Paris Journal 2014 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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Having achieved another mini-milestone in his work on the new edition of Back to the Lake, Tom was more than ready for a walk in the park. For Tom, this was his first walk all the way through and around the park this season, although he’d been in the park on Sunday, a little too late for the concert. He gleefully picked up a couple of horse chestnuts, which are strewn all over the Luxembourg Garden’s grounds at this time of year. Why he likes to gather those nuts I don’t understand, but it amuses me. I accuse him of being part squirrel. Maybe it is because they look like buckeyes, reminding us of our former home in the heart of Ohio. An hour earlier, a small thunderstorm had tamped down the dust on the paths in the park. After this rain, the flowers looked fresh and perky in their beds. The air was soft, and neither warm nor cool. As we were completing our circuit in the Luxembourg and the two little parks south of it, I suggested that we walk up the rue de Tournon, toward the Saint Germain market. Even though the rue de Tournon is wide, it is not a Haussmannian avenue; it is much older. It has the wide, straight look of an old Roman road. And so for the most part, the buildings on the rue de Tournon are older than the Haussmann era. Walking toward rue Saint Sulpice, the buildings on our left were generally big old hôtels particuliers, neatly arranged like huge tomes on a shelf, one right after the other. On the other hand, the buildings on the right were a hodgepodge of smaller old commercial/residential structures jammed together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Put together, at the street level they make a pleasing façade of charming storefronts. Above the street level, all the way up through the
rooftops, they form a higgledy-piggledy jumble of the sort featured in
several scenes in the movie Ratatouille. Old Paris. About the rue de Tournon, the French Wikipedia says “elle possède une physionomie très particulière, et constitue l'une des rues les plus prestigieuses de Paris. » Translation: “she possesses a very particular physiognomy, and constitutes one of the of the most prestigious streets of Paris.” A couple of bookstores selling rare books still exist on the rue de Tournon; at one time, there were many more; that’s what the street was known for, in retail specialty. Before the 16th century, the rue de Tournon had been called the “ruelle de Saint-Sulpice,” and the “ruelle du Champ de Foire” because it led to the Saint Germain fair grounds. At one point, it was called the “Pré-Crotté” street, because garbage and feces were thrown there. It was cleaned up around the time the market was located there on the fair-grounds. I’m sure the neighbors in the hôtels particuliers were relieved when that happened. If you read French, the French Wikipedia entry on the rue de Tournon includes a long and interesting list of buildings and “personalities,” naming many of the hôtels particuliers and other buildings as well as the famous people who lived in them. Check it out. For such a wide, straight street, the rue de Tournon has surprising little automobile traffic. Tom and I enjoyed that in our walk, and when we reached the rue Lobineau, we were relaxed. We walked into the food market at the entrance right in front of the Fromagerie Sanders, where we bought a package of fine butter to last us for the rest of our stay. We then had just enough time to walk the butter home, park it in the fridge, and freshen ourselves up for dinner. When we left a few minutes later, we decided to walk around in front of the church to see what was happening on the Place Saint Sulpice. You see, workers have been transforming the square into a fair-grounds, as they often do, for some particular event. This time, the event is a festival to feature the culture of Azerbaijan. I kid you not. This cultural fair lasts from today until the day we leave Paris – a week and a half, total. The town hall of the 6th arrondissement rents the square out for these events to make money, we think, but with the rationalizations that this practice is a continuation of the neighborhood’s fair-grounds tradition and that these are cultural events. And so it goes. Tom and I will not mind the inconvenience of this festival in the square at all, especially if the Azerbaijan people will be selling or showing their beautiful hand-made rugs from the Caucasus region. Of all the different kinds of oriental rugs, I think these Caucasian rugs are our favorites. We don’t want to travel to Azerbaijan, so this is the next best thing. We continued on through the narrow streets north of the square and over to the rue Montfauçon, where we had dinner reservations at Coté Bergamote. There is some kind of connection between Coté Bergamote, Café Seraphin, La Boussole, and La Bastide d’Opio. I see that in a corner of Coté Bergamote’s home page. Looking back, I can also see it in a number of the dishes served in these four restos, and even in the décor and color schemes. Coté Bergamote’s shtick is the wide-ranging use of herbs. We’ve had several delicious dinners there, but this was our first visit for this season. Throughout our dinner, the service was super-friendly and attentive. As we left, the younger server said our name had been recognized because we dined there last year, and because on LaFourchette.com there are a number of stars by my name. Interesting. I did not know about these stars. They must have to do with the number of times I have reserved via LaFourchette, and the number of times I submitted a review at least in the form of answering the questionnaire the next day, if not also in the form of a short commentary that LaFourchette allows users to submit. As of today, I’ve submitted 113 reviews on LaFourchette.com. That also explains the way the restaurants’ staff often say, “Ah, Barbara Joy!” after I say, “nous avons réservé – le nom de ‘Cooley’.” Surely many restos don’t pay any attention to this type of information on LaFourchette.com. But evidently, a number of them do. If we suddenly decided to stop going around trying so many different restos, and settled on just one to use as our regular “cantine,” I think Coté Bergamote would likely be the one. We are comfortable there, because of the adequate space around us, and because of the friendly, convivial, and unpretentious atmosphere. The charming country décor is also a plus. The reasonable prices are a definite attraction to those who dine out nightly, like us. Most importantly, the food is remarkably, consistently excellent. Last night, we decided to share the duck foie gras terrine, which is prepared in-house, dressed with a little vanilla and tarragon, and served with a few slices of spice cake. Tom has the sweet tooth, so after tasting it, I left the spice cake to him and I used the delicious sourdough-baguette slices for my share of the foie gras. After that excellent beginning, we each had fish for the main course. Tom’s was the special of the day: a salmon steak on a bed of risotto infused with chlorophyll. Excellent, and “very green,” Tom said to the server, who smiled. Mine was a sea bass filet served Provençale style. Like a real French person, I saved the accompanying green salad for last. The entire course was perfect – simply excellent in every way. I couldn’t/wouldn’t eat all the potatoes, but they were nicely prepared with a gratin of gruyere on top. What makes the cuisine at Coté Bergamote so particularly interesting is Chef Sathees’ use of a wide variety of herbs and spices. He seems to know them all so well, and he isn’t afraid to use a blend of flavors that people might not expect in French cuisine. Some have even called this resto a “journey into unknown territory.” That would be a good trip, I’d say. We shared an order of the dessert of the day: a cast-iron dish containing layers of caramel and baked bananas, topped with a super-finely shredded coconut that was crispened under the broiler, then topped with a little scoop of ice cream. It was divine.
Back at the apartment, Tom read the news on his tablet, and I enjoyed a Netflix movie on mine. This week – September 15 – was the launch of Netflix France. People like me who have USA Netflix accounts but who are in France now are able to log on, no problem. Because of copyright restrictions, not all of the choices available in the US are available here in France. But that’s okay; the service works very well. Today is another day with noses to the grindstone; but this evening will hopefully bring new adventures in culture, cuisine, and music. |
Friday, September 19, 2014
The restaurant Coté Bergamote is located in a former
pharmacy, I think.
Duck foie gras
with spice cake.
Salmon with chlorphyll-infused risotto (above), and sea
bass Provençale-style (below).
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