Two Happy Cats in Paris: A Trip Report
Apr 14th, 2009, 09:45 AM
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Two Happy Cats in Paris: A Trip Report
We are two 40ish happy cats who traveled to paris for the first time from April 3rd to April 12th 2009. We loved Paris. Some of our favorite things were Notre Dame, walking/exploring the city, Buttes Chaumont, musee D’Orsay, macarons and Hidden Kitchen supper club. We stayed at Hotel de Varenne in the 7th. Thanks to everyone who gives input on Fodors, we used a lot of your reviews.
Days 1 and 2:
There we were, 7 strangers in the Manchester airport at 8 am after missing our flight from Phili to Paris the night before because all of our different flights to Phili had been late due to thunderstorms and wind. We all missed our flight to Paris by less than 15 minutes. The plane to Paris would not/could not wait for us and we were rerouted to Manchester, England. The 7 of us, including myself and DH, were waiting at the transfer desk to get boarding passes so we could go through customs and were told the next flight we could get onto to Paris was at 5pm. We were told that the 2pm flight was full and the 9:00 am was just not possible. We were tired, we were frustrated but I asked “can we do something in Manchester-a park, a museum, something?” “No” said the agent, “there is nothing to do in Manchester.” (I’m sure that there is something to do because later on at the William Blake exhibit at the Petit Palace there was an etching that said “on loan from the Manchester Art Museum”)
After waiting about an hour and a half for an Air France agent to give us our boarding passes a woman who had been on our flight to Manchester was escorted by a security guard to our little group. She spoke very poor English and said that she was told that we were going to Paris so before we left Phili she had called her friend who was picking her up in Paris and told her that she would arrive at 8am. (I already knew that she had called her friend b/c I was the person who rang the call button the stewardess when she wouldn’t get off her phone as we were taking off. The stewardess told her to turn off her phone and she kept on talking. It was clear she just didn’t understand what the stewardess was saying b/c her English wasn’t very good. The stewardess tried to physically close her phone and an argument ensued until the woman finally understood that she couldn’t use her phone while we were in flight) The woman told us that when her friend didn’t show up to pick her up, after waiting outside for an hour she asked an agent where she could find her friend and he told her she was in England, not Paris. Coincidently, she was the only one of us who did have a boarding pass for the 9:00 flight to Paris and she missed the flight! Needless to say, she adopted DH and I that day b/c she was afraid that she’d miss her 5pm flight to Paris. We all laughed (including her) about her mishap and commiserated with one another. We all got our boarding passes and it turned out one of us, a Frenchman, already had his boarding pass but told us that he had stayed with us “for moral support.” I think he stayed b/c he got a kick out of our various reactions to our situation. (Yes, one couple had a dramatic hissy fit-not us though, for we are Happy Cats!)
There isn’t much to do in the Manchester airport for 8 hours. We tried to sleep, we tried to get on the 2pm flight, we chatted, but it was a long wait. One other funny incident was that the Frenchman (the one who gave us moral support) approached DH and asked him to help him return to customs. While they were walking there DH was told that the man needed to return to customs because he needed to see if they still had his “bomb.” DH’s eyes got wide and said “your bomb?” He said “yes, they took my bomb and I want to see if they still have the receipt for it so that I can replace it. DH said he looked confused and the man said “my balm, my lotion.” Oh,” DH said. You can imagine the look on the customs agent’s face when the man asked if they still had his bomb. He was lucky DH was there because DH said “he means balm, b-a-l-m.” The agent said “oh, your bomb, we don’t have it any longer, we threw your bomb out.”
We finally got to Paris without our luggage (b/c of the rerouting) so we decided we could take the RER train. We were told by a man at the info booth that it was free that evening after we unsuccessfully tried to pay for our tickets with cash. (I don't think you can pay with bills, you can only pay w/ coins or a credit card) We finally got to Hotel de Varenne in the 7th (which deserves its good reviews on trip advisor and on fodor’s threads) at 9:30 pm.
We had dinner at Le Terrasse de 7eme b/c we knew it was open late and it is close to the hotel. Dinner was perfect. The place was bustling at that late hour and we felt alive again. We had onion soup (broth tasted very fresh) and foie gras (delicious) for our entrees, and for the plats we had duck (rare, also delicious) and bass. The mains were served with a good vegetable medley. I think the cost was 70E w/ two glasses of wine. We got to see the Eiffel tower sparkling at 10pm before our meal! I refused to set the alarm and we woke up at 10:30 am the next morning.
