TWO DAYS IN ONE

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Today Jerry and I would take different paths. Jerry was off to the Cite de L’architecture du Patrimoine (Architecture museum) this is located in the Trocadero across the Seine from the Eifel Tower. I was off to the Orsay Museum with Christina & Jourdan. This is my favorite museum in Paris because of the concentration of impressionist and new-impressionist, everything from Monet to Van Gough and back again. It was a raining morning so it was good we were going to be in the Museum most of the morning.

I don’t really have much to say, but have several pictures, it is hard to narrow them down, but I posted only my favorites, which could have easily been all of the Van Gough’s. The other reason I enjoy this museum is that it is pretty easy to do in a few hours or less and if you go in the mornings it is not crowded. The Paris pass got us directly in, with zero line.

We spent about 90 minutes in the Museum which allowed time to see all of the impressionists and Degas, Gauguin, and Van Gough and a few others. We did however manage to miss the Renoir. I could have spent a good hour alone in the two rooms of Van Gough, I truly love his use of heavy brush strokes and the colors are so vibrant. What I don’t understand is all the people who felt it necessary to have a picture taken of them next to the self-portrait of Van Gough, it isn’t about them it is solely about the art, I just don’t understand the obsession with people that have to be in a picture next to everything. I swear, some of them would stand next to a pile of horse crap and take a picture with them in. The funny thing is you can take a picture of yourself in the sewers of Paris, since there is a sewer tour.

While we were at the Orsay I texted Jerry to see how he was doing, his comment back was “. . . well put together and almost mind melting, there is so much to see.” So, I guess he was enjoying himself, he is still there as far as I know as I am in the room blogging and he has not returned yet.

After the Orsay we were off to E.Dehillerin’s the famous kitchen shop in Paris, where as you know from My 50^th in Paris blog is where Julia Child shopped. The intent was to buy a copper fish poacher, but at 554 euros, that wasn’t going to happen. Instead I settled on an herb grinder and a vegetable decoration tool. Christina and Jourdan on the other hand made slightly larger purchases, crepe pans included.

From E.Dehillerin’s it was time for lunch so we headed for Rue Montorgueil one of the many market streets in Paris. This street is also lined with numerous bistros, cafes and the like, some good some eh. We decided, after a walk up and back down the street on Le Compas, a traditional sidewalk café. We all had the same thing and I ordered in French and we all used the French Menu. Lunch of the day was Croque Madam’s, ham and cheese with béchamel and then a perfectly cooked over easy egg on top. It was very good, not the best I have had in Paris, but very good. We also had a glass of cotes de Provence.

After Lunch it was back to the hotel, so the girls could rest up for their cooking class. I took about a 10-minute disco nap and then was off to just walk the streets of Paris. I first took the Metro to the Madeleine, then walked to Rue du Faubourg St. Honore, it is a major upscale shopping street, but that is not why I went there, I went there to check out an apartment of one of my new estate’s I am working on. It wasn’t much from the outside, but who knows what it is like on the inside. I then just walked, enjoying alone time in Paris, which I have not experienced since the first time I was in Paris 21 years ago. I walked across Pont la Concorde, then down the street Julia Child once lived, then along the Seine, until I found my way back to Rue Cler and our hotel. The walk was wonderful and I had several “I am in Paris” moments.

When I returned from my walk, I restocked our wine supply. (Oh, before I forget, right after lunch we walked up the street to a Fromagerie and I bought a cheese tray with five different cheese for 9 euros. This will be enjoyed later in the room.) Then came time to pick up the laundry, amazingly it was all ready to go when I arrived. They must not use bleach here because the whites were not that white, but at least they are clean.

Jerry is back from his day, so wine-thirty time then dinner.

Josephine Chez Dumonet

Jerry and I were excited to have dinner a Chez Dumonet, during the 50^th in Paris trip we had lunch there with my friend Bruce and the Beef Bourguignon was the best we have ever had, including, yes, my own. We forgot to pack a tie for this trip, so after Jerry’s four plus hours in the architecture museum he then went to a new section of city, fridge of Montparnasse, had lunch, interestingly enough the same thing we had but a croquet monsieur, no egg, and found two silk ties reasonably priced.

