Paris Journal 2013 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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In the evening,
we walked into the great, hulking church of Saint Sulpice. I call it “great” and “hulking” because it is
very large, bulky, and austere. It is only
several meters shorter in length than Notre Dame. Unlike Notre Dame’s frilly gothic
adornment, however, the exterior of Saint Sulpice is relatively plain. It has an air of solidity and massiveness,
not the airiness that the gothic style with flying buttresses seems to have. I was raised as
a Protestant, so maybe that is part of the reason the austerity of Saint
Sulpice appeals to me. But make no
mistake, this church is not so plain.
It is graced with many beautiful paintings and carvings inside. As we often
walk around the back of the church when going to the marché or walking up to the boulevard Saint-Germain or to the
Seine, I try to remind myself that just inside that massive, windowless,
rounded projection in the back is the Chapel of the Virgin Mary, which is
gorgeous and serene. What’s on the
outside of Saint Sulpice does not begin to tell you what’s on the inside. The temperature
outside was somewhere around a dry 85 degrees F. Inside the church, the temperature was
probably ten degrees cooler. We took
our time walking around inside. When we’d made
the full circuit, we exited the church and walked slowly up through the marché, up the rue de Seine, across
the boulevard, through the busy, pedestrianized Carrefour de Buci area, and
then up the rue Dauphine. We paused to
look at many window displays. A
plethora of colorful boutiques line the rue Dauphine. I think the Dauphine would be pleased to
see them. At the rue
Christine, we turned right and proceeded at our sauntering pace to the rue
des Grands Augustins. I love the
quaint Mariage Frères Tea Shop there. Then I realized
that we were in front of the Grenier Picasso!
I’ve been reading about this place in the local arrondissement’s
magazine, Notre 6eme. This is
actually a 17th Century stately home called the Hôtel de
Savoie. Picasso lived in the building
from the mid 1930s to mid 1950s. It is
where he painted “Guernica.” His
studio was so large that Balzac noted the sunlight coming in the large
windows didn’t reach the corners. This grenier (attic) in recent years has
been the rent-free home of the Comité National pour l’Education Artistique
(CNEA). This organization hosts
exhibitions and art classes for kids. Since 1925, the
Bailiffs’ Chamber (Chambre des Huissiers de Justice) has owned the
building. Now, the Bailiffs would like
to finally renovate this beat-up old stately home. They plan to spend 5 million euros on it. For some
reason, about 11 years ago the Bailiffs made an agreement to allow the CNEA
to use the grenier rent free. But that agreement expired in 2010. Or maybe there never really was an
agreement. It isn’t clear. Rather harshly,
the Bailiffs’ group now says the CNEA is “squatting” there because it has not
moved on, to make way for the renovation work. There has been
an eviction order, and it has been upheld by the court. The CNEA was to have moved out almost a
month ago. But it hasn’t. The mayor of
the 6th arrondissement asked the Cultural Ministry to list the grenier on the register of historic
monuments. I’m not sure why anyone
thought that would allow the CNEA to stay.
Sure enough, they are still expected to go. But the CNEA
has some impressive supporters, including the actor Charlotte Rampling,
former cultural minister Jack Lang, and the philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy. The CNEA
spokesperson says that the grenier
had been abandoned, and that they, the members of the CNEA, saved it by
renovating it using their own funds in 2002.
The CNEA leaders also say they found a wealthy descendent of the
Picasso family to perhaps rent the home. But the
Bailiffs say they’ve heard from no potential buyer or renter. The case goes to the appeals court this
month. After I told
Tom this story, it was time for dinner.
I’d reserved a table at Le Christine, just around the corner on the
rue Christine. I think at one
point this restaurant had perhaps been owned by the famous restaurateur Jacques Cagna, who still
owns the Rotisserie d’en Face across the street. Jacques’ more upscale restaurant that went
by his name alone appears to be closed for good. It was at the corner of rue des Grands
Augustins and the rue Christine. Le Christine
now is one of four restaurants owned by Boris and Emilie Bazan. Two of the others, Les Fous de l’Île and Le
Bistrot Populaire, are in Paris. The
fourth, L’Eden Green is in Civry-la-Foret, some distance west of Paris. The manager of
Le Christine (Laurent?) looked very familiar to us. We think he used to work at L’Espadon Bleu,
which was a fine resto that once was located down the street on the rue des
Grands Augustins. It was owned or
managed by Julien Logereau, Jacques Cagna’s nephew. A few years ago, it was replaced by a weird
resto called KGB. I have missed
Julien’s Espadon Bleu. So today I
looked him up on the web, to see what he’s doing now. I’m delighted to see
that he has another restaurant, Le Gastroquet, at 10 rue Desnouettes in the
15th arrondissement. We’ll
have to go there sometime. Back to Le
Christine. The chef is Jacques Marmonier. He is talented and wonderful. He
even offers cooking classes on Saturday mornings. I think they cost 70 euros per person. We started with
a lobster salad. It was small, but
delightful The chunks of lobster were
tender and delicious, and the roquette salad had just the right sprinkling of
great vinaigrette. Tom had some
superb lambchops, and I had a filet of dorade that came on a bed of soft,
tasty lentils in a pool of spicy pepper-cream sauce – very Basque-like, I’d
say. The fish, and
the lobster, were perfectly done.
That’s high praise from this seafood snob. Laurent
recommended the raspberry dessert, so that’s what Tom ordered. It was very, very good. Ordering wine
by the glass at Le Christine is no problem.
I had a glass of excellent sauvignon blanc. Even when
dinner was done, the evening’s fun wasn’t over. On our way back down the rue Dauphine, we
peeked into the window of Café Laurent at the Hotel Aubusson. Christian Brenner, the jazz pianist whom we
like to hear there, is back from vacation.
Last night, only Christian and a bass player were going to
perform. After examining the posted
calendar, we decided that Saturday night would be the time for us to go to
Café Laurent: there will be a quartet,
including Christian (piano), guitar, bass, and DRUMS! We also noticed
that Café Laurent has new furniture – much more comfy looking – an that the
piano has been moved away from the front window. The result is inviting. Having made
these plans for Saturday, we walked on down the rue Dauphine to the Carrefour
de Buci, where we saw a Dixieland jazz band playing on the corner. Richard Miller’s Riverboat Shufflers is the
name of the group. It included a
father and son on banjo and bass, a fine reed player, a fine saxophone player,
and Richard, the band leader who plays a soulful and melodic trumpet and
cornet. Also associated somehow with
the band was an older lady in 1920s attire who danced (shuffled) nonstop. The group was
so good that we bought their CD. The
dancing lady was designated to collect the money. Could she really be the manager? Here’s a fascinating
article about the group’s leader that I just found in Notre Dame Magazine. What an unusual life he’s led! A fullback at Notre Dame! A job in the Eisenhower White House! Making movies in Libya! Starting to play jazz in southern
California! Now playing in clubs and
on the streets of Paris! Not bad for a
kid who was “raised by the wolves in Wisconsin.” |
Friday, September 6, 2013
The
nave of the Saint-Sulpice church (its Chapel of the Virgin Mary is below).
Lobster
salad at Le Christine on the rue Christine.
Dorade
with lentils, sun-dried tomatoes, and spicy sauce.
Pork
chops in a pool of delicious sauce made with a rich meat stock, and below,
Tom’s raspberry dessert.
The
Riverboat Shufflers on the Carrefour de Buci. |
