Visions of foie gras lollipops dancing in our heads, we all got a good night’s sleep for another museum expedition on Monday. But before the museums, I visited one of my all time favorite department stores, Le Bon Marche. This year, the store is celebrating its 160th anniversary, and to mark the occasion, they have set up a little movie theatre on the first floor, where they are showing a short film of Catherine Deneuve visiting some of her favorite places on the Left Bank. The little movie is all in French, so I didn’t understand all of it, but I got the spirit. What a treat to be watching this on a Monday morning instead of working!
Today’s museum was the Orangerie where Monet’s Water Lillies adorn several walls. The Orangerie had been closed for renovations during my last Paris visit in 2001, so it was a treat to see it. Following lunch that day, it was time to support the French economy. The walking shoes I had purchased had not worked out, so it was time to buy better walking shoes. I can highly recommend the French brand, Arche, which is quite comfortable. www.arche-shoes.com.
Then off to museum #2 that day, which was the Edward Hopper exhibition at the Grand Palais. This was a big treat for me because Hopper is my favorite artist. The exhibition runs through January. It features not only some of his more famous works, such as Nighthawks, which normally hangs at the Art Institute of Chicago, but also does an excellent job highlighting Hopper’s earlier work as an illustrator (which paid his bills in the early part of his career) and also his connection to Paris (he had spent a good amount of time there). It was also extremely interesting to watch the French studying these paintings, which to me are deeply American. Here it was, the middle of a Monday afternoon, and French people (of all age groups) were out in droves enjoying these paintings, just as I would enjoy the work of their countrymen. How strange and yet how wonderful to come to Paris to observe American art and French people observing American art.
Dinner that night was at a restaurant near the Gare de Lyon, called A la Biche au Bois. This means, I believe, The Doe in the Woods. And it is called this because game (le gibier) is one of its specialties. Along with many varieties of mushrooms, October is game season for Paris restaurants and you will find lots of “gamey” things on the menu, such as venison, wild boar, canard sauvage (wild duck) and hare. This restaurant is small and crowded and offers a very well-priced menu (around thirty euro) that includes cheese and dessert. And if you are not game for le gibier, there are lots of other things on the menu, including steak with very good frites.
Tuesday morning was set aside for soap shopping, of course. I say of course because I assume that everyone believes, as I do, that it is a good idea to weigh your suitcase down with heavy bottles of French shower soap (gel douche). So, off to Franprix (grocery store) for Le Petit Marsellais and to la pharmacie (actually two pharmacies) for Roger & Gallet shower soap. The pharmacie is always a learning experience in addition to a great place to do some shopping. And French pharmacists (and by extension, St Barths pharmacists) are among the kindest, most patient people on earth. At one pharmacie, a group of older ladies was running the poor pharmacist ragged with requests for vitamins and heaven knows what else. But the pharmacist is ever patient and never gets rattled. Roger & Gallet gel douche is sold behind the counter in Paris (not in front of the counter as is the case in SBH) so one must ask for it. And one (me) had better be prepared to have one’s French corrected by one of the customers (not the pharmacist, who is way too polite). Example: among the many problems with my spoken French is my consistent mispronounciation of the word “deux.” We all know this means two, right? And we all know we should not pronounce it “doo.” Rather, it is something like a cross between “doo” and “duh”. But not plain “doo” or plain “duh.” Listen to French people say it and you will know what I am talking about. I should know better because when I go to Boulangerie Choisy in SBH and say “doo croissants, s’il vous plait” I sometimes get a smile and a (very) gentle correction. But has this experience taken root? Of course not. So when I asked for “doo bouteilles de Roger gel douche au gingembre” I got a loud correction from one of the customers, reminding me of the “doo” and “duh” harmony. Red alert: there is an American in the pharmacie. My cover is blown. I am definitely going to work hard on this “deux” thing.
Another French language mishap occurred at the optician’s. Why was I at an optician’s you ask? Did I need to get my eyes examined while on vacation? Now that would have been really funny, me reading an eye chart in French. No, I had lost my reading glasses. Which in itself is kind of funny, seeing as I have, at last count, 1,000 pairs of reading glasses at home. Yet in a misguided attempt at “travelling light” I decided to bring only one pair of reading glasses on my visit to Paris. Which pair was promptly left behind at a restaurant.
This problem was easily remedied, as Paris is a city of optical shops. There is one on most every street. One can find reading glasses at the optical shop or at the pharmacie. I stopped into the neighborhood optical shop hoping to purchase a suitably Parisian looking pair of reading glasses. The shopkeeper asked what strength I needed. I told him, en francais, “150.” Only this came out sounding like “500.” He patiently explained that the highest strength was 300 and that 500 was not possible. So I tried again. And again. Eventually we got it settled and had a good laugh and I walked out with purple polka dotted reading glasses. Not very Parisian looking but they serve their purpose.
