Paris Journal 2012 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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France has managed to clean up the Seine somewhat, but it is not clean enough to swim in, according to the authorities at the préfecture. Nevertheless, an organization called Swim Paris would like to revive an event that used to happen each summer, up until World War II: swimming across Paris, in the Seine. The event would take place on September 2, and would include 2 courses: one of 2.5 kilometers and another of 10 kilometers, between the Piscine Joséphine Baker and the André-Citroën park. In less than a month since the announcement of the potential event, more than 3,000 people have committed to pay 30 to 60 euros each to participate. According to today’s issue of the newspaper Le Parisien, the vast majority of these people are from the Paris region. Laurent Neuville is the co-organizer of the event; he is a former professional swimmer. Swimming is very popular here. Neuville says that the proof of that is that the swimming pools are always full. But the préfecture says the water quality is not good enough, and that disturbing the river traffic would be too much of a problem. So the préfecture has refused to grant an exception to the decree that forbids all swimming in the Seine since 1923. However, this refusal is being considered as just a “position of principle.” More and more requests to swim in the Seine are being made, according to the préfecture. In early July, 4500 people obtained permission to swim near the Eiffel Tower on the occasion of the Paris Triathlon. The Triathlon’s managers had the water tested beforehand, and found that it was safe. [Note: the regional health agency reports that monthly tests indicate too much fecal contamination in the Seine.] But the Triathlon’s 1.5-kilometer swim only disrupted river traffic for an hour, at dawn. This seems to imply that the economic factors of disrupting river traffic are the préfecture’s real reasons for refusing permission to Swim Paris. The organizers of Swim Paris are moving ahead anyway, already having purchased things like swimming caps and other equipment for 120,000 euros, according to Le Parisien. They requested another meeting at the préfecture yesterday. Neuville promises that if the event is really cancelled, the participants will be reimbursed. Good luck, Swim Paris. I’d join the event, except that I only swim in quite heated pools, not in cold, natural water bodies. Plus, there’s the problem of my very bad eyesight, which I can deal with in my community pools, but out there in the Seine with thousands of other swimmers? I think not. But I’d love to watch. ҉ My description of the hot chocolate at Angelina’s tea room elicited a Facebook comment from a former high-school classmate, Nicolette. She points out that the pastries at Angelina’s are also worth mentioning. I don’t have much experience with those, but will have to try. The pastries do look incredibly beautiful, and the chef at Angelina’s is truly a great pastry chef. So that’s a plan. Also, now that we don’t have the 11-year-old girls with us, we’re going to explore some new restaurants, without worrying about how kid-friendly they might be. The Bonjour Paris newsletter has given me some ideas for places to check out. The Cooley method of restaurant selection involves walking by and looking the places over first; we don’t just go there based on a restaurant review, usually. But last night, we simply walked up to the tried-and-true, excellent restaurant, La Gitane. Tom mistakenly ordered the entrecote (rib steak) when he meant to order the cœur de filet instead, but it was still very good, and I especially liked the Béarnaise sauce that came with his steak. I ordered the filet de canard, which was really slices of magret de canard, that was to come with a Szechuan pepper sauce. There was too little sauce – maybe a quarter teaspoonful? Either they were running low on it, or they wrongly thought it would be too spicy for me. No way – I like it VERY hot. The potatoes accompanying the duck were fascinating. Billed as sautéed potatoes on the menu, they were so thin and somewhat crispy, that it seemed like they were unsalty, hot potato chips. Really good, and different. Tom’s steak came with fries, of course; the fries are homemade and yummy at La Gitane. The menu has just recently changed at La Gitane. When we were ordering, Tom asked Corinne about one of the new appetizers. What is a “bulot” he asked. I thought it was probably a shellfish, but I could not remember which kind. Sea snails (escargot de la mer) was Corinne’s answer. We didn’t order it, only because we thought we might save room for dessert. But early on in our dinner, Corinne brought us a little saucer with two bulots. She said they are normally served with mayonnaise. They were cooked, but cold. We each tried one. It really tasted like conch, which is not a surprise. Still, I prefer the conch from Florida over the bulots. Each bulot looked like a miniature horse conch, but gray instead of orange/white/black. But since we didn’t order that starter course, we were able to order a dessert to share. I selected the Paris Brest, even though we’d had one before at some other establishment, and weren’t that impressed by it. However, I trust La Gitane, and this Paris Brest was “maison,” meaning made there, at La Gitane. That was a very good recommendation. Corinne seemed to be pleased when we ordered it. And so the Paris Brest was delicious. The pastry was flaky and yet rich, not dry at all. The buttery, creamy, fluffy filling had a touch of hazelnut coffee flavor. And the drizzle of caramel sauce was intensely rich. Divine! |
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
This
photo is for Ron S., in honor of a joke he recently shared on Facebook.
Views
of the Seine, in the 12th-13th arrondissement area.
A
bulot.
The
Paris Brest at La Gitane. |