Days 1 and 2:
There we were, 7 strangers in the Manchester airport at 8 am after missing our flight from Phili to Paris the night before because all of our different flights to Phili had been late due to thunderstorms and wind. We all missed our flight to Paris by less than 15 minutes. The plane to Paris would not/could not wait for us and we were rerouted to Manchester, England. The 7 of us, including myself and DH, were waiting at the transfer desk to get boarding passes so we could go through customs and were told the next flight we could get onto to Paris was at 5pm. We were told that the 2pm flight was full and the 9:00 am was just not possible. We were tired, we were frustrated but I asked “can we do something in Manchester-a park, a museum, something?” “No” said the agent, “there is nothing to do in Manchester.” (I’m sure that there is something to do because later on at the William Blake exhibit at the Petit Palace there was an etching that said “on loan from the Manchester Art Museum”)
After waiting about an hour and a half for an Air France agent to give us our boarding passes a woman who had been on our flight to Manchester was escorted by a security guard to our little group. She spoke very poor English and said that she was told that we were going to Paris so before we left Phili she had called her friend who was picking her up in Paris and told her that she would arrive at 8am. (I already knew that she had called her friend b/c I was the person who rang the call button the stewardess when she wouldn’t get off her phone as we were taking off. The stewardess told her to turn off her phone and she kept on talking. It was clear she just didn’t understand what the stewardess was saying b/c her English wasn’t very good. The stewardess tried to physically close her phone and an argument ensued until the woman finally understood that she couldn’t use her phone while we were in flight) The woman told us that when her friend didn’t show up to pick her up, after waiting outside for an hour she asked an agent where she could find her friend and he told her she was in England, not Paris. Coincidently, she was the only one of us who did have a boarding pass for the 9:00 flight to Paris and she missed the flight! Needless to say, she adopted DH and I that day b/c she was afraid that she’d miss her 5pm flight to Paris. We all laughed (including her) about her mishap and commiserated with one another. We all got our boarding passes and it turned out one of us, a Frenchman, already had his boarding pass but told us that he had stayed with us “for moral support.” I think he stayed b/c he got a kick out of our various reactions to our situation. (Yes, one couple had a dramatic hissy fit-not us though, for we are Happy Cats!)
There isn’t much to do in the Manchester airport for 8 hours. We tried to sleep, we tried to get on the 2pm flight, we chatted, but it was a long wait. One other funny incident was that the Frenchman (the one who gave us moral support) approached DH and asked him to help him return to customs. While they were walking there DH was told that the man needed to return to customs because he needed to see if they still had his “bomb.” DH’s eyes got wide and said “your bomb?” He said “yes, they took my bomb and I want to see if they still have the receipt for it so that I can replace it. DH said he looked confused and the man said “my balm, my lotion.” Oh,” DH said. You can imagine the look on the customs agent’s face when the man asked if they still had his bomb. He was lucky DH was there because DH said “he means balm, b-a-l-m.” The agent said “oh, your bomb, we don’t have it any longer, we threw your bomb out.”
We finally got to Paris without our luggage (b/c of the rerouting) so we decided we could take the RER train. We were told by a man at the info booth that it was free that evening after we unsuccessfully tried to pay for our tickets with cash. (I don't think you can pay with bills, you can only pay w/ coins or a credit card) We finally got to Hotel de Varenne in the 7th (which deserves its good reviews on trip advisor and on fodor’s threads) at 9:30 pm.
We had dinner at Le Terrasse de 7eme b/c we knew it was open late and it is close to the hotel. Dinner was perfect. The place was bustling at that late hour and we felt alive again. We had onion soup (broth tasted very fresh) and foie gras (delicious) for our entrees, and for the plats we had duck (rare, also delicious) and bass. The mains were served with a good vegetable medley. I think the cost was 70E w/ two glasses of wine. We got to see the Eiffel tower sparkling at 10pm before our meal! I refused to set the alarm and we woke up at 10:30 am the next morning.
Apr 14th, 2009, 10:15 AM
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Hi Ella - great start! I hosed myself reading about "the bomb/b a l m" I could hear that Inspector Clusseau accent in my head saying 'B o l m b'!
I had the same startled reaction some 3 trips ago when I engaged in coversation with a New Zealander on the way to Sacre Coeur and told him I was on my way to try and find a "stash" - I actually meant 'Cache' (geocache-ing) for which I had specific co-ordinates that had to be put into a GPS!
Looking forward to more merriment................!
I had the same startled reaction some 3 trips ago when I engaged in coversation with a New Zealander on the way to Sacre Coeur and told him I was on my way to try and find a "stash" - I actually meant 'Cache' (geocache-ing) for which I had specific co-ordinates that had to be put into a GPS!
Looking forward to more merriment................!
Apr 14th, 2009, 10:35 AM
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Day 3: Our first day in Paris
Today our plan was to go to the Carnevalet and learn something about Paris and France’s history. We also wanted to explore the Marais and take a walk at Buttes Chaumont as this was a warm, mostly sunny day and we come from Upstate NY where we’d had a long, cold winter. We took the Metro to the Marais and stumbled upon Pain de Sucre, a Clothilde recommendation. We had delicious bread filled with figs and ham and also with tomatoes and cheese and had our favorite macarons of the trip. We tried cherry pistachio, passion fruit and chocolate. We went to the Carnevalet and then to Briezh Café for lunch.
