We love Paris in the springtime! A March weekend.
Apr 6th, 2014, 11:16 AM
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We love Paris in the springtime! A March weekend.
We took a long weekend in Paris at the end of March. We escaped the Cape during a blizzard with gale force winds and flew to Paris via London Heathrow. It was GLORIOUS in Paris. Spring had completely sprung with flowers and trees blooming everywhere. I had brought a lined raincoat and never wore it!! I even wore sandals one day.
We have been to Paris numerous times so we didn’t have plans to visit the top tourist sites. This was a weekend for relaxation and to visit with friends who were in Paris for a long period.
I am not going to go through our whole weekend step by step but I have a few things I would like to mention.
1. Following a recommendation by welltraveledbrit we took the Underground Paris Street Art tour. We are not really tour people but this one was a lot of fun. Very interesting and provided an introduction to areas of Paris we don’t normally go. It was well worth the time and expense. My favorite part was when I noticed one of the pieces of street art high on a wall in the 5th. http://undergroundparis.org/street-art-tours-paris
2. Take busses!! They give you a great view of Paris. Usually I walk around the neighborhood where we stay and look for bus signs. Then I know what busses I need to get home when we are out and about and my feet are killing me. Use RATP.fr to plan for bus routes. Also remember that your carnet is good for 90 minutes so if you pop off the bus to get a look at something or stop in a shop you can use it for the remainder of the trip.
3. Buy tickets for exhibits you want to see in advance when you can. We wanted to see the exhibit at the Musee Marmottan and had an hour and half to do it in. When we got the block before the museum there was a line around the corner. No exhibit for us- c’est domage!!
4. Be aware of seasonal produce and order or buy where available. The menus this trip were all about scallops, asparagus and strawberries. THE BEST strawberries were a small container of small strawberries we bought at the Richard Lenoir market for 3.5 euros. They perfumed our hotel room with their fragrance. I tucked the container in my carryon for us to eat on the plan. That little dog in Logan Airport smelled them too but luckily we ate them before we landed.
We have been to Paris numerous times so we didn’t have plans to visit the top tourist sites. This was a weekend for relaxation and to visit with friends who were in Paris for a long period.
I am not going to go through our whole weekend step by step but I have a few things I would like to mention.
1. Following a recommendation by welltraveledbrit we took the Underground Paris Street Art tour. We are not really tour people but this one was a lot of fun. Very interesting and provided an introduction to areas of Paris we don’t normally go. It was well worth the time and expense. My favorite part was when I noticed one of the pieces of street art high on a wall in the 5th. http://undergroundparis.org/street-art-tours-paris
2. Take busses!! They give you a great view of Paris. Usually I walk around the neighborhood where we stay and look for bus signs. Then I know what busses I need to get home when we are out and about and my feet are killing me. Use RATP.fr to plan for bus routes. Also remember that your carnet is good for 90 minutes so if you pop off the bus to get a look at something or stop in a shop you can use it for the remainder of the trip.
3. Buy tickets for exhibits you want to see in advance when you can. We wanted to see the exhibit at the Musee Marmottan and had an hour and half to do it in. When we got the block before the museum there was a line around the corner. No exhibit for us- c’est domage!!
4. Be aware of seasonal produce and order or buy where available. The menus this trip were all about scallops, asparagus and strawberries. THE BEST strawberries were a small container of small strawberries we bought at the Richard Lenoir market for 3.5 euros. They perfumed our hotel room with their fragrance. I tucked the container in my carryon for us to eat on the plan. That little dog in Logan Airport smelled them too but luckily we ate them before we landed.
Apr 6th, 2014, 11:17 AM
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Meals:
We stayed at the Relais Saint Germain which is a hotel we love. Due to that we ate a majority of our meals at their various restaurants. Here are some of the dishes we had over the weekend that were fabulous:
Le Comptoir- lunch I love their Salade Gourmande which has baby romaine hearts, haricot vert, artichoke hearts and foie gras. Virtue and decadence!! Very yummy.
Le Comptoir- lunch Special of scallops in Bordier butter with almonds. Served on the shell with the roe. Delicious!!
Le Comptoir – weekday dinner- The whole meal was fabulous but I love ris de veau so paid the supplement. It was served with fresh morilles. YUM!!
Chez L’Ami Jean- lunch- Oh My!! Small scallops (about the size of divot with the power button of my iphone) simply poached in broth served in the shell. It was amazing that they weren’t over cooked since we had to wait for the last dish to arrive at the table. I got yelled at for opening the pot prematurely. Dessert for me (table mates went for the rice pudding) was a parfait with fresh strawberries. Why can’t we get strawberries like that here???
