the Cigale's trials, tribulations and triumphs in Paris
 

By the time the plane landed in Paris, my foot was swollen so much that I could not put my shoe on but luckily I had some backless shoes in my carryon.
Our shuttle driver was waiting for us (thanks gracejoan) and drove us to the apartment where the owner was waiting to show us around. everything was nice except for my bathroom, a tricky showerhead, a tiny sink that reminded me of a drinking fountain the the Boston Public garden. There was not a shelf so I had to carry things back and forth
But, I say gleefully, there was a working fireplace and one chilly night, Miki lit a fire for us to enjoy while we dined
The building had an elevator with a glass " accordian' door but I didn't realize there was another door, one sheet of glass that I walked into and saw stars. Days later
those stars gave birth to a black eye.
Abby, Tomas, her husband and I went to the Jardin des plantes. Though everything was not in bloom walking down the allee and seeing the two Victorian greenhouses was a treat as was our slow stroll to admire the tops of buildings with their surprising details. I was so happy to have seen the jardin des plants because I was reading Cara Black's new book, " Murder in the Latin Quarter" and one of the murders takes place there and that scene came alive for me. We stopped at the Blvd d' Hospital for a snack with wine and pastis at the Tabac de L'Arrivee.
At 5pm, Miki, Dick, Tomas abby and I caught up with Judith and her quests at the
Hotel Lutetia where a pianist played softly in the background. We were excited to meet
Judith because of a mutual love of good dining. Judith covers this event in her trip report.
That night we dined at La regalade. I was happy to see the new owner in this new location kept up the tradition of passing the pate and jar of conichons. Alas the service was not good nor did I think it was as good as the Original Regalade,
But eating at Chez l'Ami Jean on another day made up for that.
Thursday I had lunch at the cafe de flore with Jan, aka Toupary(mugetdeparis.com)
we left for more wine at the Deux Magots and onto Les Editors around the corner from the apartment. i invited her up for a night cap of armagnac and Dick, graciously invited Jan to stay for dinner.
One of the afternoons, Miki Dick and I went to the musee de la chasse and de la Nature, the musee de L' orangerie and the musee Gustaf Morat and the Sonia Rykiel exhibit at the musee arts Decoritifs. Miki was a whiz finding her way around the metro.
Dick and I would be lost without her.
The GTG at the Bouillion Racine was on Tuesday. (This is all in my head, I did not take notes, so nothing is in order. The usual suspects were there plus Stomybird and son, Sandy(traviata) and her wonderful smiling husband. I wanted to meet her after a few years of on line contact. Later, another day we ran into them in monoprix, where else but in the wine department.
Friday was a good day, I got to visit Dayrolle to see how the place survived the fire of last February.. Abby, Tomas and i stopped for mustars and honey at Maison a Miel.
But found the violet mustard at Detou where abby, my friend the CHEF buys her dried fungi. We went to
jaques Genin jewel of a new chocolate shop where abyy bought her favorite Genin specialty, Mango caramels-miam!!!! We had a wonderful time at the venerable
Ryst-Dupeyron where Armagnac is their main selling drink. You can buy it made in the year of your birth. Tomas and I love armagnac so we were in our glory tasting. The house dog greeted us, an orange colored terrier-like canine with a long ratty tail. I was to see many of this peculiar(to me) dog during the week. I bought a 1955 bottle and a 20cc of armagnac with mure.
One night, I dined alone at the Bastide d'Odeon. Tables were cramped on my left was a couple from Brooklyn. on my right a guy from denmark with a loud talking English woman. I got the impression they recently met as he was telling her about himself. He asked where I was From and when I said Boston, the woman sitting on the other side of his table gave me the OK sign. She was from new York. My meal was wonderful,
first a lentil soup that had two halves of boiled eggs on top. my main dish was a boudin Noiur that I expected to be sliced like sausage but was pleasantly suprised to see it looking like a round cake, the bottom half was mashed potatos like a bandade
and the top half was a souffle of the boudin noir.
Friday we all dined at the Comptoir that is located in Abby and Tomas's Hotel St Germain. A meal I won't forget, starting with my apertif of Absinthe, followed by champage, wine, ending in armagnac as my digestif. i'll leave the menu and dining comments to chef Abby. Tomas left on Saturday morning so Abby joined us for a trip to St Ouen marche Vernaison. The last day on Sunday we headed to the fabulous
market at the Bastille. It was everything Miki and Dick said it was. .
We went to a wine tasting at La Derniere Goutte and I bought a bottle of my favorite white wine, a Pic Poul from Languedoc to have with the oysters that Dick had bought.
Dick is seasoned oyster opener and he brought his own oyster knife so we had oysters at home several times. One day Miki, Dick and I went out searching for Metro Socks for crefloors and that was a good excuse to stop at Le depart, Saint-Michel for a bite to eat and some wine.
the shuttle picked us up on Monday morn as we said a sad goodbye to Paris.
As Tomas would say, "it's a good life" when you're sharing with good friends

Hi Mimi,

I'm reading your report with a smile on my face...we had a grand time, didn't we! Only wish we were all still there...