Briezh Café is a crepe place with buckwheat galettes. We tried two different unusual ones with andouille sausage. I usually love sausage but these tasted like…Bronx Zoo. I think you know the kind of taste/smell I mean-before zoos became free range. Like the strongest olive you can imagine, but more so. DH loved his which he described as “old shoe with a hint of zoo.” He ate mine too and I ordered a chocolate crepe for desert. With this meal we had a carafe of hard cider. The bill was about 35E. Great place with a wide selection of crepes. It was packed and I don’t think we would’ve have gotten in if we hadn’t had a reservation.
Then we had gelato at Pozzetto in the Marais, which was great.
We took the metro to Buttes Chaumont, which is a beautiful park that was packed with 100’s of Parisians picnicking, playing with their children, enjoying a warm Sunday afternoon. We went to the overlook of the city (great!) and explored the man made grotto and then walked to Belleville park and took in the view there. Then we walked through Belleville for a while until we got tired and took the metro home.
Pasco:
We ate dinner at Pasco in our neighborhood. It was one of the only restaurants in our neighborhood we found to be open on Sunday and other people on fodors and elsewhere recommended it. It was a great meal. I had excellent lamb chops (from the rack) but no entrée b/c I wasn’t very hungry and DH had a fixed price meal of salmon tartar, cod in a sesame/soy sauce and rum cake with ice cream. The sauce on DH’s fish was fantastic. My chops came with a lamb jus reduction in a shot glass which was ingenious b/c the sauce was thin and I was able to dip the meat in the shot glass to get extra flavor without losing the sauce on the plate. Our meal came to 62 Euros with 2 glasses of wine. Then we walked to the Eiffel Tower and were awed by it’s beauty. We thought of going up but we were tired and didn’t feel like waiting on line.
Today our plan was to go to the Carnevalet and learn something about Paris and France’s history. We also wanted to explore the Marais and take a walk at Buttes Chaumont as this was a warm, mostly sunny day and we come from Upstate NY where we’d had a long, cold winter. We took the Metro to the Marais and stumbled upon Pain de Sucre, a Clothilde recommendation. We had delicious bread filled with figs and ham and also with tomatoes and cheese and had our favorite macarons of the trip. We tried cherry pistachio, passion fruit and chocolate. We went to the Carnevalet and then to Briezh Café for lunch.
Briezh Café is a crepe place with buckwheat galettes. We tried two different unusual ones with andouille sausage. I usually love sausage but these tasted like…Bronx Zoo. I think you know the kind of taste/smell I mean-before zoos became free range. Like the strongest olive you can imagine, but more so. DH loved his which he described as “old shoe with a hint of zoo.” He ate mine too and I ordered a chocolate crepe for desert. With this meal we had a carafe of hard cider. The bill was about 35E. Great place with a wide selection of crepes. It was packed and I don’t think we would’ve have gotten in if we hadn’t had a reservation.
Then we had gelato at Pozzetto in the Marais, which was great.
We took the metro to Buttes Chaumont, which is a beautiful park that was packed with 100’s of Parisians picnicking, playing with their children, enjoying a warm Sunday afternoon. We went to the overlook of the city (great!) and explored the man made grotto and then walked to Belleville park and took in the view there. Then we walked through Belleville for a while until we got tired and took the metro home.
Pasco:
We ate dinner at Pasco in our neighborhood. It was one of the only restaurants in our neighborhood we found to be open on Sunday and other people on fodors and elsewhere recommended it. It was a great meal. I had excellent lamb chops (from the rack) but no entrée b/c I wasn’t very hungry and DH had a fixed price meal of salmon tartar, cod in a sesame/soy sauce and rum cake with ice cream. The sauce on DH’s fish was fantastic. My chops came with a lamb jus reduction in a shot glass which was ingenious b/c the sauce was thin and I was able to dip the meat in the shot glass to get extra flavor without losing the sauce on the plate. Our meal came to 62 Euros with 2 glasses of wine. Then we walked to the Eiffel Tower and were awed by it’s beauty. We thought of going up but we were tired and didn’t feel like waiting on line.
Apr 14th, 2009, 02:23 PM
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I've read good reviews about Briezh cafe, that said it was the best new creperie and they used organic ingrediants.It's described as an attractive Brittany spot. They have outposts in Cancale and (gulp)Tokyo.
Apr 14th, 2009, 05:26 PM
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When I read your title, I thought you brought cats to Paris like Peter Gethers! Well, good thing you didn't, considering detour. So sorry that you had to lose a whole day-- what a bummer. The time I couldn't get on my flight to Venice, what calmed me down was seeing Paris-bound travellers being denied boarding too-- that put my "problem" in perspective!
Apr 14th, 2009, 05:46 PM
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Hi Ella
I'm happy to read your report. I'm one who gave a positive review to Hotel de Varenne, so I'm glad you liked it.
