Because we have not yet found a grocery store, breakfast is leftover bread with jam and butter we brought from Paris, and a peach with yogurt. We need to find a grocery today. We decided to do Itinerary One from the book Barney got, which focuses on the area around Utah Beach. After a bit of getting lost at the beginning - for some reason the GPS would not recognize the town of Ste Mere-Eglise which is ridiculous - we finally found our way there. The church there looks just like it does in all the photos, especially with the dummy paratrooper hanging from the steeple where his parachute caught, one of the more famous incidents there. We see the St Michael stained glass (the patron saint of paratroopers) and the stained glass of the Virgin surrounded by paratroopers. It is clear that people take the liberation ether very seriously, even more than 70 years later. Most stores and restaurants have signs that say "welcome veterans" even thought the youngest veterans would now be about 91 years old. Most of the tourists we see today are English-speaking, probably at least 2/3 to maybe 75%, the rest mostly French with a few German.
After a nice walk around the town, we're off to find some of the areas where paratroopers were landing, but things go awry, so we headed up north, saw the Captain Winters memorial, and stopped at the town of Saint Marie du Mont, which was also liberated fairly early. Photos in the window of a souvenir shop show the area as it was before and after D-Day, luckily not too much damage, mostly the presence of one type of troops or another. We go inside the church which was quite lovely and peaceful, no one else there, so I sang the "Pie Jesu" again, this time full voice, and what a sound! It was o nice, and we learned that the community had put more than $500K into renovating the church and repairing the damage to the tower. The photos we see of a various towns devastated by bombings are truly saddening.
Then to Utah Beach, considered one of the most successful landings for various reasons (mostly the leaders saying full steam ahead even after they found out there were a few miles southeast of where they were supposed to land). Coming up from the parking area. It s a humbling experience ... a huge expense of beach, on which they landed at low tide no less, and thus had to cross 700 yards of bench on their own before getting to the Gereman positions. Luckily, this area was not as heavily defended as Omaha, which we'll see on Thursday. The Omaha Beach museum is excellent, well worth the time, but stay twice as long as the guidebook suggests because we are the people who read every sign and placard. I have learned so much, Barney already knew much of this, but seeing it is real like is still a thrill. We head back toward the bridge at La Fiere, which we missed the first time, a major landing area of the paratroopers. We could walk right over the bridge where they walked, but the tiny creek we see now is nothing like the huge Merteret River that had been dammed to flood the surrounding area (and drown paratroopers). It all looked so pastoral.
Back on Bayeux, we decide to have tomorrow be our in Beyux day. we see Jerome and Sebastian, and Jerome tell us he is the curator of the church and Sebastian is a guide for a nearby abbey. They invite us too the Bell ringing at 7:00om on Wednesday, the night before the Ascension,and for course we say yes!
Getting rather tired now, heading off to bed for our day tomorrow in medieval Bayeux.
Monday, May 22, 2017
Off to Normandy
Up, well kind of early on Sunday, breakfast and packing to leave the apartment at rue Lalande. Off to the Gate Montparnasse to get the rental car. And it turns out that the rental car that we have (the budget kind, Enterprise) is off site, over the hill (literally a bridge over a main road) and through the woods (well, through the parking lot for a long distance) to finally find Enterprise and the kindly David who helped us. We could see the Tour Montparnasse, where we began, about a mile away in the distance. If only we had known the correct address, but anyway we found it, and he gave us an Opel Mokka, a small SUV so lots of room. It's a manual, so Barney dries carefully back to rue Lalande, where we score a parking space n the delivery spot. Down come the suitcases, we see Stephanie coming to prepare the apartment for the next folks, and off we go. Some harrowing moments getting on the Peripherique, but eventually we get out to the A13 toward Bayeux. Soon the office buildings and apartment blocks turn to green fields and stone farmhouses.
We arrive in Bayeux around 5:00pm, and Barney is having fun driving through the narrow medieval streets, and the "something is close" buzzer keeps going off when we go by other cars. We find 16 rue Chanoine, where we're staying, and ring the bell. Jerome and his partner Sebastien greet us and take us through the main gate into a large and very lush garden. Large trees and carefully tended flowers are everywhere,. Even though the fronts of the houses go right up to the narrow sidewalks, behind those fronts are beautiful gardens. The gite we have rented is lovely, the second floor of an 18th century house built party into the original medieval wall, and Jerome and Sebastian live on the other side of the building. The apartment is beautiful, with a huge bed, enormous bathroom, modern IKEA kitchen, and a sunroom that looks out onto the garden.
