Days are marching by. Friday was again cool and overcast. We are to meet friends for lunch Saturday so we decided to psych out the route and the meeting place to be sue we would find it and be on time Saturday. Finding bus stops is often a challenge and as we looked for the right one, the skies opened and we had a deluge. What to do? Stopin a nearby Starbucks for an espresso and regroup. the rain let up in about 5 minutes. With local help we found the bus stop and were off to find Chatelet and Teatre duChatelet. That was pretty easy and with just a bit of walking about we decided it best to find the bus back since the skies were most threatening. And a good thing we did because in about 3 minutes we heard hail pounding the top of the bus as we watched the ice pellets jump in the street. It was quite a storm - April in Paris.
Have to get lunch. Back later.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Friday, April 12, 2013
Paris Thurs April 11
Another new bus adventure and a stunning art exhibit of many, many works by Eugene Boudin. This included drawings, pastels, oils and watercolors. Boudin was famous for his skies in all media. And they are fantastic. He was an inspiration to Monet among others. We visited his museum in Honfleur a number of years ago and were so pleased to see so many beautiful pieces in one place.
The exhibition was held at Musee Jaquesmart Andre on Blvd Haussman. This was an "hotel particulaire" or private residence and is itself a magnificent work of art so touring pthe house was part of the treat. The family who built it were very wealthy and travelled extensively collecting art and art objects from all over the world. You can actually take a detailed tour on-line.
The only downside to the visit was the incredible crowd. Again, the venue was not ideal but patience and a lot of squeezing into tight spots paid off.
After seeing all we could absorb, we decided to eat at the cafe in the museum. We sat on an outdoor porch which was protected by large plastic drops from the cold, damp air so it was quite comfortable. And the food was excellent. Harley had quiche and a salad and I had a large salad plate with smoked salmon, salmon mousse, potatoes and blini which was so huge that I shared some with Harley. Of course the bread was so good that too was gobbled up. Harley's choice was a lunch special so we shared his dessert (some kind of chocolate cake with a coffee mousse topping) and each enjoyed an expresso.
Then home to rest, read and try some jewelry making. Too much lunch to require much for supper.
The exhibition was held at Musee Jaquesmart Andre on Blvd Haussman. This was an "hotel particulaire" or private residence and is itself a magnificent work of art so touring pthe house was part of the treat. The family who built it were very wealthy and travelled extensively collecting art and art objects from all over the world. You can actually take a detailed tour on-line.
The only downside to the visit was the incredible crowd. Again, the venue was not ideal but patience and a lot of squeezing into tight spots paid off.
After seeing all we could absorb, we decided to eat at the cafe in the museum. We sat on an outdoor porch which was protected by large plastic drops from the cold, damp air so it was quite comfortable. And the food was excellent. Harley had quiche and a salad and I had a large salad plate with smoked salmon, salmon mousse, potatoes and blini which was so huge that I shared some with Harley. Of course the bread was so good that too was gobbled up. Harley's choice was a lunch special so we shared his dessert (some kind of chocolate cake with a coffee mousse topping) and each enjoyed an expresso.
Then home to rest, read and try some jewelry making. Too much lunch to require much for supper.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Paris Tues/Wed. April 9/10, 2013
NOTE: if anyone reading this has tried to email us and failed, please try again. I made an error in defining my email inbox which I have now corrected.
Tuesday, and our first more adventuresome foray. Last evening I bought the Paris bus directory which covers 109 bus lines so it should be possible to find our way to all parts of Paris. The metro is quicker but less interesting.
So this morning we headed off to Musee du Luxembourg to see the Chagall exposition. We had tickets for 10:00AM and arrived in good time. There was a long line and when we entered realized it would be very crowded which was true. The arrangement of the art was a bit awkward . Spaces were narrow and sometimes you had to backtrack to see things on an opposite wall, but it was well worth it. It is a fabulous exhibit with paintings and prints from many museums. So good we bought the catalog to be able to enjoy it many times.
It was almost 1:00 when we finished and we were now quite hungry so wo headed over to a favorite restaurant which we have visited on at least two earlier trips. It is Les Papilles on rue Gay-Lussac, a short walk from the museum. The restaurant is also a wine shop and epicerie. It serves one fixed menu which has always been very good. So we went for all four courses plus a "pot de vin" which is a 50cl of the house wine, a courbierres (sp?) that day.