In February, we had an apartment less than a block from Pain de Sucre. It was a handy and delicious, if expensive, little spot to have at hand.
And finally, I'm dying over the guy telling you that there was no art museum in Manchester. OMG! I have been dying for years to get to the Manchester Art Galleries, which has one of the greatest, if not the greatest, collections of PreRaphealite art. I could kill that guy!
I'm happy to read your report. I'm one who gave a positive review to Hotel de Varenne, so I'm glad you liked it.
In February, we had an apartment less than a block from Pain de Sucre. It was a handy and delicious, if expensive, little spot to have at hand.
And finally, I'm dying over the guy telling you that there was no art museum in Manchester. OMG! I have been dying for years to get to the Manchester Art Galleries, which has one of the greatest, if not the greatest, collections of PreRaphealite art. I could kill that guy!
Apr 15th, 2009, 04:59 AM
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I'm so glad people are enjoying this!
I forgot to mention that at the Buttes Chaumont metro exit at around 3:30pm I saw a very fit looking young woman limping. Then I saw a man limping the same way about 5 feet behind her, also looking very fit, but seeming like he was going to fall over. Then behind them a few feet further another limper! What an interesting neighborhood, I thought. Then I saw the medals around their necks and they were….marathoners! Sunday was the day of the Paris marathon. I felt so proud of them I clapped and said bravo and they smiled.
Day 4: This was a very good day, but hard on the feet. It was warm and sunny, about 70 degrees in the afternoon. We started off at the Louvre where we bought our 6 day museum passes in the Tabac shop at the Carousel mall downstairs for 64Euros. We were there at about 10am and didn’t have to wait to get in at all. We signed up for an 11am tour for 5 Euros and it was worth it. We went to the French painting wing before the tour. The best thing for me about the tour was that it resolved an age old “issue” DH and I have about how long it takes me to get ready in the morning. The guide showed us a desk that had belonged to one of the Queens. The desk had a music box attached that played music for an hour. “Why an hour?” the guide asked. “Because that’s how long it was determined it would take a woman to get ready.” So you see, I am not an anomaly. The tour covered the highlights of the Louvre and was 1 ½ hours. I enjoyed the way she described the Mona Lisa. She said the painting exemplifies intelligence portrayed through the eyes. By 12:30 we were hungry so we began our shopping spree/walk to our picnic at Parc Monceau, which is north of the Arc De Triomph. It turned out to be a longer walk than we thought. We bought quiche, cheese and cold cuts at various places, macarons at Laduree-these were not as good as pain de sucre’s in our opinion and we had a picnic in the parc. We did stop at a Clothilde recommendation-boulangpicier for picnic food, but we found the selection was not great. We did get an interesting small chicken sandwich there with carrots in orange sauce as the garnish on the sandwich. Parc Monceau is a nice park and you are guaranteed a pigeon poop on your head or arm b/c there are lots of trees and pigeons. There were high school students drawing the willow pond in the parc and they too got pooped on. We all laughed together at our reactions.
From Parc Monceau it was about a 20 minute walk to the Arc where we climbed the stairs to the top and were rewarded with a wonderful panoramic view of the city. With our museum pass the line took about 20 minutes. Then, believe it or not, we walked to our hotel b/c we wanted to experience the Champs. At Mcdonalds there I bought a diet coke b/c I was so tired and it tasted like the old syrup (good taste) not like the strange current chemical USA coke. I remembered this taste from when I was 3 and my family went to Europe. (good memory too) We walked over the pont Alexandre bridge, took a lot of pictures and arrived home to prepare for our ballet at the Opera Garnier at 7:30. (There’s a lot more to this day but work calls so a tout a l’heure)
I forgot to mention that at the Buttes Chaumont metro exit at around 3:30pm I saw a very fit looking young woman limping. Then I saw a man limping the same way about 5 feet behind her, also looking very fit, but seeming like he was going to fall over. Then behind them a few feet further another limper! What an interesting neighborhood, I thought. Then I saw the medals around their necks and they were….marathoners! Sunday was the day of the Paris marathon. I felt so proud of them I clapped and said bravo and they smiled.