We unpack and settle in, then go walking around the area to get some bread at the one boulangerie that is open late on Sunday, and then to the cathedral, where a concert by the French Army chorus has just ended. We walk through the cathedral, and when most people have left (we are long past closing time), I sing the Faure "Pie Jesu" which has a nice sound there. We leave to look for dinner, and find La Assiette Norman, a very nice yet simple place with affordable specialities ... an appetizer and plat and dessert plus aperitif and cider cost about 50 euros. The waitresses are all young and very nice, and almost everyone in the restaurant is speaking English, either with American or British accents. Back at the gite, we fall into the very comfy bed and sleep until 8am the next morning.
We arrive in Bayeux around 5:00pm, and Barney is having fun driving through the narrow medieval streets, and the "something is close" buzzer keeps going off when we go by other cars. We find 16 rue Chanoine, where we're staying, and ring the bell. Jerome and his partner Sebastien greet us and take us through the main gate into a large and very lush garden. Large trees and carefully tended flowers are everywhere,. Even though the fronts of the houses go right up to the narrow sidewalks, behind those fronts are beautiful gardens. The gite we have rented is lovely, the second floor of an 18th century house built party into the original medieval wall, and Jerome and Sebastian live on the other side of the building. The apartment is beautiful, with a huge bed, enormous bathroom, modern IKEA kitchen, and a sunroom that looks out onto the garden.
We unpack and settle in, then go walking around the area to get some bread at the one boulangerie that is open late on Sunday, and then to the cathedral, where a concert by the French Army chorus has just ended. We walk through the cathedral, and when most people have left (we are long past closing time), I sing the Faure "Pie Jesu" which has a nice sound there. We leave to look for dinner, and find La Assiette Norman, a very nice yet simple place with affordable specialities ... an appetizer and plat and dessert plus aperitif and cider cost about 50 euros. The waitresses are all young and very nice, and almost everyone in the restaurant is speaking English, either with American or British accents. Back at the gite, we fall into the very comfy bed and sleep until 8am the next morning.
Saturday, May 20, 2017
The opposite of a Still Life
Barney made eggs and cooked some French jambon for breakfast today. Then he went shopping all by himself to get some items - successfully - and we hung up laundry so it would dry by the time we need to pack.
Catherine came over about 11:00am to see the place, really liked it, and we decided to go to see the exhibit at the Jacquemart-Andre Musuem (one of our favorites) of the collection of Alicia Koplowitz, a Spanish businesswoman, which turned out to be stunning. Our favorites were the Louise Bourgeois spider sculpture and the still life by Van Gogh, which was vibrating with life and energy, the opposite of a still life. How did he put so much vibrancy into a painting in two dimensions, of a vase and flowers? In the mansion itself, the Tieopolo stairway fresco is also a favorite, and for the first time I noticed the greyhound in the fresco, so sent it to our friend Linda who has Opus the greyhound. We also liked the self-portrait of Nellie Jacquemart, so lively and curious. We took Catherine to lunch in the cafe, which was originally the dining room that seated 32 people, surrounded by a set of beautiful tapestries of the life of Achilles.
Back to Daguerre, we met Anne Godon (who was shopping for a dinner with friends, at the grocery nearby) and went back to the apartment so she could see it. We had some tea and cookies, talked about Anne's upcoming travels to South America, and Catherine's upcoming travel plans, as well as her experiences in Cuba. I wish we could have gone with her on that trip, it sounded fascinating.
