Paris Journal 2013 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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We assumed the roles of
urban explorers and mystery-solvers for the day. After seeing the restored entrance
to the Invalides RER station beneath the Pont Alexandre III and realizing
that it is also a metro line 8 station, we began our explorations by taking
the line 8 from Commerce to Invalides.
Our goal was to figure out how to emerge from the underground metro
station at that point beneath the bridge. We proceeded carefully
after exiting the train. We examined
every “sortie” sign to be sure not
to be duped into taking the wrong one.
But there was only one sortie
(exit) for those leaving the line 8, according to the signs. We reached a point where the steps led down
to what appeared to be the RER platform only.
At least that’s what the sign said. We would have to try again,
from the opposite direction. For the
moment, we gave up the quest and merely exited on the esplanade des Invalides, near the Air France building. We walked out from under
the tall trees into the bright sunlight of the esplanade’s lawns, and then
headed for that glorious bridge, my favorite bridge, dear Alexandre III. Next on the list was to
wander through the park on the northeast side of the Champs Élysées. I don’t care for the avenue
des Champs Élysées from the Arc de Triomphe to the Rond Pont. It is too commercial, and now it is
becoming way too tacky. The non-commercial,
park-lined avenue des Champs Élysées from the Rond Pont to the Place de la
Concorde, however, is beautiful. It had been too long since
we’d strolled through the park on the northeast side of the great
avenue. So we went straight toward the
Café Lenotre, which of course is closed for the month of August. One of these days, we will actually manage
to dine there . . . . We crossed the avenue de
Marigny to look at the Théâtre Marigny, which I am very happy to say is being
restored now. This beautiful building
was in terrible condition, and now is receiving the TLC it needs. We circled around it and
sat nearby on a park bench to admire a fountain that actually has water
flowing through it and a gorgeous flowerbed encircling it. Then we walked around the
back of the restaurant Laurent
to the avenue Gabriel side, where we gazed at the stunningly expensive prices
on the menu posted outside. A 175-euro fixed price lunch? Really? We walked back through the
park and over the avenue de Marigny again, past the gorgeous gates to the
garden of the Élysées palace, and onward, admiring the many gorgeous, tall,
specimen trees. We rested again on a park
bench and decided that we were a little hungry. Nearby, close to the broad sidewalk of the
avenue des Champs Élysées, was a kiosque from which three skilled people were
selling crêpes and “hot dogs.” Tom
desperately wanted some coffee. The “hot dogs” came in two
sizes: simple, and double. The “bun” was a section of
baguette. A “simple” is one “hot dog”
on a shorter section of baguette, and a “double” is two “hot dogs,” end to
end, in a longer section of baguette. The reason I use quotation
marks around “hot dog” is that these were unlike real hot dogs. This “dog” was a fine sausage. Its casing is thicker than an American hot
dog’s, and the inside is more like a fine, mild, smooth, light sausage
instead of the strange, reddish, ersatz meat inside an American hot dog. The baguette on which this
“hot dog” was served was particularly good, with a very crunchy crust and the
right size air holes in its middle. The thing was awkward to
eat, so I just broke off bits of the baguette, ate them one at a time, and
took an occasional bite of sausage. We
shared one simple “hot dog” in this manner.
Tom said his coffee was excellent, and piping hot. Who’d have thought we’d
find such good food at a street vendor’s kiosque? I bet the crêpes are good there, too. Feeling fortified after
this snack, we continued our wandering through the park until we reached the
corner by the American embassy and the Hotel Crillon. Another surpise: the Hotel Crillon is being renovated! It seems to be a major job, encompassing
six floors and including some demolition on all six. Then it was about time for
us to check in for our “notarial services” appointment at the American
embassy. Finally, in our 16th
summer in Paris, we visited the American embassy. If you are an American taxpayer
concerned about possible wasteful spending at the embassy in Paris, I think
you need not worry. What we saw was an
efficient, unadorned, unbeautiful, work-a-day operation that is serving many
people. Some are American citizens
like us, and some were there for visas or immigration purposes, it seems. This is how it works: you make an appointment online for the
service you need (in our case, we needed to have a document notarized for an
American real estate transaction). You
show up before your appointment time, and are given a number after you go
through security. One tip about
security: don’t bring any laptop
computers, knapsacks, large bags, cameras or cell phones with you. Just leave all that stuff back at the hotel
or apartment. The written instructions
say that the security people will keep a small camera or cell phone for you
while you’re there. However, when I
told the security people that we had no cell phones or cameras with us, that
we’d left that stuff at home, they were noticably relieved and grateful; I
could just tell by the look on one security person’s face in particular. Even with an appointment,
waiting is involved. First, you go
into a very plain waiting room with your number. There must be 60 wooden seats in that waiting
room. You sit in front of the windows