Day 4: This was a very good day, but hard on the feet. It was warm and sunny, about 70 degrees in the afternoon. We started off at the Louvre where we bought our 6 day museum passes in the Tabac shop at the Carousel mall downstairs for 64Euros. We were there at about 10am and didn’t have to wait to get in at all. We signed up for an 11am tour for 5 Euros and it was worth it. We went to the French painting wing before the tour. The best thing for me about the tour was that it resolved an age old “issue” DH and I have about how long it takes me to get ready in the morning. The guide showed us a desk that had belonged to one of the Queens. The desk had a music box attached that played music for an hour. “Why an hour?” the guide asked. “Because that’s how long it was determined it would take a woman to get ready.” So you see, I am not an anomaly. The tour covered the highlights of the Louvre and was 1 ½ hours. I enjoyed the way she described the Mona Lisa. She said the painting exemplifies intelligence portrayed through the eyes. By 12:30 we were hungry so we began our shopping spree/walk to our picnic at Parc Monceau, which is north of the Arc De Triomph. It turned out to be a longer walk than we thought. We bought quiche, cheese and cold cuts at various places, macarons at Laduree-these were not as good as pain de sucre’s in our opinion and we had a picnic in the parc. We did stop at a Clothilde recommendation-boulangpicier for picnic food, but we found the selection was not great. We did get an interesting small chicken sandwich there with carrots in orange sauce as the garnish on the sandwich. Parc Monceau is a nice park and you are guaranteed a pigeon poop on your head or arm b/c there are lots of trees and pigeons. There were high school students drawing the willow pond in the parc and they too got pooped on. We all laughed together at our reactions.
From Parc Monceau it was about a 20 minute walk to the Arc where we climbed the stairs to the top and were rewarded with a wonderful panoramic view of the city. With our museum pass the line took about 20 minutes. Then, believe it or not, we walked to our hotel b/c we wanted to experience the Champs. At Mcdonalds there I bought a diet coke b/c I was so tired and it tasted like the old syrup (good taste) not like the strange current chemical USA coke. I remembered this taste from when I was 3 and my family went to Europe. (good memory too) We walked over the pont Alexandre bridge, took a lot of pictures and arrived home to prepare for our ballet at the Opera Garnier at 7:30. (There’s a lot more to this day but work calls so a tout a l’heure)
Apr 15th, 2009, 05:24 AM
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Hahahaha...I am giggling at your description of Andouille...
From Wiki: Andouille is a spiced, heavily smoked pork sausage, distinguished in some varieties by its use of the entire gastrointestinal system of the pig: for example, traditional French andouille is composed primarily of the intestines and stomach.
My hubby didnt know this, and ordered the very similar Andouillette:
From Wiki: In major restaurants, Andouillettes can be served either hot or cold. The taste is an acquired one - as it is with all tripe sausages. The texture is somewhat rougher than sausages, as the content is roughly cut. Primarily pan-fried, it can also be boiled, barbecued or grilled.
He couldnt get past the smell either hahahaha!
Enjoying the report!
From Wiki: Andouille is a spiced, heavily smoked pork sausage, distinguished in some varieties by its use of the entire gastrointestinal system of the pig: for example, traditional French andouille is composed primarily of the intestines and stomach.
My hubby didnt know this, and ordered the very similar Andouillette:
From Wiki: In major restaurants, Andouillettes can be served either hot or cold. The taste is an acquired one - as it is with all tripe sausages. The texture is somewhat rougher than sausages, as the content is roughly cut. Primarily pan-fried, it can also be boiled, barbecued or grilled.
He couldnt get past the smell either hahahaha!
Enjoying the report!
Apr 15th, 2009, 07:32 AM
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cigalechanta - yes, briezh is a hotspot. I'm sure I would have enjoyed other crepes/galettes. DH loved his. The cider served in little bowls is fun and the dessert crepe was delicious.
jamikins - It took me many years to enjoy bleu cheese, but now I love it. I thought about this as I was eating the sausage, but I still couldn't eat it.
tuscanlifeedit -I should've tried harder/asked more people about Manchester. We had a small hope that they'd let us on the 2:30 flight though, so we stuck around
M fifi- no real cats, just us happy ones. We got the term from an oliver sacks story.
jamikins - It took me many years to enjoy bleu cheese, but now I love it. I thought about this as I was eating the sausage, but I still couldn't eat it.
tuscanlifeedit -I should've tried harder/asked more people about Manchester. We had a small hope that they'd let us on the 2:30 flight though, so we stuck around
M fifi- no real cats, just us happy ones. We got the term from an oliver sacks story.
Apr 15th, 2009, 07:37 AM
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Hi Ella,
Enjoying your report, please keep it coming!
Thanks, Jamikins for the background on French Andouille. Now, I feel oh, so much better about going back to the same restaurant twice in Bayeaux for their Andouille apple crumble. Gosh, I had an Andrew Zimmer moment without even knowing it! I just tore up my reminder to look for the recipe....
--Annie
Enjoying your report, please keep it coming!
Thanks, Jamikins for the background on French Andouille. Now, I feel oh, so much better about going back to the same restaurant twice in Bayeaux for their Andouille apple crumble. Gosh, I had an Andrew Zimmer moment without even knowing it! I just tore up my reminder to look for the recipe....