Barney was tired, so he took a late afternoon nap while I caught up on email and news. I went down to the boucherie to get a roast chicken and some ratatouille for a quick delicious dinner. Today is the Nuit de la Musée, when almost all the musuems in Paris were open until midnight for free, so we decided to go to the Petit Palais to see the "Watteau to David" exhibit. There was a line when we arrived, but not too long, and the exhibit was lovely. We both really liked the sanguine drawings, the red chalk commonly used by sculptors drawing ideas for their works, or sometimes just doing drawings because they could. And did they ... beautiful detailed down to the hair, sometimes with dozens of figures in each drawing, as well as luminous paintings of Watteau, Boucher, and Fragonard, the princes of the the era of beauty and tranquility in painting. Toward the end, you could see the start of the transition to the world of David and Gericault, more expressionistic and emotion-filled. After this, we explored their rest of the musuem, enjoying he inner courtyard and the large formate painting, including one of Les Halles that seemed drawn directly from Zola's "The Belly of Paris." The Petit Palais and the Grand Palais were both packed, and still had line when we left at 10:30pm. Parisians love their musuems. Back to rue Daguerre and some quick notes, as tomorrow we pack and leave for Normandy.
Catherine came over about 11:00am to see the place, really liked it, and we decided to go to see the exhibit at the Jacquemart-Andre Musuem (one of our favorites) of the collection of Alicia Koplowitz, a Spanish businesswoman, which turned out to be stunning. Our favorites were the Louise Bourgeois spider sculpture and the still life by Van Gogh, which was vibrating with life and energy, the opposite of a still life. How did he put so much vibrancy into a painting in two dimensions, of a vase and flowers? In the mansion itself, the Tieopolo stairway fresco is also a favorite, and for the first time I noticed the greyhound in the fresco, so sent it to our friend Linda who has Opus the greyhound. We also liked the self-portrait of Nellie Jacquemart, so lively and curious. We took Catherine to lunch in the cafe, which was originally the dining room that seated 32 people, surrounded by a set of beautiful tapestries of the life of Achilles.
Back to Daguerre, we met Anne Godon (who was shopping for a dinner with friends, at the grocery nearby) and went back to the apartment so she could see it. We had some tea and cookies, talked about Anne's upcoming travels to South America, and Catherine's upcoming travel plans, as well as her experiences in Cuba. I wish we could have gone with her on that trip, it sounded fascinating.
Barney was tired, so he took a late afternoon nap while I caught up on email and news. I went down to the boucherie to get a roast chicken and some ratatouille for a quick delicious dinner. Today is the Nuit de la Musée, when almost all the musuems in Paris were open until midnight for free, so we decided to go to the Petit Palais to see the "Watteau to David" exhibit. There was a line when we arrived, but not too long, and the exhibit was lovely. We both really liked the sanguine drawings, the red chalk commonly used by sculptors drawing ideas for their works, or sometimes just doing drawings because they could. And did they ... beautiful detailed down to the hair, sometimes with dozens of figures in each drawing, as well as luminous paintings of Watteau, Boucher, and Fragonard, the princes of the the era of beauty and tranquility in painting. Toward the end, you could see the start of the transition to the world of David and Gericault, more expressionistic and emotion-filled. After this, we explored their rest of the musuem, enjoying he inner courtyard and the large formate painting, including one of Les Halles that seemed drawn directly from Zola's "The Belly of Paris." The Petit Palais and the Grand Palais were both packed, and still had line when we left at 10:30pm. Parisians love their musuems. Back to rue Daguerre and some quick notes, as tomorrow we pack and leave for Normandy.
All Over Paris
We had a terrific day exploring Paris today.
After breakfast, we headed to the 8th for a violin-making workshop, at the atelier of Frederic and Anne Levi. Right in the middle of the musical instrument area, we had a fascinating look at the world of handmade, Cremona-style violins. Frederic is the violin dealer (his father was in the busiiness) and Anne makes violins in the back of the shop. She showed us how a violin is made, from pieces of seasoned wood glued together and gouged and scraped into curves, to the final fitting out with bridge and neck and button. We got to actually try out some of the tools (which she herself had made) and gouging the wood was surprisingly hard. We got to see inside the violin as she placed the soundpost using a special mirror. And at the end, we were each given a bridge blank to "brand" with the firm/s name.
After some window shopping at the many instrument makers on rue de Rome, we walked to a nearby park at the end of rue Vienna (where apparently lots of local high schoolers hang out during lunchtime), and enjoyed our sandwiches and delicious peaches from the rue Daguerre market. The we walked south to find Dehellerin, the famous cooking supply place near the Bourse. What a place ... packed top to bottom with every imaginable piece of cooking equipment. No prices, just codes on each item, and mounted books where you could look up prices. We bought a tiny cooper pan and scraper, and enjoyed seeing everything from tiny silicon molds to enormous wooden paddles 8 feet long for I-don't-know-what-purpose.
