Paris Journal 2012 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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The Marché Saint Germain is superior to the outdoor open markets elsewhere in Paris because it is covered. The building is very old, but is made of marble and has been completely updated. Two-thirds of its street level is a modern, trendy shopping mall, and one third is a glorious food market, with mostly top-quality vendors, in a modern-seeming high-ceilinged warehouse space that has been made bright and gay. There is even more to this building, because the subterranean level hosts a gymnasium, a parking garage, and more. From “our” apartment, the marché is located just on the other side of the hulking Saint Sulpice church, so to walk there yesterday, I walked around the back side of the church. I could hear a morning mass going on inside. Tom wasn’t with me, so I was limited a bit by what I could carry. I went to the friendly fromagerie and bought milk, orange juice, and fine, extra large, brown organic eggs. I visited the bakery stall, where a man sells wonderful North African treats but only so-so baguettes, and I bought a baguette. You can’t be choosy on Sundays, when many bakeries are closed. The famous butcher, Au Bell Viandier (Serge Caillaud), didn’t seem to be quite ready for business, so I walked up the rue de Seine to check out the Carrefour de Buci area. The fruit and vegetable vendor and the butcher shop were open there on the rue de Seine. I looked at the butcher shop, but didn’t really see what I wanted. I walked around the corner to the Nicolas wine boutique, and found that it was not open even though its posted hours said it should be. I walked back down the rue de Seine, seeing that the Carrefour grocery was open, but my bag was heavy and I was ready to go back to deposit it. But first, I did stop at the famous butcher booth in the marché and bought a little bit of fine jambon blanc (ham) and a slice of country terrine. The butcher, Serge Caillaud, is something of a Parisian personality as well as a 40-year viandier. Here’s a translation of an autobiographical write-up that he did for the Paris.seresqueridos.org web site on the occasion of his being considered for an honor called Être aimé , which he did receive: When I finished my military service, I worked as a chef in the
15th arrondissement, next to Necker Hospital. I spent most of my free time in the 6th
arrondissement in the jazz clubs that I adored. The neighborhood bewitched me. In 1972, I opened a boutique called “Mère grand” on the rue du cherche-Midi, across from the Poilane
bakery. I was the boss there. Two years later, I moved to the rue du
Vieux Colombier.
My butcher shop had a very good reputation, but the neighborhood
changed, and more and more of the merchants were hanging on by a thread. In 1993, I moved to the new Marché Saint Germain. I give
advice for cooking practically and quickly to my customers. I have even succeeded in making certain
vegetarians eat white meat. I was one
of the first to speak of the aging of meat, 35 years before the health
services would approve it. If, before
I retire, I would receive the title of “Être aimé,” that would give me great
pleasure, and I would redouble my efforts toward my loyal customers to be at
the level of honor where they place me. All of the vendors at the marché are polite and friendly. I feel very comfortable shopping there. When I returned to the apartment, Tom was awake and so we had a bite of breakfast, juice and coffee. At 11:30, I walked over to the front of the Saint Sulpice church. The organ was playing. People were exiting; one mass was over. I entered. The organist continues to play between the two services. So I sat for a half hour, meditating, praying, and listening to the most majestic organ music you can imagine. At times, the massive stone church seemed to vibrate with the thunderous sound. The organ at Saint Sulpice is one that every organist dreams of playing (or so I’ve been told by organists). Just before the noon mass I left; I’m not a Roman Catholic, and the priest’s words are too difficult for me to understand as his French bounces off the soaring walls of that cavernous space. The music and time for prayer and meditation will suffice; but I do miss my church back home. One of the things I like best about Saint Sulpice besides its austere architecture, its symbology, and awe-inspiring presence is the fact that this parish was established for the people, the common people who were not allowed to attend the abbey church at Saint Germain des Pres. As I meditated and prayed, I was a little disturbed/distracted by the flashing of tourists’ cameras. This experience further underscored my conviction that a flash should not be used in a church if anyone is praying or worshiping there – even when services are not being conducted. Y’all hear? After my visit to the church I decided that I was strong enough to endure the masses of frenzied Parisian shoppers at Carrefour, the intensively busy supermarket in the heart of the 6th arrondissement. On Sundays, this supermarket closes at 12:30. It was 12:15 when I arrived. I found the three things I had to buy. I saw that the lines at the cash registers stretched almost all the way back to the back of the store! But the supermarket has added some cash registers this year, and now each of the lines feeds into three cash registers. The lines move right along. I probably only had to wait in line for ten or 15 minutes at the most. By the time I arrived back at the apartment again, Tom was ready to go out for our Sunday walk. We walked through the Marché Saint Germain just as it was closing, just so Tom could see it again. Then I took him up to the boulevard Saint Germain to show him a fascinating new type of phone booth that Orange (France Telecom) is testing, and a beautiful new brasserie that’s just been recently established nearby. We walked up through the Carrefour de Buci and on to the rue Dauphine, pausing