Avant le Comptoir- snack I have yet to get to France for the artichoke season (when is it??) so of course I ordered one here. It was wonderful but I almost jumped over the counter when the server took my plate away just before I got to the heart!!! They took the last leaves off (I would have eaten them!!), scrapped out the choke, cut the heart into pieces and served with a different vinaigrette. He was forgiven.
Liliane-dinner I love quail and had that as a starter with an artichoke puree. My plat was shrimp in a stir fry with vegetables and a lemon grass sauce. Wonderful and light. My DH had a special green vegetable salad with smoked ducks- also wonderful. He is particularly drawn to fruit soups for desserts and theirs didn’t disappoint.
Sunday market at Boulevard Raspail. Our tradition is to go to this market and get the potato, onion and cheese galettes at the beginning of the market. We munch on them while we stroll through the market. Then we get another each or one to spilt for the walk home. The best!!!
Le Comptoir- Sunday dinner- Special asparagus soup- I love when they bring a warm bowl with stuff in it and then pour the soup on top. I must remember that for my next dinner party. There were croutons and herring roe in the bowl and the soup itself was almost white. Essence of asparagus!! Perfect. My DH adores fresh tuna so he orders that whenever he sees it on the menu. This was a special with a mousseline of olive (I think) and served with fresh peas, favas and asparagus. Life is good.
We stayed at the Relais Saint Germain which is a hotel we love. Due to that we ate a majority of our meals at their various restaurants. Here are some of the dishes we had over the weekend that were fabulous:
Le Comptoir- lunch I love their Salade Gourmande which has baby romaine hearts, haricot vert, artichoke hearts and foie gras. Virtue and decadence!! Very yummy.
Le Comptoir- lunch Special of scallops in Bordier butter with almonds. Served on the shell with the roe. Delicious!!
Le Comptoir – weekday dinner- The whole meal was fabulous but I love ris de veau so paid the supplement. It was served with fresh morilles. YUM!!
Chez L’Ami Jean- lunch- Oh My!! Small scallops (about the size of divot with the power button of my iphone) simply poached in broth served in the shell. It was amazing that they weren’t over cooked since we had to wait for the last dish to arrive at the table. I got yelled at for opening the pot prematurely. Dessert for me (table mates went for the rice pudding) was a parfait with fresh strawberries. Why can’t we get strawberries like that here???
Avant le Comptoir- snack I have yet to get to France for the artichoke season (when is it??) so of course I ordered one here. It was wonderful but I almost jumped over the counter when the server took my plate away just before I got to the heart!!! They took the last leaves off (I would have eaten them!!), scrapped out the choke, cut the heart into pieces and served with a different vinaigrette. He was forgiven.
Liliane-dinner I love quail and had that as a starter with an artichoke puree. My plat was shrimp in a stir fry with vegetables and a lemon grass sauce. Wonderful and light. My DH had a special green vegetable salad with smoked ducks- also wonderful. He is particularly drawn to fruit soups for desserts and theirs didn’t disappoint.
Sunday market at Boulevard Raspail. Our tradition is to go to this market and get the potato, onion and cheese galettes at the beginning of the market. We munch on them while we stroll through the market. Then we get another each or one to spilt for the walk home. The best!!!
Le Comptoir- Sunday dinner- Special asparagus soup- I love when they bring a warm bowl with stuff in it and then pour the soup on top. I must remember that for my next dinner party. There were croutons and herring roe in the bowl and the soup itself was almost white. Essence of asparagus!! Perfect. My DH adores fresh tuna so he orders that whenever he sees it on the menu. This was a special with a mousseline of olive (I think) and served with fresh peas, favas and asparagus. Life is good.
Apr 6th, 2014, 11:19 AM
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Grocery shopping:
I always buy stuff to bring home while in Paris.
We went to Maille and had the crock refilled.
At G. Detou I bought Iranian shelled pistachios and mixed dried forest mushrooms.
We need to go to J Genin for caramels every time we are in Paris.
I bought a nice hunk of comte at Laurent Dubois as well as some butter with sea salt and a couple of little goat cheeses.
A selection of olives purchased at the Richard Lenior market as well as a small tin of foie gras makes the trip home not as painful.
My DH bought a bottle of Armagnac.
Every trip ends with a stop at Gerard Mulot for little pastries for the plane ride home. This time we also bought some croissant since we would miss breakfast due to the early departure.
The trip home was wacky. I had mistaken the flight time- well not really. It was 7AM but really 7:55AM so should have planned our arrival at the airport for 6:30 AM. Then we flew back through Madrid. I should have let my DH go drool over the jamon rather than rush him to sit in the satellite terminal which had no real amenities. We got home midafternoon and were treated to a snow squall but we didn’t care we had had fabulous weather and weekend in Paris.
I always buy stuff to bring home while in Paris.
We went to Maille and had the crock refilled.
At G. Detou I bought Iranian shelled pistachios and mixed dried forest mushrooms.
We need to go to J Genin for caramels every time we are in Paris.