Since we were nearby, we walked down rue du Louvre (a bout of rain again) to take a photo of the Duluc Detective Agency, one of the inspirations for the Aimee LeDuc detective series by Cara Black. Wandering through the newly-hip 2nd, we went by Lockwood (written up in the SF Chronicle recently) and then o to Frenchie, where we had some delicious afternoon snacks of a brownie and fruited pound cake with coffee, a wonderful pick-me-up. They are affiliated with both the coffee place across the street and a restaurant down the road, as cooks came by to bring things out of the kitchen and carry them down the narrow pedestrian street.
Then off to one of my favorite paces in the world, the Museum of the Middle Ages, aka the Cluny. They are doing some construction and renovation, so there are temporary construction stairs to the second floor where the glorious Lady and the Unicorn tapestries now live. Their new location is smaller and darker, but the tapestries surround you so you feel like you are living in a room with these glorious works. Some of the Lady and the Unicorn-themed stuff as on sale in the gift shop so I went a little crazy, but alas, they no longer carry my favorite watch. In the neighborhood, on rue des Bernardins, we stopped by Rockridge Paris, a shop for which I had purchased a gift certificate from the EB auction a year ago. It has interesting gift items, lots of clever paper creations, and I bought a pair of paper earring and a crystal necklace.
Back at the apartment on rue Lalande, we had a nice Skype session with Madeleine to say bon voyage before she leaves for 10 weeks in Italy on two archaeological digs. She seems to have everything under contro, though a bit if last minute packing was underway. We hope that she has a wonderful time.
For dinner, we had made a reservation at the one-star Champeaux, which was terrific. We had a lovely table against the back wall, with wide mirrors so Barney could see all the action on a busy Friday night. We started with some champagne, Barney had a nice charcuterie board and I had a delicious octopus salad, grilled tentacles with three sauces in small dabs around it, pimento, basil, and a white purée. Barney then had a lovely entrecôte with Bearnaise and frites, and I had a Scottish salmon with super-thin sliced vegetables and Beaise also. Bearnaise with frites is a new favorite. Finally, we a Carmel soufflé with pistachio ice cream, which the waitress recommended putting into the soufflé after breaking through the top with the first few bites. It was delicious. Overall, a wonderful, 3-hour French dinner. We took the Metro back to Denfert, and home for a good night's sleep. Except that the washer was ultra-loud and made a huge racket during the spin cycle, so we rushed to turn it off, hoping we did not anger the neighbors below.
After breakfast, we headed to the 8th for a violin-making workshop, at the atelier of Frederic and Anne Levi. Right in the middle of the musical instrument area, we had a fascinating look at the world of handmade, Cremona-style violins. Frederic is the violin dealer (his father was in the busiiness) and Anne makes violins in the back of the shop. She showed us how a violin is made, from pieces of seasoned wood glued together and gouged and scraped into curves, to the final fitting out with bridge and neck and button. We got to actually try out some of the tools (which she herself had made) and gouging the wood was surprisingly hard. We got to see inside the violin as she placed the soundpost using a special mirror. And at the end, we were each given a bridge blank to "brand" with the firm/s name.
After some window shopping at the many instrument makers on rue de Rome, we walked to a nearby park at the end of rue Vienna (where apparently lots of local high schoolers hang out during lunchtime), and enjoyed our sandwiches and delicious peaches from the rue Daguerre market. The we walked south to find Dehellerin, the famous cooking supply place near the Bourse. What a place ... packed top to bottom with every imaginable piece of cooking equipment. No prices, just codes on each item, and mounted books where you could look up prices. We bought a tiny cooper pan and scraper, and enjoyed seeing everything from tiny silicon molds to enormous wooden paddles 8 feet long for I-don't-know-what-purpose.
Since we were nearby, we walked down rue du Louvre (a bout of rain again) to take a photo of the Duluc Detective Agency, one of the inspirations for the Aimee LeDuc detective series by Cara Black. Wandering through the newly-hip 2nd, we went by Lockwood (written up in the SF Chronicle recently) and then o to Frenchie, where we had some delicious afternoon snacks of a brownie and fruited pound cake with coffee, a wonderful pick-me-up. They are affiliated with both the coffee place across the street and a restaurant down the road, as cooks came by to bring things out of the kitchen and carry them down the narrow pedestrian street.
