Paris 2 - Paris 2, France
Paris 2, France
Where I stayed
71 Rue Broca
What I did
PARIS!
Paris 2
Prior Research
Ever since our first trip to France in 2005, both Gary and I have been on the look-out for books, articles, blogs, websites, references in books or magazines, a comment on NPR, an item on the news-anything that may spark our interest in Paris and not on the regular tourist trail. So, over the years, we have accumulated our own reference library and we pursue leads on the fabrics in Montmartre, the chocolate, caramel, and mustard in g detou, the macarons at Laduree, the Lebanese stall at Place Monge, the Canal St Martin, the Richard Lenoir Market, Le Baron Rouge, and most recently, the snails at La Maison De L'Escargots.
Les Escargots
What can be more French than snails? Last Friday, in between a few showers, we took an easy metro ride up to the 15th to the only place in the city for take-out snails. La Maison De L’Escargot is a bright unassuming shop on the quiet side street of rue Fondary and has been supplying snails all over France for more than 100 years. Snails are wild-caught in the Burgundy region. They are washed, sorted, cooked in an authentic bouillon, and then removed from their shells. Snails are then stuffed back into clean shells along with fresh butter, garlic, parsley and secret mix of 18 herbs and spices according to a traditional recipe. They come in various sizes, are refrigerated, and ready to heat in an oven once back home. Our only problem: we do not have an oven! So we improvised with a pasta pot, lid, and aluminum foil over low heat. We also did not have the little forks or tongs to extract the snails so we improvised again with toothpicks. They were so good we are going back for more!!
G Detou and Shopping
Another out-of-the-way find is G detou—a play on words meaning I have everything. This is a little shop stuffed full of every imaginable baking ingredient including floor to ceiling chocolates and cocoas, an entire row of caramels and sauces, candied violets, all kinds of nuts, dried fruits, preserves, flavorings, extracts, and colorful cans of sardines and authentic Dijon mustard along with the pans and tools for culinary creations. One particular caramel de sel called out my name as I entered the shop!!
BHV is an old department store which traditionally had bargain prices. These days, it seems like any other large city department store-except that it has a basement hardware department which drew Gary like a magnet. Here, he found Parisian style house numbers for Magnolia Avenue: 1328.
Le Baron Rouge
Not far from the very lively Saturday market at Place d’Aligre where our favorite Mid-Eastern shop is tucked away is a wine bar-Le Baron Rouge. So after the market, we stopped for a glass of a fresh Sancerre, then a red Moulin au Vent accompanied by a goat cheese with rustic bread and a plate of charcuterie: a garlic salami, saucisson, and Andouille de Guemene. The Andouille is the only food I have had here which I do not care for. This Andouille is made from a pig’s large intestine which is rolled up inside a beef casing, then smoked, dried, and cooked in a stock flavored with hay. We often talk about tasting the barnyard in some of the rough cheeses but here I am afraid I was tasting the manure heap.
Les Papilles
From the manure pile to heaven: Heaven is what our dinner at our very favorite bistro was last night. We could not get reservations until 9:30 so we dined late. Les Papilles is small and cozy. Its walls are lined with bottles of wine from which you select one to accompany your dinner. The chef prepares only one meal depending on what looks good to him that day at the market so there is no French menu to plow through. Last night we began with a veloute of sweet potato with chorizo. Then we moved on to a slow roasted shoulder of lamb with such a rich sauce accompanied by zucchini, eggplant, peppers, onions all bathed in that delectable sauce. The cheese course was a blue goat with a lightly candied fig. For dessert, a panecotta topped with a generous layer of CARAMEL. All accompanied by a good full-bodied red wine. We have been to Les Papilles 4 times before and each time there was a different entre: chicken, veal, duck, and last night it was the lamb. We have never been disappointed.
Blending In
When I was in Etrechy I had fun pretending I was French. There were other women around my age who wore capris and sandals and had short hair. I felt like I blended in especially when I wore my lavender shirt that Catherine said looks so French. But here in Paris, I do not even try. It is so obvious that I am either American or British just by my appearance and when I wear my Reebok walking shoes with the hot pink trim( I replaced the hot pink laces before we came) and carry my backpack there can be no mistake. Walking in Paris can be tough on feet with all the uneven pavement and cobblestones. Natives do wear sandals and lots of women wear high heels-really high heels- but I want to be able to walk the way we walk all over the city. When I know I am going to purchase some things I bring my backpack. It is so easy to just put everything in it. So I stand out as a tourist (athletic shoes + backpacks= American Tourist.) If anyone has any doubts-just listen to my French! However, I have been pleasantly surprised with the amount of French I actually understand and by the way Parisians seem to understand what I say. Yesterday at the restaurant, I asked when they would do a special of blanquette de veau and the waiter answered that they only do that in the winter. I have more confidence this time around with using the French I do know. On our first day I met an older woman coming off the elevator in our apartment building. She was very friendly and we introduced ourselves. We talked for a while and I had a chance to use my emergency phrase: "Ah Bon!"(Oh really). And for the first time I heard the phrase Je vous en prie (you’re welcome) used. In most shops, as soon as people realize we aren’t French, they speak English or just point and hand us the cash register receipt to indicate how much we owe. It works.
Our French Dryer
You have heard about how we conquered the washing machine. Well, with the dryer we faced new obstacles. In all our previous apartments we have used drying racks which we sometimes supplement with a traveling clothesline. This time we do not have our clothesline but there is a drying rack in the closet. Assembling this rack presented me with a frustratingly impossible task. As soon as I got one part together, another part collapsed. I ended up propping pieces with planters on the balcony and supplementing it with mops and broom handles. Who knew I would be so laundry-challenged here?
Evening Walks
A few days have been hot with almost oppressively bright sun. These days we like to walk in the cool of the evenings. As the sun glides behind buildings and the day’s brilliance slowly fades, a cooler palette of colors pervades. It is easy to see why so many artists find inspiration here.
Walking around the neighborhood, we have discovered another entrance to the Luxembourg Gardens, the French Observatory and the Observatory Fountain, a motherhouse of the Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny surrounded by a cloister wall at least 12 feet high, huge old buildings housing branches of the University of Paris-- the Sorbonne, and the site of the abbey of Val-de-Grace which is now a military hospital. Each of these very old buildings have such interesting architectural details. Walking down Boulevard St Michel we passed by the Hotel des Mines-the office of mines and minerals- one of the strongholds of the resistance against the Nazis in WWII. Because we had read Is Paris Burning? we knew that the holes and dents in the stone walls were from artillery fire during the siege of Paris.
At the end of every day I am tired and ready for sleep. But some days are just so packed with treasured moments from intense flavors to brilliant sights to warm feelings that I am reluctant to see the day end it has been so good-almost like a perfect Christmas filled with wonderful gifts and pleasant surprises. On such nights, sleep does not come. So I sit out on the balcony and watch the sweep of the Eiffel Tower light and look up at the stars. It is surprising to see stars here where there are so many lights in this city of lights.