The meal started with an excellent cream of celery soup which arrived in a good sized tureen and the typical fabulous baguette. The soup was cream based and probably had our arteries moaning but I am sure the red wine took care of that. I sopped up the last drops with the bread. We were then served a platter of roasted duck breast with potatoes and vegetables including a number of cloves of garlic in the skin. What more could a garlic lover like me want! And even the crisp duck fat was delicious. This was followed by a small wedge of blue cheese with a preserved plum and finally a panna cotta with cooked apple slices and a coffee foam on top. An espresso topped it off. After this there was no choice but to return to the apartment for a nap knowing no more food would be needed that day.
Wednesday is a recovery day and a day requiring cooking since the chicken curry is all gone. First to the market for some typical French potatoes called "rattes". These I just boiled and served with some oil. We also had roasted vegetables which I'd prepared a couple of days ago and roasted salmon which came from the Saturday market and which I'd frozen. The salmon was so good as we're the potatoes. Food here is first rate.
Went for a short walk in the neighborhood and discovered a small street that was lined on both sides with shops selling guitars. Must be a lot of guitar players in Paris.
Tuesday, and our first more adventuresome foray. Last evening I bought the Paris bus directory which covers 109 bus lines so it should be possible to find our way to all parts of Paris. The metro is quicker but less interesting.
So this morning we headed off to Musee du Luxembourg to see the Chagall exposition. We had tickets for 10:00AM and arrived in good time. There was a long line and when we entered realized it would be very crowded which was true. The arrangement of the art was a bit awkward . Spaces were narrow and sometimes you had to backtrack to see things on an opposite wall, but it was well worth it. It is a fabulous exhibit with paintings and prints from many museums. So good we bought the catalog to be able to enjoy it many times.
It was almost 1:00 when we finished and we were now quite hungry so wo headed over to a favorite restaurant which we have visited on at least two earlier trips. It is Les Papilles on rue Gay-Lussac, a short walk from the museum. The restaurant is also a wine shop and epicerie. It serves one fixed menu which has always been very good. So we went for all four courses plus a "pot de vin" which is a 50cl of the house wine, a courbierres (sp?) that day.
The meal started with an excellent cream of celery soup which arrived in a good sized tureen and the typical fabulous baguette. The soup was cream based and probably had our arteries moaning but I am sure the red wine took care of that. I sopped up the last drops with the bread. We were then served a platter of roasted duck breast with potatoes and vegetables including a number of cloves of garlic in the skin. What more could a garlic lover like me want! And even the crisp duck fat was delicious. This was followed by a small wedge of blue cheese with a preserved plum and finally a panna cotta with cooked apple slices and a coffee foam on top. An espresso topped it off. After this there was no choice but to return to the apartment for a nap knowing no more food would be needed that day.
Wednesday is a recovery day and a day requiring cooking since the chicken curry is all gone. First to the market for some typical French potatoes called "rattes". These I just boiled and served with some oil. We also had roasted vegetables which I'd prepared a couple of days ago and roasted salmon which came from the Saturday market and which I'd frozen. The salmon was so good as we're the potatoes. Food here is first rate.
Went for a short walk in the neighborhood and discovered a small street that was lined on both sides with shops selling guitars. Must be a lot of guitar players in Paris.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Paris Sunday April 7, 2013 and later
Sunday required the return to the neighborhood where we rented an apartment on our visit two years ago. There is a coffee and tea shop, un Brulerie or coffee roasting place, where the owner engages musicians to play for two hours each Sunday morning. It is a small shop and people come and go while the music is being played but some like us stay for most of the time. This Sunday two young men were playing mostly old jazz numbers and some klezmer. One man played a guitar and one a clarinet. Both were very good but Harley thought the clarinetist was super good. We enjoyed an espresso and cookie while we listened.
On the way up the hill we saw the "green men" out cleaning the streets. They seem like green men to me since they are dressed in neon green uniforms, wield neon green brooms, and push neon green carts for collecting the refuse. I have noticed them on every visit here. Very Parisian.
Took the bus back to the apartment, had lunch and continued with a quiet day at home.
Monday we repeated our attempted walk to rue des Batignolles but this time got the correct street. This is a lovely typical Paris neighborhood. It is a pleasure to admire the small shops and elegant apartment buildings with their beautifully decorated facades and long windows with decorative iron work along the bottoms of the windows. Many have flower boxes and if only it were warmer would be filled with colorful flowers.
