Paris Journal 2011 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
Photos
and thoughts about Paris
Sign
my guestbook. View
my guestbook. 2010 Paris Journal ← Previous Next
→ ← Go
back to the beginning
|
Loyal journal readers are really pitching in by offering explanations for conundrums I’ve been writing about. Thank you so much! Lennie from Honolulu has offered useful insight into the trend toward more Italian restaurants and fewer French ones in Paris: her French friends love everything Italian, she says, from shoes to food. When they gave her a list of recommended restaurants – many were Italian. I can live with that, as long as there are still plenty of French restaurants, too. My dad would appreciate the plethora of Italian food. He especially loved lasagna. And Bob from Fort Lauderdale has given us yet more insight into the problematic chip-less American credit cards. This article that he sent offers much explanation that makes sense. The cause isn’t simply cheapness and recalcitrance on the part of American banks. While it is good that American Express offers cards with chips to some customers, it isn’t good enough because American Express isn’t as widely accepted here as it is in the U.S. And thank you, John, for your words of support. The Allée des Cygnes was our walking destination yesterday. I was delighted to find that informative little signs have been put up along the fence on either side to educate us, the flâneurs, about the trees on this skinny isle in the Seine. The Allée is a veritable arboretum! Over the years, many of the sickly old chestnut trees have been replaced with other trees, so that now there is quite a variety. I need to improve my tree vocabulary in French, so I’m going to make a project of translating these signs, which I photographed, at least enough so that I know the names of these trees in French. Because of the constant zig-zagging from side to side to take the photos and examine the individual trees, this walk took much longer than usual. On the way back, we saw a leashless dog doing his business. Tom said, “I bet that dog’s owner does not clean up after him.” I was more willing to assume that the owner would appear and clean up after the dog. But after a couple minutes, we noticed who the owner was, and Tom was right. He didn’t clean up after his dog. He just put the leash back on the dog and the duo walked away. This culprit was risking a big fine. But since there usually is no regular patrolling of this “park,” he knows he can get away with this bad behavior which has historically given Parisians a bad rep. I photographed the perp, from behind, of course. I’m not an in-your-face paparazzi type. After our delightful evening stroll, we went to an old favorite, Oh! Duo, for dinner. Françoise and Joel Valero, the proprietors, greeted us warmly. I think we’ve been dining there for thirteen years now. She knows we don’t need it, but Françoise proudly showed us her new English language menu. We nodded our admiration and approval, but kept on using the French one, of course, because it is more accurate, informative, and descriptive. Not that we needed any menu at all, really, because we already knew what we wanted: salmon. It was a good alternative to the heavier dinners we had in the past two days. Again, it made me think of my dad, because he liked and often ordered salmon. Françoise and Joel offer a bargain 22 euro three-course menu that includes salmon in a beurre blanc sauce and Joel’s incomparable puréed potatoes. While I liked the main course very much, I must say that as Floridians, we are accustomed to fresher fish. But our standard is quite high, and judging from the smell at the fishmongers in Paris, Parisians are not so accustomed to having such fresh fish. And the beurre blanc that Tom made a few weeks ago to go with the fresh mahi mahi caught by his dentist was way more exciting and tasty. It was a tough act to follow. In this prix fixe offer at Oh! Duo, there are choices of three starters and three desserts. Tom had the salad with a goat-cheese pastry, and I had a gazpacho that was made entirely from beets (no tomatoes, etc.). Both were delicious and healthy. For dessert, we each had one of Joel’s little apple tarts. Very thin, very tasty, not too sweet, so you can really taste the apples. I think Joel’s apple tarts must be among the very best in Paris. Last year, Françoise started offering wine by the glass. I appreciate this, so I can order just a glass instead of a half bottle. And a glass is only 5 euros, which isn’t bad at all in a fine restaurant such as this. When we arrived at home, we tried to sit out on the balcony, but we subtropical mammals were too chilly out there. Someone from Minnesota or Wisconsin would have been comfy. Speaking of the balcony, earlier in the day I was determined to water the many plants out there. Instead of lugging multiple watering cans as I did last year, I went back to using the hose and the outlet across the apartment at the kitchen sink. Both the hose spigot and the hose have been recently replaced, and seem to be more functional than last year. I still needed some help from Tom in maneuvering the spiral-like hose through the apartment, around the furniture, and out the French doors onto the balcony. This is a freaky job for some people because the balcony is narrow, crowded with flowering plants and a few herbs, and way up high – six stories high. My dad, who was acrophobic and who used to read this journal, would be cringing at this point in the narrative. But I managed to give the plants a good soaking, without any fear at all. Maybe I should have been on the trapeze in the circus. Sitting on the balcony after dinner isn’t scary because the table and two chairs are just outside the largest French door opening, so with the doors open, you feel like you’re really sitting in a bay of the dining room that happens to extend outside the building. We watch the sunset from there, and watch the swallows circling, screeching with joy, and playing as they soar around the tops of the buildings like ours before bedtime. Dad loved to watch wildlife play, too, like the manatees did in the basin of the Caloosahatchee, right outside his Hospice room with a view. “Look at them!” he’d say. “They’re playing! They’re playing!” Sign
my guestbook. View
my guestbook. Note: For addresses & phone numbers of
restaurants in this journal, click
here. |
Friday, July 8, 2011
The
Allée des Cygnes, looking through the opening under
the RER train bridge.
There
were lots of ducks swimming around the Allée. We thought
it was appropriate that I was wearing what Tom likes to call my “duck shoes.”
The
man who did not clean up after his dog, 7:20PM, Thursday, July 7, 2011, on
the Allée des Cygnes.
Salmon
in beurre blanc sauce with pureed potatoes at Oh! Duo restaurant on the
avenue Emile Zola.
Meats
on display in the window of the Cochon Rose on the
rue Saint Charles. |