Lunch that day was another treat I had arranged for my friends. On the advice of a French friend, I chose Les Ombres at the Musee Quai Branly in the 7th. www.lesombres-restaurant.com/. Les Ombres means “the shadows” and you are quite literally in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower. The weather was reasonably clear and we had a great view. My lunch was a risotto made with a chicken sot-l'y-laisse. Sot-l’y-laisse are the “oysters” of the chicken, little nuggets behind the thigh and rib cage, Don’t ask me how to pronounce it, but it was tasty.
That afternoon, we did a long walk through the Seventh Arrondissement, passing through the Rue Cler, which has a large outdoor food market. The vendors had mostly packed up by the time we got there but we did observe lots of treats for sale in the stores that line Rue Cler, including exquisite looking Halloween candy (think marzipan chestnuts, not candy corn). Also peered into a store devoted exclusively to foie gras. What could be better? Bringing foie gras back to the US can be a tricky business (at least it was when I last tried in 2007, when there was nothing clearly identifying foie gras as such in the customs manual thus creating confusion and questions as to why someone would want to eat duck or goose liver), and given the hassle I endured trying to bring back All Bran cereal from SBH in July, I decided to pass on bringing back this treat. Besides, with all the soap in my suitcase, where was the foie gras going to go?
And another stop at an optical shop, this time for real glasses. My friend and her mom are very fond of eyeglasses made by the French eyewear company, Lafont, www.lafont.com. So where better to buy them than in Paris?
After eyeglass shopping, we made a stop at the Musee Rodin, which is another spot I’d never visited. Lovely museum and gardens.
My final dinner in Paris took place at a tiny restaurant on the Rue Sainte Beuve called Le Timbre. Le Timbre means stamp, as in postage stamp, and that aptly summarizes just how tiny this restaurant is. www.restaurantletimbre.com. How the chef cooks such tasty food in such a small space is beyond me. On the menu that evening was lievre, which I incorrectly thought was a fish of some kind. Not even close. Our English speaking neighbors at the next table explained it was hare. As in “The Tortoise and the Hare.” This time, the hare met his end in a stew.
The last morning arrived with a quick trip to the Marais. On the Rue des Rosiers, there is a small café called Les Rosiers where people stand at the counter to drink their morning coffee. Sanitation workers and just ordinary Parisians going about their business. And tasty quiche for those in need of a quick breakfast. By the way, if you take your coffee at a table instead of at the counter, you will pay a few cents more. I figured this out by studying the chalkboard menu which charmingly shows stick people standing at the counter and sitting and the corresponding prices for services at each. Also on the Rue des Rosiers are several excellent Jewish bakeries and reportedly the best falafel shop in Paris, L’As du Falafel (the “Ace of Falafel”) which was not yet open during my early morning visit.
A big hug to my wonderful travel companions who let me crash their trip, and I was off to the airport for the Vienna leg of this trip. Four and a half days in Paris was a lovely treat indeed and I made a promise to myself not to let another 11 years pass before my next visit.
Happy travels,
Denise
Today’s museum was the Orangerie where Monet’s Water Lillies adorn several walls. The Orangerie had been closed for renovations during my last Paris visit in 2001, so it was a treat to see it. Following lunch that day, it was time to support the French economy. The walking shoes I had purchased had not worked out, so it was time to buy better walking shoes. I can highly recommend the French brand, Arche, which is quite comfortable. www.arche-shoes.com.
Then off to museum #2 that day, which was the Edward Hopper exhibition at the Grand Palais. This was a big treat for me because Hopper is my favorite artist. The exhibition runs through January. It features not only some of his more famous works, such as Nighthawks, which normally hangs at the Art Institute of Chicago, but also does an excellent job highlighting Hopper’s earlier work as an illustrator (which paid his bills in the early part of his career) and also his connection to Paris (he had spent a good amount of time there). It was also extremely interesting to watch the French studying these paintings, which to me are deeply American. Here it was, the middle of a Monday afternoon, and French people (of all age groups) were out in droves enjoying these paintings, just as I would enjoy the work of their countrymen. How strange and yet how wonderful to come to Paris to observe American art and French people observing American art.
Dinner that night was at a restaurant near the Gare de Lyon, called A la Biche au Bois. This means, I believe, The Doe in the Woods. And it is called this because game (le gibier) is one of its specialties. Along with many varieties of mushrooms, October is game season for Paris restaurants and you will find lots of “gamey” things on the menu, such as venison, wild boar, canard sauvage (wild duck) and hare. This restaurant is small and crowded and offers a very well-priced menu (around thirty euro) that includes cheese and dessert. And if you are not game for le gibier, there are lots of other things on the menu, including steak with very good frites.
