Paris, France, April 28 and 29

Sunday, April 28

Today we did the Big L.  The Louvre. We were glad once again to have the Museum Pass, as we did not have to wait in that long line, and got right in.  Though we decided to focus on French art, we were waylaid by the Greek sculpture gallery, where we had an almost private viewing of Venus de Milo.  An hour later, it would have been a mob, as it was later in the day when we passed the Winged Victory.  The crowd around the Mona Lisa was remarkable; our getting up early paid off.

We enjoyed seeing what Joan called memories of Art History 101:  Corot, Watteau, Fragonard, David, Ingres, and the Dutch and Italian masters, Michelangelo, Hals, Vermeer, Leonardo and Rembrandt.  The Louvre can cause visual overload; we timed out around 1 pm.  Neither of us lost our wallets to pickpockets – there were plenty of signs warning us, and apparently it is a growing problem in Paris, even merchants, in giving us our change warned us to be careful.

Now about lunch. We were not too far from Au Pied du Cochon, a well-known restaurant near Les Halles we had passed the other day and the menu checked out well. The place looked “fancy tourist”  but we were the only non-French within view or hearing.  We shared a starter of salmon and sardine rillettes with toast. 

The plat du jour was a trout – very nicely prepared, and we also had a fancy variant of their classic pied du cochon, sans bone, like rillettes encased in pate then coated and fried.  The tiny, tiny mushrooms and asparagus in the sauce were delicious too!  We passed on dessert, for we had visions of a particular pastry shop spinning in our heads for later.

Having rested, the dogs were no longer barking, and our stomachs no longer rumbling, we set off for the Conciergie, one of France’s early palaces that became better known during the revolution as a prison. Marie Antoinette was its most famous guest and we saw a recreation of her cell, as well as the guillotine blade that made her a foot shorter. 

Next stop Sainte-Chapelle.  We will be going to an evening concert here on the first of May, but wanted to see it in full sun.  Sainte-Chapelle is all about stained glass, an architectural marvel for its time, because the delicate Gothic masonry structure made way for a burst of stained glass..  1,113 scenes depicted on 15 tall slender panels to be exact.  The stained glass is undergoing a multi-year restoration program, and the before and after comparison is stunning.  We saw a video showing the restoration and conservation process that was excellent.    From there we strolled past the Marche aux Fleurs on Ile de la Cite, which, because it was Sunday, included birds.  Charming doves cooing, canaries chirping and chickens cock-a doodle do-ing!

We strolled along the streets back to the Pompidou Center to see the Stravinsky Fountain close up.

Then we stumbled upon the lovely Tour Saint-Jacques.  That's what we love about travel-the unexpected finds. 

Our mid-sections were now issuing reports of neglect, and our next order of business was to head once again to rue Montorgueil, famous for its fine food shops.  We had a quick drink at one of the cafes, then returned to Stohrer pastry shop to lay in some pates for our supper and croissants for tomorrow’s breakfast.  We hit it off with our clerk, who really warmed up when he learned we spoke French, and gave a nice price on one item and threw in some other treats – it was the end of the day, and we were glad to assist in cleaning up some of his left-overs.  We may become regulars here – oh my, but what a way to end our day. 

Monday, April 29

A sunny day!  Because many museums are closed on Monday and Tuesday, and our Museum passes expire at the end of Tuesday, we strategized to figure out how to best use our remaining two days.  Because Versailles is closed on Monday, we have planned to "save the best for last" and visit it tomorrow.  That left today for our final Paris visits.  Of course the Arch de Triomphe was a "don't miss", as was L'Orangerie, and we thought we'd also visit the Louvre's museum of decorative arts.  A busy day in store, we got up early as usual and were at the Museum of Decorative Arts a few minutes after nine am, only to be told that it is closed on Monday.  Drat, we should have paid more attention.  Oh well, a sunny morning, early, and the Jardin des Tuileries right there, so a stroll was in order.  Beautiful flowers, fountains and views. 

