Pintxos and Pouilly-Fumé: A San Sebastian and Paris Trip Report
Jun 23rd, 2010, 03:37 PM
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LowCountryIslander,
You must be staying in the Meursault. Great view! I have stayed there and had my laptop on the coffee table and posted my doings with the ET in front of me!
That was a brocante on rue Cler. I lucked out to one there last year and is where I bought all my porcelain knobs. I did post the website to see where all the brocantes will be for the next month.
That was Laurent at Le Florimond! He is great. Dine later..it is more enjoyable. They are known for their stuffed cabbage! Glad that you enjoyed it.
I had lunch at Frankie Bones today here in Asheville. I know you know it from Hilton Head. I know them all well here..a nice bunch.
a bientot,
Joan
You must be staying in the Meursault. Great view! I have stayed there and had my laptop on the coffee table and posted my doings with the ET in front of me!
That was a brocante on rue Cler. I lucked out to one there last year and is where I bought all my porcelain knobs. I did post the website to see where all the brocantes will be for the next month.
That was Laurent at Le Florimond! He is great. Dine later..it is more enjoyable. They are known for their stuffed cabbage! Glad that you enjoyed it.
I had lunch at Frankie Bones today here in Asheville. I know you know it from Hilton Head. I know them all well here..a nice bunch.
a bientot,
Joan
Jun 23rd, 2010, 04:56 PM
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Joan...
I have to thank you for all your Paris recommendations. We loved the apartment, and you were kind enough last year to answer questions I had about that specific apartment, we LOVED the Meursault and would stay there again in a "hot minute"!
We enjoyed Le Florimond so much we ate there a second time, on our last night in Paris and had a later reservation...felt much different than the earlier time. We were tickled that at about 11pm the chef came out and greeted each of the tables that were still there and we had the most lovely send-off from Laurent, but more on that later!
Not knowing about this brocante, and having just arrived and more intent on getting groceries we did not pay much attention to the stalls along the street...this just means next time we have to plan better and take a good look at all the interesting stuff!
I do like Frankie Bones here in Hilton Head, my sister is in town visiting and we tried to get in last Friday night, but my error was not making a reservation, fortunately we walked a few steps next door to their sister restaurant Wiseguys...it's a tapas style restaurant that I just love!
I have to thank you for all your Paris recommendations. We loved the apartment, and you were kind enough last year to answer questions I had about that specific apartment, we LOVED the Meursault and would stay there again in a "hot minute"!
We enjoyed Le Florimond so much we ate there a second time, on our last night in Paris and had a later reservation...felt much different than the earlier time. We were tickled that at about 11pm the chef came out and greeted each of the tables that were still there and we had the most lovely send-off from Laurent, but more on that later!
Not knowing about this brocante, and having just arrived and more intent on getting groceries we did not pay much attention to the stalls along the street...this just means next time we have to plan better and take a good look at all the interesting stuff!
I do like Frankie Bones here in Hilton Head, my sister is in town visiting and we tried to get in last Friday night, but my error was not making a reservation, fortunately we walked a few steps next door to their sister restaurant Wiseguys...it's a tapas style restaurant that I just love!
Jun 23rd, 2010, 05:48 PM
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Day 11: Sunday, May 23rd
We got a leisurely start and had breakfast of cheese, fruit, bread, yogurt, coffee and juice at the apartment. At about 11:30 we took the metro to the Marais.
The Marais was crowded and my game plan was to go to the Carnavalet Museum and the Victor Hugo House. Both places were closed due to Pentecost. We wandered around the Marais for a little while popping into a shop here and there.
We continued walking and went to Il de la Cite and did some window shopping. The streets here were crowded but we found an empty table at a café near Notre Dame. After about an hour we walked over into the Latin Quarter and stopped at St. Severes Church. We had never been to this church and I was pleasantly surprised at the beautiful stained glass windows here, plus it was cooler in the church than it was outside. I think Paris was having a heat wave today. We then walked by the restaurant where the Fodors get together would be later in the week and then took the metro back to “our” neighborhood.
At about 8pm we tried to get into a restaurant for dinner, without a reservation we were out of luck. We walked a bit and came across La Terrasse du 7eme, a café just down the street from our apartment at the corner of Avenue Bosquet and Avenue de la Motte-Picquet. I was a bit skeptical about the food here but was very pleasantly surprised.
Mom had the house special, chicken skewers with basmati rice, this was unexpectedly good, the chicken was moist and the rice was perfectly cooked. I had the entrecote with frites, the quintessential French café dish; it was good the steak was very nicely cooked. We had a demi-carafe of pouilly-fumé and 2 espressos to end the meal and the total cost was €61. We enjoyed sitting outside watching the comings and goings of all the people around us. Being just a block from the Eiffel Tower there was a lot of foot traffic here and it became our “go to” place for evening aperitif all week long.
It was still light outside just before 10pm when we were finishing dinner so we decided to take the short walk over the Parc du Champ de Mars and see the Eiffel Tower. As we entered the park the tower began to twinkle as the sun was setting, it was a picture post card moment. After taking more pictures of the Eiffel Tower than I probably should have, we walked the 10 minutes back to the apartment.
We got a leisurely start and had breakfast of cheese, fruit, bread, yogurt, coffee and juice at the apartment. At about 11:30 we took the metro to the Marais.
The Marais was crowded and my game plan was to go to the Carnavalet Museum and the Victor Hugo House. Both places were closed due to Pentecost. We wandered around the Marais for a little while popping into a shop here and there.
We continued walking and went to Il de la Cite and did some window shopping. The streets here were crowded but we found an empty table at a café near Notre Dame. After about an hour we walked over into the Latin Quarter and stopped at St. Severes Church. We had never been to this church and I was pleasantly surprised at the beautiful stained glass windows here, plus it was cooler in the church than it was outside. I think Paris was having a heat wave today. We then walked by the restaurant where the Fodors get together would be later in the week and then took the metro back to “our” neighborhood.
At about 8pm we tried to get into a restaurant for dinner, without a reservation we were out of luck. We walked a bit and came across La Terrasse du 7eme, a café just down the street from our apartment at the corner of Avenue Bosquet and Avenue de la Motte-Picquet. I was a bit skeptical about the food here but was very pleasantly surprised.
Mom had the house special, chicken skewers with basmati rice, this was unexpectedly good, the chicken was moist and the rice was perfectly cooked. I had the entrecote with frites, the quintessential French café dish; it was good the steak was very nicely cooked. We had a demi-carafe of pouilly-fumé and 2 espressos to end the meal and the total cost was €61. We enjoyed sitting outside watching the comings and goings of all the people around us. Being just a block from the Eiffel Tower there was a lot of foot traffic here and it became our “go to” place for evening aperitif all week long.
It was still light outside just before 10pm when we were finishing dinner so we decided to take the short walk over the Parc du Champ de Mars and see the Eiffel Tower. As we entered the park the tower began to twinkle as the sun was setting, it was a picture post card moment. After taking more pictures of the Eiffel Tower than I probably should have, we walked the 10 minutes back to the apartment.
Jun 23rd, 2010, 06:02 PM
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What a lovely trip and report...I imagine you had better weather than we - first of Mayish-chilly - and quite better reception from Paris Perfect; ours was rather chaotic, and even they knew it..must have been the bad weather that day???
Your apt. sounds delightful, Mersault..and of course the area is full of fabulous (ah yes, Le Florimond - lived up to its reputation with us also!) cafes and restaurants.
What a treat for you and your mother! Really enjoying your take on Paris!
MB
Your apt. sounds delightful, Mersault..and of course the area is full of fabulous (ah yes, Le Florimond - lived up to its reputation with us also!) cafes and restaurants.
