Paris Journal 2012 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com

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I was slightly appalled that I’d forgotten about the opportunity to go to Café Laurent to hear Christian Brenner’s jazz ensemble play last week. After the August vacation, the group typically plays there on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. Early this week, I was determined not to let that oversight happen again. So I picked up the phone and made a reservation for Le Caveau Du Palais, because Café Laurent is on the way home from that resto, on the rue Dauphine. It would be impossible to forget this time. The walk up to Le Caveau du Palais is delightful. It begins with the routine walk up to the rue de Lobineau, which runs along the south edge of the Marché Saint Germain. We pass by the pretty Gérard Mulot bakery, which is still open and selling lots of stunningly delicious-looking pastries and bread. Right after crossing over the rue de Seine, we take a left onto the medieval, narrow rue Grégoire du Tours. There we notice a couple of small Italian restos that are charmingly enticing. After crossing the commanding boulevard Saint Germain, with all of its important traffic, we continue on the little rue Grégoire du Tours, right up into that busy pedestrianized beehive of the Carrefour de Buci. There the rue Dauphine begins, and it leads directly up to the Seine. At that time of the evening, shops are still open and the clubs and bars are not quite going yet. For women who like exotic-looking jewelry and clothes, this is one of the places to stroll and either window-shop or seriously shop. One narrow, deep boutique that we could not resist was full of beautiful scarves, shawls, kilims, and other textiles as well as jewelry and jewelry-making supplies like beads of all kinds – all from India and Pakistan, we judged. We entered, and slowly relished looking at everything until finally reaching the back of the long showroom, where the shopkeeper paused his conversation with two friends/neighbors and came up to greet us, first in French, and then, in rapid succession, in perfect Queen’s English. He asked if he could help us. We smiled and said no, we’re just looking, but thanks. He seemed happy just to have someone in the shop, shopping. The fact is, for a street with so much pedestrian traffic, there are not many people buying things. Many of the pedestrians are 20-something-year-olds, and I think they were just killing time walking around, waiting until the clubs and bars would activate. It took us a while to finally reach the Place Dauphine, on the Île de la Cité, because I had to pause many times to look at so many window displays of jewelry and clothing. Finally, we dipped into the small opening of the rue Henri Robert, in the middle of the space between the two sections of the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), which is the oldest bridge in Paris. In short order, the rue Henri Robert opens up into the triangular Place Dauphine, a space like no other I’ve ever seen. Place Dauphine is walled in by old 17^th -century or older buildings on two sides, and by the imposing old Palais de Justice onbthe side opposite of where we entered on the rue Henri Robert. Just before we reached the open Place, on the right we walked past the door for the Henri IV, a very basic, one-star or no-star hotel that is surprisingly affordable, right in the middle of old, old Paris. We’ve never stayed there, but our friends Arnie and Fran did, and they recommended it because it is so quiet, and it is a bargain. You can’t possibly imagine a more charming or romantic location for a hotel, other than the Place Dauphine. The Place itself is devoid of grass. Its flat surface is that dusty dirt found in the walkways and boules courts of parks everywhere in Paris. But instead of the dirt being used just for the walks and boules courts, it is the entire surface of the Place. Dotting the Place are pretty street lamps and trees. Until the past couple years, these were majestic old white chestnut trees, but they were sick. Their illness was so bad that the city removed all of them a couple years ago, and replaced them with new red chestnut trees. Because Paris had a wet spring, the new trees have grown considerably this year. In a few more years, the canopy effect will have returned to Place Dauphine. We’d read about an elaborate old clock that has been restored and returned to the façade of the Palais de Justice, at one of its entrances. We did not know which entrance, so we walked to the far side of Place Dauphine to see if the clock was on this side, on the street called rue de Harlay. It was not there. But that side, like all sides of the Palais de Justice, was looking lovely, now that the building’s façades have all been cleaned and restored. We admired the façade of Restaurant Monsieur Paul, a place where we’ve dined once on a Sunday afternoon in the past. It runs straight through, from the Place Dauphine to the Quai des Orfevres, and I believe you can enter it from either side. We’ll dine there again sometime, because we remember it as a pleasant experience. The restaurant Le Caveau du Palais is next door, facing onto the Place. It stretches through what must be the ground level of three buildings on the Place. I knew which door of the three to enter, and so I did. There, the maître d’hotel greeted us, checked us off in the reservation book, and gave us a nice corner table in that first room. In addition to that dining room, there is a center