Paris Journal 2012 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
Find me on Facebook 2011
Paris Journal ← Previous Next
→
|
The best thing that happened yesterday happened at dinner, and it did not have to do with the food, although the food was delicious. But I must backtrack, to set the stage for this story. When television coverage of the day’s stage of the Tour de France was over, I looked out to the southwest to see a very dark, threatening bank of clouds. But the sky beyond it didn’t look too bad, so I didn’t worry. I just turned off the TV, did something else for a bit, then looked again to see that rain had begun to fall. By the time I reached the kitchen window, which I’d left open, sheets of rain were ripping this way and that. Fortunately, the open window was on the north side of the apartment, and this storm came from the south. I shut the window – one of those French things that is really like two doors with impressive hardware to shut them up definitively. Nevertheless, after I left the room and went to the bedroom (I take the very best naps during thunderstorms), I heard noises. Tom said the kitchen window blew open. Did I somehow not latch it? The wind became violent, and distant thunder rumbled. Potted plants on the balcony rattled. The stones of the building threatened to vibrate. The storm put me right to sleep. An hour or so later, I woke up, and Tom said the rain even came inside a little through the French doors of the balcony. In all the years we’ve been staying here during summer, I remember only one other time when the wind pushed the rain inside like that. But just as I thought, the clouds had an end to them, and while our evening stroll had been delayed, it was not cancelled altogether. We went out, this time heading up toward the Champ de Mars, the historic and stately park that is the home of the Eiffel Tower on one end, and the old Military School on the other. On the way, I had to pause to take a photograph of a sign on a new business that I’ve never heard of before: water cycling, the latest fitness fad. We also checked out the specials at two of our alltime-favorite restaurants, La Gauloise and La Gitane. I was in the mood for fish, and the rascasse special at La Gitane caught my attention. The other special of the day, filet mignon of pork, attracted Tom’s notice. So we made a reservation for 8PM, and moved on. When we reached the Champ, we saw lots of large puddles from the storm. Dust was not a problem. Everything was washed clean. As we strolled under the trimmed, mature chestnut trees, headed toward the Tower, we noticed the absence of illegal vendors of Eiffel Tower trinkets. Finally, it seems, law enforcement has been able to control this problem that was filling up the park last year. I hope that part of the solution was finding gainful employment for all those guys. When we were almost at the base of the Tower, we decided to visit the garden of the Musée du Quai Branly. This garden, which reminds us of our home in the swamp, is one of our favorite places in Paris. We visited the mudhens and ducks, checked out the re-planting projects, and I photographed the graphics explaining the construction of a new garden shelter and the current special photography exhibitions at the museum. The current featured photographer is from Mexico, a woman named Lourdes Grobet (a suspiciously French-sounding name). In 2009, she was one of the winners of an annual competition hosted by the museum to promote “personal creation and dialogue of cultures” of “non-Western” (?????) photographers. Go figure. Anyway, the exhibition might be interesting, judging by the graphics promoting it. Suddenly it was time to briskly walk back to the restaurant for our dinner reservation. We took the avenue de la Bourdonnais and avenue Rapp, admiring their elegance again, just as we had on our taxi ride into the neighborhood on Tuesday morning. After crossing the Champ, we reached the intersection of the avenue de la Motte-Picquet and the avenue de Suffren, where we obediently waited for the light to change so we could cross safely. We heard a car horn blaring, and noticed a very drunk, tall, thin not-quite-so-young-anymore guy weaving and stumbling his way across the street, ignoring the traffic, and not even crossing within the crosswalk – not by a long shot. He was definitely the kind of drunk pedestrian who could get himself killed in a city like this. He survived this particular crossing of the street, but who knows about the next time, I worried. At the restaurant La Gitane, we were warmly greeted and seated at a pleasant table near the front, but inside. Still, we could see the entire terrasse and the sidewalk beyond. A few other tables were occupied, and other diners were arriving. It was a few minutes past 8PM. I remembered that the appetizer I loved last summer at this place was the Carpaccio of artichoke hearts, and so we started with that. Then we had the rascasse and filet mignon of pork, as we had anticipated. Tom finished it all off with a delicious moelleaux de chocolat. It was divinely rich. Somewhere between the main course and dessert, I think it was, the wonderful thing happened. Corinne Mayeras, one of the owners of the restaurant (see August 12, 2010, in this journal), had been overseeing things in the dining room, being the gracious hostess that she is. Suddenly, that drunk pedestrian re-appeared on the sidewalk. He stopped at the restaurant, hung his head over the divider, and began to disturb one of the families dining on the terrasse. Corinne saw him instantly and moved smoothly and quickly to address the problem before it became too much of a problem. The way she did this was wonderful. She went right up to the drunk, and put her hand gently on his shoulder. She spoke to him softly but very directly, just inches from his face. She patted his shoulder sympathetically as she spoke. She did this for a minute or so before succeeding in urging him onward, down the sidewalk, away from the diners. Her gentleness and kindness toward the drunk won my great admiration. Not only is she a fine Parisian restauranteur, she is also a fine, loving human being. Chapeau, Corinne! |
Saturday, July 7, 2012
The
dining room at La Gitane.
A
perfect summertime appetizer, Carpaccio of artichoke hearts, with shavings of
Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of chives.
A
filet of rascasse (scorpionfish),
a Mediterranian fish that is not unlike grouper in
taste and texture. Here, at La Gitane, it was served on a tasty pile of ratatouille.
Tender
and tasty filet mignon of pork, with scalloped potatoes and a rich sauce.
A rich, dark chocolate moelleaux with a drizzle of caramel sauce.
Soon, a new “waterbiking” center will
open on the avenue de la Motte-Picquet, where you
can do this exercise in a private booth. |