Tuesday morning was set aside for soap shopping, of course. I say of course because I assume that everyone believes, as I do, that it is a good idea to weigh your suitcase down with heavy bottles of French shower soap (gel douche). So, off to Franprix (grocery store) for Le Petit Marsellais and to la pharmacie (actually two pharmacies) for Roger & Gallet shower soap. The pharmacie is always a learning experience in addition to a great place to do some shopping. And French pharmacists (and by extension, St Barths pharmacists) are among the kindest, most patient people on earth. At one pharmacie, a group of older ladies was running the poor pharmacist ragged with requests for vitamins and heaven knows what else. But the pharmacist is ever patient and never gets rattled. Roger & Gallet gel douche is sold behind the counter in Paris (not in front of the counter as is the case in SBH) so one must ask for it. And one (me) had better be prepared to have one’s French corrected by one of the customers (not the pharmacist, who is way too polite). Example: among the many problems with my spoken French is my consistent mispronounciation of the word “deux.” We all know this means two, right? And we all know we should not pronounce it “doo.” Rather, it is something like a cross between “doo” and “duh”. But not plain “doo” or plain “duh.” Listen to French people say it and you will know what I am talking about. I should know better because when I go to Boulangerie Choisy in SBH and say “doo croissants, s’il vous plait” I sometimes get a smile and a (very) gentle correction. But has this experience taken root? Of course not. So when I asked for “doo bouteilles de Roger gel douche au gingembre” I got a loud correction from one of the customers, reminding me of the “doo” and “duh” harmony. Red alert: there is an American in the pharmacie. My cover is blown. I am definitely going to work hard on this “deux” thing.
Another French language mishap occurred at the optician’s. Why was I at an optician’s you ask? Did I need to get my eyes examined while on vacation? Now that would have been really funny, me reading an eye chart in French. No, I had lost my reading glasses. Which in itself is kind of funny, seeing as I have, at last count, 1,000 pairs of reading glasses at home. Yet in a misguided attempt at “travelling light” I decided to bring only one pair of reading glasses on my visit to Paris. Which pair was promptly left behind at a restaurant.
This problem was easily remedied, as Paris is a city of optical shops. There is one on most every street. One can find reading glasses at the optical shop or at the pharmacie. I stopped into the neighborhood optical shop hoping to purchase a suitably Parisian looking pair of reading glasses. The shopkeeper asked what strength I needed. I told him, en francais, “150.” Only this came out sounding like “500.” He patiently explained that the highest strength was 300 and that 500 was not possible. So I tried again. And again. Eventually we got it settled and had a good laugh and I walked out with purple polka dotted reading glasses. Not very Parisian looking but they serve their purpose.
Lunch that day was another treat I had arranged for my friends. On the advice of a French friend, I chose Les Ombres at the Musee Quai Branly in the 7th. www.lesombres-restaurant.com/. Les Ombres means “the shadows” and you are quite literally in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower. The weather was reasonably clear and we had a great view. My lunch was a risotto made with a chicken sot-l'y-laisse. Sot-l’y-laisse are the “oysters” of the chicken, little nuggets behind the thigh and rib cage, Don’t ask me how to pronounce it, but it was tasty.
That afternoon, we did a long walk through the Seventh Arrondissement, passing through the Rue Cler, which has a large outdoor food market. The vendors had mostly packed up by the time we got there but we did observe lots of treats for sale in the stores that line Rue Cler, including exquisite looking Halloween candy (think marzipan chestnuts, not candy corn). Also peered into a store devoted exclusively to foie gras. What could be better? Bringing foie gras back to the US can be a tricky business (at least it was when I last tried in 2007, when there was nothing clearly identifying foie gras as such in the customs manual thus creating confusion and questions as to why someone would want to eat duck or goose liver), and given the hassle I endured trying to bring back All Bran cereal from SBH in July, I decided to pass on bringing back this treat. Besides, with all the soap in my suitcase, where was the foie gras going to go?
And another stop at an optical shop, this time for real glasses. My friend and her mom are very fond of eyeglasses made by the French eyewear company, Lafont, www.lafont.com. So where better to buy them than in Paris?
After eyeglass shopping, we made a stop at the Musee Rodin, which is another spot I’d never visited. Lovely museum and gardens.
My final dinner in Paris took place at a tiny restaurant on the Rue Sainte Beuve called Le Timbre. Le Timbre means stamp, as in postage stamp, and that aptly summarizes just how tiny this restaurant is. www.restaurantletimbre.com. How the chef cooks such tasty food in such a small space is beyond me. On the menu that evening was lievre, which I incorrectly thought was a fish of some kind. Not even close. Our English speaking neighbors at the next table explained it was hare. As in “The Tortoise and the Hare.” This time, the hare met his end in a stew.
The last morning arrived with a quick trip to the Marais. On the Rue des Rosiers, there is a small café called Les Rosiers where people stand at the counter to drink their morning coffee. Sanitation workers and just ordinary Parisians going about their business. And tasty quiche for those in need of a quick breakfast. By the way, if you take your coffee at a table instead of at the counter, you will pay a few cents more. I figured this out by studying the chalkboard menu which charmingly shows stick people standing at the counter and sitting and the corresponding prices for services at each. Also on the Rue des Rosiers are several excellent Jewish bakeries and reportedly the best falafel shop in Paris, L’As du Falafel (the “Ace of Falafel”) which was not yet open during my early morning visit.
A big hug to my wonderful travel companions who let me crash their trip, and I was off to the airport for the Vienna leg of this trip. Four and a half days in Paris was a lovely treat indeed and I made a promise to myself not to let another 11 years pass before my next visit.
Happy travels,
Denise