Thanks, Mimi for a lovely report. I marvel at all the travel-related novels you've read. I recall from the Lutetia GTG your many references to novels with French and Venice connections. Lucky you getting to eat those marvelous mango caramels that Abby and Tomas described so ardently. And your dish of boudin noir souffle over mashed brandade style potatoes sounds fantastic. Not to mention the fresh out of the shell oysters that Dick shucked for you all around a fireplace. All that and Paris too. Sounds like a perfect time. Glad you had it.

For my part I'm already looking forward to lunch at La Vapeurs in Normandy come July. So nice to have met in person the person who recommended that wonderful place to us. Thanks for a great report.

I have a huge framed poster the manager gave me at Les Vapeurs. Also saw the same one at a bistro in Rouen.
What a pleasure it was meeting you, Julie. A pity we couldn't dine together.

Well, I guess getting a black eye in Paris is better than getting one at the inauguration (I fell down into a cement barrier leaving The Mall and had the racoon look for several days).

The closest I get to Paris these days is a French restaurant in my neighborhood--LOL.

We stayed at Relais St Germain 2 years ago for 5 nights and had dinner at Le Comptoir. The cheese platter was to die for and the breakfasts were absolutely the best! Did you eat under the awning with the lap blankets and overhead heaters? Sooooo romantic!!

So glad you had a wonderful trip. Thanks for the report.

I am so glad you had such a wonderful time in Paris.. I will be there is a couple of weeks (a Eurostar day trip from London) and will be having lunch with Joan Grace at Fables de la Fontaine.

Loved this report as I know how much you have wanted to return to Paris.

plumud, we ate inside and later in the lounge management treated us to a glass of champagne. I loved the beamed ceiling in Abby and Tomas's room. I could easily live there.

The Armagnac sounds wonderful Mimi. Will have to find this shop. Sorry about your black eye.
Thanks for the shout out about the Latin Quarter and how you tread in Aimée's footsteps.
Looking forward to hearing more in Boston
Cara

Thanks Cara. In our apartment there were two of your books. Murder in Clichy and Murder in Ile St Louis. Must have been someone from my Area because one had the Harvard bookstore sticker.

Mango Caramels - Mango Caramels!!!!!!Oh my two favourite flavours - mimi tell me more please. How did I miss out on this whilst there. Doh!

stormbird I was so happy to meet you and son.
If you return to Paris jacques Genin, who once only sold out of his apartment now opened a jewel of a shop that has a cafe
133 rue de turenne in the 3rd and those lucky to stay at the Relais St Germain get a few on their pillows.

Enjoyed this little tale--lots of fun details. We are headed to Paris for a quick trip next month. Which shuttle did u use and was it private or with others? We are deciding what to do and would love a little feedback on this. We will be staying in the 7th.

Amicalement,
Robyn France

Mimi, you have such a way of writing as to give the reader a sense of being there with you! Sounds like a wonderful trip!

Robyn, joan (gracejoan) advised me to use this shuttle because if it's four of us that makes a bargain.

http://www.shuttle-inter.com/homepage.htm

A trip to the local pharmacy. I was given an antibiotic spray and cream for my foot, saying to use twice a day and I would see results in five days. That was true!
At Thin's suggestion, I bought a few tubes of the sensodyne toothpaste labeled soin blancheur (not available here)
after several days I do see a difference and someone asked me if I had my teeth whitened. The emugel voltaren, didn't help me. But i'll try it again when another physical problem pops up.
There were so many things to see but so little time.
I would have enjoyed the Jean Marais exhibit in Montmartre(?)
The Calder exhibit, I've always wanted to go to a puppet show to see the children's faces light up.

Oh my, what a whirlwind. Black eye, infected foot, the warmth of friendship, and Paris. I am smiling. (And I hope you are feeling better).

Sounds like a fun trip--except for the black eye! What happened with your foot? I remember you developed plantar fasciitis around the same time I did; this was unrelated, I suppose?

I am glad you had such a delightful visit. Thank you for posting your report.

leely, before my trip I was cleaning out closets, I couldn't bear to do after Jerry's death, I found an almost new pair of shoes that I forgot about abnd wore them for last minute shopping. They felt ok when I put them on but by the time I was in Copley Square I was in pain so came home and changed shoes and everything seemed fine until on the plane. Stupid, stupid me!

sorry also to misspell the Gustave Moreau museum
http://paris-tourisme.com/museums/moreau/index.html