Paris Journal 2011 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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There was more in the newspaper yesterday about rich French CEO’s being willing to step up to the plate and pay more taxes in this time of financial crisis. They admit that proportionately, they should pay more. While it is nice to get the newspaper and hold it in my hands, the trouble of doing so plus the plethora of news available on the internet means that we aren’t buying as many newspapers as often as we used to do in the past. But I have both French and English language news headlines on my customized Yahoo home page, and I regularly check the National Hurricane Center’s web site, being a south Floridian. I even check the web sites for our poor little weekly newspapers on Sanibel. Often, I’m doing this reading while everyone back in the U.S. is still asleep. By the time they wake up, I’m already informed, even about their world. Still, some people think that when you’re away, you are completely unaware of what’s been happening. Maybe some people are oblivious when they’re away, but we are not. We have to read a lot; that is part of the textbook writing business. One textbook is in production, the other is starting the revision process for a new edition. It never ends, and that’s a good thing. And then there’s Facebook. What can I say? I learn so much from my 500-plus Facebook friends. What a fine group of people they are, scattered across the U.S. and some elsewhere. Through them I learn about new news sources, commentaries, and musicians. I even became friends on Facebook with the Sanibel Bear, who didn’t even arrive on Sanibel until after we left for the summer. And I get the daily doses of sarcasm that I seem to require from The Onion and The Borowitz Report. Even with Groupon, I receive offers both in SW Florida and in France. Most importantly, my family knows how we are, and we know how they are. It was my father who encouraged his kids to join Facebook. My father, who is now gone, would be pleased to see that his family is better connected with each other than ever. And so it goes. Last night, our friends Carol and Ron arrived from England. The train line that normally takes them into London where they catch the Eurostar for Paris is being upgraded. Next time they come here, the link from home to London will be faster than ever. Going to Paris will be easier than ever. Lucky Carol and Ron. It was great to see them, and to enjoy a fine dinner with them at Aux 2 Oliviers. As you might surmise from its name, this restaurant specializes in Mediterranean cuisine. Carol and I ordered tagines – fish for her, chicken for me. This is the best main course to order at this resto – it couldn’t have been better. The tagines included lots of roasted vegetables and not too much couscous – just the right amount. My tagine included honey and almonds. Yum. Ron’s steak of Charolais beef with a camembert sauce and little potatoes was just okay, not too exciting. But then steak is never the best thing to order in France. Much better to have steak in the U.S. (Faux filet de bœuf charolais sauce camembert, pomme de terre grenaille.) Tom ordered the most exotic thing on the menu – pieces of tender pork sautéed in a wok, with a very spicy honey and thyme sauce and long strips of vegetables (Wok de mignon de porc caramélisé au miel et au thym.) The appetizer Tom ordered and Ron and I sampled was interesting. It was a foie gras in a crème brûlée preparation (crème brûlée au foie gras chutney de pommes et pain d’épice toasté), almost more of a dessert than an appetizer. The restaurant was invaded by a large group – maybe 20-some – of young women. Only one server was working in the dining room, and I don’t know how he did it but he did. An interesting-looking English-speaking couple appeared in the doorway and were surprised to see the restaurant so full. They’d walked into the place a couple weeks ago, and it was nearly empty. Sorry, the server said. The resto is full tonight. And so it is now that time of year, when we’ll be making reservations again for dinner, as we did last night. At least, we’ll be calling ahead. Sign
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Thursday, August 25, 2011
The most
recently restored tower of the Saint Sulpice
church.
Even the
horses seem more relaxed now that serenity has returned to the Champ de Mars.
Synagogue
on the raised plaza at the Front de Seine/Beaugrenelle.
Looking
down from the footbridge that connects the raised plaza to the Square Pablo
Casals.
Tajine de
poulet au miel et aux amandes at Aux 2
Oliviers, 22 rue de Vaugirard. |
