Paris Day 13 (2020)

Posted on March 14, 2020 by admin

Good morning Paris!

Well the natives are restless so we decided to cal the airline to investigate our options as more and more news come out about cancelling flights back to the US in the next week. This all being the results of the Coronavirus Pandemic and the News media. ARG!

So as you can imagine we are on hold listening to music and being told how important our business is the American Airlines.

Note; There is still plenty of toilet paper on the shelves here in Paris!

The plan for today is to head out to the Puces de Vanves Flea market at Avenue de la Porte de Vanves and rue Marc Sangnier (Arr 14) Metro: Porte de Vanves. Hopefully we will get by the President Wilson Market and get some fish for dinner and resupply on fruit and vegetables.

Well our best played plans were blown all to hell so we decided to shop locally and cook dinner in tonight.  We had a nice dinner of Cod Fish, cauliflower mashed potatoes and asparagus, a couple of glass of a nice Cote du Rhone and a shared dessert of mille-feuille and an Opera¡

New this evening said France is closing all restaurants, shop etc so I back on the phone with the GOFARREWARDS folks bring to make arrangement to fly home.

 

 

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Paris Day 12 (2020)

Posted on March 13, 2020 by admin

Tonight we have tickets to a concert at Le Sainte Chappele at 1800. The concert is VIVALDI / Les Quatre saisons  ALBINONI / adagio – PACHELBEL / Canon.  The concert series runs from March 13th to December 31st and is presented by Euromusic Productions.

 

We took the opportunity with the sunny day to walk over to the Jardins du Ranelegh and sit in the sun and watch the children play un aware on the pandemic around them.

After dinner we walked across the river for a stroll through the Latin Quarter and some evening photos. We then headed back to the 16th for dinner of pizza at Alba on Avenue Mozart.

 

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BUS LINE 63 – THE BEST OF THE LEFT BANK & SO MUCH MORE!

Posted on March 13, 2020 by admin

Guide to the 63 Bus in Paris - Amazing for Sight-seeing!Line 63 runs from Porte de la Muette to Gare de Lyon. The line is packed with attractions because it runs almost entirely along the left bank of the Seine, cutting through the heart of the city from east to west. Below I have outlined some of the must-see places that can be easily accessed via this route with minimal walking from each stop.  We’ll start off this bus tour at the nearest stop, Bosquet-Rapp, located on the corner of the Pont de l’Alma and the Quai d’ Orsay.Guide to the 63 Bus in Paris - Amazing for Sight-seeing!

Tip: If you are planning on making several stops along one or more bus lines in a day, I would recommend the Mobilis day pass, a ticket that allows unlimited rides on all metros, buses and RER trains. Find more information about the various transportation ticket options here.

Click here to see the trip and points of interest

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Paris Day 11 (2020)

Posted on March 13, 2020 by admin

Bonnie and Barry were off early this morning. Bonnie was going to take a class in sauces from La Cuisine Paris today.

Pat and I found our way down to the river Seine to see the miniature version of the Statue of Liberty presented to the US by France.

We then were off to meet Barry and Bonnie for lunch and visit the cooking stores in the Les Halle area. However Pat wanted to make stop along the way for a photograph of an alley with umbrellas hanging from the ceiling.

The place we usually stop by when we’re in the Les Halles area was closed for renovation. It appears that there is a tremendous amount of renovation going on everywhere so I think the French economy is booming like the US. We finally stop by La Compas on Rue

Onion Soup from La Compas on Rue Montorgueil

Montorgueil.

a Lacor emersion circulator in La bovine

Thai Chicken salad at La compas

While in Les Halles we visited Detou, La Bovida, Mora, and of course no trip would be complete without a visit to E. Dehillerin on rue Coquillire.

Back at the apartment for a short rest then of to La Cordonnerie, Chez Yevette and Claude (Hugo’s) for dinner. Dinner special were a Foie Gras in a balsamic glaze of a reduction of balsamic vinegar, veal stock and butter. There also was a poached cod over arugula with diced apple and pear and a bit of vinegar.

On the route to the restaurant the subject of Place Vendome came up so I thought I would add a note about it here:

Place Vendome (French pronunciation:[plas vandom]) is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It is the starting point of the rue de la Paix. Its regular architecture by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and pedimented screens canted across the corners give the rectangular place Vendome the aspect of an octagon. The original Vendome Column at the centre of the square was erected by Napoleon I to commemorate the Battle of Austerlitz; it was torn down on 16 May 1871, by decree of the Paris Commune, but subsequently re-erected and remains a prominent feature on the square todayPhoto By Giorgio Galeotti – Flickr: Place Vendome – Paris, France – April 20, 2011, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33010160

The entree special were a sword fish steak dusted with curry, cumin and cinnamon then pan roasted and served with a sauce of honey and vinegar to cut the sweetness of the honey. Pat, Barry and Bonnie when for the sword fish special I opted to get the grilled lamb steak.