The 17th Century geometry of the garden is a delight, as are the water basins, and dramatic horseshoe-shaped ramps. 

After strolling through the garden, we found ourselves at L'Orangerie, where we flashed our Museum passes for the first (and only, it was to be) time of the day, to enjoy both Monet's Water Lilies, eight huge canvasses he painted particularly for the location, and the less-well-known but equally enjoyable Walter-Guillaume collection of Renoirs, Picassos, Soutines and other modern masters.

From there, we walked along the Seine, enjoying the view of the houseboats, the Pont Alexandre III and the Eiffel Tower in the background.  We thought we might visit the Petit Palais, but alas it is closed Mondays too.  Thank heavens we have many more days of our visit remaining, as there's so much we want to see and do (and eat!)  Dane got this great detail shot of the Grand Palais:

We strolled along the posh Avenue Montaigne, wondering who the gaggle of young women were waiting to see outside the Plaza Athenee Hotel. 

We didn't wait around to find out, but instead found the shop Fouquet, where we admired the caramels and chocolates.

The sun went behind a cloud, so we stopped for a coffee at Bar des Theatres, right around the corner from the Theatre de Champs-Elysees.  Then it was on to the majestic Boulevard itself. 

It wasn't too far a stroll before we came to the famous Laduree, a Belle Epoque tea salon that has been serving the best macarons in Paris since 1872. 

Well, we didn't start with the macarons, though we did end up with them!  First it was ris de veau or sweetbreads, with celeriac puree and braised celery for Joan and poached salmon with seaweed pasta and garnish for Dane. 

Then came the macaroons-Joan chose salted caramel (which turned out to be her favorite), orange flower water, rose petal and lemon flavors. Dane had a mango crème tart with fresh raspberries on top. The macarons are delicious, but probably worth their weight in gold! Two regular bites or six little nibbles to make them last longer.  Found a great blog with a recipe for the macarons, so am looking forward to trying it when we get home:  http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2012/02/macarons-framboise-ladurees-recipe.html
Update:  Made them.  Delish.  Hard!  Have to find the proper almond flour next time, and good food coloring to get the brilliant pink.  But totally worth the work. 

And of course a pot of Laduree tea in a flavor he remembers from a visit 20 years ago: Jardin Blu Royal.  Check out the paper cozy to insulate the hot teapot handle!

Then we had to walk it off, of course, so headed to the Arch de Triomphe.  Traffic on the Champs Elysees was terrible, and we discovered why as we got closer to the Arch-the Etoile roundabout the Arch was completely closed to pedestrians (us!) and cars.

Apparently there had been a bomb threat and after everyone had been evacuated, while we had been sipping our tea at Laduree, sniffer dogs were brought in to search the area.  We decided not to linger to see if the area would open up so we could visit the Arch, but we did get a once-in-a-lifetime picture of the Arch without people or cars!

With no more plans for the afternoon, we turned back down the Champs Elysees, but the hordes of pedestrians made us decide to go over to the Rue du Faubourg St. Honore, where we walked all the way back to Chatelet, our Metro stop home.  It took a couple of hours, mostly because of the many windows we "shopped" and stores we visited.  Not having yet been in a church today, Joan spotted La Madeleine (it's hard to miss with 52 Corinthian capped columns) so we went in for a quick look-see.  Very dark, but with a spectacular sculpture behind the altar. 

Then we discovered the all around Place de la Madeline is a gourmand's delight, as it is lined with epicieres,  specialty food shops, featuring Maile for mustard, La Maison de la Truffe for truffles, Kaspia for caviar, and Faucon and Hediard, where the fruits were beautifully displayed, for everything! 

A couple of croissants from Faucon await us for tomorrow's breakfast!

