Paris Journal 2007

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Hôtel de Choiseul-Praslin on rue Oudinot in the 7^th arrondissement. Decoration from the Caisse Nationale D’Epargne, around the corner and next to the Hôtel de Choiseul-Praslin. This building is definitely being renovated. Le Jardin de la Communauté des Lazaristes, at 88 rue du Cherche Midi, which was open to the public last Sunday. Note the greenhouse on the left. Statue in the Lazaristes’ garden. Note the composted leaves in the background. Another view of the St. Joseph des Carmes chapel on a nice day.

Friday, September 28 Tom and I have passed this fine old neglected house on the rue Oudinot in the 7^th a couple of times. At first, I thought its front garden was a vacant lot – a rare sight in central Paris. But no, it is the untended garden of this manor house. The building is owned by the government, and here’s its story (translated from the historical plaque nearby): Hôtel de Choiseul-Praslin This manor house, built in 1732 by the architect Gaubier, was bequeathed in 1746 by the Countess of Choiseul to her nephew César-Gabriel. Ambassador, then minister, the Count of Choiseul had a brilliant career; in 1762, he was given the title Duke of Praslin. His name became attached to the enlarged house, which he embellished and occupied from 1745 to 1765. In 1768, the house was sold to the father of the Count of Saint-Simon, founder of Saint-Simonism. Rented in 1800 to the intellectual Adamson, it passed through several hands before falling in 1876 to an owner who, just up until he died, did some particularly bad renovation work. In 1886, the manor house was adjudicated to the State of France. The government established there one of its outposts for the Caisse Nationale d'Epargne (national savings bank). In spite of its misadventures, this edifice still testifies to the attractiveness of 18th Century architecture. There is every indication that the government is starting, finally, to work on renovating this fine old place (currently used as a warehouse by La Poste, I think). So I documented it with this photo in the hopes that sometime in the future I can show you the work’s progress, and then its completion. Yesterday, we went shopping for a bit. I bought a little gift for the apartment, as I did last year (a wine cooling thing that you keep in the freezer and use to cool down a bottle in 30 minutes). I also finally found the T-shirt that my niece wants (Les Chats de Paris, going to the beach). The T-shirt was very hard to find. Many of the shops that normally sell such things didn’t stock many T-shirts this year because the weather has been so cool. It has taken me all summer to find this shirt! The shop that had the thing was on the rue Soufflot, approaching the Pantheon. The price was right: three T-shirts for €15. I also bought a Sorbonne shirt, and a cool geometric Eiffel tower shirt. The shopkeeper gave us a little speech about how he does not like American Express, even though we used Visa. I think he just wanted to talk, and we were worthy of his time since were were not just spending 81 eurocents on a few postcards. I don’t understand how anyone can make a living keeping a shop like this. There just can’t be much profit in it. We wanted to walk more, but the weather was too threatening. After a rest in the apartment for a while, we did go out again and made two walking circuits through the Luxembourg Gardens, and then wandered along in front of the Odeon theatre and down rue Racine, window shopping in this quiet are with plenty of small bookshops. We ended up at the Bouillon Racine, at 3 rue Racine (telephone 01-44-32-15-60), where we just barely were able to get a table. We had a very satisfying dinner there. We may go back tonight. Tom had excellent escargots, and then a stuffed piece of milk-fed pork and smashed potatoes. I ordered the soup of the day, a veloute of broccoli and cauliflower with just the right amount of seasoning and herbs. Yummy. For a main course, I had the souris d’agneau. It came with a purée of potatoes and cauliflower that was superb, and a dark rich sauce that could not have been better. The meat itself was not quite as good as that at Marie Edith’s (last Saturday), but on the whole, the course was much better even than Marie Edith’s. Bouillon Racine, like Chartier, is one of the old fashioned bouillons of Paris, originally started to feed the working masses. But this restaurant, like Chartier, is beautiful as well as big. It is a finely restored Art Deco work of art, dating back to 1906. We were both fortunate to be seated in the comfortable leather armchairs, not the uncomfortable looking Art Deco ice cream parlor chairs. If you want to stop in just for a drink, the Bouillon has added a more modern bar area on the first level, and it advertises a “Happy Hour.” But do try to get a look at the gorgeous dining room upstairs (where we were luckily seated). We had to be out of the Bouillon by 9PM because a large group was arriving to take over the upstairs. Since we had arrived early, at about 7:15, this was not a problem. On our way home, we had to make our way through a large group walking toward the restaurant. Probably the same group, we thought. The literary critic downstairs has gone to Italy for a week or so, we’re told, and so we are sleeping better and the apartment is quite peaceful. I usually leave out this kind of thing because I don’t want to wreak havoc with anyone’s privacy, but we are intrigued by the fact that there is a young movie actress living a couple floors above us. She isn’t really famous yet, but she has won some awards. We’ve seen her several times, hiding behind bookish-looking eyeglasses. Ron, our landlord, thinks she is stunningly beautiful, and he pretends to be thunderstruck by her presence and the fact that she says “hello” to him in English. Ron and Elisabeth both are so funny and charming. It is a joy to be their neighbors (and tenants) and friends. Speaking of famous people, we received a phone message from a person who works for a famous person. It turns out that one of our friends from New York is the aunt of this famous person. That was the first we’d heard of this relationship. Anyway, the famous person and her three small children need a place to stay on President’s Day weekend in Sanibel, and we’ve been asked to help find someplace, preferably on the western half of the island. This is a challenge, because everything is full that weekend on our little island, and houses can only be rented by the month. We’ve been trying, via e-mail to people we know, to find something suitable. But it looks like our famous person and her children will end up in a condo – assuming we can find one that has a vacancy. Jim and Maddie suggested a condo the other night, and that one just might work out. ←Previous Next→

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