 

 

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Paris Day 10 (2020)

Posted on March 11, 2020 by admin

We decided to have Croissant aux Almond so our normal boulangerie had none this morning, so I headed over to the alley off rue Talmal to another boulangerie, no success, them on to Avenue Mozart: Success.  So to get my the Croissants I walked 3800 stems or about 1.6 miles so zero calories today.

After breakfast we hen shopping at the President Wilson Market for dinner and some fruit.  We selected fresh pasta and a homemade sauce by the vendor.

President Wilson market

We then headed up to Montmartre for lunch and to visit Sacra Coeur we stopped for lunch at Cafe Boheme some nice salads.

A panoramic view from Montmatre, click to make larger.

Then on to the Basilica and the down the hill. While the ladies went shopping in fabric stores Barry and I sat and had a glass of wine on the street below Sacra Coeur.

Pistachio from Bolungerie Mozart

We then headed back to the apartment with a stop along the way for bread and eclairs.  Tonight we chose a Petit Ãpeautre a baguette made with einkorn flour.

Chocolate Eclair

baguette made with einkorn flour.

Done for the day we headed back home

 

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Paris Day 9 (2020)

Posted on March 11, 2020 by admin

Out to the market this morning, we decided to revisit the Enfant Rouge market at 39 rue de Bretagne (Metro: Filles du Calvaire).  This market is more a melange of food vendors and a good place to stop in for an early lunch because they close at 1300.

We walk around he their arrondissement for a while and found and interesting Parisian park called Square du Temple – Elie Wiesel We continued on and wandered around the area, until I suggest we go visit the up and coming neighborhood of Belleville.  We took the metro and got off at the Belleville metro stop, right at the foot of Chinatown.  I’m sure they you are all thinking we are crazy right about now saying Chinatown? What with the Coronavirus originating in China. We also encountered a street market in Belleville along the Boulevard Belleville in the median.The market appeared to be what we consider a sub-standard market where vendors sell products near the end of there marketability at reduced prices, the market was vibrant. Belleville (French: [Belleville) is a neighbourhood of Paris, France, parts of which lie in four different arrondissements. The major portion of Belleville straddles the borderline between the 20th arrondissement and the 19th along its main street, the Rue de Belleville. The remainder lies in the 10thand 11th arrondissements.Belleville – home to one of Paris’s lively Chinatowns, a burgeoning artist quarter and a dizzying array of cultures. Belleville has always been a working class neighborhood, with immigration generating much of the area’s zest. What started in the 1920’s with Greeks, Jews and Armenians led to waves of North Africans, Sub-Saharan Africans and Chinese immigrants settling here. Cheap rents have also led artists to flow into the area, making it an ideal spot for their ateliers. Belleville may not provide a typical experience of Paris, but its energy and diversity are certainly worth checking out.

We headed back to the 16th to do some exploring.

We stopped by the Marche Passy and the fish monger was preparing some Oursin, sea urchins.

Dinner tonight was a rotisserie chicken, potatoes and sautéed onions and tomatoes, a baguette and wine

 

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Paris Day 8 (2020)

Posted on March 9, 2020 by admin

It Monday and Barry and Bonnie arrive today.

Our agenda is to get them situated with a new Navigo pass and show them how to use the metro.  The next task it to go to the Freemobile Office by Madeline and help them get a French SIM card.  I previously alerted Barry to have AT&T transfer their iPhone from physical SIM to eSIM which he did although not sure it happened.

July Column (French: Colonne de Juillet is a monumental column in Paris commemorating the Revolution of 1830)

We next took them to the Champs de Mars to board the 69 bus which now goes to Gambetta, this accomplished two tasks, it kept them awake and show them how to board and use the bus.  We got off at the Place du Bastille for a beverage, and did not complete the round trip, Stopped for a coffee and some beers and them boarded the M1 metro and headed back the the apartment for some cheese, terrine and bread.

I installed the SIM cards in their iPhones and showed them how they worked with two numbers and then about 5;40 we headed out to dinner. Note:We were successful in keeping Bonnie and Barry up all day.