What a treat for you and your mother! Really enjoying your take on Paris!
MB
Jun 24th, 2010, 07:26 AM
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Day 12: Monday, May 24th
I didn’t realize Pentecost Monday was a holiday in France and my plan to stop at the SNCF boutique/office around the corner from the apartment to pick up the train tickets to Reims failed miserably. When, at 9:10am, I saw the office was closed I knew something was up, especially since the sign on the door said it opened at 8:30am. I walked over to the neighborhood post office in an attempt to buy some stamps, no luck there either, it was also closed. That’s when I realized it must be a holiday Monday since yesterday was Pentecost. I had to change to Plan B for ticket pick-up.
I walked back to the apartment and mom was ready to go so we were out the door by 10:30am and went to the Musee Orangerie (http://www.musee-orangerie.fr/) to see Monet’s Water Lillies. This was one thing that was on my “must see” list and I’m really glad we went. We had a short wait, not more than 10 minutes, to get inside. I loved this museum and not just the Water Lillies, although that was the highlight. We spent close to 2 hours there and really enjoyed it. I’ve seen plenty of pictures of the Water Lillies paintings but nothing does them justice then seeing them in this gallery.
After the Musee Orangerie we walked up to Place de la Madeline to see if the Maille mustard shop was open no luck there either, they were closed. We would make a return here later in the week. Since I wasn’t able to pick up our Prems train tickets at the SNCF boutique in our neighborhood I thought I would try going to a train station to pick them up. We took the metro to Gare St. Lazare.
When I ordered these Prems tickets on-line I was not given the option to print the tickets at home. I thought that was unusually but continued with the transaction. I was only given the option to pick them up at a ticket kiosk in France. After the purchase went through on-line a message came up that said some North American based credit cards could not be used in the ticket kiosks because a PIN would have to be entered to retrieve the tickets. I did have a PIN for the credit card I used, but since that card does not have a chip I wondered how this would all work.
We arrived at Gare St. Lazare and the SNCF office outside the station was closed, however there were plenty of ticket kiosks so I tried to retrieve my tickets there. I was able to pull up the reservation on the kiosk computer, but I was not able to print the tickets because my credit card would not be accepted. After several attempts I thought, “There must be a ticket window inside the station”, so in we went.
Yes there was a ticket counter open inside and I think half of Paris was in line! We got in the line and slowly moved to the ticket counter. We were in line for about an hour and fortunately when it was our turn the transaction was simple. I handed the ticket agent my credit card, she swiped it and our tickets were printed in less than a minute. We had our TGV tickets for Reims in our hands and were ready for another adventure.
Upon exiting Gare St. Lazare I realized we were not far from Au Printemps so we walked there and had a little retail therapy. Not only did a purchase my first Le Creuset pot but we went up to the 9th floor terrace to check out the much talked about views of the city. Wow! Now I know why people say to do this! The views were fantastic and being a beautiful sunny day we could see all the Parisian landmarks, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc di Triomphe, Montmartre…all right there on the roof. There is a restaurant/café here and we sat down, relaxed and had a cold drink…a terrific setting.
We did pop into Galleries Lafayette for a few minutes to check out the handbag section of the store, I was in heaven, however after purchasing the Le Creuset I decided to give my bank account a rest! I must say, these department stores are huge, one could easily get lost in them.
From here we took the metro back to our neighborhood and enjoyed the view from our apartment a little more!
We had an 8:30pm dinner reservation at 7eme Vin restaurant on Avenue Bosquet, kitty-corner from Le Terrasse. We decided to go to Le Terrasse for our evening aperitif of a demi-carafe of pouilly fume, for €18 this wine was very drinkable and provided us each with 2 glasses of wine. The waiter here was very friendly and applauded our fractured attempt at ordering in French.
Our meal at 7eme Vin was great. We had a bottle of the house white wine. When I saw the bone marrow starter on the menu I couldn’t resist and I’m glad I ordered this. Wow, one word to describe this dish…YUM! The bone was gigantic and the marrow was hot, hot, hot, it was perfect slathered on the toasted bread it came with. Mom had the white asparagus in white sauce starter. The asparagus were huge and delicious. From my main dish I had the monkfish special of the day with rice and broccoli, it was very good. Mom (at the suggestion of the woman sitting next to us) had the scallops for her main dish and they were fantastic. With 2 espressos to end the meal the total cost was about €90. We walked home and watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle from our living room sofa.
I didn’t realize Pentecost Monday was a holiday in France and my plan to stop at the SNCF boutique/office around the corner from the apartment to pick up the train tickets to Reims failed miserably. When, at 9:10am, I saw the office was closed I knew something was up, especially since the sign on the door said it opened at 8:30am. I walked over to the neighborhood post office in an attempt to buy some stamps, no luck there either, it was also closed. That’s when I realized it must be a holiday Monday since yesterday was Pentecost. I had to change to Plan B for ticket pick-up.
I walked back to the apartment and mom was ready to go so we were out the door by 10:30am and went to the Musee Orangerie (http://www.musee-orangerie.fr/) to see Monet’s Water Lillies. This was one thing that was on my “must see” list and I’m really glad we went. We had a short wait, not more than 10 minutes, to get inside. I loved this museum and not just the Water Lillies, although that was the highlight. We spent close to 2 hours there and really enjoyed it. I’ve seen plenty of pictures of the Water Lillies paintings but nothing does them justice then seeing them in this gallery.
After the Musee Orangerie we walked up to Place de la Madeline to see if the Maille mustard shop was open no luck there either, they were closed. We would make a return here later in the week. Since I wasn’t able to pick up our Prems train tickets at the SNCF boutique in our neighborhood I thought I would try going to a train station to pick them up. We took the metro to Gare St. Lazare.
When I ordered these Prems tickets on-line I was not given the option to print the tickets at home. I thought that was unusually but continued with the transaction. I was only given the option to pick them up at a ticket kiosk in France. After the purchase went through on-line a message came up that said some North American based credit cards could not be used in the ticket kiosks because a PIN would have to be entered to retrieve the tickets. I did have a PIN for the credit card I used, but since that card does not have a chip I wondered how this would all work.
We arrived at Gare St. Lazare and the SNCF office outside the station was closed, however there were plenty of ticket kiosks so I tried to retrieve my tickets there. I was able to pull up the reservation on the kiosk computer, but I was not able to print the tickets because my credit card would not be accepted. After several attempts I thought, “There must be a ticket window inside the station”, so in we went.
Yes there was a ticket counter open inside and I think half of Paris was in line! We got in the line and slowly moved to the ticket counter. We were in line for about an hour and fortunately when it was our turn the transaction was simple. I handed the ticket agent my credit card, she swiped it and our tickets were printed in less than a minute. We had our TGV tickets for Reims in our hands and were ready for another adventure.
Upon exiting Gare St. Lazare I realized we were not far from Au Printemps so we walked there and had a little retail therapy. Not only did a purchase my first Le Creuset pot but we went up to the 9th floor terrace to check out the much talked about views of the city. Wow! Now I know why people say to do this! The views were fantastic and being a beautiful sunny day we could see all the Parisian landmarks, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc di Triomphe, Montmartre…all right there on the roof. There is a restaurant/café here and we sat down, relaxed and had a cold drink…a terrific setting.
We did pop into Galleries Lafayette for a few minutes to check out the handbag section of the store, I was in heaven, however after purchasing the Le Creuset I decided to give my bank account a rest! I must say, these department stores are huge, one could easily get lost in them.
From here we took the metro back to our neighborhood and enjoyed the view from our apartment a little more!