dining room, a couple steps down, and then a small dining room at the opposite end, which has part of the kitchen open to it. When the restaurant is very busy, the staff open the upstairs, in which there is an oddly shaped dining room with a few old windows that open onto and overlook the Place Dauphine. Then of course, there is the long terrasse, the tables under the awning along the sidewalk, stretching the full length of the restaurant. That’s where most of the French diners want to sit, because they or their companions can smoke out there. In this slightly chilly weather, tall propane heaters are used to warm up the terrasse a bit, and clear vinyl side curtains are lowered at each end of the awning, to cut down on the biting wind. Le Caveau du Palais is a tried-and-true place for us, a place where I will venture into the wild of strange French dishes like tête de veau and andouillette AAAAA. Last night, I saw that rognons de veau flambé was the daily special. Veal kidneys. I ordered them. They came with a flavorful brothy sauce and homemade tagliatelle pasta. But there were not flamed at the table before me. They must have done that it in the kitchen at the other end. If we’d been seated in the far dining room, I’m sure I would have seen the flames. Tom ordered the tournedos de canard, chunks of roasted duck breast, which came with a delicious, hefty serving of puréed potatoes. Tom ordered a fabulous baba au rhum, and I had a delightful, fun, multi-layered verrine craquante au pralin et chocolate. After dessert, I checked the time. 9PM! Time for jazz. We paid up, said our goodbyes, and walked back across the Seine and down the rue Dauphine to the elegant 4-star Hotel d’Aubusson, home to Café Laurent. It wasn’t so awful that we missed the jazz there last week, because it so happens that Christian Brenner is in Brazil right now. Yet with all of his musical connections and network, he arranged for a replacement trio, a fine jazz pianist named Pierre Christophe, a bass player, and a drummer. We entered via the hotel lobby, and took our customary seats on two bar stools at the good end of the L-shaped bar. The bartender seemed to remember us, and greeted us nicely. Not that many people choose to sit at the bar when so many of the little tables are available. We like it, however, because we can see the band over peoples’ heads, and we think the sound is better there than being at the table right next to the drummer. The trio started at 9, but the pianist had started by himself, earlier in the evening, with a couple sets beginning at 6:30PM. Some people were already in Café Laurent when we arrived, but most arrived later. Café Laurent offers drinks only, no food. The Café has no cover charge, but requires a 10-euro minimum tab per person. We usually order two drinks at 8 or 9 euros each, then leave a 20-euro note for the bartender. Cash – he seems to like that. We stayed for a couple hours – most of two sets. The music was great. If anything, we like Pierre’s style even better than Christian’s. And that means something. A couple of very young women entered while we were there. They walked quickly through the Café, and didn’t stay long at all. They left, without ever sitting down or looking at the drinks menu. So I don’t think the prices bothered them. I think they thought we were all too old to be of interest. They were looking for guys their own age (22?). Someone must have told them that Café Laurent would be a good place to look for single men of some means. I think that might be true, although mostly Café Laurent customers are couples, or small groups of friends. Later, when we were walking home down the rue Dauphine, we saw these same two young women, still out there strategizing about what to do. The bars that cater to people their age were operating in full swing. Each is marked by a small mob of young adults on the sidewalk outside, smoking and chattering away. They are motley crews. So I can see why the upscale grace and calm of the Café Laurent might appeal as a better alternative for meeting wealthier young men. Those two young women should not have left Café Laurent, in my opinion. If they’d stayed, and sat at the long side of the bar, they might have met some young men who would have been only a few years older, but would have been way more sophisticated than the blokes at all those other bars. First, however, they would need to change their attitude about age. I’m not advocating their dating men who are old enough to be their fathers; but there’s nothing wrong with a guy who is 10 years older. Or thirteen years older, for that matter. Speaking of which, Tom has been working away every day on those page proofs. But last night, what a great reward it was for him to hear the jazz trio, and to see a drummer doing such a fine job. In a trio in a small venue like that, some drummers might have over-played. But this one did not. We arrived home at about 11:30, and again it took a while for us to unwind. So we’re off to another late start today. Onward! Find me on Facebook

Friday, September 14, 2012 Views from the middle of the Place Dauphine, just before dinnertime. The Henri IV, a funky little old hotel on the Place Dauphine. The terrasse of the restaurant Le Caveau du Palais, on the Place Dauphine. Our desserts at Le Caveau du Palais: verrine craquante au pralin et chocolat, and baba au rhum, which comes with a bottle of rum on the side, so you can soak the brioche cake even more. Earrings in a shop at the beginning of the rue Henri Robert. Nice, eh? ← Previous Next →