that offer your service, and watch the electronic display of constantly
changing numbers, waiting for yours to come up. When it does, you go to the appropriate
window. The person at the window
takes your document and your passports, and gives you a paper to show at
another window, where you pay for the service you are using. In our case, it was $50 – that’s right, you
pay in U.S. dollars because you are in American territory when you’re in the
embassy. After you pay, you are
given a card that says you’ve paid, and you take a seat again. Again, you wait for your number to come up
on the display. When it finally does,
you go to the window and receive the service for which you’ve paid. Your passports are also returned to you. We were surprised that the
notary is actually a Vice Consul. In
our case, she was a very pleasant and professional young woman named
Katherine Ray. This was the most
professional notary service I’ve ever received. She even had us raise our right hands and
swear that we were telling the truth in the document we were signing. She also asked to be sure we understood the
document we were signing. At last, we had the
notarized document in hand. We stopped at the café at
the Petit Palais, and found that it is now a victim of its own success. Tant
pis. Onward! We crossed the gorgeous Alexandre III
bridge again, and descended the steps to the riverbank level. We entered the restored Invalides station,
determined to find the connection to the line 8 from that point. Voila! The Invalides station has a bakery in
it! This is good to know. But you have to have a metro or RER ticket
to get to it. Why, I’m not sure,
because we had to use our ticket again at a turnstile to begin our trek toward
the line 8. We followed the signs
pointing us toward the line 8. Mystery
solved. We were directed onto the
longest moving sidewalk machine we’ve seen.
Normally, in most airports or train stations, this long stretch would
have been divided into two or three separate moving sidewalk machines. At the far end of it, we
realized we were at the foot of the steps that, when we approached from the
other direction, had seemed to be the RER platform. So now we know. To emerge under the beautiful bridge when
leaving the line 8 at Invalides, walk toward the RER, take the long moving
sidewalk, and at the other end, find the exit for the Pont Alexandre III,
which is clearly marked there. Why is this important to
know? Well, for example, if you want
to dine at Faust (when the restaurant opens) while it is raining, all you
have to do is take the line 8 to the Invalides station, then follow the signs
to the RER, but at the far end of the moving walkway, make your way to the
Pont Alexandre III exit and voila! You
only have to duck around the corner to the shelter under the bridge where you
can enter the restaurant. This is far
better than exiting the line 8 on the esplanade and having to battle wind,
rain, and chintzy umbrella for some distance before reaching the underside of
the bridge. Later, when we were at
home, we decided that La Poste’s priority registered mail service was the way
to send the notarized document to the lawyer in Florida. The FedEx envelope that we sent last month cost
us over 84 euros. The services of La
Poste, with 4 days (or less) for delivery was only 7.50 euros. Plus, there is a La Poste near the
apartment. FedEx is way over on the
right bank near the big department stores. My theory about the
enormous cost difference is protectionism.
I bet the French tax the heck out of businesses like FedEx so that La
Poste, which is probably still government-subsidized, has no trouble
competing with them. I just hope the document
arrives at its destination, in good form.
On va voir . . . . We’ve never used the
priority, registered mail services of La Poste, and the process proved to be
confusing. With the help of a young
woman who was in line behind us, we finally puzzled out the second half of
what we needed to do at La Poste. The
very last part was made easy by a pleasant woman who used her hand scanner to
go out and help people who were waiting in line, in order to reduce the
waiting time for all. Now the document is on its
way, and we have a numero de suivi
(tracking number) to trace its journey. After all of that, we needed a fine French dinner. So I made a reservation at l’Alchimie. Both Chef Eric and the maitre d’ were very happy to see us. We were seated at a table by the front window, and dinner began with a mis en bouche of a slightly spicy seafood spread (mackerel) and toast strips, followed by the chocolate-lacquered little block of foie gras appetizer that we shared. The embassy and La Poste experiences brought out the carnivores in us. We each ordered the rib steak, and it was mighty fine (for a French steak). Making the steak special was a round chunk of beurre de curcuma (turmeric butter) which melted all over it. Delicious! I indulged in a fine glass of Bordeaux red wine for only 5 euros (or so I thought). Tom finished up the dinner with a café gourmand. The folks at l’Alchimie like us so much that they wrote off the cost of the glass of wine as a gift. How sweet! |
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
The
Grand Gallery of Evolution in the Jardin des Plantes.
Flowers
at Happy, a florist shop that is part of a chain.
One
of the greenhouses in the Jardin des Plantes. Below,
scenes inside the greenhouses.
The
back of the dining room at l’Alchimie.
A
block of foie gras,
lacquered in dark chocolate, served with a delicious little green salad and a
piping hot, whole wheat roll that had that great, crunchy crust.
Rib
steak with turmeric butter, roseval potatoes, and
green salad. |