Then off to one of my favorite paces in the world, the Museum of the Middle Ages, aka the Cluny. They are doing some construction and renovation, so there are temporary construction stairs to the second floor where the glorious Lady and the Unicorn tapestries now live. Their new location is smaller and darker, but the tapestries surround you so you feel like you are living in a room with these glorious works. Some of the Lady and the Unicorn-themed stuff as on sale in the gift shop so I went a little crazy, but alas, they no longer carry my favorite watch. In the neighborhood, on rue des Bernardins, we stopped by Rockridge Paris, a shop for which I had purchased a gift certificate from the EB auction a year ago. It has interesting gift items, lots of clever paper creations, and I bought a pair of paper earring and a crystal necklace.
Back at the apartment on rue Lalande, we had a nice Skype session with Madeleine to say bon voyage before she leaves for 10 weeks in Italy on two archaeological digs. She seems to have everything under contro, though a bit if last minute packing was underway. We hope that she has a wonderful time.
For dinner, we had made a reservation at the one-star Champeaux, which was terrific. We had a lovely table against the back wall, with wide mirrors so Barney could see all the action on a busy Friday night. We started with some champagne, Barney had a nice charcuterie board and I had a delicious octopus salad, grilled tentacles with three sauces in small dabs around it, pimento, basil, and a white purée. Barney then had a lovely entrecôte with Bearnaise and frites, and I had a Scottish salmon with super-thin sliced vegetables and Beaise also. Bearnaise with frites is a new favorite. Finally, we a Carmel soufflé with pistachio ice cream, which the waitress recommended putting into the soufflé after breaking through the top with the first few bites. It was delicious. Overall, a wonderful, 3-hour French dinner. We took the Metro back to Denfert, and home for a good night's sleep. Except that the washer was ultra-loud and made a huge racket during the spin cycle, so we rushed to turn it off, hoping we did not anger the neighbors below.
Friday, May 19, 2017
First Full Day and Old Friends
Arising fairly early, with another nice yogurt, fruit, and coffee breakfast, and off on a slightly cooler day, at last. We're going to see Catherine Godon and her daughter Anne. We met them almost 20 years ago, when Catherine was doing a year-long Fulbright fellowship in the US and lived in Rockridge; her daughter Anne attended Ecole BIlingue with Madeleine and they became fast friends. It was great to see them both, especially Anne who was traveling in South America and broke her leg zip-lining and was recuperating back in Paris. Catherine's friend Martine also stepped over and we had the chance to see her as well, which was nice (we have stayed at her place in the past). We went to see a friend of Catherine's who lives in the 14th and is thinking of renting her cute studio apartment on airbnb. Then off to Le Flibustier for traditional Breton crepes, followed by a trip to the BHV basement hardware section to get some Allen wrenches so Barney can do some repairs for Catherine. He says he will spend a month in Paris every year once he retires, fixing things for Catherine and her friends, and I think he would really enjoy that. Of course he'd have to learn all the words for various items in French, but the universal language of tools works well.
There is a cute shop in the 3rd called Goumanyat & Son which specializes in saffron, and we have gone there in the past to get saffron and the most delicious curry powder with rose petals. Unfortunately, we did not call first, and found that the store had closed and they are only available online. Darn. So we went to another spice shop we had been to before called Izraël in the 4th (near the old Jewish district), filled with huge sacks of nuts and spices and all sorts of delicious smells. We went there years ago with Madeleine, so it was fun to revisit this place. Catherine then headed out, and we went to the Louvre.
As always, the Louvre is huge and amazing, and 90% of the tourists head straight for the Mona Lisa. So we headed for the Italian paintings that were not the Mona Lisa and enjoyed them ... five Leonardo da Vinci painting all in a row, utterly luminous, and no one looking at them but us. We also spent some time with the Davids, Barney's favorite, the huge format paintings.