to admire Café Laurent at the Hotel Aubusson, where I hope that we will go to hear live jazz by Christian Brenner soon. We visited the Place Dauphine briefly on the Île de la Cite, and admired the newly cleaned and restored exterior of the Palais de Justice. Now that ominous court building is taking on the air of a fairytale castle. We crossed to the right bank, and then descended to where the highway was closed to automobiles on Sunday. We’ve been doing this on Sundays on the left bank, of course, for the months of July and August. What was interesting to see on the right bank, in this section that is farther east on the Seine than where we’d been walking in the previous two months, was the pedestrianization improvements. There, the road is not being eliminated altogether. But it is no longer a highway. It is narrower, and the sidewalks have been made wider. Guardrails have been eliminated. Landscaping has been added to supplement the few miraculously surviving old plane trees. One little park that did exist before has now been made more usable, with more functional park benches, water fountains, and wooden platforms for sitting or sunbathing. That little park offers a fascinating view across the water of the north side of the Île de la Cite. As we sat on a bench, we could see a cluster of very old, medieval-looking buildings that are reminiscent of the warren of medieval buildings and narrow streets that once upon a time occupied what is now the huge, open parvis in front of the Notre Dame cathedral. Looking at this cluster, I could imagine what Paris was like, before Baron Haussmann changed it. After resting in the park, we walked on to the Pont de Sully, where we crossed over to the ancient Île Saint Louis. At that end of the old island is the Hotel Lambert. I’d almost forgotten about this enormous renovation/restoration project! I wrote about it in this journal on September 18, 2009, when the renovation plans proposed by the owner, Prince Abdullah Bin Abdullah Al-Thani, the brother of the emir of Qatar, were controversial, and thus were in the news. The project evidently was finally approved, and now is underway. I wrote all about that project in 2009, so for details, click on that link for September 18 of that year. The only thing I’ll add is that we were both impressed with the construction of a temporary building around the central part of this project. It is like a tent, but it is not a tent, it is a square structure called a “parapluie” (umbrella) and it has a number of window air conditioners sticking out of it here and there. I imagine that this is to protect the fabulous Gallery of Hercules which in 2009 was in such a precarious state, in urgent need of protection and restoration. I wish the Prince the best of success in this incredible, 40-million-euro project (this is on top of the 60 million euros he spent to buy the property from the Rothschild family in 2007). In this instance, the Prince is a historic preservationist’s dream, in my opinion. Tom was footsore by the time we finished inspecting the perimeter of the Hotel Lambert project, so we crossed back over the Seine to the left bank and had “linner” (lunch-dinner) at Café de L’Institut, a brasserie that we’d discovered a year ago. It is located across from the Arab Institute, at the east end of the boulevard Saint Germain. I love the interior ambiance of this café. I ordered the fish special of the day, risotto de gambas, which came with a mild curry sauce, and Tom had an omelette, fries, and salad. The best part of the meal was Tom’s café gourmand, which came with small (but not tiny) dishes of dark, rich chocolate mousse; refreshing tiramisu; and an absolutely correct crème brûlée. This wins our award for “best café gourmand in Paris” for this year. The main courses were only good, not great. But then I am a very tough critic when it comes to shrimp and risotto, a couple of my specialties. Tom’s fries, while good, were barely warm. Service, however, was very warm and friendly. And the music – all the music played on the sound system was American and British rock and roll. As we strolled down the boulevard Saint Germain toward “home,” Tom said “Let’s take a shortcut,” so we did dip away from the boulevard, and walked through the old Latin Quarter neighborhood that is home to a number of medical school buildings, including the old Cordeliers convent building. I doubt that it is truly a “shortcut,” but this detour is very interesting because of the architecture, and the evidence of very old Paris. Across from the massive and stately Université Paris Descartes building, there is a charming passageway through to the rue Monsieur-le-Prince, where, turning right, we passed by the San Francisco Book Company shop, one of the last remaining English-language bookstores in Paris. Earlier in the day, I’d passed by the Village Voice, on the rue Princesse, which is now closed. Its windows had been soaped up. So sad. At the San Francisco Book Company, you can sell your paperback books that you’ve finished, then buy some more used paperbacks for your reading pleasure. We crossed the chic rue de Condé and then were back in our neighborhood, on the rue Saint-Sulpice. When we rounded the corner onto our street, we saw François Bonduel and his daughter Fabienne getting ready to re-open their restaurant, Au Bon
Saint-Pourcain, following their long vacation. We exchanged “bonjours.” I think the
last time we dined there was September 2009, right
after my dad had gall bladder surgery back in Florida. At dinner that night, we exchanged surgery
stories with Elisabeth Lajti, a neighbor on the rue
Servandoni, who happened to be sitting at the table next to us. That seems like a long time ago. We’ll have to go back soon. |
Monday, September 3, 2012
A
cluster of medieval-looking buildings near the side of Notre Dame.
The
restored exterior of the Palais de Justice (above,
and below).
Interior
of Café de l’Institut (above, and below).
Risotto de Gambas, with mild curry sauce. |
