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

Photos and thoughts about Paris

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At mid-day, I checked out the weather on the internet and decided it was a good time for a bit of a walk around the neighborhood. I grabbed a couple of shopping bags and was off, pounding the cobblestones in a westerly direction. My first stop was Hédonie, a small gourmet grocery not far from the apartment, on the rue de Mézieres. I knew Tom wanted some crackers for the laguiole cheese, and I wanted something like a good soup for lunch. The place is called “Hé” for short. Cute. A few customers were being tended to in the shop, so I just browsed, finding several things to buy. The proprietor was dashing back and forth between the cash register out front, and the back storeroom. On one of those dashes, he bumped into me before I could get out of his way. He immediately apologized. A minute or so later, he surprised me by coming up to ask if he could help me. I began to answer in French, but he said he spoke English, and I could tell that he wanted to do so. So we ended up getting into a conversation of some length. He surprised me again by saying that he’d been to Sanibel, on a trip that was both for business and pleasure. He’d also vacationed on Key West. He said he likes Key West the best, and that didn’t surprise me because he looks like he probably enjoys partying. He’s very Parisian, and maybe gay. I said that perhaps Key West was best for a vacation [for a partier, but I didn’t say that part], but Sanibel is better for living. He agreed. Then we talked about developers and bad development, such as the high rises like the Montparnasse Tower and along the Front de Seine in the 15^th. We both agreed that the plans for turning the highways along the Seine into pedestrian meccas were excellent. By the time I finally left the shop, rain started to fall, so I simply walked home with no umbrella. Then I needed that cup of soup to warm up -- a delicious shrimp bisque, and there’s still more for today’s lunch. We wanted to walk to our dinner with friends over at Axuria Restaurant in the 15^th, so we left at about 6:20PM in order to be there by 7:30. That timing was perfect. We had a brisk hour-and-ten-minute walk, and were ready to consume two courses each. Along the way on rue de Vaugirard, we passed a shop at the corner of rue Ernest Renan. It had just closed, so we only looked in the window. There, right by the front door, was an entire display of Laguiole knives. The shop is called Oranger; I made a mental note to return when it is open. Inside, I could see many kitchen/cooking utensils, appliances, and supplies. In this location, I think the prices will be okay – for Paris. Rue de Vaugirard was busy and noisy with traffic, but it is a marvelously direct way to walk to our destination. The street slices through Paris in a way that most streets do not. The traffic noise used to bother me a few years ago. Now I’m immune to it, like a New Yorker. Maddy and Jim were already seated in the restaurant when we arrived. Maddy said they’d seen a person being interviewed for a job there. And our server was new – we’d never seen him before. We had cocktails and a yummy mis en bouche – rillettes – while we waited for John and Linda. After they arrived, Linda started to tell us the first of several little stories about the Big Wedding they’d just attended in Dusseldorf, Germany, over the past weekend. The 40-year-old son of our friends Bogie and Ulla finally tied the knot. Bogie is a part of the large Von Below family in Germany. The new server did not do a good job, and so Chef Olivier was having to bring food up to serve it himself, and he even took the order for the table next to ours. We have not seen him do these things before, although he has been known to pop up into the dining room to get a glimpse of people enjoying their dinners. Without good help in the dining room, the chef couldn’t concentrate on the food, so a couple of dishes were overdone. That’s too bad, because this has been such a good restaurant for us. I was one of the fortunate ones who had really good food (sea bass, pomme dauphine, and vegetables). All of us had the excellent soufflé au Grand Marnier for dessert. When we left, Chef Olivier came to the door to see us off. I think he was worried because he knows we’ve been repeat customers and he knows, better than anyone, that the evening’s food and service weren’t up to his standards. I still admire Chef Olivier Amestoy and his Axuria Restaurant, and we’ll go back there. Last night was just an off night; as my friend the restauranteur Marty Harrity says, you can’t judge a restaurant by one night – anyone can have a bad night. That’s a problem with amateur review sites like Tripadvisor.com. I look for the reviews on Tripadvisor that indicate that the reviewer has been to the resto a few or several times. We walked up to the corner of rue de la Convention, where I effortlessly, quickly, and legally hailed a taxi at the bus stop for John and Linda. They return to Sanibel today. Before she left today, Linda just emailed me the names of two new-ish restaurants in this part of town. She and John have enjoyed both places, and so Tom and I will check them out soon. Jim and Maddy decided to take the metro home, so we said goodnight to them at the Boucicaut station, where they planned to take the number 8 to switch to the number 10 to go home to our Saint Sulpice neighborhood. Tom and I wanted to walk a little more, but not all the way home. So we just strolled up the rue de la Convention and then the market street, rue Saint Charles, to the number 10 metro station Charles Michels. The number 10 takes us directly home, with no changing of trains. We listened to a little bit of soft jazz at home, and then were stunned to realize it was 1AM! Time flies when you’re having fun. Sign my guestbook. View my guestbook. Join me on Facebook. Note: For addresses & phone numbers of restaurants in this journal, click here.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011 Maddy, Jim, Linda, John, me and Tom at Axuria Restaurant. Here are those Carmona chess players again. These days, we’re seeing real chess players in the Luxembourg Gardens every day. Looking through the Jardin Marco Polo, the Jardin Cavelier de la Salle, and the Luxembourg Gardens at the Luxembourg Palace. A detail on the Palais de Chaillot. ← Previous Next →