← Previous Next → ← Go back to the beginning

The avenue de Saxe was too inviting to avoid. The market stalls had been removed from the morning’s activity, and the broad expanse in the middle of the boulevard had been cleaned. Few people were out walking in the afternoon heat. There was plenty of open space around us as we walked up the market area that hosts vendors’ stalls on Saturday mornings. Next to the Ukranian embassy, we noticed a little street called the Villa de Saxe that went down to a low area, with a beat-up old convent on the left side and a hotel at the dead end of it. We decided to explore. The convent is now a priory, and it is part of the congregation of the Benedictines de Sainte Bathilde. The property snakes around to the avenue de Ségur, and includes several buildings and a large garden area. It appears that a tall church is in the middle of it, but there is nothing marked on the map or on any signs about a church – it must be for the nuns’ use only. The building on the Villa de Saxe was in particularly bad shape, and we saw a blocked off part of the sidewalk next to it where evidently a sinkhole is forming. This could be because of the many old limestone mine tunnels all over Paris. They collapse here and there, once in a while. The building’s façade on the Villa de Saxe is marred by windows that have had to be braced all around by rough 2x4’s (or whatever they are in the metric system). The sinking of the sidewalk is most likely also going on under that part of the building, and the wall with its many windows is in danger. So, big demolition permit placards are posted on the property, one on the Villa de Saxe and one on the avenue de Ségur. The placards say that an 8-story residential building will be built in its place. That is too bad, but I can see that there is a fundamental problem with at least that one building. Down at the end of the Villa de Saxe we found a hotel called the Tryp de Saxe. What a great location, on a very quiet little street, with the market nearby two mornings per week, and not far from the Eiffel Tower and the Rodin Museum, in the desirable 7^th arrondissement! The hotel is rated as a 3-star, and it is not inexpensive. What I adored most about this little street was the beautiful, modern, modestly sized apartment building at the end of it. The penthouse apartment has a roof garden with lots of trees. How nice! We walked back up to the avenue de Saxe and continued on around the military school to the avenue Bosquet. On the map, I’d noticed a little street off of Bosquet that we’d not yet explored: rue Dupont des Loges. The avenue was much calmer than usual. We walked slowly in the warm humidity, and finally found the rue. It is a pleasant, quiet street with lots of beautiful, well-maintained Haussmannian buildings. The last lions in the right column of this page live on that street. When we reached the end of the rue Dupont des Loges, we were on the avenue Rapp, very near the Dell Angelo trattoria and the New Jawad. We were both hungry, not having eaten much of anything at all that day. So we went to dine on Indian/Pakistani food at the New Jawad. What a great idea that turned out to be! I think I may have to demote the Indian Oven in Columbus to the number 2 slot in my list of favorite Indian restaurants. We each were given free apératif as soon as we were seated, and a papadam followed soon after. I think the apératif was Hpnotiq, a trendy thing with a bright turquoise color, made from premium vodka, cognac, and fruit juices. The samosa’s at New Jawad are available stuffed with either vegetables or meat. I chose vegetables. The samosas arrived at the table piping hot, crispy on the outside and very flavorful on the inside – no filler, just finely chopped vegetables. Tom ordered the onion vajhee appetizer. Those, too, were crispy, hot and flavorful. The traditional three condiments were brought to the table, and as usual, I consumed all of the hot pepper one. Up until that point, I think the servers thought perhaps we didn’t know our way around an Indian restaurant. They changed their minds about us. Tom ordered the Biryani with lamb, and I, of course, had lamb Korma. He’d been afraid that this place would be expensive (the words haute gastronomie are on the awning), so we’d double checked the posted menu before entering. As I remembered, the korma, for example, was only 1 euro more than at Banani and other Indian resto’s we’d recently passed by. The main courses were wonderful, and the rice served is extra long-grained and perfectly cooked. By the time we finished, lots of other tables were occupied. When we left, the entire staff wanted to come over and shake our hands and bid us a good evening. Tom said, “Everyone in there turned their heads, wondering who we are, that they’re making such a fuss. But when they get up to leave, the same thing will happen to them.” All clients are VIP’s as far as the New Jawad staff is concerned. And the food served there is fit for an emperor. Sign my guestbook. View my guestbook. Join me on Facebook. Note: For addresses & phone numbers of restaurants in this journal, click here.

Sunday, August 21, 2011 More Big Cats Found in the 7^th ← Previous Next →