We left the Musuem, and the rain had arrived, so we dashed across the Point Neufchâtel to the Place Dauphine, where there are several small, old restaurants I had tried before. We went to Le Caveau du Palais, which looks out on the lovely triangular park there. We shared some paté, Barney has a nice steak and I had fish, with some good wines. By this time the rain had abated, and we headed back to rue Lalande for a good night's sleep.
There is a cute shop in the 3rd called Goumanyat & Son which specializes in saffron, and we have gone there in the past to get saffron and the most delicious curry powder with rose petals. Unfortunately, we did not call first, and found that the store had closed and they are only available online. Darn. So we went to another spice shop we had been to before called Izraël in the 4th (near the old Jewish district), filled with huge sacks of nuts and spices and all sorts of delicious smells. We went there years ago with Madeleine, so it was fun to revisit this place. Catherine then headed out, and we went to the Louvre.
As always, the Louvre is huge and amazing, and 90% of the tourists head straight for the Mona Lisa. So we headed for the Italian paintings that were not the Mona Lisa and enjoyed them ... five Leonardo da Vinci painting all in a row, utterly luminous, and no one looking at them but us. We also spent some time with the Davids, Barney's favorite, the huge format paintings.
We left the Musuem, and the rain had arrived, so we dashed across the Point Neufchâtel to the Place Dauphine, where there are several small, old restaurants I had tried before. We went to Le Caveau du Palais, which looks out on the lovely triangular park there. We shared some paté, Barney has a nice steak and I had fish, with some good wines. By this time the rain had abated, and we headed back to rue Lalande for a good night's sleep.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
A great Day in Paris and One Michelin Star
We woke up this morning after a reasonably good night's sleep in the comfy bed in the apartment, had yogurt and fruit, and some delicious Moisin bread with Echiré butter, mmmm. Made some French ham and Cantal sandwiches, filled up our water bottles, and we were off for the day ... another veer hot one, expected to be abut 85 degrees. I only brought one t-shirt and I am wearing it today. Thank goodness there is a storm coming in tonight and it will be 20 degrees cooler tomorrow.
Off on the RER to the Musee d'Orsay, one of Barney's favorite, and mine as well. Got our museum pass, no lines at all, and went straight to the 5th floor where all his favors are located. Chief among these are Manet's "Olympia" and "Dejuener sue l'Herbe" and Caillebotte's "Le Raboteurs de Parquet" or "The Floor Scrapers." It is amazing what a difference it makes to see these painting in real life, so much is lost from permits and digitized reproductions online. The entire background of "Olympia" for example, often looks all black in books or online, but in reality there is a brown patterned wallpaper, two large blue drapes, details of the black cat and more that you can see in person. We enjoyed seeing these and so many more - a bounty of Renoir's, Monets, Pissarros, and more. Simply joyful. They have a large collection of Van Gogh painting as well, and they are set to contract with the work of Gaugin at the same time. We also saw an interesting exhibit called "Beyond the Starts: Mythical Landscapes," which included late 19th - early 20th center landscapes from well-known painters like Monet and Van Gogh (A Starry Night) and Georgia O'Keefe and Arthur Dove, as well as Odilon Redon and a whole group of Canadian and Scandinavian painters who painted these robust landscapes devoid of human life. The whole exhibit was around landscape as meditation, as religion, as spirituality.
We dashed back to the 14th to meet Catherine, and it was so great to see her.Of course we spent some time talking about politics ... thank goodness the French came to their senses and elected Macron, unfortunately angry, ill-informed voters in the US elected Trump, who is now busy obstructing justice. We caught with her activities and Anne's and will see her tomorrow morning. Barney will be Mr Bricolage (hardware) and fix some things around the house for her before we go out, something he enjoys doing.
So very hot out, we came back and took a short nap to rest up for our big dinner. Quite unusual for us and quite refreshing. Then got dresses and off to the 7th for a fairly fancy dinner. Thanks to planning ahead for once, we were able to get dinner reservations at two different one-star Michelin restaurant, and lunch at a three-star toy which we are inviting Catherine as our guest. We love to cook and to eat, and I was glad that we finally got it together to make this happen.