The Metro entrance at Palais Royal

Paris, France April 26 and 27, 2012

Exterior view of Georges Pompidou Center, Paris

Friday April 26

Six days to use our Museum Passes, so guess what we did today?  Another museum, you say?  Good guess!  Today it was the Centre Georges Pompidou, the museum of art of modern art housed in a then-radical 1977 building by Richard Rogers, Renzo Piano and Gianfranco Franchini which looks like it was turned inside out with it's skeleton and utilities all showing on the outside.  It makes for big, open, well-lit spaces inside for the contemporary art.  But because the museum didn't open until 11 am, we stopped to see a church (remember, at least one church and one museum a day, or as Dane would put it, NO MORE than one church and one museum a day). 

We got off the Metro at Les Halles, and visited Saint-Eustache once we found our way out from the underground maze of the new Forum des Halles shopping mall, (which was truly dreadful) built on the site of the wonderful old Les Halles market which was demolished in 1969 when the markets were moved to the suburbs. 


Saint-Eustache church interior with its soaring Gothic architecture.

St. Eustache has magnificent arches and pillars, a truly beautiful Gothic church built from1532 to 1637 and modeled after Notre-Dame.  The church was the religious focal point for the vendors of Les Halles, so we especially enjoyed the sculpture in a side chapel which recalled Les Halles' market days.


Homage to the departing fruit and vegetable vendors of Les Halles in a side chapel at St. Eustache.

Then it was off to the Pompidou, where we flashed our passes, bypassing the huge queue waiting to get inside, and took the escalator right up to the sixth floor, where we enjoyed the rooftop views of Paris, including another angle at "our" hilltop of Sacre Cour, and a view down to the Stravinski fountain. 

Stravinsky fountain with statues by Niki de Saint-Phalle & Eglise St. Merry.

After a few hours of soaking up art from the Favuists to Matisse, Braque and Piscaso, the Dadas and Cubists and Dali, Mondrian, Kandinsky and Brancusi on the fifth floor, we finished up with the Giacometti, Pollack, Pop Artists and the contemporary collection on the fourth floor.  Whew-our feet were tired and our brains full, but our stomachs were empty, so it was time to find a place to eat.

Which wasn't hard to do in the Les Halles neighborhood!  We found the rue Montorgueil, a colorful market-lined cobblestone street which is a reminder of the old Les Halles.  L'Escargot Montorgueil offered all manner of preparation of snails (curry or gorgonzola, anyone) in a grand 1830s setting.  We opted for the traditional escargots de Bourgogne in a parsley, garlic and butter sauce, and sopped it up with little toast "soldiers." 


Escargots in Parsley, Butter and Garlic sauce at L'Escargot Montorgueil.

The plats du jour were a filet of dorado with braised fennel with pastis  and veal liver in raspberry vinegar sauce. The potatoes looked like simple boiled potatoes, but instead were tender mashed potatoes shaped into ovals, great for soaking up the sauce.  Both delicious; we switched and each enjoyed half.


Foie de veau with vinaigre de framboise at L'Escargot Montorgueil

We passed on dessert because just up the rue Montorgueil we knew was Stohrer, one of the old-fashioned patisseries in Paris, founded in 1730 by a pastry chef who had worked for Louis XV!  We chose a couple of Portuguese pastel de nata pastries to munch as we walked along the street, and several breakfast pastries to enjoy tomorrow morning.


Stohrer patisserie on Rue Montorgueil, founded in 1730.

We walked from one end of the charming street to the other admiring the vegetable, fish, cheese and butcher shops, glad we had already enjoyed a delicious lunch. 


Fabulous selection of fromages on rue Montorgueil.

Unfortunately, the weather report was correct, and the day had turned from warm with blue skies to quite chilly with spitting rain.  We continued on our walk to find Duthilleul et Minart, a 100 year old shop selling clothes to the chefs and market workers of Les Halles and Dehillerin, the cooking supply store in business since 1820.  While we were tempted by the vast array of wonderful knives, we resisted, knowing we would have to pack them in our luggage for our return trip.  But all the fabulous copper, stainless steel and silicon baking pans sure were tempting for the inner pastry cook in us! 



Stohrer Patisserie Shop

We'll have visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads tonight! 