--Annie
Apr 15th, 2009, 07:59 AM
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Continuation of Day 4:
We took the metro from the 7th to the Opera to see the Ballet and arrived early, at 7pm. The man at the box office couldn’t find our reservation. He looked and looked until he said “what show are you going to?” and we said Gustav Mahler Ballet and he said in an encouraging way, “you’re at the wrong opera, but you have time, just take the Metro to the Bastille.” So we ran onto the metro and made it to the Bastille opera house right on time. I was disappointed and frustrated b/c I wanted so badly to see the Chagall ceiling! But the ballet and orchestra were great. There was beautiful singing in the symphony as well. DH wanted to eat so we took the metro to St. Germain to
Relais d’entrecote- This is a casual restaurant that serves steak. As soon as you sit down someone comes over and says “how do you want it?” (in French) Then you are brought a salad with AMAZING mustard based dressing and after this, steak and fries. The pride of the place is the sauce on the steak. Part of the fun is trying to decipher what’s in the sauce. I think cardamom, coriander, yogurt and ….? We were there at 11 pm and had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. I ordered the steak rare and was told by the waitress that I would like it better a point. (medium) The steak was more medium-well but it was like butter! The sauce on the steak and fries was delicious. When you finish your steak they’ll bring you a little more steak and fries-you don’t even have to ask. (I didn't really need more steak at 11:30 at night, but that sauce.) The bill was about 60E because we had two glasses of wine. The steak alone is 24.50 E per person. From here we walked back to our hotel.
Day 5:
This was only our 3rd day in Paris and we had 5 whole days left but on this day we felt the stress of having spent one day at the Manchester Airport. We weren’t on schedule and as you can see I am a slow traveler in that I like to walk a lot to get the feel of a place. I don’t like taking the metro here and there and there. We were supposed to go to the Orsay but b/c it was Tuesday and other museums were closed it was extremely crowded (even the line for people with museum passes was long) so we ended up walking to the Louvre’s decorative arts/ fashion museum. They have a free audio guide there, by the way. Our favorite part of the museum was the art nouveau furniture. We then ate lunch at
Pre Verre- in the Latin Quarter. They have a 13 E lunch. (choice of chicken or steak that day, entrée, glass of wine and coffee) You can order a la carte or fixed price for more, but we had the special. Everything on the menu has Asian influence.(curry, ginger, etc) The food was excellent, atmosphere very nice and lively, and the wine that came with lunch was delicious. The chicken was actually a little bird, although the waiter, speaking english to us, called it chicken. The people around us (French) were eating the mini chicken very delicately with knives and forks and DH had loads of fun trying to match their dexterity.
The entrée we had before the plats was also extremely good. It was chunks of beets in a mild vinaigrette with an egg over easy on top. Who would’ve thought this would be a great combo? It was.
Then we went to St. Severin church and then to the Cluny, but the Cluny was closed. (we forgot it was Tuesday) Then we walked over to St. Chappelle and waited on our longest line so far, but very worth the wait. (about an hour wait) We stared at the stained glass windows for almost an hour. We also went to Notre Dame but they said it was too late to climb to the top. We decided to walk home and bumped into an Eric Kayser boulangerie and bought a bagette and an olive bread. The olive bread was the best I’ve ever tasted. It had about 50 whole black and green olives in it. Try this bread if you love olives! Then we found Herme and I had my favorite macarons of the trip by the fountain at St. Sulpice. (DH liked Pain de Sucre’s best.) We stopped by a pate shop which was closing in an hour and the shopkeeper wanted to give away the samples he’d made up. How could we refuse foie gras? Unfortunately I didn’t refuse seconds and thirds and so I was not hungry for our dinner later that night. We first went to our hotel in the 7th and then walked south to
Le Troquet in the 15th. (about a ½ hour walk at a good pace) I am a small person but DH is very tall. He needs a lot of food and was hungry for dinner, but I wasn’t that hungry because of our snacks. We had the fixed price meals at Le Troquet which were excellent. For entree I had shrimp over fresh cous cous salad. He had razor clams/ham/beet/ parmesan plate. Plats: he had duck au vin over fresh noodles and I had seafood risotto. I could’ve made it if I hadn’t eaten my dessert of chocolate soup with poached pear, but I did eat some it and that put me over the top. For some reason I kept thinking about my mother looking at me while I was eating this soup. It seemed so decadent to eat a chocolate soup I think her looking at me was a Freudian super-ego thing.
The staff at le troquet were especially nice and so were the people near us who offered their recommendations when they heard us speaking English. (they recommended the duck) Price of dinner was 80E with a ½ bottle of wine. (the wine wasn’t very good so go for a better quality whole bottle if wine is important to you)
We walked home and again saw the Eiffel tower sparkling.
