Paris Journal 2010 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com

Photos and thoughts about Paris

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Our normal practice is not to each lunch – we simply have a bite of cheese or saucisson and a piece of fruit. I do usually make a very small breakfast – one egg each, cooked sunny side up in a tiny bit of French butter, and two very short, thin pieces of poitrine fumé, which is pretty much like small bacon, cooked in the microwave until most of the fat has left it. But two days ago, Tom did not get his breakfast because he got up late and we had to go meet Stanley and Pat who were arriving from the US. So after getting them settled in, on our way back to our apartment, we stopped at Les Mouettes for lunch. Tom was hungry! I discovered Les Mouettes a few years ago because we walk by it often, on our way back and forth across the Left Bank part of Paris. It is on the corner of rue du Bac and rue de Babylone, right across from one of the main entrances to the Bon Marché department store. I noticed it because it is generally full of local people, including older people, at lunchtime. We’ve had several lunches there in recent years. I’m confused about the hours that the place is open for dinner, however. Some nights it seems to be open, others it isn’t, and there is no logical pattern as to which nights are on and which are off. Of course, no hours are posted. Shortly after I discovered it, it closed in August for renovation. When it reopened, it really didn’t look any different. But yesterday I did notice that the ceiling had a superfine lacquer finish, in an off-white, which had been applied expertly, with a brush, not a spray gun. It takes a very talented painter to do that to a ceiling, and to do it so well. If you’ve ever worked with lacquer, you know what I mean. We were seated next to a table where a mom and two little kids were polishing off their lunches. The kids were well-behaved, and were allowed to sit at the table and play for a while after eating. They were adorable. Behind Tom was a table with a mom and dad, and their little boy. He also was very well-behaved. When that family got up to leave, the little boy looked up and tried hard to get the attention of the very tall server standing next to him. He succeeded, and he waved goodbye vigorously, saying “Merci, au revoir” with a big, bright smile. The waiter looked down, smiled, and waved back, repeating the same words with the same enthusiasm. The moment was precious. Such good manners for such a small boy! Ah, I wish it was like this with American kids in restaurants back home. But usually, it isn’t. American moms and dads tend to let their kids run amok and make too much noise in restaurants. And saying hello, please, thank you, and goodbye? Forget about it. Lunch was very good. I ordered the country terrine, which came with a generous pile of thinly sliced cornichons, or small, dark green pickles. There was also a very small salad with vinaigrette -- and three nice slices of Poilane bread (country-style bread), which I could not eat but I visually appreciated. The country terrine was very good, and the serving was just right for lunch. We shared a plate of fries, which were delicious, big, hot, hand-cut, and not a bit greasy. It is a good thing that we ordered the fries, because Tom’s dish came with pasta, which he really didn’t want to consume. Tom was hungry! He ordered a special from the blackboard, the chicken scallopini cooked Milanese-style. It looked good, but I didn’t get to taste it. Tom was hungry! So I admired the ceiling, enjoyed seeing the well-behaved kids, and had a nice lunch out with Tom. We didn’t get any work done at all on Monday, needless to say. Last night, we walked back over to the apartment where Pat and Stanley are staying. After drinking a glass of wine and talking about where to go for what in the neighborhood, we walked over to La Petite Chaise on the rue de Grenelle for dinner. My food was not quite as good as I’ve had there in the past, but the service was quite friendly. Stanley and Pat didn’t eat much because they’d had a late lunch at a brasserie somewhere nearby. Earlier in the day, I think they were still recovering from serious jet lag. Stanley, Tom and I started with the escargots, which were good, but not the very best at all. Stanley had one of the big salads, with goat cheese, and it looked fine and fresh. Pat ordered the dorade (sea bream), a Mediterranean fish that she’d not tried before, and she said it was very good. Tom had lambchops, which he says were very good. My filet mignon de porc was, unfortunately, a bit dry and overcooked. But everyone else’s food seemed to be fine. And the restaurant is popular. It was full by the time we were finishing dinner. The restaurant promotes itself as the oldest restaurant in Paris, but I think at the time it was founded, this location was outside of Paris, on the road leading to the village of Grenelle. Upon leaving the restaurant, we were stopped by two young American women who were “not ready to go home yet,” and who wanted to know where they could go to get a drink. That kind of thing is limited in the 7^th arrondissement, of course, but I directed them down the quiet little rue de la Chaise, which was immediately before us. I knew that when they reached the intersection with the boulevard Raspail and the rues de Sevres and Babylone – only a block away -- they were sure to find a selection of bars/brasseries that would still be open. They went skipping off to have a good time. Tom and I had a lovely walk home through the cool, dark but safe streets of the 7^th, and when we passed by the École Militaire and the Champ de Mars, the Eiffel Tower was twinkling, right on cue. Sign my guestbook. 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Wednesday, August 4, 2010 The coronne, or golden dome of Les Invalides, as seen at night through an opening in the trees of the Square Santiago de Chili. Shell man and bear in an antiques shop window on the rue de Verneuil. I bet that this apartment atop a building on the avenue Suffren has some fabulous views. ← Previous Next →