A Very American Weekend in Paris

On Friday, we met Nancy, an expat whom I know from the Slow Travel France Forum. She has lived here for 20 years. It's one of those great stories. She was planning on staying a year and voila! She met her husband here, and they make their home in the Montmartre Quarter. Anyway, she was delightful. She took us to a weekly market nearby, and we chatted for a bit at a cafe. Actually, we are going to see her tonight and get to meet her husband and some friends.

Here's a picture of some beautiful fish at the market.

We ended up buying some sausages and roasted potatoes that we reheated for dinner. At about 12 Euros for s dinner for two, it was delicious AND a bargain.

On Saturday, we went to a place called Hidden Kitchen. This is a private supper club run by a lovely, young, extremely talented couple from Seattle. It's a 10-course meal with 7 wines, and it was amazing. There were 16 of us – all American visitors – and we had a wonderful time. The food was truly out of this world.

Here's just one course, but it seemed to be the favorite of a lot of guests: pan-fried mackerel with glazed fennel barley and preserved lemon chutney.

On Sunday, we went to the Salon of Mr. Jim Haynes, an American who has been having Sunday dinners for over 30 years. Here's a pic that shows the set-up: small apartment (although we were able to spill outside), food cooked by a friend, LOTS of people. Jim is the guy in the lower left corner, gray hair, glasses. He's quite a character! We met travelers like us, expats, and some locals. It was a really fun time.

Virginia may be for lovers, but Paris is for kissers

I organized a kissing "crawl" for us yesterday. I'll wait while you put your finger in your mouth in a gagging motion.....

Done?

OK, well I had a great collection of guidebooks from all over the world when the levee broke. My first "guide" book that started the collection from scratch again was from my friend Denise called, "The Best Places to Kiss in Paris." I vowed to use it. So, I narrowed it down to 16 places, (there were more than 100!) organized them by time of day and location, and off we went. What a great day! We started in the 18th at the "I love you" wall at 8:30AM; went to the 17th to the Square des Batignolles (we had never been - wow! a Paradise in Paris - pics later); then we went to the 2nd to a grand movie theatre called the Rex (we couldn't get in without a ticket so we kissed in the lobby); then to the Pont Marie; then to the Carnavelet Museum - a new one for us - great museum; then to the Quai de la Tournelle; breather for lunch, and back to the Metro Abbesses. We only hit 7!!

Tom says his favorite place was the Pont Marie. Mine was behind the Louis XIV statue at the Carnavelet. Oh yeah, the book also tells you whether you should be discreet at a certain location or just go with it - I mean, this is Paris....

I'm having a hard time keeping up with the pictures, but I will try to post more soon. We're busy!

What do you want to do today?

Lah tee dah - how wonderful to wake up in Paris with no agenda!

Yesterday, we started our day by wandering around our neighborhood. I am loving Montmartre as a base. We walked through the Place du Tertre (not my favorite spot in Paris) which was amazingly uncrowded. I saw an artist hounding a couple - literally following them - to haggle a price for their portrait. Not sure if they succumbed...

Then we wandered into a lovely, sedate-for-Paris church named St. John the Evangelist. We both lit candles for our fathers there. My father will be gone for 10 years this year; Tom's Dad is the hospital with pneumonia. He's getting better, but we are keeping in close touch.

Now what? Let's go to the Orangerie! I hadn't been in about 20 years, and Les Nympheas still took my breath away. We spent nearly 3 hours here - in addition to Monet, there's a wonderful collection of Impressionists.
http://www.musee-orangerie.fr/

Then it was off to find lunch - more like a snack - since it was past 3:00. We found a little sandwich stop off the Boulevard St. Germain - wonderful bread - and sat for awhile, rested our feet, and people-watched. That is one of my favorite activities in Paris.

Time to shop for dinner. What fun! Let's see, we bought vegetables from the produce guy, cheese and butter from the fromagerie, a baguette from the baker, and some lovely veal chops from the butcher. I didn't see herbs at any of the above, so we did have to go to the supermarket. Ah well..

Anyway, I love the kitchen here, I love the stove, I love the pots - we had a great meal last night. After dinner, we went cafe-hopping for a couple drinks - and more people-watching.

Pictures later....

Paris is like an old friend

We had some friends visiting us last weekend whom I have known since I was 15. We've done a good job of keeping in touch over the years, but I always find it amazing that it never seems like any time has passed when I see them. It could have been last year, it could have been yesterday - it's just so comfortable.

That's how Paris feels. There's no awkward, getting reacquainted time. Over the past two days, we have been to a couple places I have never been in Paris (and this is my 11th time here!) and yet, it's all so familiar - the sights, the sounds, the smells, the people - they're all so familiar and so comfortable and I feel so at home here.

Yes, we ate yesterday

I am imagining our many foodie friends, thinking, "Where are the food pictures?"

Yesterday, we had a late lunch at a little Bar a Vins nearby called L'Affiche.

That was my crepe complete - inside there was a hamburger, tomatoes and cheese. It was wonderful, as was the little side salad. I know I am a biased, shameless Framcophile, but I really do think that was the best egg I ever had in my life! Just so fresh tasting...

Tom had a classic coq au vin, also delicious. Yeah, there's chicken under all those lardons!
This picture needs no caption. Isn't this a thing of beauty?
A little cheese, a little wine (a nice, fruity, light Saumur), a little bread made for a perfect light supper on that first tiring day. We immediately chose the cheese labeled "cru," i.e. raw milk - such a treat for us pasteurized, homogenized Americans! It was delicious.

Images from our First Day

Our first picture - gotta love it. An accordian player on the RER. He was playing some classic French song - nice thing to hear while jetlagged. I actually recorded him, but somehow I don't think I could get my Aspire One to talk to a cassette! Yes, I gave him a tip.

One of these "nothing" churches one comes across in Paris. This is Notre Dame de Lorette - never saw it before. Quite an amazing structure.













One more, then I need to crash - it's past 8:00!

These are the stairs leading up to Montmartre. I'm standing outside our building. Cool.

Happy Wednesday afternoon in Paris

We made it! I was going to post from Philly, but no wi-fi - and RIC had it. Hmmm....

Anyway, this is the first time for both of us taking public transport from CDG. It was a haul, but probably worth it. The hills of Montmartre were something with our 43.5 lb suitcases! The woman who met us at the apartment was brilliant (sorry, she's British, I couldn't resist) and the apartment itself is really lovely. I'll withhold rating it until we sleep here, but it seems like it's going to be nice.

I'm unpacked and Tom is doing such now. Can't wait to hit the streets. I'll be back later with some pics, I hope.

At the airport

We were forbidden from checking in on-line because well, when the U.S. Passport Agency wants my middle name, I'm going to give it to them. Of course, I don't ever use it - nor does Tom - so our tickets did not match EXACTLY. I called USAirways and spoke to someone who was pretty clueless, but told us we need to check in at the counter and that we might have to have our tickets reissued. Really? So, we gave ourselves plenty of time, which we didn't need. But that's OK, I'm finally relaxed!