I bought a nice hunk of comte at Laurent Dubois as well as some butter with sea salt and a couple of little goat cheeses.
A selection of olives purchased at the Richard Lenior market as well as a small tin of foie gras makes the trip home not as painful.
My DH bought a bottle of Armagnac.
Every trip ends with a stop at Gerard Mulot for little pastries for the plane ride home. This time we also bought some croissant since we would miss breakfast due to the early departure.
The trip home was wacky. I had mistaken the flight time- well not really. It was 7AM but really 7:55AM so should have planned our arrival at the airport for 6:30 AM. Then we flew back through Madrid. I should have let my DH go drool over the jamon rather than rush him to sit in the satellite terminal which had no real amenities. We got home midafternoon and were treated to a snow squall but we didn’t care we had had fabulous weather and weekend in Paris.
Apr 6th, 2014, 11:38 AM
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The butter and cheese traveled in our checked bags in the unheated hold. They were solid when we unpacked them. Cheese and butter are allowed as far as I know. Don't know how long that will be the case though.
Apr 6th, 2014, 12:31 PM
#6
Then we flew back through Madrid. I should have let my DH go drool over the jamon rather than rush him to sit in the satellite terminal which had no real amenities>>
AGM, i do wish that there was some way to find out what facilities there are airside [or in a satellite terminal] before you go through from landside. I suppose it's possible to look it up before you leave, but not always, and anyway, who does that?
Thanks for the foodie details - I love scallops! [and armagnac]
AGM, i do wish that there was some way to find out what facilities there are airside [or in a satellite terminal] before you go through from landside. I suppose it's possible to look it up before you leave, but not always, and anyway, who does that?
Thanks for the foodie details - I love scallops! [and armagnac]
Apr 6th, 2014, 03:06 PM
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AGM, we had pretty good weather too, as you hoped in your note. It's tough to beat paris in the spring. The street art tour sounds like fun. And the strawberries, they're packaged like jewels and taste as good as they look. Welcome home, sorry about the snow, and thanks for the trip report.
Apr 6th, 2014, 03:44 PM
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Thanks for your report! It brings back so many fun Paris memories. Relais St. Germain is also our current favorite Paris hotel (and some of that is of course due to the great food!) My last trip to Paris I signed up for that underground Paris street art tour and one of my great regrets is that I didn't make it, but hopefully next time. We found a great Frida Kahlo/Diego Rivera exhibit at L'Orangerie and didn't have time to do both so museum art won this time (AND - as you suggested - I did wish that we would have bought tickets in advance as we almost missed it bc of the long line but ran over to the Orsay to buy museum passes (which enabled us to get in but did make it a pretty expensive exhibit
We were off season and didn't anticipate the crowd.
And I love Gerard Mulot - a couple of years ago our rental apt was right across the street from the one by the Place des Vosges and every morning we had pain au chocolat for breakfast.
I never thought about bringing home butter, great idea!
And last trip I discovered J Genin in the Marais .... a new addiction for me as well.
The list of culinary "musts" seems to get longer every trip.
We were off season and didn't anticipate the crowd.And I love Gerard Mulot - a couple of years ago our rental apt was right across the street from the one by the Place des Vosges and every morning we had pain au chocolat for breakfast.
I never thought about bringing home butter, great idea!
And last trip I discovered J Genin in the Marais .... a new addiction for me as well.
The list of culinary "musts" seems to get longer every trip.
Apr 7th, 2014, 06:24 AM
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After reading your report and the "live report" this morning, sure wish I were in Paris! The Cape is still, brown, gray and raw, isn't it? (Though there a few spots of color and other signs of spring.)
Apr 7th, 2014, 10:27 AM
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cigalechanta- we didn't get to Ryst Dupeyron this time. T bought a bottle at the store next to Laurent Dubois Fromagerie. He said it was one he hadn't ever had. I think it was an '85.
Traviata- we were ready to return before we got out of the hotel.
Traviata- we were ready to return before we got out of the hotel.
Apr 7th, 2014, 10:32 AM
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You hit so many favorites of ours!
We just returned from Lisbon over this weekend and also were wowed by the beautiful strawberries. Not only yummy but we saw a few street carts with huge mounds of them...visually beautiful!
I always go to Maille for mustard (love the crocks) and we love Gerard Mulot, as well. That salted butter is to die for, isn't it? We have enjoyed Le Comptoir, as well. Chaz always finds a way to work in a visit there!
We just returned from Lisbon over this weekend and also were wowed by the beautiful strawberries. Not only yummy but we saw a few street carts with huge mounds of them...visually beautiful!
I always go to Maille for mustard (love the crocks) and we love Gerard Mulot, as well. That salted butter is to die for, isn't it? We have enjoyed Le Comptoir, as well. Chaz always finds a way to work in a visit there!