We had an 8:30pm dinner reservation at 7eme Vin restaurant on Avenue Bosquet, kitty-corner from Le Terrasse. We decided to go to Le Terrasse for our evening aperitif of a demi-carafe of pouilly fume, for €18 this wine was very drinkable and provided us each with 2 glasses of wine. The waiter here was very friendly and applauded our fractured attempt at ordering in French.
Our meal at 7eme Vin was great. We had a bottle of the house white wine. When I saw the bone marrow starter on the menu I couldn’t resist and I’m glad I ordered this. Wow, one word to describe this dish…YUM! The bone was gigantic and the marrow was hot, hot, hot, it was perfect slathered on the toasted bread it came with. Mom had the white asparagus in white sauce starter. The asparagus were huge and delicious. From my main dish I had the monkfish special of the day with rice and broccoli, it was very good. Mom (at the suggestion of the woman sitting next to us) had the scallops for her main dish and they were fantastic. With 2 espressos to end the meal the total cost was about €90. We walked home and watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle from our living room sofa.
Jun 24th, 2010, 08:22 AM
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Day 13: Tuesday, May 25th
We were up early today and off the Gare de l’est, arriving an hour before our train was scheduled to depart. We arrived early because I did not know how long it would take us during rush hour to get to the station on the metro.
This was my mom’s first time on a TGV. I had been years and years ago while traipsing through Europe during my college days. True to form the train left right on time. It was a very comfortable 45 minute ride to Reims and we arrived at 9:45am.
We walked from the Reims train station to the cathedral. There is a tourist office next to the cathedral where you can rent audio guides giving the history of the cathedral (http://www.reims-tourism.com/). We were very glad we spent the €5 (each) on these guides, they were interesting and gave us information we would not have known had we not rented them. This cathedral was impressive, of course with our luck, half of the front was in scaffolding, but we overlooked that! The stained glass windows here were fantastic, including one by Marc Chagall.
The audio tour took about an hour to do and as we made our way around the cathedral we came to a clock tucked away in a corner. At this time we were lucky because it was just 11am and every hour on the hour, the clock lights up, rings and the figures inside the clock come out and “make their rounds” in and out of the clock for a few minutes.
When we were finished with the audio tour we found a little café just behind the cathedral which had a nice outside dining area. We sat down and had two huge salads. Mom had the vegetarian salad that had heaps of all kinds of fresh vegetables served on a nice bed of salad greens. I had the Italian salad which had prosciutto, salami, mozzarella, olives and tomatoes on a bed of salad greens.
Once we had finished lunch we walked over to the tourist office and asked them if they would call a taxi for us to go to the Veuve Clicquot caves, which are several miles from the downtown area of Reims. The taxi came quickly and within 15 minutes we were at the champagne cave. Our tour was scheduled for 2pm. I paid the receptionist (€25 per person) and were asked to wait in the reception room until the rest of the tour participants arrived. http://www.veuve-clicquot.com/
The tour of the Veuve Clicquot cave lasted about an hour. We were on the tour titled “The Grande Dame” and heard about the history of how this champagne house began. The caves were fun to walk through. Each cave is named for a former employee and their name and dates of service are place on a plaque hung on the cave wall. Some people worked there for over 40 years.
The tour included a champagne tasting and at the end of the tour we gathered in a corner of the shop area and our guide opened a bottle of the Grande Dame champagne…nice and old and bubbly! I’ve been enamored with pink champagne for the last several months so throwing caution to the wind I purchased a bottle of the Veuve Clicquot Rose Champagne. I’m happy to report it made it home with me in my luggage without breaking…now I need a special occasion to drink it!
When we were finished with our purchase I asked the receptionist to call a taxi for us to take us back to the Reims train station. As we waited for the taxi the skies opened and it started raining buckets. When the taxi arrived we hopped in and were whisked off to the train station.
The train to Paris departed a few minutes late but it was a quick 45 minute ride back and we arrived in Paris just after 6pm. We were in our apartment by 6:30pm.
We decided to have an early-ish dinner and at about 7pm we walked into Café Constant at 139 Rue St. Dominique (http://www.cafeconstant.com/1.aspx). We were seated upstairs and even at this early hour all but 2 or 3 tables were full. By the time we ordered all the tables were full. All the menu items here are a la carte. At the recommendation of our server I had the shrimp on puff pastry starter and I am glad I heeded our server’s advice, it was delicious. Mom had the artichoke and mushroom salad and said the dressing was fantastic.
For her main dish mom had the veal with white beans and it was full of garlic, good thing she likes garlic! I had the roasted chicken with tarragon potatoes and it was moist and juicy. As we looked out the window we noticed it had started to rain and not just a light drizzling rain, but a deluge. We didn’t have umbrellas with us and we thought what better reason to stay a little longer and order dessert! Mom had the cheese plate and I had the homemade profiteroles…they were perfection, even the vanilla ice cream (and I’m a chocolate ice cream kind of gal) was to die for. With a bottle of chardonnay and 2 espresso the total for this fabulous dinner was €98.
We walked home through the raindrops and fell asleep with a happy and full stomachs!
We were up early today and off the Gare de l’est, arriving an hour before our train was scheduled to depart. We arrived early because I did not know how long it would take us during rush hour to get to the station on the metro.
This was my mom’s first time on a TGV. I had been years and years ago while traipsing through Europe during my college days. True to form the train left right on time. It was a very comfortable 45 minute ride to Reims and we arrived at 9:45am.
We walked from the Reims train station to the cathedral. There is a tourist office next to the cathedral where you can rent audio guides giving the history of the cathedral (http://www.reims-tourism.com/). We were very glad we spent the €5 (each) on these guides, they were interesting and gave us information we would not have known had we not rented them. This cathedral was impressive, of course with our luck, half of the front was in scaffolding, but we overlooked that! The stained glass windows here were fantastic, including one by Marc Chagall.
The audio tour took about an hour to do and as we made our way around the cathedral we came to a clock tucked away in a corner. At this time we were lucky because it was just 11am and every hour on the hour, the clock lights up, rings and the figures inside the clock come out and “make their rounds” in and out of the clock for a few minutes.
When we were finished with the audio tour we found a little café just behind the cathedral which had a nice outside dining area. We sat down and had two huge salads. Mom had the vegetarian salad that had heaps of all kinds of fresh vegetables served on a nice bed of salad greens. I had the Italian salad which had prosciutto, salami, mozzarella, olives and tomatoes on a bed of salad greens.
Once we had finished lunch we walked over to the tourist office and asked them if they would call a taxi for us to go to the Veuve Clicquot caves, which are several miles from the downtown area of Reims. The taxi came quickly and within 15 minutes we were at the champagne cave. Our tour was scheduled for 2pm. I paid the receptionist (€25 per person) and were asked to wait in the reception room until the rest of the tour participants arrived. http://www.veuve-clicquot.com/
The tour of the Veuve Clicquot cave lasted about an hour. We were on the tour titled “The Grande Dame” and heard about the history of how this champagne house began. The caves were fun to walk through. Each cave is named for a former employee and their name and dates of service are place on a plaque hung on the cave wall. Some people worked there for over 40 years.
The tour included a champagne tasting and at the end of the tour we gathered in a corner of the shop area and our guide opened a bottle of the Grande Dame champagne…nice and old and bubbly! I’ve been enamored with pink champagne for the last several months so throwing caution to the wind I purchased a bottle of the Veuve Clicquot Rose Champagne. I’m happy to report it made it home with me in my luggage without breaking…now I need a special occasion to drink it!
