Paris Journal 2007

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A spectacularly beautiful day in Paris, on Friday the 14th.
This is the fountain in the Jardin Marco Polo, looking
toward the Luxembourg Gardens.

 

Tom and I shopped for coffee mugs and such on Friday
at this vaissellerie on the rue de Rennes.  Great prices.
Very crowded.

 

 

Maidens adorning a building on the rue d’Assas, I think.

 

A cross on a tomb in the Montparnasse cemetery, with the
Montparnasse tower in the background.  I even got down
on my knees to make this shot.

The Luxembourg Gardens and Senate building.  The dot at
the top edge is a helicopter – a rare sight over Paris.

 

Saturday, September 15

 

Whew!  We’ve been so busy having fun that I haven’t had time for this journal.  Let’s see if I can catch up.

 

On Thursday, we made another pilgrimage to the FedEx office in the 8th and successfully sent another copyedited chapter off to the publisher in New York.  They would not have sent a package until Friday, and they are so frugal that they use two-day service, so we won’t have another chapter to work on until maybe Tuesday.  The timing is perfect, because today and tomorrow are Patrimony Days in France, and there are so many places we can see in Paris during these two days that normally are not available to the public.  There’s no time for work this weekend.

 

But first, the FedEx office.  I could see it coming.  I saw the computer in the customer area earlier this summer.  I saw some customers struggling with it.  But the forms which can be completed by hand were still available.  Until Thursday.  They were gone.  A young man working there pointed us to the computer.  I dutifully sat down and began typing.  But the keyboard, darn it, is a European AZERTY keyboard, not an English QWERTY keyboard, and it was a real annoyance.  As soon as Tom mentioned that none of the three FedEx employees was doing anything at the moment, I got up and asserted myself.  I said to the young man, in French, “This is a European keyboard.  It is very difficult for Anglophones like us.  Perhaps you could . . . “, whereupon the young man sat down and followed our information to complete the form on the darned AZERTY keyboard himself.  I was quite satisfied with myself for being assertive. 

 

Afterwards, we rewarded ourselves with a bit of a rest in Square Louis XV, where 3,000 victims of the revolution are also resting in their mass grave.  It was a lovely day.  We had walked all the way up there to the 8th, so we then went to the Triadou Haussmann brasserie across from FedEx for refreshments and a snack.  We had a server who was super energetic and super friendly.  As soon as he heard that we wanted to have drinks, yes, and a bit to eat, and that what Tom wanted to eat was the lemon tart of the day, he sprang into action.  He explained that he thought that there was only one piece of lemon tart left!!! He raced back to the kitchen to ensure that Tom would be the lucky recipient of the last piece.  And so he was.  I just had a thin slice of the terrine of the day, and with our drinks, we felt fine again.   The food was top-notch.  The lemon tart was almost as good as my key lime pie.

 

We bade a warm farewell to our talkative server and went on down to the two English bookstores on the rue de Rivoli.  Tom was looking for something in particular by Anna Quinlen, which he did not find.  But we had a lovely time walking.  We walked on through the Tuileries and back over the Seine at Solferino, then down the ancient part of the rue de l’Université and rue Jacob once again. 

 

I had gone to the Marché St. Germain earlier in the day, so we had great food at home.  I sautéed chicken breasts with garlic and shallots (butter and olive oil), and made some fine puréed potatoes.  I had made a big salad with lots of vegetables for lunch, so I think everything was balanced.  I bought so many vegetables at the market that morning;  I was surprised when my tab at the vegetable stand was only 7 euros. 

 

Friday was a gorgeous day, and with all the traffic in Paris now that the vacation time is over, I decided it would be a good day to walk in the Montparnasse cemetery.  So that’s what we did.  We also walked through the Luxembourg gardens, and on the way home, it was fairly late, and when we passed the restaurant called La Bastide Odeon, Tom recalled that the new Michelin guide liked the place.  We studied the menu for a while, and decided to go in for dinner.  We were not disappointed.  The service was attentive, and the food was inventive, but not inexpensive.  The cheese course after the main course was superb.  Each cheese (chevre and a blue cheese terrine) was paired with the perfect accompaniment, in the case of the blue, it was pear.  And in the case of the chevre, it was a mixture of fruit including figs.  We had the moelleaux au chocolat for dessert (sharing each of these last two courses).   It was made with an extra high quality chocolate, so that was good.  The main course was interesting, and good, I think, but could have been better if it had been made with mushrooms, as was advertised, instead of celery, as it was in realty.  It was a gnocchi with pesto and escargot.

 

Today, for Patrimony days, we went to the abbey at the Val de Grace military hospital.  Years ago, after reading a Thirza Vallois book, we’d tried to see the church there but were coldly turned away by a guard who said it was only open for mass.  Now there is a museum for military medicine open there, plus the church was open for these two special days.  What a huge, glorious space.  The complex had been a Benedictine abbey before the Revolution.  It was not completely destroyed in the Revolution because a military hospital was needed.  That’s what became of the abbey and its grounds.  Ever since 1793, there has been a teaching hospital there. 

 

We were astounded at the majesty of the place, and the top-notch condition of everything.  Every surface that we saw had been restored.  Everything we saw dated back to at least the 1600s.  The cloisters are gorgeous, with a perfectly manicured French boxwood garden.  The church was stupendous;  ordered to be built by Anne of Austria after God finally granted her prayers for a child (after 20 or so years of marriage); nothing was spared.  The church is as elegant and well designed as it possibly could have been.   The original organ there disappeared in the Revolution.  But the organ from the old St. Genevieve church was placed in Val de Grace, and I am told it sounds perfect there.  Someday maybe we’ll hear it.  Maybe I will even go to mass there . . . .

 

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