Paris Journal 2011 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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A Greek-English-American named Craig Copetas lives in Paris and writes with some regularity for Bloomberg News. I assume he is some kind of business/economics expert, based on what I know about what he’s written and what he has said on TV. Last month, he wrote an article about the sad state of Asian cuisine in Paris. I thought it was perhaps a bit overstated, but when he claimed that the Japanese government has sent a team of agents to check out the Japanese restaurants in Paris, fearing for what their shoddy work is doing to the culture, I thought that had a ring of real truth to it. I saw him on a panel of experts on a France 24 news/talk show yesterday, where he said, “Fifty percent of the tax that French citizens paid this year is going to service France's creditors.” That is an amazing figure! I predict the euro is going to drop more. I may have to follow the writings of this Craig Copetas more. At the very least, I should find out what Asian restaurants he does like. Because of the rain, we were a little later than usual in starting our Sunday Seine walk, but we went on for a long time. We arrived at the Tuileries/Solferino in time to hear Bernard Constant, One-Man-Band, perform only three tunes, then it was time for him to pack up – almost 5PM. We had a nice little chat with him and then went on our way. Tom wanted to continue to the Place Tino Rossi, to see the tango dancers. The sky to the south was looking fairly threatening, so when we reached Pont Neuf, we took it over to the calm and charming Place Dauphine where we sat on a park bench and discussed our options. I suggested we walk along the Quai’s of the left bank so that if it started raining, we could duck into a shop or café easily and quickly. So we did. While I don’t love the traffic on the Quai, the shops are fun to look into. We wandered, walked, and wondered at the window displays all along the way, until we reached the small square in front of Shakespeare and Company, the bookstore. It started to sprinkle a bit, so I ducked inside. But it was just too hot and crowded in the store, so we went back out and around the corner to the Tea Caddy, across from the ancient church of St. Julien le Pauvre. It was time for tea. Tom ordered the “Apple Pie,” as it was called on the French menu. He also had a big cup of coffee, and we shared a small/medium bottle of San Pellegrino. I ordered a glass of white Sancerre wine which was very reasonably priced for such a nice wine. The “Apple Pie” arrived in its own little pie dish, with the crust only on the top of it (very English, I thought). The entire tea room looked so very English. But it was full of French people, one lady who was French Canadian, and then the two of us. Like Christine Lagarde, there are plenty of French people who really dig tea. They lingered in the tea room before their different colored tea pots until about 6:30 or so. I admired the ceiling, with its ancient wooden beams and some not-so-ancient wooden beams. The pie was good, but full of a lot of air -- not as big as it looked, and not as sweet as it might have been, which is very good as far as I’m concerned. With it came a nice little pot of clotted cream. I purred like a cat. While Tom ate most of the pie, I had some bites of it, mostly so I could have some clotted cream with it. The crust vaguely reminded me of my pie crust recipe. When we left the Tea Caddy, we could see that a rain shower had happened while we were in there. But our timing was perfect. It wasn’t raining anymore. As planned, we walked on along the left bank to the Square Tino Rossi and watched the beginning of a tango lesson. The sky started to cloud again, so we moved on in the direction of the Jardin des Plantes, and made it into the metro at the Austerlitz station before it rained again. When we exited at Emile Zola, there was no sign of rain at all, but then this is a whole 12 metro stops away from where we the ride began. It occurred to me that with fine gardens at each end of the line 10 – the Albert Kahn Gardens on the west end, and the Jardin des Plantes on the east end – I could design a plan for garden loving tourists to indulge in a whole day of sightseeing along the line 10’s route. The tourists could stay in the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles in its garden-like setting in the 5th arrondissement, and start the day at the Jardin des Plantes. Then they’d get on the line 10 at the Austerlitz station and take the metro to the Javel-André Citroën stop, where they’d exit and visit the several gardens of along the northeast side of the Parc André Citroën. After that, they’d hop back on the line 10 and take it to the end of the line at Boulogne Pont St. Cloud, where they’d exit and have a quick lunch on the generous terrace of the Brasserie Jean-Baptiste, followed by a visit to the Albert Kahn Gardens. Of course, they could then take the line 10 metro right back to Cardinal Lemoine, near their hotel. Another day of their tour might include a guided visit of the Luxembourg Gardens, where they’d visit the park’s gardens but also learn about the Senate’s apiary and fruit orchard, and they’d have a private tour of the Luxembourg’s greenhouses which are not normally open to the public. They could then go to the garden at the Rodin Museum for tea. Another day could involve a visit to Parc Floral, in the Bois de Vincennes, then the Jardin Yitzhak Rabin at the Parc Bercy, and a stroll along the Promenade Plantée from the Jardin de Reuilly to the Bastille Opera. If there’s time that day, they could also squeeze in an evening stroll at the Jardin du Palais Royal. Another day would take them to the Parc Monceau in the 8th arrondissement, followed by the Jardins du Ranelagh in the 16th, a visit to the Marmottan museum, and finally the Jardin des Poêtes and the greenhouses of the Jardin des Serres d’Auteuil in the Bois de Boulogne. And then they’d probably be so sick and tired of seeing beautiful gardens that they’d want to tour the Catacombs or the Sewers of Paris. Either or both could be arranged. Sign
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Monday, September 5, 2011
The
magnificent fountain at the Place Saint Michel, featuring the archangel St.
Michael fighting the Devil.
Old beams
and not-so-old beams in the ceiling of the Tea Caddy on the rue Saint Julien le Pauvre, 5th
arrondissement, where we had “Apple Pie.”
For dinner,
we dined at the Café du Commerce.
Above, the very good terrine lapereau (young rabbit terrine), with prune. Below, the daily special of country-style
roast beef in croute with mixed
vegetables, plus this café’s incomparable Baba
au Rhum served with raisins, whipped cream and
a bottle of rum to pour over the pound cake.
Let’s say
this was Whit’s birthday cake. |