As we returned home for lunch we made a stop at Chez Julian to try some more of their wonderful bread, this time getting a loaf of dark bread with sunflower seeds and a poppy seed baguette. Also stopped for another bottle of wine at Nicolas. Have to take every opportunity to stock up on wine since it is so heavy to carry.
The young man in the wine shop is American born but has lived in other countries including Scotland and Germany and now Paris. We commiserated on how hard it is to get a start in the US these days and how much easier it is to survive in Europe because of their better social programs. Probably won't get rich but it is a better life---and far fewer guns!
On the way up the hill we saw the "green men" out cleaning the streets. They seem like green men to me since they are dressed in neon green uniforms, wield neon green brooms, and push neon green carts for collecting the refuse. I have noticed them on every visit here. Very Parisian.
Took the bus back to the apartment, had lunch and continued with a quiet day at home.
Monday we repeated our attempted walk to rue des Batignolles but this time got the correct street. This is a lovely typical Paris neighborhood. It is a pleasure to admire the small shops and elegant apartment buildings with their beautifully decorated facades and long windows with decorative iron work along the bottoms of the windows. Many have flower boxes and if only it were warmer would be filled with colorful flowers.
As we returned home for lunch we made a stop at Chez Julian to try some more of their wonderful bread, this time getting a loaf of dark bread with sunflower seeds and a poppy seed baguette. Also stopped for another bottle of wine at Nicolas. Have to take every opportunity to stock up on wine since it is so heavy to carry.
The young man in the wine shop is American born but has lived in other countries including Scotland and Germany and now Paris. We commiserated on how hard it is to get a start in the US these days and how much easier it is to survive in Europe because of their better social programs. Probably won't get rich but it is a better life---and far fewer guns!
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Paris. Saturday April 6, 2013
Saturday , the day for the bio farmers market on Blvd de Batignolles. But first breakfast and two loads of wash. This is a vacation? Finally we are out the door with a stash of bags to carry home the food. Stop 1-a new bakery, Chez Julien, recommended by the wine merchant we visited yesterday. Lots of people waiting so it must be good and the stock looks delicious. So many temptations, both sweet amd savory, in a place like this. So we have our bread and across the street is the beginning of the market. Just like old times. First stop is the vegetable stand we frequented two years ago. It is difficult because it consists of two rows of vegetable displays with a narrow aisle between with check-out at one end. It wouldn't be bad except for the number of parents with baby carriages squeezed into the narrow space. But we load uo with veggies including local asparagus and some pears and continue on looking for the fish stand we went to every Saturday on that earlier trip. Found it and the same man who always greeted us with: ah les Americaines. Got some salmon and smoked halibut to freeze for later in the week since there is still a couple of days worth of curried chicken and rice. Then on to the stand with all sorts of nuts and then the cheese stand for Comte and a chèvre.
Next stop the wine shop to buy another bottle of wine. This time the store clerk opened it for us so we wouldn't suffer the problems of last evening.
Home to lunch and a nap. Then made some bread pudding with yesterday's bread for Harley. I know it is for Harley since it has raisins which he loves and I hate.
Paris is so different from US cities even from New York which it probably most closely resembles. There seems to be a bakery, a green grocer and a small restaurant on every block. One wonders how they all survive. There are also many small cheese shops, wine shops, ready-to-eat take away shops. Of course it is almost a sin in Paris not to eat well and it is definitely a sin to buy bread in a supermarket if you are a true Frenchman. We hypothesize that the difference is that maximizing profit is not a primary value. The French culture has a lot of desirable characteristics.
For example, some of the larger subway stations have glass barriers between the platforms and the tracks with doors that open only when a train is in the station. Much safer for passengers and something that is discussed for NYC each time someone falls or is pushed in front of a train but is always rejected as too expensive. Taxes being anathema in the US, we don't do much for the good of the people anymore. You get what you pay for.
Next stop the wine shop to buy another bottle of wine. This time the store clerk opened it for us so we wouldn't suffer the problems of last evening.
Home to lunch and a nap. Then made some bread pudding with yesterday's bread for Harley. I know it is for Harley since it has raisins which he loves and I hate.
Paris is so different from US cities even from New York which it probably most closely resembles. There seems to be a bakery, a green grocer and a small restaurant on every block. One wonders how they all survive. There are also many small cheese shops, wine shops, ready-to-eat take away shops. Of course it is almost a sin in Paris not to eat well and it is definitely a sin to buy bread in a supermarket if you are a true Frenchman. We hypothesize that the difference is that maximizing profit is not a primary value. The French culture has a lot of desirable characteristics.