I had been blogging for most of the evening before dinner so I had my reading/computer classes on, when we were ready to leave and got down stairs, I noticed I couldn’t see anything more than 5 feet in front of me, I had the wrong pair of classes on. I could have gone back up to the room but the elevator is very slow and we were already running late, so I spent the evening not be able to see much in the distance, but it was fine for dinner, since I could still see up close. The trip to dinner and dinner was like a living impressionist painting.

We dressed for dinner in our new ties, as Chex Dumonet had history, it is one of the few remaining true Bistro’s, meaning classic French, remaining in Paris. It is also one of the favorite Bistro’s of Josephine Baker and Ernest Hemmingway. The place is small and on this occasion full of mostly Americans and an Australian here and there perhaps a couple of tables of French. We were in the front section, the back section is preferable, but it doesn’t change the food.

A few tables down were two older American couples at separate tables, they were talking across their tables and were pretty loud, I felt like doing the French sigh to hint that their behavior was not acceptable for a French Bistro. The French are fairly quite people, they don’t talk loud at dinner but in hush tones politely to each other at their own table and certainly not the table next to them. Being loud and boisterous is considered rude in France, while in the U.S. it is normal, it just isn’t here, just like children are not normally found in most Bistro’s, a policy I am all for in New York. When you do find the occasionally French family with a child, that child is perfectly behaved, not running around screaming like most American children do, and their parents just allow it thinking it is cute. Well I am here to tell you, your child screaming and yelling and running around when other people are trying to have a pleasant dinner is in no way cute, it is plain rude and damn annoying.

But I digress, we had a difficult time deciding what to order, as we knew it would all be good, but in the end, the decision was actually pretty easy. Jerry had Chateaubriand with Béarnaise, of course he had Béarnaise. I had Carre d agneau (rack of lamb). Both were perfectly cooked. We did learn a very important ordering tip, Fodor’s and the French vocabulary book indicated that a point was medium rare, this is not correct that is what you say when you want your meat cooked medium. Medium rare is mi-saignant, this would explain why in previous trips our steaks have not been cooked exactly the way we wanted, but were cooked the way we ordered.

We started with a simple mixed salad, unfortunately a few disguised beets found their way to my mouth, took a few hits of wine to get that flavor out of my mouth and mind. Not only was the béarnaise one of the best, ok the best, we have ever had in any restaurant anywhere, they actually gave you enough of it. It was room temperature, but the flavor and consistency was spot on, prefect balance of red wine vinegar, shallots and tarragon. The steak was also tender (no gristle or fat) and melted in your mouth. The lamb was equally cooked, perfectly pink flavorful and the sautéed vegetables, mostly artichoke, were a very nice accompaniment.

The only down side is that the wine list is pretty unapproachable, there are only maybe 5 Bordeaux that are under 100 euros, most are in the thousands. We did have a nice Medoc which was reasonable priced. If we were billionaires, sure I would order a 1947 Margeaux for 3400 euros, but we aren’t so we didn’t.

We finished with two delicious desserts, Jerry had a Crumble Doire (pear and pineapple crumble with vanilla ice cream) and I had Paris Brest (hazelnut pastry cream filled puff pastry, which was crispy). It was a lovely ending to the night. We did have a brief discussion with the two women at the next table, in appropriate voice levels, they were sisters one from New Orleans the other form Houston. It was just a polite conversation about travel and of course Mardi Gras, they grew up in New Orleans and say it is a must do at least once in your life, just stay out of the French Quarter and enjoy it in another section of the City. Perhaps someday we will go before we get to old.

That was the end of the evening. Christina and Jourdan were in the cooking class until 10 and of course ate what they cooked, haven’t heard what that was yet, but I am sure I will get a report this morning on our way to the Catacombs.

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