Advertisement
Published: April 22nd 2023
Today was a rare unplanned day. We intentionally had nothing on the schedule for the day, for two reasons: 1) if we wanted to sleep in to recover from the long travel day we could and 2) since this is our 9
thtrip to Paris, we decided to have one day, where we would just go where the day led. We co have a list of things we have yet to see or do so we were not completely flying blind.
We slept in a bit. The alarms did go off until 8, and 8 for me is two hours extra sleep. We managed to roll out of bed at about 8:30. We splashed water on our faces and hair, dressed and went down to breakfast. The breakfast room was pretty busy, full of American retirees on vacation. One couple was from the Yakima Valley in Washington, close to our once home of Portland. Her and her husband had spent that last 10 days in Italy for a family reunion, she was meeting friends and spending another week in France, then to Scotland then back to France. That is what I called retired.
We chatted for quite a while at
breaks in between bites of lovely fresh croissants (best in the world) yogurt and coffee. They gave us a great restaurant tip for tonight just a block from the hotel. We had a reservation in the 6
th but that was easily cancelled.
After breakfast to take a shower and get ready for the rest of our unplanned day. What we decided to do was spend the day in the 12
th, which is in Eastern Paris. Our first task of the day was to buy our Paris Visite pass for the metro. We purchased a two-day pass which will give us unlimited trips on the metro. The metro is very efficient and yes clean (still wearing a mask) and is the best way to get just about anywhere in Paris. The 8 Metro has always been our primary train and today it took us to the exact spot in the 12
th we wanted to start the day.
The first stop was the Marché d’Aligre and Marché Beauvau. Aligre is the outdoor market and Beauvau is the very large indoor market. Unfortunately, when we got there, they were both closed for lunch. Yes, even the food markets close at lunchtime.
With stop one thwarted, it was off to stop two, Viaduct des Arts/Promenade Plantée. Originally a train line connecting the suburbs of Paris to the Bastille, it is now a red brick viaduct and wonderful green space. In fact, the Highline in New York was patterned after this viaduct, so take that New York, supposed greatest city on earth. Before we took a stroll on the viaduct it was lunch time. It has been quite some time since we had a meal on vacation where we knew nothing about the restaurant. Today’s choice was Restaurant Garnement, a classic corner bistro. We were seated at a nice window table looking directly at the viaduct. The menu was fairly international but and not just strictly French. We started with a simple green salad (need raw vegetables now and then) and of course more sliced baguette. In France unlike many other countries, they never charge you for bread. It is France is land of bread. Our mains were really good. Jerry at Raviolis du Dauphine. This was a very nice dish of small ravioli stuffed with truffles in a chive cream sauce. This is why the French give you bread. I had sautéed
snails in a sauce provincial, which basically means wine, herbs, garlic and tomatoes. It was very good, and the squid tender. This was all accompanied by a nice carafe of Rosé from Provence.
After lunch we climbed the stairs to the viaduct and took a nice stroll through the greenery. There were people jogging, walking, sitting and enjoying the sun, and of course teenagers drinking beer, but no skateboarding. The entire viaduct is over 3 miles long, we walked maybe less than a third.
Our next and last stop for the day was the Bercy area, specifically Bercy Village. This once was several blocks of stone warehouses that once stored wine. Now it is an upscale neighborhood and most of the warehouses have been turned into boutiques or restaurants. The warehouses look from the outside much like they probably did back in the day, the insides have been remodeled to accommodate retail or restaurant spaces.
As you can see this was a pretty slow day for us, typically we pack much more into a day. After Bercy Village we headed back to the hotel, the 14 metro transferred at the Madeleine to the 8 and just like
that home again. We bought some nice, chilled Rosé for the room, walked to the recommended restaurant and made a reservation, then back to the room to blog and relax.
Bistrot Belhara When we arrived at the bistrot, we were surprised to see that the man that took our reservation was actually the chef. When we made the reservation at 5, he was just starting for the evening meal, I assume that the sous chef’s hard already done the prep, since I don’t think it is possible to produce the quality of food we4 had in three hours.
As we walked in the smells were enticing and the energy level quite high. There were several tables with happy dinners and a mix of French & English being spoken. We were seated along the wall in between a two other tables, on my left two women, to my right a couple, one German the other an American, who it turned-out lived-in France and worked for the State Department. On the other side of them was an American retired couple who had happened to be in La Flormand the night before. The dinner conversation ranged from the food to
the German Healthcare system, to a dapple of Trump. Just mentioning his name was all that was needed, nothing else was necessary as it was clear we all shared the same opinion.
The menu had several appetizing choices, but everyone seemed to be eating one of two things, brill and lobster cooked in a casserole or veal stew. The latter be the clear preference of the room. It was the standard 3 course flat price menu, with supplements for things such as the brill and lobster dish. We started with champagne and the Amuse Buse was cuttlefish croquettes with a red pepper sauce. The were good, the sauce a bit underwhelming. I am going to switch here to my standard meal descriptions by going through each course and what we each had.
Starter Jerry: Chicken terrine with a hint of foie gras. Jerry said it was the best country style pate he ever had. It was tasty and rich.,
Chris: Broccoli cream soup. This is not your cream of broccoli that jumps to your mind. Instead, in the middle was a dallop of cream fresh, morrells and herbs. The soup, which was vibrant green, was poured
into the bowl. It was delicious and just about everyone in the house was eating it as well as the veal.
Main Jerry: Steak in a mushroom sauce with roasted baby potatoes. At home we eat beef maybe 2 or 3 times a month, but when on vacation Jerry gravitates to it. One of the best things about the French, is that they can take a low grade cut of beef and making it taste like it was a filet mignon. Jerry’s steak was tender and had such a nice depth of flavor.
Chris: Veal Stew. I just could not resist, it smelled wonderful and was served over polenta. The polenta was in a bowl and the veal stew came out in your individual mini pot. A wonderfully tender piece of veal covered in a deep wine sauce. The method was to break the veal, which fell apart, up and stir it into the sauce then spoon it over the polenta. Bread of course was necessary to insure none of the sauce was left behind.
Dessert The dessert of the night was the “light” chocolate souffle. This needed to be ordered at the start
of the meal so it would be ready to serve hot out of the oven. It was good, but not really the best souffle we have ever had.
The surprise of the night was the wine. The waiter recommended it, and it was fantastic, and under 50 euros. The surprise is that it was not from Bordeaux or Burgundy, but from the Southwest part of France. Not even sure what the grapes were in the wine, but it was perfect with our dinner.
After dinner conversation lingered, longer than it probably should have and the German man next to us was very chatty, the American Diplomat was ready to go, she got up got your coat as a hint. He got the hint.
Out first full day in France complete we strolled back to the rum, and a glass of wine and went to bed.
Tomorrow Monet.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.094s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 22; dbt: 0.0506s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Sharon L Hughson
non-member comment
YUM!
I want to eat that ravioli with a baguette. And green soup seems scary to me, but I’d be willing to risk it for that broccoli cream I think. Have fun.