For example, some of the larger subway stations have glass barriers between the platforms and the tracks with doors that open only when a train is in the station. Much safer for passengers and something that is discussed for NYC each time someone falls or is pushed in front of a train but is always rejected as too expensive. Taxes being anathema in the US, we don't do much for the good of the people anymore. You get what you pay for.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Paris Friday April 5 continued.
So after lunch and a short siesta we set off for FNAC near Gare St Lazare to buy tickets for two museums for next week. The line for tickets at the store was very long and very slow but we finally reached the clerk and got tickets for next Tuesday for Musee du Luxembourg which has a Chagall exhibit and tickets for next Thursday for Musee Jaquemart Andre which has a special exhibit of Boudin's paintings. He does wonderful seascapes and is famous for his skies. Several years ago we visited the museum in Honfleur dedicated to his work.
We took the metro back to Place de Clicy, buying a sandwich and a small dessert at one of our favorite bakery chains, Paul's, which has shops all over France as well as in London and Washington DC. We then detoured to a wine shop because you can't eat a meal in France without wine - well maybe breakfast without wine is OK. We do have an expresso machine at the apartment for breakfast.
Choosing a bottle each of red and of white wine we trudged on home. We get tired easily these days so "trudged" is the appropriate word.
Then the fun began. We wanted to open the red wine but it had the tightest cork Harley or I had ever encountered. We worked for over half an hour and after one broken wine opener, an Ah So which is a permanent travel accessory fo us, joint cooperation and a ton of sweat equity we succeeded in getting that cork out. Oh, by the way, we also broke the cork in the process. The wine was very good as was the sandwich and dessert. But we are worn out!
We took the metro back to Place de Clicy, buying a sandwich and a small dessert at one of our favorite bakery chains, Paul's, which has shops all over France as well as in London and Washington DC. We then detoured to a wine shop because you can't eat a meal in France without wine - well maybe breakfast without wine is OK. We do have an expresso machine at the apartment for breakfast.
Choosing a bottle each of red and of white wine we trudged on home. We get tired easily these days so "trudged" is the appropriate word.
Then the fun began. We wanted to open the red wine but it had the tightest cork Harley or I had ever encountered. We worked for over half an hour and after one broken wine opener, an Ah So which is a permanent travel accessory fo us, joint cooperation and a ton of sweat equity we succeeded in getting that cork out. Oh, by the way, we also broke the cork in the process. The wine was very good as was the sandwich and dessert. But we are worn out!
Paris -April 4/5,2013. Thurs/Fri
Uh-oh have to note the difference among streets with the same name but a different prefix. Thursday we decided to explore a nearby neighborhood called les Batignoles. The map for the walk began on rue du B. but I goofed and we started down Boulevard du B. After about 10 blocks we arrived at the metro stop for rue de Rome. Aha, this is not right. So we turned around to return home, doing some grocery shopping on the way. At home I compared my walking route with that Paris map and discovered that the boulevard and the rue are roughly parallel but a couple of blocks apart. It was cold and starting to rain so we will try that walk another day. One can also encounter th prefix "avenue" and " place" and probably others. Fait attention!
We ate all meals in today acting like natives. Had more fish, veggies and fruit again fo lunch and salad with cheese and bread for supper. Quite similar to our diet at home.
Today, Friday, I tried a new bakery for bread. No pain aux noix left. I'll have to get up earlier. As soon as we finished breakfast, we started to prepare for lunch which is more complicated since I decided on massaman curry with sweet potatoes, rice and another batch of roasted vegetables. Haven't eaten yet so don't know how it will turn out since I modified the recipe.
This afternoon we will try another outing to buy some museum tickets for next week.
We ate all meals in today acting like natives. Had more fish, veggies and fruit again fo lunch and salad with cheese and bread for supper. Quite similar to our diet at home.
Today, Friday, I tried a new bakery for bread. No pain aux noix left. I'll have to get up earlier. As soon as we finished breakfast, we started to prepare for lunch which is more complicated since I decided on massaman curry with sweet potatoes, rice and another batch of roasted vegetables. Haven't eaten yet so don't know how it will turn out since I modified the recipe.
This afternoon we will try another outing to buy some museum tickets for next week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)