When we were finished with our purchase I asked the receptionist to call a taxi for us to take us back to the Reims train station. As we waited for the taxi the skies opened and it started raining buckets. When the taxi arrived we hopped in and were whisked off to the train station.
The train to Paris departed a few minutes late but it was a quick 45 minute ride back and we arrived in Paris just after 6pm. We were in our apartment by 6:30pm.
We decided to have an early-ish dinner and at about 7pm we walked into Café Constant at 139 Rue St. Dominique (http://www.cafeconstant.com/1.aspx). We were seated upstairs and even at this early hour all but 2 or 3 tables were full. By the time we ordered all the tables were full. All the menu items here are a la carte. At the recommendation of our server I had the shrimp on puff pastry starter and I am glad I heeded our server’s advice, it was delicious. Mom had the artichoke and mushroom salad and said the dressing was fantastic.
For her main dish mom had the veal with white beans and it was full of garlic, good thing she likes garlic! I had the roasted chicken with tarragon potatoes and it was moist and juicy. As we looked out the window we noticed it had started to rain and not just a light drizzling rain, but a deluge. We didn’t have umbrellas with us and we thought what better reason to stay a little longer and order dessert! Mom had the cheese plate and I had the homemade profiteroles…they were perfection, even the vanilla ice cream (and I’m a chocolate ice cream kind of gal) was to die for. With a bottle of chardonnay and 2 espresso the total for this fabulous dinner was €98.
We walked home through the raindrops and fell asleep with a happy and full stomachs!
Jun 24th, 2010, 09:57 AM
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LCI,
Sounds like you had a good day. Cafe Constant or Les Cocottes are an early must do! They do not take reservations and fill early! It worked out well for you with your busy day! It is the same for lunch with them. I always know when I have had a busy day and would just as soon eat early that they are there. I often tell Catherine and Christian that they do a lot of feeding me when in Paris. You can't do much better for the price!
Next time you go in Frankie Bones ask for Rob. Tell him you know me in Asheville. I don't think he will ask you to leave!
Are you using the loft in the Meursault? I climbed up every night!
a bientot..
Joan
Sounds like you had a good day. Cafe Constant or Les Cocottes are an early must do! They do not take reservations and fill early! It worked out well for you with your busy day! It is the same for lunch with them. I always know when I have had a busy day and would just as soon eat early that they are there. I often tell Catherine and Christian that they do a lot of feeding me when in Paris. You can't do much better for the price!
Next time you go in Frankie Bones ask for Rob. Tell him you know me in Asheville. I don't think he will ask you to leave!
Are you using the loft in the Meursault? I climbed up every night!
a bientot..
Joan
Jun 24th, 2010, 10:15 AM
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Joan...
You are right, I failed to mention that Cafe Constant does not take reservations and we did have dinner another night at Les Cocottes and LOVED it! And based on pictures I've seen of Mr. Constant I do believe he sat down with the couple at the table next to us for a nice chat.
I think this couple may also have been friends with Mr. Constant from the friendly banter among the two men. My mom mentioned that she thought the man looked like a man she had seen on one of the cooking shows she stumbled upon while watching TV in the apartment one day. It wouldn't surprise me if he was another chef or food-related "big wig"....that's just a feeling I had.
Yes, I did use the loft in the Meursault and mom slept on the sofa bed in the living/dining area. The bed in the loft was very comfortable, it would only take me minutes to fall asleep and as far as sofa beds go, the one in this apartment was comfortable too.
You are right, I failed to mention that Cafe Constant does not take reservations and we did have dinner another night at Les Cocottes and LOVED it! And based on pictures I've seen of Mr. Constant I do believe he sat down with the couple at the table next to us for a nice chat.
I think this couple may also have been friends with Mr. Constant from the friendly banter among the two men. My mom mentioned that she thought the man looked like a man she had seen on one of the cooking shows she stumbled upon while watching TV in the apartment one day. It wouldn't surprise me if he was another chef or food-related "big wig"....that's just a feeling I had.
Yes, I did use the loft in the Meursault and mom slept on the sofa bed in the living/dining area. The bed in the loft was very comfortable, it would only take me minutes to fall asleep and as far as sofa beds go, the one in this apartment was comfortable too.
Jun 24th, 2010, 11:08 AM
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LCI,
That was Christian..he strolls from restaurant to restaurant! We run into run another often and always when dining in one of the restaurants. Christian refuses to learn English and my French is quite limited so we have these strange conversations! Catherine and I laugh about it all the time Catherine is Scottish.
Glad you did the Meursault loft! A bed I would not have to make, to look good!! All their sofa beds are comfortable. The trundles are good, making into 2 separate beds. Not the uncomfortable ones that come to mind!
a bientot..
Joan
That was Christian..he strolls from restaurant to restaurant! We run into run another often and always when dining in one of the restaurants. Christian refuses to learn English and my French is quite limited so we have these strange conversations! Catherine and I laugh about it all the time Catherine is Scottish.
Glad you did the Meursault loft! A bed I would not have to make, to look good!! All their sofa beds are comfortable. The trundles are good, making into 2 separate beds. Not the uncomfortable ones that come to mind!
a bientot..
Joan
Jun 24th, 2010, 06:43 PM
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Day 14: Wednesday, May 26th
We woke up to cloudy skies today but that wasn’t a deal breaker for today’s activity…we were going to cook today! Mom wasn’t feeling great, so she decided to bailout of the cooking lesson but I went and had a great time!
I booked a morning market class with Cookin’ with Class located in the Montmartre neighborhood (http://www.cooknwithclass.com/). I found this cooking school through a post on Fodors and when I checked out the website I liked what I saw and booked the class.
I took the metro to the Jules Joffrin stop and met the chef and the other class members. I knew I was going to like Chef Pino when our first stop was a fromaggerie and we spent a good 30 minutes there, he certainly loved his cheeses (me too!). He explained a lot of the different cheeses in this shop, I really and truly could have stayed there all day but we had to move on. The next stop was the butcher, the fishmonger and the produce stand. The final stop was the boulangerie and what a boulangerie it was. Many years ago it served as the communal oven, where anyone in the neighborhood we needed an oven to bake their bread could come and use the oven. Now-a- days it’s not used this way, but this place is producing some of the best bread I have ever had!
Now that we had all the shopping done we walked to the cooking school. It’s a small storefront building that has a little reception area and then a commercial kitchen large enough for 6 students, one chef instructor and a helper. Our helper, Lena, was great, the minute we put down a dirty knife or needed a clean cutting board; there she was with exactly what we needed.
We prepared a great 3 course meal. We had a fish and shrimp starter with fennel and orange salad. The main dish was stuffed pork tenderloin, stuffed with Serrano ham, raisins, basil, and pine nuts. The side dish was a celery root potato mash topped with onion confit. For dessert we made a strawberry tart and had a fantastic cheese plate with 9 different cheeses! With 3 bottle of wine between 6 of us it was a great way to spend a rainy day.
I really enjoyed this class, especially since I am no where near describing myself as even a good cook. What I liked the most about Chef Pino was that even though my kitchen skills were not great, he never made me feel like I was a complete culinary klutz.
The class ended just after 3pm and I was back at the apartment by 4pm. Mom hadn’t eaten much all day, unlike me, so we went to Le Terrasse for a glass of wine and then to La Taverna at 22 Rue du Champ de Mars. Yes, we managed to find an Italian restaurant in Paris, and an excellent one at that!
Mom had the €33 formula menu. The eggplant napoleon starter and the veal main course were both delicious. Since I had such a big lunch I had the penne pasta dish with eggplant and olives. Mom’s dessert was the best tiramisu we have ever tasted. With 2 espressos and a half bottle of Orvieto Classico the bill was €72.
