Paris Journal 2009 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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The renowned
annual Sanibel East dinner was yesterday.
We’d scheduled it for lunchtime so that Jim and Maddy, who are on
their boat south of Paris somewhere, could take a train into the city and
join us. First, we
gathered at noon to have kir royals or mimosas at John and Linda’s
apartment. Then we got the bad
news: Jim and Maddy had arranged for a
6AM taxi to allow them to catch a 6:25 train, and the taxi did not show
up. They missed our Sanibel East
event. That was a big disappointment
for us all. I sadly called
the restaurant and changed our reservation from 11 to 9 people. Still, we
carried on with apératifs at John
and Linda’s place, and promptly at 12:45 we headed out the door and up the
rue du Cherche Midi, and over the rue de Grenelle, to La Petite
Chaise, the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Paris (since
1680). We passed
number 7 rue de Grenelle, which Ulla wanted to see because it is the setting
of the movie called Le Hérisson, which
in the English subtitle version has a different title, like The Guardienne, or The Concierge, I think. But we were here in France, not the US,
when it came out so I’m not sure. The dining room
was warm and a little too sunny, but after we made a slight adjustment in how
they had our table set up, and after a couple windows were opened, it was
just fine. The conversation was very
lively, and the food was superb. For example, I
had the hure de lapin for a starter
course. It was a tasty terrine of
cold, roasted bits of rabbit in aspic, served with a fine little green salad
and a touch of vinaigrette. My main
course was slices of perfectly cooked duck breast, served with a bit of rich,
fruity sauce, potatoes dauphinois,
and a half of a baked apple. Very
yummy, and very French. The service was
great, too. This was a vast
improvement over Rotisserie d’En Face the night before. La Petite
Chaise has been consistently good for us, and they are not freaked out by
groups of 9 or 11 or so. These guys are
real restaurant pros, and they make the customers feel welcome and
well-treated. Plus, they had no
problem understanding the several people at our table who did not speak
French. Later in the
afternoon, Tom and I took a walk to buy newspapers, then another long walk
through the Luxembourg Gardens until it closed. Closing time is now 7:15. The days are getting shorter, and the trees
in the garden are looking downright autumnal. Except that the
palm trees can never look autumnal. We
suppose the palm trees, which are all in individual planters, are moved into
the Orangerie before the really nasty weather hits Paris. But yesterday,
I learned that the three oldest of the palm trees are being moved to a new,
11-hectare, teaching botanical garden called Terra Botanica, which will open
near Angers (in the Maine-et-Loire department) in 2010. These trees are
fairly old. One of them even has
wounds inflicted by bullets during the Liberation of Paris in 1944! The three trees, which are 8 meters tall
and 5 meters wide at the top, were planted in the Luxembourg Gardens in the
19th century. It was
decided to plant them in the Luxembourg Gardens after it was apparent that
the trees were prospering in the gardens at Versailles. The work of
moving these trees began yesterday afternoon.
I shall miss them, but there are plenty of younger ones remaining. Sign
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Thursday, September 24, 2009
The
third annual Sanibel East group dines in Paris at La Petite Chaise.
Macaws
at the menagerie in the Jardin des Plantes.
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