Birthday in Paris

It’s a cool, almost chilly Thursday morning, 3 August with overcast skies.

Wednesday was another beautiful day here in Paris, with almost fall-like temps in the morning and an afternoon sun that frequently peeked out from behinds the clouds just long enough to remind you that it was in fact summer.

We took our time in getting up and going in the morning, after having coffee and croissants from one of the local boulangerie. (Thursday I got baguettes and croissants from yet another boulangerie, “Boulangerie de Monge”, on Rue Monge, a bit more of a walk but with a larger variety of baked goods.)

Susan got her first haircut in Paris, a birthday cut in fact, at a small place right across the street from our apartment building. I spent most of the morning finalizing the updates for the blog and hiking over to MacD’s to use their free Internet access to upload the notes and photos. Afterwards the two of us met up at the apartment and we headed back to the Rue Mouffetard area, just a short 10-minute walk from our apartment.

We strolled past Rue Jean Calvin, and had a sandwich at one of the tiny cafes along the way. From there we headed to the Pantheon – which by the way is enormous – Voltaire, Rousseau, Zola and Victor Hugo are among the “ultragreat” figures from France’s past buried there. We didn’t go in this time, since the day was just too nice to spend inside – and resolved to come back soon.

Down Rue Soufflot to Rue St Michel where we turned right heading toward the Seine. A block or two later we came upon the Place de la Sorbonne, which as you might expect fronts the Sorbonne, breeding ground for the soon-to-be-famous or soon-to-be-scandalous in French society. There was a Lebanese group setting up a variety of flags, posters and signs protesting the Israeli invasion of their country on and around the statue of August Comte which sits in the center of the Place, and directly across several large outdoor cafes packed with tourists. We stopped for a few moments to watch the Lebanese students setting up and while standing there a small group of American university students walked up with their tour guide who simply informed them that “in the back is the famous Sorbonne university . . . blah blah blah” after which one of the “adult” leaders of the group, pointed to the statue of Comte and said or asked – I couldn’t quite figure out which -- is this was the father of sociology? One of the girls in the group standing next to me looked over at one of the boys in the group and said “like, so what?” Ah yes, mom and dad’s money well spent here to be sure.

From the Place de la Sorbonne we walked down to the Place St Michel – quite a striking piece of huge sculpture picturing Michael stomping on the devil; at the base are two dragons spewing water. What’s up with that bit of symbolism?


We strolled around the eastern part of the 6th arrondisement and then settled at a café near the Place St Michel for a glass of wine before heading back home. On the return we decided to stroll the Seine back to the Jardin des Plantes and then cut through to our street. Along the way we stopped and browsed a bit at Shakespeare & Co., an American-run English language bookshop directly across from Notre Dame.(Originally founded by Sylvia Beach, the publisher of James Joyce’s Ulysses, bane of many an English major, the store was originally located on Rue de l’Odeon in St-Germain. The store was eventually taken over by George Whitman and became one of the focal points for the Beat poets in the late 1950s. It moved to its present location on the Rue de la Bucherie and is staffed by young people who sleep upstairs – when there’s space – and in return work in the store. photo: Shakespeare & Co.)

It was after 7 pm when we got home and after changing clothes we went back out for birthday dinner. The Rough Guide to Paris listed a seafood restaurant nearby – very close in fact, on Blvd Saint Marcel – that sounded quite good. They bring in their fish fresh daily from the Seychelles and so off we went to check it out.

First let say right off that we strongly recommend the Coco de Mer. We arrived at about 8 pm, and learned that since we didn’t have reservations for the “beach” room we would have to sit inside in the main dining area. That’s right they have an enclosed front terrace overlooking the street that has sand for the floor! Lots of fake palm trees hanging from the ceiling – and really not tacky looking at all – and even a coconut from the Seychelles that has the shape of, hmmmm, shall we say a smallish but well-rounded derriere? Yes let’s say that.

So we started with 2 daiquiris made with citron vert. Susan ordered the “Menu Praslinois” which started out with an absolutely delicious seafood “salade” of fish from the Seychelles with fresh vegetables followed by a “plat” of curried chicken finished off with coconut ice cream with caramel sauce. I had grilled Madagascar shrimp on a bed of pureed avocado for an entrée and my “plat” was grilled tuna steak, finished off with what was essentially a brownie (so moist it would melt in your mouth) accompanied by homemade vanilla ice cream (glace”). Our wine was a petit Chablis from France.

The wine list was very small: two whites (one South African and one French) and four reds (one South African and 3 French). The prices were reasonable, and service was impeccable. One fellow ran the entire front end by himself, and by the time we left that must have included nearly a dozen tables, several with 3 or 4 people, all without getting flustered and remaining calm and smiling the entire time. Impressive. (34 Blvd Saint Marcel, 75005 Paris; ph: 047074188; www.seychelles-saveurs.com.)

A brief word about the menu listings here in Paris: we have found it curious that “entre” in French means “appetizer” or starter whereas the main course is “plat”. We both wondered how did “entre” in English, or at least in American English become “main course”. Also most of the restaurants here have fixed price “menus” (such as the one Susan ordered at Coco de Mer). Naturally the fixed price menus, often referred to as “formula/e” or simply “menu” vary in price and content between lunch and dinner. In any case one needs to read carefully to discover which is the better deal, the “menu” or a la carte (usually the former).

The walk home took all of 3 minutes. Not a bad way to spend a birthday!

Wish you were here,

Steve