Paris Roundup
Last Tuesday night, Chris and I flew to Paris so that he could work Wednesday through Friday. His office is a bit out of the center of town, but sweetheart that Chris is; he arranged a hotel in St. Germain des Pres so that I would be in a more central location! It had been a few years since my last visit to Paris so I spent a bit of time reacquainting myself with her many charms and remembering trips I had taken there in the past, in particular one with my sisters and another with one of my best friends, John Joyce. The first day I just wandered all over the place, through the Jardin du Luxembourg, down through the very chic 7th arrondissement ending up at the Rodin Museum The museum and the garden surrounding it are both really lovely. That evening we took a cab out to the Beaubourg Marais section of the city to a restaurant called Ambassade D’Auvergne (22, rue due Grenier Saint Lazare, phone: 01 42 72 31 22), recommended to us by a French couple we met recently named Bertrand and Catherine. Charming, warm and inviting, this restaurant specializes in cooking from the Auvergne region of France, hearty and rib sticking good stuff! The speciality of the house is called aligot, which is mashed potatoes with roasted garlic and a stringy cheese. The waiter makes a big show of stretching it as he serves directly from the copper pot. A little corny but cute. For starters we each had a warm lentil salad which had been pan fried in duck fat and served with sautéed lardoons and shallots. Bliss. Afterwards, we had the best chocolate mousse on the planet!
I spent Thursday in the Louvre, really taking an in depth look at the Italian and Spanish paintings in the Denon Wing. The Louvre, which is normally one of the most touristed spots in Paris, second only to the Eiffel Tower, is “enjoying” a resurgence in popularity currently, due to Dan Brown’s thriller The Da Vinci Code, a large part of which is set in the Denon Wing. I won’t go into all the reasons I think the book is a bit far fetched as that has been done to death by the media. I do find it really funny that people are taking it as gospel when it is riddled with inconsistencies. But having said that, it is a good yarn, nothing more and nothing less. After killing my feet in the Louvre, I wandered through the department stores on Boulevard Haussman. I also went into a little boutique specializing in dog clothing, yes, you heard me right, dog clothing. I had a good laugh as I looked at the price tags! Astronomical!
That evening we went to a place called La Fontaine de Mars (129, rue St. Dominque, phone 01 47 05 11 13)which I had been to several years ago while the trip with my sisters, Lisa and Gina. In the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, this is a charming bistro with red tablecloths, wood and lace curtains, and a very warm welcome from the owner. We got seated at a great table outside next to the fountain. We both had foie gras with a poached pear for a starter. Amazing. Next Chris had roasted lamb, which was cooked to pink perfection and I had rabbit in a mustard sauce which was lovely as well. Afterwards, I had Ile Flottant (Floating Island) which is something I will never forget! We had two bottles of Cahors, a lovely country red wine. It was another really nice dinner.
The next day I thought my feet were going to fall off so I indulged in a new pair of shoes which helped me get through the rest of the trip. I went to Picasso Museum in the Marais neighborhood and thoroughly enjoyed it. They had examples of his work from every period, and there were extensive explanations in both French and English. There were also some amazing pieces from other painters from Picasso’s personal collection. The Museum is in an old mansion, which is spectacular in its own right, but totally over the top with the collection. Afterwards, I grabbed a baguette sandwich and sat in Place des Vosges and people watched for a few hours, before heading back to the hotel, by way of Ile St., Louis.
That evening, we went to a restaurant called A la Biche Au Bois (45 avenue Ledru-Rollin, phone 01 43 43 34 38) in the Bastille area, which is hopping with brasseries, restaurants and cafes! This place was one of our favorites, as well as one of the least expensive. The vibe was good, and fun, and everyone was really warm. I had a great starter of hare terrine (rabbit, again!) and coq au vin served in a very familiar Le Creuset crock. Chris had a deer stew which also was fabulous. Then we had several pieces of cheese followed by dessert. Normally, I would not eat so much, but it was all included in the price, so….. We both had Calvados with our dessert, which Chris hated!
The next day was Chris’ first that he did have to work. We grabbed a pastry and a coffee and then headed for the Musee D’Orsay, where all the great Impressionist works are housed in a converted railway station. I had been there twice before, yet still thoroughly enjoyed our visit as did Chris. It’s my second favorite museum in the world, right behind the Barnes Foundation. Afterwards, we went to Les Invalides, which is the home of Napoleon’s Tomb and a military museum. I stayed out as I had been there before, but Chris really enjoyed it. Afterwards, we grabbed a quick sandwich and a coffee, and headed for the Jardins du Luxembourg to watch the locals play boule. We took a quick dive into Eglise St. Sulpice, also popularized by The Da Vinci Code, and a lovely, lovely church. We were quite stunned to see a written statement about the book, stating that is totally flawed and not to be taken as fact. I guess they got sick of telling people!
That night we headed for a charming place called Le Tire-Bouchon, which means corkscrew in French (62, rue des Entrepreneurs, phone 01 40 59 09 27). This place had a tasting menu and taste we did. It was upscale dining at a rather low price. We both had crab soup enhanced by this eggroll type thing filled with incredibly flavorful wood mushrooms. Fabulous. Next came sauteed red snapper on a bed of pureed beans, with a tomato confit. Afterwards we had a fig and calvados sorbet which was out of this world followed by a boneless breast of chicken rolled up and stuffed with breading and herbs, but not like any chicken I have ever tasted before, served on a piece of polenta, covered with a delectable sauce. With dinner we had a nice inexpensive Minervois, which the owner seemed both floored at and delighted when I ordered. I had a cheese plate and Chris ate the dessert. At the very end of the evening, the chef, who seemed like a kid but in truth was thirty three (I must be getting really old if thirty three seems young…), came out and chatted to those remaining diners. It was a nice gesture and we had a wonderful time there.
Sunday was our last day and we spent it wandering through Pere Lachaise, the cemetery where so many famous people are buried. The most popular spot in the cemetery is Jim Morrison’s grave, but I was more excited by those of Oscar Wilde, Frederic Chopin, Sarah Bernhardt, Edith Piaf as well as the shared tomb of the tragic lovers, Heloise and Abelard. Oscar Wilde’s tomb was the most interesting in that it was decorated with a male nude, missing a most important appendage, which apparently had infuriated the caretaker of Pere Lachaise so much that he took a hammer to it and kept it on his desk as a paperweight. Hmm….. It was a really wonderful afternoon just strolling along. It was a very peaceful spot. I love graveyards and always seek them out on my travels. Best one of all though has got to be the Protestant Cemetery in Rome, where Keats and Shelley are buried with many of their countrymen traveling through Rome at the time of their deaths. If you ever go to Rome and need a break from the constant thump of the city, this is the place where you can find peace and serenity. Ooops, I didn’t mean to digress. We spent the rest of Sunday wandering through Notre Dame, getting a crepe and an ice cream on the street and returned to Munich on the latest plane possible. It was wonderful and it was great to share it with Chris, who sees the world through similar eyes. I also want to say that given our current aggression in Iraq, I was afraid that I might encounter some anti-American sentiment in France, but in truth the people I encountered could not have been any more charming, friendly and willing to help. It was a marked antithesis to those in America who were branding the French as cowards and renaming French fries as “freedom” fries simply because they didn’t go along with W’s war.
