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Coming
back from our walk through the 16th
A
building decoration on the rue Raynouard in the chic
A view
from the Promenade Plantée.
Large
cat and normal woman in the Jardin de Reuilly.
Trees in
the interior garden (not publicly accessible) of the
It
isn’t always pretty. This graffitteed
van has been parked |
Tuesday, August 28 On Sunday, we took a long and lovely walk through the
eastern half of the 16th arrondissement. Monday was an absolutely beautiful day. We spent most of it outdoors, walking around
with Carol and Ron. First we took the
métro to the Opéra Bastille, then we walked the length of the Promenade
Plantée, Jardin de Reuilly, and Allée Vivaldi. Then we went down to the Parc Bercy and
into the Cour St. Emilion for a late lunch.
This time the food was not so great at the Nicolas café. We should have followed Bob Spencer’s
advice – to try the cheese plate at Chai33.
Maybe next time . . . . But it didn’t matter.
We were having a great time in perfect weather. After lunch, we went back through the Parc
Bercy and over to the Mitterand library, where we had a stiff breeze due to the Venturi effect
around the towers of that monumental modern elephant of a structure. We descended way down deep underground to catch the
number 14 métro in the ultra modern station at the corner of avenue de France
and rue Neuve Tolbiac. Carol was
amazed by the modernity and impressiveness of both this station and the line
14 part of the station at Madeleine. Once again, Tom was able to sit right up front where
the driver would be on other métro trains.
Ron had the other front seat, and Carol and I were happy to be in the
number 2 seats. From Madeleine, we walked down to the Champs Elysées,
where we sat on a bench under some trees and discussed our plans for the
evening. Ron and Carol went back to
their place to rest for a couple hours, and we did the same. Then we met up for dinner at La Gauloise. Even though I’d made reservations and was promised a
no-smoking table, we were seated in the smoking section next to a couple
non-stop chimneys that looked like young women. Next year, I ordered the sauté of duck with pureed potatoes, and
the others had the saute of beef with sautéed potatoes. Tom and Ron indulged in dessert. Now that the Parisians are returning from
vacation, we are no longer treated quite so much like royalty at La Gauloise. But it was still a very, very good dinner. Today we made another pilgrimage to the Federal Express
office on boulevard Haussman. When we
finished there, we were starving because it was 4PM and we had not eaten all
day. We asked the FedEx employees
about a good place to eat nearby. They
indicated that the brasserie across the street was very good, but maybe a
little expensive. I already had my eye on this brasserie because of the
care they have taken with their awnings.
I believe that a good restaurant must have clean windows, and a clean
awning in good repair is also a good sign.
We jaywalked across the street (boulevard Haussmann does not have
enough crosswalks!) and as soon as I saw the blackboard with the specials on
it, I said YES! My mind was made
up. The specials included rascasse aux escargots. Rascasse is one of those fishes that you just don’t see
on menus very often anymore. It is a
Mediterranean scorpion fish, and it is very, very good. The rascasse was served in a beurre blanc aux herbes, I’d say, and
it was flawless. The escargots were
perfectly done, very tender, and very unlike the overcooked ones that Tom had
at the Nicolas café yesterday. The
dish was served with homemade tagliatelle
pasta. Tom didn’t examine the blackboard well enough, and as a
result he ordered a steak and fries when he could have had great looking
roast beef with a rich sauce that looked like a bordelaise, and puréed
potatoes. I think in a brasserie it is always a good idea to
order from the blackboard of daily specials.
That is where you find the more interesting dishes, and that is what
the chef is inspired to make that day.
The printed menus in the brasseries tend to have the standard fare
that one expects to find in just about every brasserie. Expensive? Maybe
more so than some ordinary neighborhood brasseries. But this is on the boulevard Haussmann, a
high-powered shopping street, where people have high expectations. My main course cost €16. With the complexity of making such a
perfect sauce with all those minced herbs, the stress of making sure the fish
is cooked just right, and the work involved in making homemade pasta, I don’t
think that is too much money. Everything was right about this place. The chairs were unbelievably
comfortable. I almost felt like I was
in a fancy cocktail lounge in the Hotel Meurice. The smoking section was big enough and
isolated enough from those chimneys that look like people. Our server, who made the mistake of bringing us the
menus in English at first, was very pleased with us when we ordered like
francophone-gourmands. He was cute –
rotund, because, he said, he eats there every day. He had curly gray hair and a curly gray
mustache, a crisp white shirt and little black bow tie, and neat black
slacks. He was downright jovial with
us by the time we left. Tom’s main course was good, but not great, and then he
ordered dessert – from the blackboard!
He ordered the tarte aux
quetsches maison. (Maison means it is made in the house,
not in a bakery elsewhere.) A quetsche is a dark purple, sweet
plum. Very in season right now. The plums were based in a layer of custard
on a wonderful pastry crust. As if
these plums weren’t wonderful enough, the piece
de resistance was the sauce. I
tasted it. I said, “Hmmmm. I know that taste. What is that taste? It has a great tangy flavor. Oh YES! It is RHUBARB!” Now, I really like rhubarb, so it isn’t surprising that
this sauce would please me. But Tom
liked it, too, and he has always said he hates rhubarb. A good French chef can make you love what
you hated. The name of this fine brasserie is Triadou
Haussmann, located at 80, boulevard Haussmann, 8th
arrondissement, telephone 01-43-87-47-67.
Thank heavens for brasseries like this who serve continuously so that
people who forget to eat lunch at the correct time (noon to 2:30) can still
eat well. We walked for hours and hours after that, returning to
our neighborhood just in time to buy some bread at a bakery on rue de la
Croix Nivert just before it closed at 9PM.
I also bought one little square piece of pizza there. What a pleasant surprise that was! No meat, no grease, not much cheese or
salt, just lots of ripe, sliced, roasted tomatoes and very tasty mushrooms on
a crisp, thin crust. So there was my
vegetable course for the day. |