When we got back to the hotel it was about 11 pm. I felt very full (too much eating) so I wasn’t planning on going to bed for a while. All of a sudden a couple began to fight. They were screaming. It turned out to be a mother/teenage son argument full of ‘I hate yous’ ‘you’re a martyr’ ‘you’re controlling me’ etc. This went on for 1 1/2 hours! The reason we didn’t interrupt it was because somehow the fight was contagious and after an hour of listening to it (and wondering 'should we knock, should we tell the concierge?') DH and I began to worry about our itinerary and how we were going to fit everything into the next 4 days. (d’orsay, Rodin, Marmottan, Pompideau, Gustave Moreau, Jewish Museum, Sacre Coeur, William Blake exhibit, night cruise, shopping, l’orangerie, promenade plantee, viaduct of the arts, Pantheon, Notre Dame climb, Eiffel Tower climb, Cluny) We realized our day at the Manchester airport was going to effect us and that I had to give up some walking and he had to give up some churches. But because we are happy cats we re-planned the next few days, changed some things around, compromised and by the time we were ready for bed the family next door made up and was winding down.
Day 6:
Today I woke up with a stomach ache and vowed to give my stomach a break. We walked to the Gustave Moreau museum and stopped quickly at l’orangerie to see Monet’s water lilies real quick. I really liked Gustave Moreau in my 20s and had seen an exhibition of his at the Met in NYC about 10 years ago (I think 10 years?) but I wanted to see his house. I enjoyed our visit there even though most of his best work is scattered elsewhere. (there are some gems though) Then we walked several blocks to Carte Blanch (a clothilde recommendation) but I just couldn’t eat another big meal so we bypassed and had snacks from aurora capuchin bakery. We walked to the Marais and went to the Jewish Museum. The small exhibit about the holocaust was very sad and I cried as I thought about my father (now deceased) who was a holocaust survivor (Mauthausen) and imagined what it might’ve been like. Then we shared a lamb shwarma with veggies at l’as du falafel. 11E (no falafel that day b/c of Passover) After that we went to the Pompideau for several hours and had a great time. I wish that Sister Wendy could’ve been there with us because there was a Kandinsky exhibit and in one of her shows she talks about the painting Fish Magic in a magical way. I was tired so we walked home at this point and shared mussels and fries at Leon’s in St. Germain for 20E.
We took the metro from the 7th to the Opera to see the Ballet and arrived early, at 7pm. The man at the box office couldn’t find our reservation. He looked and looked until he said “what show are you going to?” and we said Gustav Mahler Ballet and he said in an encouraging way, “you’re at the wrong opera, but you have time, just take the Metro to the Bastille.” So we ran onto the metro and made it to the Bastille opera house right on time. I was disappointed and frustrated b/c I wanted so badly to see the Chagall ceiling! But the ballet and orchestra were great. There was beautiful singing in the symphony as well. DH wanted to eat so we took the metro to St. Germain to
Relais d’entrecote- This is a casual restaurant that serves steak. As soon as you sit down someone comes over and says “how do you want it?” (in French) Then you are brought a salad with AMAZING mustard based dressing and after this, steak and fries. The pride of the place is the sauce on the steak. Part of the fun is trying to decipher what’s in the sauce. I think cardamom, coriander, yogurt and ….? We were there at 11 pm and had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. I ordered the steak rare and was told by the waitress that I would like it better a point. (medium) The steak was more medium-well but it was like butter! The sauce on the steak and fries was delicious. When you finish your steak they’ll bring you a little more steak and fries-you don’t even have to ask. (I didn't really need more steak at 11:30 at night, but that sauce.) The bill was about 60E because we had two glasses of wine. The steak alone is 24.50 E per person. From here we walked back to our hotel.
Day 5:
This was only our 3rd day in Paris and we had 5 whole days left but on this day we felt the stress of having spent one day at the Manchester Airport. We weren’t on schedule and as you can see I am a slow traveler in that I like to walk a lot to get the feel of a place. I don’t like taking the metro here and there and there. We were supposed to go to the Orsay but b/c it was Tuesday and other museums were closed it was extremely crowded (even the line for people with museum passes was long) so we ended up walking to the Louvre’s decorative arts/ fashion museum. They have a free audio guide there, by the way. Our favorite part of the museum was the art nouveau furniture. We then ate lunch at
Pre Verre- in the Latin Quarter. They have a 13 E lunch. (choice of chicken or steak that day, entrée, glass of wine and coffee) You can order a la carte or fixed price for more, but we had the special. Everything on the menu has Asian influence.(curry, ginger, etc) The food was excellent, atmosphere very nice and lively, and the wine that came with lunch was delicious. The chicken was actually a little bird, although the waiter, speaking english to us, called it chicken. The people around us (French) were eating the mini chicken very delicately with knives and forks and DH had loads of fun trying to match their dexterity.
The entrée we had before the plats was also extremely good. It was chunks of beets in a mild vinaigrette with an egg over easy on top. Who would’ve thought this would be a great combo? It was.
