The Day That Wasn’t

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Things happen for a reason, and today was a perfect example of that. First, our bodies revolted (protested so to speak) and we slept until 10:00. Meaning, we missed breakfast, most importantly the croissant and now were very behind in what was to be a very intense day hopscotching across Paris.

By the time we were ready to leave for the day it was already 12:30, first stop was our favorite little crepe stand at La Tour Maubourg. It is just a few blocks from our hotel so we walked. It was again another lovely cloud free day in Paris around 75 and a nice breeze to keep you cool as you walked. We ordered our standard crepe fromage and jamon and then sat in the park across the way. Which is also right next to the Metro stop.

When we had finished our crepes, we walked to the Metro stop only to find that it was closed. We then walked a few blocks to the next stop at the invalids, it was also closed, a pattern appeared to be emerging. We continued on to the Seine and walked down the river bank. We began to suspect that something might be up when a pair of police men (and I must say very cute policemen) stopped us to inspect our bags. We obliged and continued on our way. The police presence seemed to be pretty heavy, then we came to the bridge that cross from the National Assembly to the Concorde, it was blocked off by several police. It was then we discovered that there was a planned protest and that the entire core of Paris was pretty much closed off for several hours. Most all of the Metros were not working, so getting anywhere was not feasible. This put a bit of a hitch in our plans for the day, but hell, we are still in Paris.

The French have been protesting for a few months about the taxes and many people in the states seem to think that means it isn’t safe to travel here. Well, there are protests constantly in the US and no one thinks twice about it and they can actually be violent. Here they seem to be pretty planed out and evidently, they coordinate with the authorities to make it all go smoothly.

Needless to say, while we didn’t get to do what we had planned, we also did not actually see or even hear anyone protesting. We had to improvise the rest of our day, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and this being a very catholic nation, it is a two-day holiday so many businesses will be closed, including the laundry. We were originally going to drop off laundry on Monday and pick up Tuesday, but because of the protests we became aware that many businesses would be closed on Monday our dry cleaners being one of them. This meant we had to get everything ready and dropped off today.

So, if we had not slept in, and there had not been any planned protests, we would not have gotten our closed laundered.

Paris, there is magic in the air.

Once we were made aware of the Metro situation, we walked back along the Seine to our hotel. Here the person at the front desk confirmed that the Metro’s would be closed until 7pm. We gathered our laundry and headed for the cleaners. This is always a true test of our language skills, or lack thereof. They almost never speak English, and why should they, how many American tourists are patronizing their business, so with the help of my translation app on my phone and the extreme patience for the clerk, we managed to communicate enough to leave our laundry.

At this point, we went our separate ways, Jerry to explore the neighborhood a bit more in depth, me to the ATM and then back to the room to catch up on some blogging and just to relax.

The only thing on the itinerary for today that we managed to achieve was dinner.

Chez Monsieur

We dressed and headed for dinner, which was located in the Madeline district. We left at seven, reservations at eight, just in case we had any residual Metro issues. Which we did. Our Metro stop was open so we went down and boarded like normal. However, when it got across the river it skipped the Concorde stop, then Madeline stop, then the Opera stop. It did stop at the next stop, so we had to walk back to the restaurant, but we had the time, so will still managed to make our reservation.

This is the third time we have eaten at this restaurant. The first was part of the 50^th birthday trip and was a delightful experience. The second was in 2013 during our Pairs, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic trip. This was not as enjoyable, different staff and ate outside. The food was still ok so it deserved a third try. Often the third time we go some place may be its last, as it has just not kept up the standards. This was not the case with Chez Monsieur (Royal Madeline).

We were seated at a nice window table, not that there is really much to look at as it is on a quite side street. But we did have a good view of the interior. The only criticism we had, is that it is almost entirely tourists, the French are not eating here, there were a few couples with their dog outside, but overall it was full of Brits or Americans, and then mostly families.

That all aside, dinner was very good.

We of course started with champagne while we reviewed the simple yet well planned menu. We ordered then just enjoyed our evening. We have now been in Paris for 4 days (three full days) and this is our fourth dinner. It has taken me this long to finally order Escargot. Since it is spring and they are actually in season, it was time to unleash my inner Francophile.

I started with the Escargots de Bourgogne, cuisines au beurre blanc servis en coquille. Often times are simply served in garlic butter, these however were served in the shell with a very delicious garlic basil sauce. It was a good start to what I am sure will not be the last Escargot of the trip.

Jerry started with Chiffonade de jambon affine 16 mois de la maison, ospital, beurre demi-sel. This is a lot of French words for thinly sliced ham house aged for 16 months served with half salted butter. They slicer was right at the bar so we watched them prepare the ham as we sipped our champagne.

For the main course Jerry had a Rumsteak Charolais, pomme de terre confites, sauce au poivre. A medium rare rum steak (Charolais is the type of cow) with a pepper sauce. The steak was cooked to perfection and Jerry did not waste a trop.

I had a new dish and it turned out to be the dish of the day. My plat was Blanquette de veau servie en cocotte. Neither the description on the menu or the translation of the dish does it any justice. Simply put it was veal stew. But when you think stew, you typically think dark sauce, carrots and potatoes. While yes there were potatoes and carrots, there were also mushrooms, herbs and the sauce was anything but a brown sauce, it was a light (if cream can be light) cream-based sauce that there was not enough bread to soak up. We both could not get enough of the sauce and Jerry has made it my mission to learn how to make this dish at home. The presentation was also very nice as it was served in a nice copper pot.

The wine was a 2012 gran cru St. Emilion, paired nicely with both of our dishes.

It was a very enjoyable dinner. While we ate, we of course observed the other diners. There was a table of a winter/spring relationship, one might say that the younger was trying to end the elder’s life by the things she kept ordering for him. There was the table of three 30 something British guys, mostly tame, but one was quite obnoxious and needed to not be there. The table in the center was an American family; three kids all very close in age and their parents. All blond. They were very well-behaved kids, but still dad had to end his meal with a Scotch. I don’t imagine traveling with three pre-teen kids can be fun or easy. I am pretty sure I would need more than one scotch at the end of a meal each day.

Dinner over and the day at an end we headed back to the hotel. The server asked if we would be back on our next trip, we said a resounding Qui.

Back at the hotel, we had a night cap and were off to sleep. Easter Sunday will now be the hopscotch planned for today, the flea market will have to wait for another trip.

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Photos

Blanquette de Veau
Veal Stew

Ile Flotant
Dessert, floating island with cream anglaise