We walked home and I was asleep by 9:30…I think I had way too much food today!
We woke up to cloudy skies today but that wasn’t a deal breaker for today’s activity…we were going to cook today! Mom wasn’t feeling great, so she decided to bailout of the cooking lesson but I went and had a great time!
I booked a morning market class with Cookin’ with Class located in the Montmartre neighborhood (http://www.cooknwithclass.com/). I found this cooking school through a post on Fodors and when I checked out the website I liked what I saw and booked the class.
I took the metro to the Jules Joffrin stop and met the chef and the other class members. I knew I was going to like Chef Pino when our first stop was a fromaggerie and we spent a good 30 minutes there, he certainly loved his cheeses (me too!). He explained a lot of the different cheeses in this shop, I really and truly could have stayed there all day but we had to move on. The next stop was the butcher, the fishmonger and the produce stand. The final stop was the boulangerie and what a boulangerie it was. Many years ago it served as the communal oven, where anyone in the neighborhood we needed an oven to bake their bread could come and use the oven. Now-a- days it’s not used this way, but this place is producing some of the best bread I have ever had!
Now that we had all the shopping done we walked to the cooking school. It’s a small storefront building that has a little reception area and then a commercial kitchen large enough for 6 students, one chef instructor and a helper. Our helper, Lena, was great, the minute we put down a dirty knife or needed a clean cutting board; there she was with exactly what we needed.
We prepared a great 3 course meal. We had a fish and shrimp starter with fennel and orange salad. The main dish was stuffed pork tenderloin, stuffed with Serrano ham, raisins, basil, and pine nuts. The side dish was a celery root potato mash topped with onion confit. For dessert we made a strawberry tart and had a fantastic cheese plate with 9 different cheeses! With 3 bottle of wine between 6 of us it was a great way to spend a rainy day.
I really enjoyed this class, especially since I am no where near describing myself as even a good cook. What I liked the most about Chef Pino was that even though my kitchen skills were not great, he never made me feel like I was a complete culinary klutz.
The class ended just after 3pm and I was back at the apartment by 4pm. Mom hadn’t eaten much all day, unlike me, so we went to Le Terrasse for a glass of wine and then to La Taverna at 22 Rue du Champ de Mars. Yes, we managed to find an Italian restaurant in Paris, and an excellent one at that!
Mom had the €33 formula menu. The eggplant napoleon starter and the veal main course were both delicious. Since I had such a big lunch I had the penne pasta dish with eggplant and olives. Mom’s dessert was the best tiramisu we have ever tasted. With 2 espressos and a half bottle of Orvieto Classico the bill was €72.
We walked home and I was asleep by 9:30…I think I had way too much food today!
Jun 25th, 2010, 07:57 AM
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Day 15: Thursday, May 27th
I was another cloudy start today, but that didn’t stop me from my morning photo tour with Sophie Pasquet of Better Paris Photos (http://www.betterparisphotos.com/). I came across Sophie’s name in a Fodors trip report when I was doing my trip research and after reading about the nice time others had with Sophie I checked out her website. I liked the half day tour of the Paris passages and contacted Sophie and we set a date and time to meet.
I met Sophie at 8:30am at Passage l’Arabbe and she was an absolute delight, and was very patient with my beginner photography skills! I really enjoyed my time with Sophie and I learned some great tips not only about my camera but also about composing photos. We wandered through some beautiful passages including passages Vero-Dodat, Colbert and Vivienne. About half way through the tour we sat at a café and Sophie critiqued the photos I had sent her previous to the tour and we talked about how they could be improved. When we were ready to move on it started raining, but that did not stop us. We walked to the Palais Royale and I took some interesting photos, well, at least interesting to me! The tour ended at about 12:30 and I took the metro back to the apartment.
By about 3pm the rain subsided and we went to the Decorative Arts Museum (http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/). This museum is part of the Louvre but has a separate entrance. Thursday evenings they are open late. This was a great time to go because there was no line; we just walked right up to the ticket counter and purchased our tickets.
This museum is big and it is filled with fashion, furniture, and all kinds of china. I enjoyed the fourth floor which had sections staged to look like rooms in apartments, it was very interesting. We spent about 2 hours here, but you easily spend twice that amount of time.
When we were ready to leave the museum it was pouring rain, but I managed to find the way back to Gallerie Vivienne so mom could see at least one of the passages. It was about 6pm so we stopped and had a glass of wine at Le Grande Filles. This was a wine bar in the passage and we each enjoyed a glass of Corsican white wine. I can’t seem to recall where I heard about this wine bar, I think it was an article in the New York Times travel section but I’m glad I remembered the name when I saw the place.
After our “wine time” we hopped back on the metro and came back to our neighborhood for dinner at Thoumieux located at 79 Rue St. Dominique. This was the restaurant on Sunday night we tried to get into without a reservation. Tonight we did not have a reservation either, but it was fairly early and they were able to seat us.
The dining room here was all mirrors and crystal chandeliers. I read about this restaurant in a guide book and the book’s description made it sound more casual than I felt it was. We each began with a kir vin blanc and for my starter I had the pizza soufflé, which may sound odd, but it was delicious, served with arugula on top and on a bed of shaved parmesan cheese. Mom and I had the same main dish, pork perfectly cooked with carrots and pureed lentils. We had a half bottle of chardonnay and ended the meal with 2 espressos. The total for this meal was €97.
We walked over to Rue Cler after dinner and stopped for a gelato at Amorino, it was as yummy as always. While walking back to the apartment we stopped at Le Florimond to make a reservation for Saturday night. The only time available was 9:30pm so we took it.
It was an early night for us; we were back at the apartment by 9:30pm, just in time to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle at 10pm!
I was another cloudy start today, but that didn’t stop me from my morning photo tour with Sophie Pasquet of Better Paris Photos (http://www.betterparisphotos.com/). I came across Sophie’s name in a Fodors trip report when I was doing my trip research and after reading about the nice time others had with Sophie I checked out her website. I liked the half day tour of the Paris passages and contacted Sophie and we set a date and time to meet.
I met Sophie at 8:30am at Passage l’Arabbe and she was an absolute delight, and was very patient with my beginner photography skills! I really enjoyed my time with Sophie and I learned some great tips not only about my camera but also about composing photos. We wandered through some beautiful passages including passages Vero-Dodat, Colbert and Vivienne. About half way through the tour we sat at a café and Sophie critiqued the photos I had sent her previous to the tour and we talked about how they could be improved. When we were ready to move on it started raining, but that did not stop us. We walked to the Palais Royale and I took some interesting photos, well, at least interesting to me! The tour ended at about 12:30 and I took the metro back to the apartment.
By about 3pm the rain subsided and we went to the Decorative Arts Museum (http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/). This museum is part of the Louvre but has a separate entrance. Thursday evenings they are open late. This was a great time to go because there was no line; we just walked right up to the ticket counter and purchased our tickets.
This museum is big and it is filled with fashion, furniture, and all kinds of china. I enjoyed the fourth floor which had sections staged to look like rooms in apartments, it was very interesting. We spent about 2 hours here, but you easily spend twice that amount of time.
When we were ready to leave the museum it was pouring rain, but I managed to find the way back to Gallerie Vivienne so mom could see at least one of the passages. It was about 6pm so we stopped and had a glass of wine at Le Grande Filles. This was a wine bar in the passage and we each enjoyed a glass of Corsican white wine. I can’t seem to recall where I heard about this wine bar, I think it was an article in the New York Times travel section but I’m glad I remembered the name when I saw the place.