Then we went to St. Severin church and then to the Cluny, but the Cluny was closed. (we forgot it was Tuesday) Then we walked over to St. Chappelle and waited on our longest line so far, but very worth the wait. (about an hour wait) We stared at the stained glass windows for almost an hour. We also went to Notre Dame but they said it was too late to climb to the top. We decided to walk home and bumped into an Eric Kayser boulangerie and bought a bagette and an olive bread. The olive bread was the best I’ve ever tasted. It had about 50 whole black and green olives in it. Try this bread if you love olives! Then we found Herme and I had my favorite macarons of the trip by the fountain at St. Sulpice. (DH liked Pain de Sucre’s best.) We stopped by a pate shop which was closing in an hour and the shopkeeper wanted to give away the samples he’d made up. How could we refuse foie gras? Unfortunately I didn’t refuse seconds and thirds and so I was not hungry for our dinner later that night. We first went to our hotel in the 7th and then walked south to
Le Troquet in the 15th. (about a ½ hour walk at a good pace) I am a small person but DH is very tall. He needs a lot of food and was hungry for dinner, but I wasn’t that hungry because of our snacks. We had the fixed price meals at Le Troquet which were excellent. For entree I had shrimp over fresh cous cous salad. He had razor clams/ham/beet/ parmesan plate. Plats: he had duck au vin over fresh noodles and I had seafood risotto. I could’ve made it if I hadn’t eaten my dessert of chocolate soup with poached pear, but I did eat some it and that put me over the top. For some reason I kept thinking about my mother looking at me while I was eating this soup. It seemed so decadent to eat a chocolate soup I think her looking at me was a Freudian super-ego thing.
The staff at le troquet were especially nice and so were the people near us who offered their recommendations when they heard us speaking English. (they recommended the duck) Price of dinner was 80E with a ½ bottle of wine. (the wine wasn’t very good so go for a better quality whole bottle if wine is important to you)
We walked home and again saw the Eiffel tower sparkling.
When we got back to the hotel it was about 11 pm. I felt very full (too much eating) so I wasn’t planning on going to bed for a while. All of a sudden a couple began to fight. They were screaming. It turned out to be a mother/teenage son argument full of ‘I hate yous’ ‘you’re a martyr’ ‘you’re controlling me’ etc. This went on for 1 1/2 hours! The reason we didn’t interrupt it was because somehow the fight was contagious and after an hour of listening to it (and wondering 'should we knock, should we tell the concierge?') DH and I began to worry about our itinerary and how we were going to fit everything into the next 4 days. (d’orsay, Rodin, Marmottan, Pompideau, Gustave Moreau, Jewish Museum, Sacre Coeur, William Blake exhibit, night cruise, shopping, l’orangerie, promenade plantee, viaduct of the arts, Pantheon, Notre Dame climb, Eiffel Tower climb, Cluny) We realized our day at the Manchester airport was going to effect us and that I had to give up some walking and he had to give up some churches. But because we are happy cats we re-planned the next few days, changed some things around, compromised and by the time we were ready for bed the family next door made up and was winding down.
Day 6:
Today I woke up with a stomach ache and vowed to give my stomach a break. We walked to the Gustave Moreau museum and stopped quickly at l’orangerie to see Monet’s water lilies real quick. I really liked Gustave Moreau in my 20s and had seen an exhibition of his at the Met in NYC about 10 years ago (I think 10 years?) but I wanted to see his house. I enjoyed our visit there even though most of his best work is scattered elsewhere. (there are some gems though) Then we walked several blocks to Carte Blanch (a clothilde recommendation) but I just couldn’t eat another big meal so we bypassed and had snacks from aurora capuchin bakery. We walked to the Marais and went to the Jewish Museum. The small exhibit about the holocaust was very sad and I cried as I thought about my father (now deceased) who was a holocaust survivor (Mauthausen) and imagined what it might’ve been like. Then we shared a lamb shwarma with veggies at l’as du falafel. 11E (no falafel that day b/c of Passover) After that we went to the Pompideau for several hours and had a great time. I wish that Sister Wendy could’ve been there with us because there was a Kandinsky exhibit and in one of her shows she talks about the painting Fish Magic in a magical way. I was tired so we walked home at this point and shared mussels and fries at Leon’s in St. Germain for 20E.
Apr 15th, 2009, 08:55 AM
#19
Love all of your restaurant details. Taking notes for our next trip.
We also liked Relais d'Entrecote. We thought it was a regular restaurant with a menu. I looked to my right & left and saw people eating wonderful looking steak & ff's. So I said to MDH that I would order that. When the server arrived, we asked for a menu and she said "one dish" and pointed around. I guess they've been serving this "one dish" for 150 years, and there is always a line to get in. Stick with a good thing!
Looking forward to the rest of your report.
We also liked Relais d'Entrecote. We thought it was a regular restaurant with a menu. I looked to my right & left and saw people eating wonderful looking steak & ff's. So I said to MDH that I would order that. When the server arrived, we asked for a menu and she said "one dish" and pointed around. I guess they've been serving this "one dish" for 150 years, and there is always a line to get in. Stick with a good thing!
Looking forward to the rest of your report.
