Paris Journal 2014 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
Find me on Facebook 2013
Paris Journal ← Previous Next
→ << Back to the beginning
|
Tom noticed it first, as we walked home after dinner. It was in front of the Thomas cheese shop on the rue du Commerce. The cute little old truck was a Citroën, I’d say, although I didn’t cross the street to check that fact. The name of its business: Les Jardiniers du Lys. Other information in lovely, yellow script lettering told us that these gardeners will create and/or maintain your garden, and will trim and care for your trees. Tom said we should share this photo with Ray, our “gardener,” but I pointed out that there is no easy way to get the photo to him; he does not use a computer or do email. He has a cell phone, but doesn’t really even do text messages on it, much less receive photos. I don’t like to simply call Ray a “gardener,” because he’s more than that. His hand-written monthly bill just says “yard work” on it. That makes me smile; the British call them “gardens,” and we Ohioans call them “yards.” (Ray is originally from Toledo, and I from Cincinnati.) What Ray really is, Tom and I maintain, is a landscape artist. Over time, he sculpts the view. He knows how things grow (or not) on Sanibel Island, and he’s great with keeping very natural-looking landscapes. It is a little difficult to imagine his tall, lanky frame in this itty bitty truck, but I do think he’d appreciate it as a French version of his green Toyota pickup. I especially like the side window that flips up from the bottom. That makes sense, keeping the wind out of your eyes. This old Citroën could well have been made right here in the 15th arrondissement, in the huge factory that is now gone, replaced by beautiful Parc André Citroën. I looked up Les Jardiniers du Lys; the business is based in Versailles, near that fabulous garden of the chateau there. The Tour de France was near the Versailles chateau yesterday, as the riders made their way from Evry into Paris, to the Champs Élysées. They entered the city in that most traditional way (and avoiding seedy housing projects), from the direction of Versailles, and coming up along the right bank of the Seine, then switching to the left bank in the very center of Paris, then switching back over to the right to begin the multiple rounds of the Tuileries and the Champs Élysées. The stage ended so late that we didn’t have time to watch the awards ceremony on the podium. It was time for us to dress and walk to dinner, at Bistro 121. I ordered one of those crazy traditional French dishes, a fricassée of pigs’ ears, on a salad, for a starter course. I decided that I like the meat part of the pigs’ ears, but not the cartilage – as you might imagine. I’ll try anything once! Tom’s dinner, in particular, was excellent. He ordered grilled lamb chops, which came in a tasty reduction sauce with nice veggies and potatoes. My dorade and gambas were good, but not great. The dorade royale from the night before (Le Court Bouillon) was a tough act to follow. But there is also a big cost difference between these two restaurants, and we do appreciate the great value that Bistro 121 offers. It also offers us just the right walk before and after dinner, 15 or 20 minutes each way along the leafy and oh-so-Parisian avenue Felix Faure. I’d also taken a walk, solo, in the morning, just to see the market at Grenelle in action. This time it was busier than a week ago or so, and there were more shoppers at the produce and cheese stalls. The market will change somewhat over the next few weeks, as many of the vendors disappear for a month. Now is the time when some neighborhood shops and restos are closing up for a couple weeks of vacation, and many Parisians are out in the country somewhere, enjoying their time off. The peaceful month of August is soon to begin . . . .
|
Monday, July 28, 2014
Notice
how the wine shop is next door, in the same building as the cheese shop? Convenient!
Tom’s
delicious lamb chops (above), and my dorade et gambas (below), at Bistro 121.
So
Parisian – decorative metalwork everywhere, even on the basement windows. |
