This past Monday the 11th our good friends Stan and Margie stopped in Paris for a couple of days before heading off on a bike trip to Normandy. Unfortunately Susan was in school most of Monday but I was lucky enough to able to catch up with them in the middle of the afternoon, after an early morning arrival in Paris. The good news was that that Susan had the next couple of days off and so we packed a lot of stuff in the short bit of time before Stan and Margie left the city for the wilds of Greater France. (photo: Susan and I in the Jardin du Luxembourg.)
Monday afternoon I met them about 4ish in front of Notre Dame on the Isle de la Cite and the three of us strolled over to the Isle St. Louis, stopping at one of the cafes just opposite the small bridge that connects the two islands, for a light lunch. (The bridge is called, quite unsurprisingly, the Pont St. Louis.) Although the service was more frenetic and jumpy than rude and pushy the goat cheese salads were delicious – the bread was dated but then so were the waiters. Anyway we talked about things of great importance: food and wine, and where to find them in Paris.
Afterwards we strolled down the rue St. Louis en Isle, a touristy but cool place to walk nonetheless, with maybe a half dozen neat little galleries sporting some rather fantastic impressionist sculpture, and of course stopping at a foie gras shop for a tasting. We worked our way back to the Isle de la Cite and I showed them the Holocaust memorial – and since it was 5-year anniversary of 9/11 the security guard at the entrance wanted to look in my backpack (but not Margaret’s) and asked if she had a phone (but didn’t ask me). Why? Because a phone, the guard said, could be used to set off a bomb. . . . And I was the only one who had a phone, but she never asked me. Perfunctory behavior I suspect.
We strolled past the cathedral on the way back to their hotel. I had to get home to meet Susan but the two of us were going to return later that evening and bring dessert to their hotel. Stan and Margie could then turn in and get a good night’s rest before the four of us headed off on our urban trek Tuesday morning.
So Susan and I got to their hotel a bit later than planned, about 8:15 pm or so – she was a half hour late getting out of class – and as we chatted we sampled her practical work for the day, a layered sponge cake with layers of coffee pastry cream and chocolate cream. Deeelicious!
The next morning we met Stan and Margie at about 9ish in front of their hotel on Rue Christine and the four of us headed off on a whirlwind view of “our” Paris, examining several very small threads of this very large tapestry.
We strolled over to the Boulevard St. Germain and then walked up to St. Germain-des-Pres turning south down Rue Bonapartre – check out the exploding sidewalk just opposite the church – walking past the Place St. Sulpice, presently undergoing serious reconstruction.
A few minutes later we came out onto Rue de Vaugirard, which we crossed and then walked into the Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens), our first major stop for the day. This is certainly one of the highlights of any stop in Paris, particularly in the spring or summer when the flowers are out and so are the people. Indeed, for Susan and I this Jardin – and probably all the gardens in fact – are the epitome of what makes Paris special: the imagination of the artwork scattered around the gardens, the intensity, structure and layout of the flowers and plants and how all of these things are utilized daily and in a matter-of-fact way by the Parisians, indeed by everyone. Just come and watch for yourself, and you’ll see what I mean.
From the gardens we walked across Blvd. Saint Michel and headed for the Pantheon, the resting place for some of France’s greatest and most beloved intellectuals and heroes. The day was simply too nice to be inside so we skirted the Pantheon and headed for the Place de la Contrescarpe. Here, too, one sees yet another part of that Paris so frequently represented in literature or painting: the small green “place” or square, the meeting point of several small streets coming together connecting the community, and all surrounded by tiny cafes, stocked with people chatting, taking a break from the routine of their daily lives – no, in fact this IS a routine of their daily life. The cafes then spread out down the side streets to become restaurants, and shops all surprisingly quiet and yet abuzz with activity nonetheless,. One of our favorite places to be sure. Indeed that’s really what this “urban trek” is all about, showing Stan and Margie our favorite places where one can get about living and not just moving from one attraction to another as if in a huge theme park or Las Vegas.
From the Place de la Contrescarpe we strolled down one of the coolest streets in Paris, the Rue Mouffetard, past the cheese shops, the foie gras shops, the wine shops, the shops selling funky clothes and produce and past the shop roasting meat, chickens and potatoes altogether, past the fresh fish shops. When one imagines living in Paris the “Mouff” comes close to being the archetype of that image.
From the end of the Rue Mouffetard we strolled over to our apartment where, after climbing the five flights of stairs, we relaxed for a bit while Stan and Margie checked their emails and caught up on electronic chores.
From our apartment we walked to the Metro and took the no. 5 to the Place de la Bastille. The Bastille is long gone, having been torn down during the revolution in 1789. The enormous square, jammed with traffic, is today dominated by the “Colonne de Juillet,” a bronze column at the center of the place commemorating the fall of the prison and the collapse of feudalism in France in July (“Juillet”) of 1789. While nothing remains today of any of the pre-revolutionary neighborhood, the ultra-modern Societe Generale bank reportedly sits on the on the very spot where the infamous prison once stood. The Place is also home to Paris’ second opera house, the “Opera Bastille”.
Anyway, after coming out on the wrong exit from the Metro – we wanted to be on the west and we were on the southeast – we inched our way across the enormous Place to the Rue Saint Antoine. We were now on a quest: to find a place to have lunch. The large cafes surrounding the Place appeared less than inviting, busy, noisy and with neervous waiters. We were in search of a more sedate dining atmosphere.
And we soon found it just down a few meters from the Place on Rue Saint Antoine. “Les P’tits Loup” was the ideal place: four tables for four each on the sidewalk lined up against the side of the building. Run by two middle-aged women (whatever that means), one running the inside, the other the outside. The food was delicious, priced well and the service remarkable: friendly, charming and obviously a person who enjoyed dealing with strangers in search of a good meal. This is a solid recommendation for lunch. (photo: l-r, Margie, Stan and Susan, lunch on the Rue Saint Antoine.)
After a leisurely lunch we walked up the Rue Saint Antoine and grabbed the Metro getting off at the Louvre Rivoli stop. We walked up to Dehillerin’s kitchen store at the junction of Rue Coquilliere and Rue J. J. Rousseau to see the funky store which hasn’t changed since Julia Child shopped here in the late 1940s and where many of the local chefs, professional and amateurs alike still come to buy their tools and equipment.
Along the way we had the very Parisian experience of using one of the numerous public toilets. Self-cleaning and Jetson-like these facilities are free and quite easy to use: the red “Hors service” means it is out of service, “the green “Libre” means its good to go (so to speak) and the yellow “Occupie” means just that, or its in the clean mode which is does after each use. Be patient.
We then strolled over to rue Etienne Marcel and headed west toward the Place de la Madeline. Along the way we showed Stan and Margie a couple of the “passages”, remnants of the mostly long gone quaint Paris which was “bulldozed” so to speak during Baron Haussmann’s tenure as Prefect of the city under Napoleon III. These passages were in fact small covered alleyways, or galleries and today often occupied by little shops and cafes, tiny pieces of the city’s history often just out of sight.
Shortly before reaching the Place de la Madeline we stopped at the huge wine store “Lavinia”, on Rue de la Madeline. From there we walked a block or so to the Place and then popped into the Maille (mustard) store. We then walked halfway around the Place to Fauchon’s upscale food shop, enjoying just wandering around so much food. All of which was good prep work for the evening to come.
It was after 5 pm when we walked out of Fauchon’s and decided we would head home, relax and then meet up again at about 8 in front of their hotel. Although Susan and I knew where we were going to eat that evening dinner, we had only heard about this place by word of mouth (no pun intended). It was to be a wonderful surprise for the four of us.
Stay tuned.
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