Paris Journal 2010 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com

Photos and thoughts about Paris

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What a pleasant time I had yesterday afternoon, sitting on the day bed in front of the tall French window, sunlight pouring in, while I read the newspapers. Then we went out to the charming presse shop and the Saint Germain market. At our three regular vendors – one for produce, one for meat, and one for cheese, eggs, milk, and juice – we’re treated with great courtesy and friendliness. The butcher even gave us a special, fancy, glossy paper bag with cord handles that would be an excellent gift bag for two bottles of wine. I think he liked it that I bought a big jar of cornichons (pickles) to go with the country terrine and ham that we also purchased. In the evening, we dressed up and walked down the side of the Luxembourg Gardens to the boulevard Montparnasse, where we met our friends Roy and Barbara for dinner at l’Abri Côtier, our favorite Corsican restaurant. I’d made a reservation through toptable.com on the day before the restaurant opened back up after being closed for a few weeks of vacation (in Corsica, of course). Madame did not have our reservation in the book, although I had received a confirmation from toptable.com. How could they send me a confirmation if the restaurant had not confirmed it? I don’t think I will use toptable.com anymore. I had no problem with opentable.com when I used their service to make a reservation at Bouillon Racine. Anyway, Madame was very gracious and accommodating, giving us a table for four that was marked reserved – right by the window with a good view of the boulevard for Roy and Barbara, who’d never been there before. There were no signs that we’d displaced anyone as the evening went on and the restaurant filled up. Maybe Madame knew there was supposed to be a reservation for four, from “one of those sites in the UK,” as she put it. But somehow she didn’t get our name from them. Who knows. The dinner was delightful. We enjoyed Roy’s and Barbara’s company more than ever. We’ve known them for twelve years now! Two of us had the three-course 23-euro menu and shared our appetizers and desserts. Well, I guess I ate my appetizer while Tom had bread and water. Barbara had the salad with little pastry sacs filled with warm goat cheese. I had a delicious plate of almost-paper-thin slices of marinated tuna and some salmon, with a drizzle of olive oil and herbs and a few small pieces of chopped marinated vegetables. It was light and wonderful. I had the duck breast with a fruity sauce that was just right. It came with a few veggies and three nice slices of sautéed potatoes. The portions were not copious, so this three course meal was going to be possible! Barbara had the cod, which looked much better than the cod I’d had at Chez Fernand on rue Christine the night before. Tom had a nice little steak with a great looking pepper sauce. Roy had the fisherman’s plate, and he was quite pleased with it. Tom and I shared a pain perdu for dessert. Well, Tom had most of that. It came with pear, a small scoop of vanilla ice cream, and a small dollop of whipped cream. Roy had a pain perdu to himself. Barbara had the cute plate with three different types of crème brulée. We lingered and talked after dinner. When we left, Madame wanted to be sure to know that we would be back soon. I assured her that we would. I can already see myself consuming a bowl of the restaurant’s wonderful fish soup on a cool, rainy day next week. Yes, the weather is supposed to change. But we have another glorious day today, and we plan to go for one of our great walks along the Seine while the cars are banned from its banks this afternoon. Sign my guestbook. View my guestbook. Note: For addresses & phone numbers of restaurants in this journal, click here.

Sunday, September 5, 2010 The church at the top of the Montagne Sainte Genevieve, known now as the Saint-Etienne-du-Mont church. Its site is a very ancient place of worship. The rue Tournefort in the 5^th arrondissement. ← Previous Next → And here’s the 2009 Paris Journal.