Saturday, April 27

In spite of a rainy forecast, the day dawned sorta sunny, which was good, since we planned to go park visiting today.  We walked down the mont of Montmartre as the hordes of tourists were walking up.  Finally saw Sacre Cour from the base of the mont, an imposing view:

Caught a new metro line to the Monceau stop,

where we enjoyed a stroll through Parc Monceau, a wonderful gem of a park in the 8th arrondissement. Dating from 1778, it was designed by the painter-writer Carmontelle as a land of dreams, scattered with follies keeping with the English landscaped garden of the period.  There's a pyramid, medieval ruins, beautiful statuary, a Roman colonnade, and an ornamental pond, all linked by a network of paths. 

Being Saturday morning in a posh neighborhood, the outer path was awash with joggers; we felt like sloths as we strolled along, finally finding the smaller inner paths for some peace. 

We enjoyed beautiful statuary, lovely flower beds planted primarily in blue and white, with some pink accents, and stately trees-some of the largest sycamores we've ever seen!

The pond and colonnade were lovely, but it was time to head to the Musee Nissim de Camondo,

which our friends Tom & Sue Carroll had recommended we visit.  Great advice!  The house was built in 1910 overlooking the Parc Monceau and contains an elegant Louis XVI interior with paneled salons and furniture made by the greatest French cabinetmakers, carpets and tapestries, gold and silver ornaments and porcelain from Sevres. 

The wealthy Count de Camondo presented the house and its contents to the nation in 1936 in memory of his son Nissim, who was killed in the WWI. His daughter and her children were arrested by the Germans and sent to Auschwitz.  A sad end for the family, but a legacy of a beautiful building and collection.   

Knowing us, you won't be surprised to learn we especially enjoyed being able to visit the original bathrooms and kitchen!

There was a very nice audio guide which made the visit most enjoyable.  Follow Tom & Sue's recommendation, and visit Musee Nissim de Camondo when you're next in Paris!

From there, we walked, even though Joan's knee was bothering her, to the Chaillot Quarter, crossing Boulevard Haussmann and the Champs Elysees, where we glimpsed the Arc de Triomphe in the near distance.  While we could have taken the metro, the walk wasn't much longer, and although it had clouded up, we still enjoyed the street views. 

Our destination was the museum Cite de l'Architecture et du Patrimoinee.  But first, a meal, of course.  Our usual schedule is a light breakfast in our apartment, a serious morning of sightseeing, then a nice early afternoon meal.  The French accommodate us with most restaurants serving lunch until 3 pm. Saturday is a bit different; we passed many many closed shops and restaurants on our walk-at home, Saturday would be one of the busiest days, but in Paris, many are closed on the weekend.  Luckily, we found a lovely restaurant near the museum; we were looking for a restaurant Dane and Elizabeth had enjoyed on their visit to Paris in 2001, which was no longer there, but next door was a brassiere called XVIeme Avenue on Avenue Raymond Poincare. 

Having a chill after the walk, Dane started with traditional Soupe a l'Oignon and Joan enjoyed a flavorful tartare of artichokes and tomatoes.  Continuing with the tartare theme, Joan had Boeuf Tartare and Dane had a wonderful Salade Nicoise.  The décor of the restaurant, with gunmetal grey walls, red velvet upholstery, and black lampshades on gold lamps was tres elegante!

From there it was a quick walk back to the architecture museum where we once again flashed our passes and strolled through the galleries in the east wing of the Palais de Chaillot, which contained casts and models of many French architectural monuments from the middle ages through the Renaissance. 

It was like a quick architectural history tour! 

On the second floor, in the modern and contemporary gallery was the reconstruction of a Le Corbusier-designed apartment and many models of contemporary French buildings and exhibits about contemporary French architectural design.  Dane wished his sister Betsey had been there with us to guide us.  For architectural junkies like us, it was a wonderful afternoon!

An extra bonus was the fact that the Palais de Chaillot has perhaps the best view of the Tour Eiffel of any location in Paris.  Although the sky was dark and cloudy, we still enjoyed a fabulous view of that great symbol of Paris, which we look forward to visiting later in our stay in Paris.