After our “wine time” we hopped back on the metro and came back to our neighborhood for dinner at Thoumieux located at 79 Rue St. Dominique. This was the restaurant on Sunday night we tried to get into without a reservation. Tonight we did not have a reservation either, but it was fairly early and they were able to seat us.
The dining room here was all mirrors and crystal chandeliers. I read about this restaurant in a guide book and the book’s description made it sound more casual than I felt it was. We each began with a kir vin blanc and for my starter I had the pizza soufflé, which may sound odd, but it was delicious, served with arugula on top and on a bed of shaved parmesan cheese. Mom and I had the same main dish, pork perfectly cooked with carrots and pureed lentils. We had a half bottle of chardonnay and ended the meal with 2 espressos. The total for this meal was €97.
We walked over to Rue Cler after dinner and stopped for a gelato at Amorino, it was as yummy as always. While walking back to the apartment we stopped at Le Florimond to make a reservation for Saturday night. The only time available was 9:30pm so we took it.
It was an early night for us; we were back at the apartment by 9:30pm, just in time to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle at 10pm!
Jun 25th, 2010, 08:53 AM
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Day 16: Friday, May 28th
We woke up to sunshine today! It was the perfect shopping day! We left the apartment at about 10:30am and took the metro to Place Madeline. We were on a mission to get to the Maille mustard shop and I’m happy to say we were successful, VERY successful!
A whole shop dedicated to just mustard , the variety of flavors were staggering, it made it difficult to select just a few, well in our case more than just a few. On final count when we arrived home we had close to 20 jars of mustard. The most enticing, for me anyway, was the fresh chocolate mustard.
I saw on the counter there were 4 open jars of mustard with little plates of bread sticks next to them. I asked if I could sample and the salesgirl said, “Of course”…Oh My God! I never would have dreamed chocolate mustard existed, but I am so glad it does! The other 3 samples were vin blanc mustard, chablis mustard and chardonnay mustard. All were great. We decided we wanted to buy some but I didn’t see any jars of this around, so I asked the salesgirl. She asked me what size I wanted, small, medium or large, and pointed to 3 empty jars on a shelf, I’m still a little confused, but say medium. She then proceeds to take a medium jar and from the tap that is right in front of me, pours out this incredible fresh, chocolate mustard, mom got the chardonnay and chablis too! I don’t think I have ever had fresh mustard like this before, I know I would have remembered. As we are paying at the cash register we are told the fresh mustard can go for 2 days without refrigeration. Good thing we have an apartment with a refrigerator! By the way, the jars of fresh mustard were the last things to go into our suitcases before departing and the first to come out of the suitcases upon arriving at home!
After our mustard excursion, we got on the metro and went Bon Marche to check out the Grande Epicure, another Wow! What a supermarket and the prepared foods looked fantastic, like works of art. We bought some chocolate here as gifts to bring back home. By now our shopping bag was becoming enormous and we went back to the apartment to put our coveted mustards away.
The stop at the apartment was a quick one because I wanted to walk to the Pont Alexander and take some pictures; it truly was a glorious weather day. This bridge is not far from our apartment and it made for a great walk. We passed by the Grande Palais and the Petit Palais and wandered up the Champs Elysees.
There were lots of people walking in the sunshine and we popped into a couple shops and then arrived at macaron mecca, Lauduree. We decided to treat ourselves and there was a table available in the outside café, so we had a seat and watched the world go by. We ordered 4 mini macarons, chocolate, vanilla, raspberry and pistachio. Mom had a café au lait and I had a Lauduree specialty (according to their menu), cold hot chocolate. Wow, this smooth drink tasted like I was slurping liquid ice cream. After our little coffee break we slowly wandered back to the apartment enjoying the beautiful weather.
For dinner we decided to go to Les Cocottes (http://www.leviolondingres.com/eng_cocottes.htm), another Christian Constant restaurant. I have to say, for as much as I loved Café Constant, I REALLY LOVED Les Cocottes. The concept is a bit different then other French restaurants. There is bar seating in the whole place and most menu items are served in Staub pots. This place was noisy and crowded, we were fortunate again in arriving just around 7pm and getting 2 of the last seats. As our starters were served to us the waiting line started to form.
We began the meal with a carafe of the house white wine. I chose the salad with poached egg, bacon and rocket for my starter and I was not disappointed, this salad was not only tasty, but it looked pretty too! Mom had the asparagus soup starter and was very happy with her selection. I had the beef with potato gratin and onions and mushrooms served in a cocotte, it was outstanding, there was no need to use a knife to cut the meat it was so tender. Mom had the steak with roasted potatoes; the steak was cooked beautifully rare. We ended the meal with 2 espressos and the total cost was €81.
When we were ready to leave the waiting line had grown enormously and we hardly had our feet on the floor before someone was sitting in our seats. No reservations are accepted here, I would suggest arriving early to get a seat without a wait.
We woke up to sunshine today! It was the perfect shopping day! We left the apartment at about 10:30am and took the metro to Place Madeline. We were on a mission to get to the Maille mustard shop and I’m happy to say we were successful, VERY successful!
A whole shop dedicated to just mustard , the variety of flavors were staggering, it made it difficult to select just a few, well in our case more than just a few. On final count when we arrived home we had close to 20 jars of mustard. The most enticing, for me anyway, was the fresh chocolate mustard.
I saw on the counter there were 4 open jars of mustard with little plates of bread sticks next to them. I asked if I could sample and the salesgirl said, “Of course”…Oh My God! I never would have dreamed chocolate mustard existed, but I am so glad it does! The other 3 samples were vin blanc mustard, chablis mustard and chardonnay mustard. All were great. We decided we wanted to buy some but I didn’t see any jars of this around, so I asked the salesgirl. She asked me what size I wanted, small, medium or large, and pointed to 3 empty jars on a shelf, I’m still a little confused, but say medium. She then proceeds to take a medium jar and from the tap that is right in front of me, pours out this incredible fresh, chocolate mustard, mom got the chardonnay and chablis too! I don’t think I have ever had fresh mustard like this before, I know I would have remembered. As we are paying at the cash register we are told the fresh mustard can go for 2 days without refrigeration. Good thing we have an apartment with a refrigerator! By the way, the jars of fresh mustard were the last things to go into our suitcases before departing and the first to come out of the suitcases upon arriving at home!
After our mustard excursion, we got on the metro and went Bon Marche to check out the Grande Epicure, another Wow! What a supermarket and the prepared foods looked fantastic, like works of art. We bought some chocolate here as gifts to bring back home. By now our shopping bag was becoming enormous and we went back to the apartment to put our coveted mustards away.
The stop at the apartment was a quick one because I wanted to walk to the Pont Alexander and take some pictures; it truly was a glorious weather day. This bridge is not far from our apartment and it made for a great walk. We passed by the Grande Palais and the Petit Palais and wandered up the Champs Elysees.
There were lots of people walking in the sunshine and we popped into a couple shops and then arrived at macaron mecca, Lauduree. We decided to treat ourselves and there was a table available in the outside café, so we had a seat and watched the world go by. We ordered 4 mini macarons, chocolate, vanilla, raspberry and pistachio. Mom had a café au lait and I had a Lauduree specialty (according to their menu), cold hot chocolate. Wow, this smooth drink tasted like I was slurping liquid ice cream. After our little coffee break we slowly wandered back to the apartment enjoying the beautiful weather.
For dinner we decided to go to Les Cocottes (http://www.leviolondingres.com/eng_cocottes.htm), another Christian Constant restaurant. I have to say, for as much as I loved Café Constant, I REALLY LOVED Les Cocottes. The concept is a bit different then other French restaurants. There is bar seating in the whole place and most menu items are served in Staub pots. This place was noisy and crowded, we were fortunate again in arriving just around 7pm and getting 2 of the last seats. As our starters were served to us the waiting line started to form.