The group elected to go the Quattro & Un (n41) for dinner.  Pat had the durade over puree potatoes, Bonnie the Salmon with Quinoa, Barry the mixed omelet and I had the Plat du Jour of Roosbeef, puree potatoes and salad. We shared a bottle of Rose, and Bonnie had sparkling water.  A nice meal.  One the way home we stopped at the chocolate shop and purchased some Chapon Sorbet Framboise and Peche, 77.5% fruit pulp and 28.5 cane sugar. Made in France.

Early to bed tonight.

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Paris Day 7 (2020)

Posted on March 8, 2020 by admin

Not too much to report today.  A little shopping for breakfast and for vegetables and fruit.

It was a rainy day so we lightly cleaned the apartment and watched food videos on YouTube about Paris.

Nothing is better than a lazy day in Paris.

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Paris Day 6 (2020)

Posted on March 6, 2020 by admin

The girls are off to the Muse Nissim de Camondo which very interesting I have been there so I took the opportunity to catch up on the BLOG. I’m going to meet Pat at the Hotel De Ville metro stop a bit latter.

The mansion was built in 1911 by the Comte Moïse de Camondo, a banker, with architect René Sergent, to set off his collection of eighteenth-century French furniture and art objects. Its design was patterned upon the Petit Trianon at Versailles, though with modern conveniences. Both house and collections were bequeathed to Les Arts Décoratifs in honour of his son, Nissim de Camondo, killed in World War I, and opened as a museum in 1936. More tragedy followed a few years later when Moise’s daughter and her family were deported to Auschwitz, where they died. Today, the house is maintained as if it were still a private home preserved in its original condition. Three floors are open to visitors: the lower ground floor (kitchens), upper ground floor (formal rooms), first floor (private apartments), and gardens. The house's furnishings include needlepoint chairs and work by artisans of the Garde Meuble Royal (Royal Furniture Repository) such as Jean-François Oeben, Jean Henri Riesener, and Georges Jacob. Floors are furnished with Savonnerie carpets woven in 1678 for the Grande Galerie in the Louvre, and walls accented with tapestries (many Beauvais or Aubusson), and paintings including portraits by Élisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun, landscapes by Guardi and Hubert Robert and hunting scenes by Jean-Baptiste Oudry. Table setting are of particular interest, especially the Orloff silver dinner service commissioned by Catherine II of Russia from silversmith Jacques-Nicolas Roettiers in 1770, and the Buffon porcelain services made at Sèvres in the 1780s with a bird theme. Other notable objects include a bust by Jean-Antoine Houdon, bas-reliefs, Chinese vases, and crystal chandeliers.

After I met up with the girls we wandered over to the Latin Quarter, you know the place where all the tourists go.  Shelley wanted Raclette so we selected a restaurant with raclette for Shelley, I had onion soup and Pat had Vegetable soup and Stacy the la menu, of onion soup and pasta.  We then walked along the Seine and checked out the river side vendors.  It was getting time to drop Shelley and Stacy by La Cuisine Paris for their cooking class. (French Hors d’Oeuvres & Drinks! The quintessential pre-dinner social experience as you create beautiful hors d’oeuvres and other small appetizers!)

On the way across town we stopped to watch a skater in the Hotel De Ville metro plaza.

The Cafe du Metro Burger

We met them after class and took the metro over to Rue Montorgueil for dinner at Cafe du Metro where we always go for our burgers when in Paris.  Next stop Trocadaro to watch the Eiffel Tower flash on the hour.  Then we took the 22 bus 4 stop back to the apartment so the girls could pack.

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Paris Day 5 (2020)

Posted on March 5, 2020 by admin

Today was a slow day with rain and cold.

We headed off late for two markets in the 12th arrondissement. The first Marche Poniatowski located at avenue Daumesnil was very empty of vendors due to the rain and nearing the end of the market we also visited Marche Ledru-Rollin on Avenue Ledru-Rollin, which was just about gone by 1:30.  We have decided not to review these market at this time and return at a latter date go give them a better assessment.

We then shopped a bit on Rue De Revoli for Pats aprons for the Chick Ladies as she refers to them, they are the neighbors and friends collecting eggs while we are gone.

We when back to the apartment early because my GI system was feeling a bit under the weather.

Dinner tonight was at La Cordonnerie (Hugo’s).  Pat had the (special) Cauliflower puree

Cauliflower puree

Duck Pate

followed by the (special)scallops, I had the (special)Lamb Sweet Breads (special) Beef and Veal.  Stacy the Steak Frietes and Shelley the Veal with Frietes both standard menu items.

Steak Frites

Pat’s scallops in a tarragon sauce and Shelley’s Veal

Beef and Veal

Sauteed Lamb Sweetbreads in a Veal demiglaze

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