As we wanted to try something new in Paris, and read about this as one of the newer one-star Michelin restaurants. We had a reservation on at 7:30 on a Wednesday, made before we left the US. The food was delicious (though not quite knock your socks off spectacular), wines were very nice, and service was smooth and professional. My husband started with the crispy egg with leeks vinaigrette and haddock, which was inventive and we got the waiter to tell us how they got an egg cooked inside the edible container (two hemispheres of pasta joined together). Red mullet pissaladiere was quite good as well. The roast sea bass was delicious, accompanied by a red onion pastry layered like a napoleon, with zucchini, squid, dried tomato, on a vegetable confit. The roast duck was done very well, and came with sweet potato and tin crispy carrots. Desserts were a standout: Chocolate mousse on a chocolate biscuit with hazelnut sorbet and praline sauce, and the chef's signature Breton shortbread topped with mandarins sorbet, crime Annalise, and tiny bits of meringue. The wine selection is of moderate size but well chosen, with a standout champagne I did not get the name of. All in all, a very lovely dinner at a good price.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
A Long-Awaited Journey to France
Monday the 15th of May we left for France for 16 days, after Barney and I have been working really hard for many months, and so we are really looking forward to this. And I have saved my miles, so we were able to fly business class (one way), which was quite nice.
They greet you by name, the food and wine are decent, real plates and real silverware, and both cheese and two sweets for dessert. The best part was the seats which fold competent flat so you could actually sleep. We both got about 5 hours of good sleep, which made all the difference when we landed. First time in a long time I have not felt like a zombie after landing in Paris or anywhere else overseas.
The RER train ride to our airbnb apartment gave us time to regroup, and we got off at Denfert-Rochereau and walked down rue Daguerre to the apartment. It is a lovely place, on the 3rd floor up stairs, a small bedroom, lovely sitting room with a piano, large kitchen, and nice bathroom. Our liaison greeted us and showed us around a bit. We unpacked, went down to Monoprix to buy some basics, got some nice cheese and sausage at Androuet, bread at Moisin, and some fresh strawberries, and went back to provision the kitchen for the morning.
I had read about an exhibit of photos of cars, at Fondation Cartier, which I thought Catherine would probably not be interested in, so we walked over there, only a few blocks away. It was an interesting exhibit and Barney really enjoyed it. We walked through the garden afterwards, an oasis of green and quiet in the midst of the 14th. Then back to Brasserie Peret for a light dinner: smoked salmon salad and Sancerre for me, smoked duck and a Languedoc red for Barney. We indulged in some Bertillion ice cream, the salted caramel so strong and full. We were both quite tired, so we headed back. On the way, we stopped at a nice wine shop, and I urged Barney to try his French to buy some Porto, and he did very well. Upstairs now, it has been a warm day (the high was 86 degree, very warm for Paris) and it is still warm up here even with the windows open. The street is busy here at night but we will sleep well I am sure.
They greet you by name, the food and wine are decent, real plates and real silverware, and both cheese and two sweets for dessert. The best part was the seats which fold competent flat so you could actually sleep. We both got about 5 hours of good sleep, which made all the difference when we landed. First time in a long time I have not felt like a zombie after landing in Paris or anywhere else overseas.
The RER train ride to our airbnb apartment gave us time to regroup, and we got off at Denfert-Rochereau and walked down rue Daguerre to the apartment. It is a lovely place, on the 3rd floor up stairs, a small bedroom, lovely sitting room with a piano, large kitchen, and nice bathroom. Our liaison greeted us and showed us around a bit. We unpacked, went down to Monoprix to buy some basics, got some nice cheese and sausage at Androuet, bread at Moisin, and some fresh strawberries, and went back to provision the kitchen for the morning.
I had read about an exhibit of photos of cars, at Fondation Cartier, which I thought Catherine would probably not be interested in, so we walked over there, only a few blocks away. It was an interesting exhibit and Barney really enjoyed it. We walked through the garden afterwards, an oasis of green and quiet in the midst of the 14th. Then back to Brasserie Peret for a light dinner: smoked salmon salad and Sancerre for me, smoked duck and a Languedoc red for Barney. We indulged in some Bertillion ice cream, the salted caramel so strong and full. We were both quite tired, so we headed back. On the way, we stopped at a nice wine shop, and I urged Barney to try his French to buy some Porto, and he did very well. Upstairs now, it has been a warm day (the high was 86 degree, very warm for Paris) and it is still warm up here even with the windows open. The street is busy here at night but we will sleep well I am sure.
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