We began the meal with a carafe of the house white wine. I chose the salad with poached egg, bacon and rocket for my starter and I was not disappointed, this salad was not only tasty, but it looked pretty too! Mom had the asparagus soup starter and was very happy with her selection. I had the beef with potato gratin and onions and mushrooms served in a cocotte, it was outstanding, there was no need to use a knife to cut the meat it was so tender. Mom had the steak with roasted potatoes; the steak was cooked beautifully rare. We ended the meal with 2 espressos and the total cost was €81.
When we were ready to leave the waiting line had grown enormously and we hardly had our feet on the floor before someone was sitting in our seats. No reservations are accepted here, I would suggest arriving early to get a seat without a wait.
Jun 25th, 2010, 10:52 AM
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LCI,
Now you know why I say the Constants do a good job of feeding me well when in Paris! You did not try Violon d'Ingres or Fables de la Fontaine..both excellent. Les Cocottes bar stools can get a little uncomfortable if a long evening. Michael, Florent and I had long evening there and we all said the same thing! I guess we just shouldn't stay so long!
Thoumieux was a disappointment to me when there last, but I think it has changed hands since and supposed to be better. I may give it a try.
You should plan a trip in November..bet your mother is ready, too!
a bientot..
Joan
Now you know why I say the Constants do a good job of feeding me well when in Paris! You did not try Violon d'Ingres or Fables de la Fontaine..both excellent. Les Cocottes bar stools can get a little uncomfortable if a long evening. Michael, Florent and I had long evening there and we all said the same thing! I guess we just shouldn't stay so long!
Thoumieux was a disappointment to me when there last, but I think it has changed hands since and supposed to be better. I may give it a try.
You should plan a trip in November..bet your mother is ready, too!
a bientot..
Joan
Jun 25th, 2010, 11:18 AM
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Yestravel...the mustard is fantastic, I know I can get the "basic" Maille Dijon here at the grocery store, but the flavors and variety at the shop in Paris were incredible!
Ek..thanks for reading my report. I remember reading your report from your trip to the Basque region. I agree, I LOVED that area of Spain.
Joan...yes, with only 8 nights in Paris we could only eat so much. I would like to try the other Constant restaurants, maybe next time! Of all the restaurants we went to in Paris Thoumieux was my least favorite, the food was ok. Just for some reason it didn't "click" with me.
We are thinking of returning, but it probably won't be until November 2011, this coming November we are off to Bologna and Rome for 2 weeks! I do plan ahead! ;-)
Ek..thanks for reading my report. I remember reading your report from your trip to the Basque region. I agree, I LOVED that area of Spain.
Joan...yes, with only 8 nights in Paris we could only eat so much. I would like to try the other Constant restaurants, maybe next time! Of all the restaurants we went to in Paris Thoumieux was my least favorite, the food was ok. Just for some reason it didn't "click" with me.
We are thinking of returning, but it probably won't be until November 2011, this coming November we are off to Bologna and Rome for 2 weeks! I do plan ahead! ;-)
Jun 25th, 2010, 11:21 AM
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Day 17: Saturday, May 29th
It was a cloudy day today and I’m glad we got a great walking/picture taking day in yesterday! We spent a good part of the morning getting ourselves organized for our departure tomorrow; I can hardly believe the trip is almost over.
In the afternoon we take the metro to the vicinity of Notre Dame. When we were near Notre Dame earlier in the week it was a mob scene so we decided not to go in then. It was still crowded today, but the line to go inside the cathedral moved quickly and before we knew it, we were inside.
The inside of Notre Dame is as dark as I remember it being, but the stained glass windows are incredible, maybe I should have titled this trip report “the stained glass windows of Europe” trip! There was some event that was just ending because there were a lot of men in tuxedos and capes and women in stylish dresses with the same capes as the men were wearing. I couldn’t get near enough to them to hear or decipher what was going on, but it seemed like it was a ceremony of some sort.
We emerged from the church and the weather was improving slightly and we took a few pictures in front of the church. We then headed off in the direction of the Latin Quarter and stopped in a Starbucks along the way for a cool drink and then walked up to the Luxembourg Gardens.
At 5pm we arrived at Bouillon Racine at 3 Rue Racine in the 6th (http://www.bouillon-racine.com/) for the Fodors get together. It was great fun meeting up with fellow travel-loving Fodorites and there was lots of travel-talk going on. Some of us were at the end of our trips while others were just starting their time in Paris so lots of restaurant and “things to do” recommendations were floating all around. We gathered in the bar area of this beautiful restaurant and although we did not eat there, I will put this place on my list of places to go on future trips to Paris.
Mom and I stayed at the get together for about an hour and then took the metro back to our neighborhood and had our last aperitif at Le Terrasse. Before we even had our bottoms seated in our chairs “our” friendly waiter acknowledged us and we didn’t even have to order, he brought us our demi-carafe of pouilly fume right away. I guess we had really become a fixture here now, because not only did he place the wine carafe and wine glasses down, but he also gave us glasses of water without us asking.
We sat savoring the wine, and the comings and goings along the street for about one and a half hours and then went back to our apartment to freshen up before our 9:30 reservation at Le Florimond.
We left the apartment just before 9:30pm and arrived at Le Florimond at 9:33pm, yes, we really were that close. The restaurant was still full, so we were asked to sit outside for a few minutes and they gave us complimentary drinks and an amuse bouche of pureed cauliflower on top of tomato puree. Shortly after we sat down another couple with a 9:30pm came in and they too were asked to sit outside. We were served a second, fairly larger amuse bouche of salmon risotto, both were delicious.
We waited for only about 15 minutes and then were seated inside. The clientele at this time of night was noticeably different than when we dined here earlier in the trip, this time the only other English being spoken was the Canadian couple next to us.
We ordered a bottle of rose wine and it must have been a popular choice because the 2 French women sitting on the other side of us had the same wine. I enjoyed the pork crepe I had during our first visit that this time both mom and I had that for our starter. Mom chose to have the stuffed cabbage for her main dish again and I had the duck which was also terrific. For dessert we both had the chocolate royale praline which consisted of 2 types of chocolate, one a milk chocolate cake and the other a torpedo shaped scoop of dark chocolate mousse with a praline crisp served as a garnish. The mousse was the best part of the dessert. We ended the meal with 2 espressos and the total cost was €98.
A couple cute occurrences happened while dining here this night. When mom and I finished our bottle of rose wine the 2 French women next to us who had the same wine still had a small amount left in their bottle and they offered it to us, we declined, but thanked them profusely. After they left the owner/maitre ‘d was taking away their wine bottle and noticed there was some left and he deftly poured the remains into each of our glasses. We were surprised but thought it amusing. I don’t think we would ever see that done here in the states, at least no any place I’ve been.
Another nice touch in this restaurant was that around 11pm the chef came out of the kitchen and greeted each table and chatted with the patrons, besides me and mom and the Canadian couple he seemed to know all the other diners.
And lastly, I can’t remember having such a warm and friendly good-bye from a restaurant owner. When we got up to leave we thanked the owner very much and told him how much we enjoyed both meals we had here and I went to shake his hand. Instead of reciprocating with a hand shake he kissed both me and mom on each cheek and said “now we are family…see you next year”…I just was tickled that he would say this. Who knows, maybe he says this to everyone, but it just seemed like a great way to end not only the meal but the whole trip.
Day 18: Sunday, May 30th
Today was departure day and I was battling a cold, which eventually won the fight. When we walked out of the apartment the driver from Inter-Shuttle was there waiting for us and we loaded into his mini-van and were whisked to the airport. Being a Sunday morning there was very little traffic and I think we made the drive to CDG in 30 minutes.
We checked in for our flight and this time our seats were together! We sailed easily through airport security which surprised me because I thought for sure they would want to go through my bag since I had a big, heavy Le Creuset pot in my carry-on, but the security agent barely gave my bag a second look. On our way to the departure gate we passed an outpost of Lauduree and stopped to buy 6 macarons for the flight home, they made the perfect dessert!
The flight left about an hour late and I have to say it was a pretty uncomfortable flight home, not only because we were crammed in our seats but there were some other passengers that seemed to never be happy and complained about a variety of things. One being their 3 year old child was too large for the bassinet and had to sit on one of the parent’s laps for the entire 10 hours, the mother was not happy about this, but there wasn’t much to be done. I watched in disbelief as prior to take-off the mother began screaming at the flight attendants…ugh…it was going to be a long flight! With this atmosphere you can imagine the flight attendants were not in pleasant moods.
Even with the delayed departure we landed in Atlanta on time and got through passport control quickly, there were few people in line at 8pm and they were well staffed with agents. Our suitcases came off the baggage carousel pretty quickly and we re-checked them for the flight to Savannah and then went through security and found our connecting departure gate. It took us less than an hour from touch-down to arriving at the connecting flight’s gate.
The flight to Savannah was on time and we landed at 10:45pm and the happy ending was that our bags (with the coveted mustard) were the first 2 on the baggage carousel! I grab the bags headed to the car and was off towards home to get the mustard in the frig!
It was a cloudy day today and I’m glad we got a great walking/picture taking day in yesterday! We spent a good part of the morning getting ourselves organized for our departure tomorrow; I can hardly believe the trip is almost over.
In the afternoon we take the metro to the vicinity of Notre Dame. When we were near Notre Dame earlier in the week it was a mob scene so we decided not to go in then. It was still crowded today, but the line to go inside the cathedral moved quickly and before we knew it, we were inside.
The inside of Notre Dame is as dark as I remember it being, but the stained glass windows are incredible, maybe I should have titled this trip report “the stained glass windows of Europe” trip! There was some event that was just ending because there were a lot of men in tuxedos and capes and women in stylish dresses with the same capes as the men were wearing. I couldn’t get near enough to them to hear or decipher what was going on, but it seemed like it was a ceremony of some sort.
We emerged from the church and the weather was improving slightly and we took a few pictures in front of the church. We then headed off in the direction of the Latin Quarter and stopped in a Starbucks along the way for a cool drink and then walked up to the Luxembourg Gardens.
At 5pm we arrived at Bouillon Racine at 3 Rue Racine in the 6th (http://www.bouillon-racine.com/) for the Fodors get together. It was great fun meeting up with fellow travel-loving Fodorites and there was lots of travel-talk going on. Some of us were at the end of our trips while others were just starting their time in Paris so lots of restaurant and “things to do” recommendations were floating all around. We gathered in the bar area of this beautiful restaurant and although we did not eat there, I will put this place on my list of places to go on future trips to Paris.
Mom and I stayed at the get together for about an hour and then took the metro back to our neighborhood and had our last aperitif at Le Terrasse. Before we even had our bottoms seated in our chairs “our” friendly waiter acknowledged us and we didn’t even have to order, he brought us our demi-carafe of pouilly fume right away. I guess we had really become a fixture here now, because not only did he place the wine carafe and wine glasses down, but he also gave us glasses of water without us asking.
We sat savoring the wine, and the comings and goings along the street for about one and a half hours and then went back to our apartment to freshen up before our 9:30 reservation at Le Florimond.
We left the apartment just before 9:30pm and arrived at Le Florimond at 9:33pm, yes, we really were that close. The restaurant was still full, so we were asked to sit outside for a few minutes and they gave us complimentary drinks and an amuse bouche of pureed cauliflower on top of tomato puree. Shortly after we sat down another couple with a 9:30pm came in and they too were asked to sit outside. We were served a second, fairly larger amuse bouche of salmon risotto, both were delicious.
We waited for only about 15 minutes and then were seated inside. The clientele at this time of night was noticeably different than when we dined here earlier in the trip, this time the only other English being spoken was the Canadian couple next to us.
We ordered a bottle of rose wine and it must have been a popular choice because the 2 French women sitting on the other side of us had the same wine. I enjoyed the pork crepe I had during our first visit that this time both mom and I had that for our starter. Mom chose to have the stuffed cabbage for her main dish again and I had the duck which was also terrific. For dessert we both had the chocolate royale praline which consisted of 2 types of chocolate, one a milk chocolate cake and the other a torpedo shaped scoop of dark chocolate mousse with a praline crisp served as a garnish. The mousse was the best part of the dessert. We ended the meal with 2 espressos and the total cost was €98.
A couple cute occurrences happened while dining here this night. When mom and I finished our bottle of rose wine the 2 French women next to us who had the same wine still had a small amount left in their bottle and they offered it to us, we declined, but thanked them profusely. After they left the owner/maitre ‘d was taking away their wine bottle and noticed there was some left and he deftly poured the remains into each of our glasses. We were surprised but thought it amusing. I don’t think we would ever see that done here in the states, at least no any place I’ve been.
Another nice touch in this restaurant was that around 11pm the chef came out of the kitchen and greeted each table and chatted with the patrons, besides me and mom and the Canadian couple he seemed to know all the other diners.
And lastly, I can’t remember having such a warm and friendly good-bye from a restaurant owner. When we got up to leave we thanked the owner very much and told him how much we enjoyed both meals we had here and I went to shake his hand. Instead of reciprocating with a hand shake he kissed both me and mom on each cheek and said “now we are family…see you next year”…I just was tickled that he would say this. Who knows, maybe he says this to everyone, but it just seemed like a great way to end not only the meal but the whole trip.
Day 18: Sunday, May 30th
Today was departure day and I was battling a cold, which eventually won the fight. When we walked out of the apartment the driver from Inter-Shuttle was there waiting for us and we loaded into his mini-van and were whisked to the airport. Being a Sunday morning there was very little traffic and I think we made the drive to CDG in 30 minutes.
We checked in for our flight and this time our seats were together! We sailed easily through airport security which surprised me because I thought for sure they would want to go through my bag since I had a big, heavy Le Creuset pot in my carry-on, but the security agent barely gave my bag a second look. On our way to the departure gate we passed an outpost of Lauduree and stopped to buy 6 macarons for the flight home, they made the perfect dessert!
The flight left about an hour late and I have to say it was a pretty uncomfortable flight home, not only because we were crammed in our seats but there were some other passengers that seemed to never be happy and complained about a variety of things. One being their 3 year old child was too large for the bassinet and had to sit on one of the parent’s laps for the entire 10 hours, the mother was not happy about this, but there wasn’t much to be done. I watched in disbelief as prior to take-off the mother began screaming at the flight attendants…ugh…it was going to be a long flight! With this atmosphere you can imagine the flight attendants were not in pleasant moods.
Even with the delayed departure we landed in Atlanta on time and got through passport control quickly, there were few people in line at 8pm and they were well staffed with agents. Our suitcases came off the baggage carousel pretty quickly and we re-checked them for the flight to Savannah and then went through security and found our connecting departure gate. It took us less than an hour from touch-down to arriving at the connecting flight’s gate.
The flight to Savannah was on time and we landed at 10:45pm and the happy ending was that our bags (with the coveted mustard) were the first 2 on the baggage carousel! I grab the bags headed to the car and was off towards home to get the mustard in the frig!
