Buckets of Buddies and Bonuses! - Thursday, 25 October

Linda enjoying her
first café crème at
L'Entracte, just outside
the Paris Opera

This morning my second-oldest friend in the Twin Cities, Linda T., arrived in Paris to hang out with me for a few days.  (I met Linda in 1973 when I moved to the Cedar Grove subdivision of Eagan and went to the tiny Cedar Grove Baptist Church, just over a hill from my apartment, where she and her family were very active members - I made so many good friends there and I became "Auntie Jake" to her kids!)  Linda has talked about getting the "Mariellen Tour" of Paris for several years, and now was finally able to make it happen.

And, double bonus, my old pal Dale H. is in Europe on business - he was scheduled to fly back to the U.S. from Spain today, but an Air France strike prevented that so he took the train up to Paris and is going to hang out with Linda and me tonight.  It's his birthday tomorrow, so we even get to toast his new year in person! And triple bonus, we get to do so at Spring restaurant, where I was able to get a last-minute reservation this afternoon when someone else cancelled (almost unheard of - Spring is one of the hottest restos in town)  Check out my story about the place in this post from 2010: Spring Restaurant

A Burgundian Family Resto Just Across the Street - Wednesday, 24 October

Just across the street from me is Aux Crus de Borgogne, a restaurant featuring the specialties of Burgundy. I walked by at around 7:45 as I was returning from some errands (just after they opened, I think) and it was pretty dead.  Too early to eat anyway!  At around 9:30 I stopped in and it was absolutely bustling, but they were still able to find a spot for me.  It has two smallish sections, each seating maybe 30-40 people, mirrors everywhere, mosaic floors, and shiny paint, quite a "Belle Époque" style.  I heard a few languages being spoken, and a bit more English than I would like (and American English - and football conversation - I could swear that I heard a reference to Fran Tarkenton!).  All that English is often a sign of a behind-the-times, but still touristy, and unusually loud resto - Americans especially speak WAY too loud compared to everyone else.  They're open 'till 11, and at least two other clients arrived at about 10:15. This seems to be a family business - there were a couple of charming teenagers serving food and busing tables, and a gentleman who I'm guessing was their dad or uncle explained the menu and took my order.  The food was more traditional than "chefy."

So, the food.  First I had six really good escargot.  They were large, delicious, clean, sweet, and served with melted butter and puréed parsley & garlic (mercifully light on the garlic - often people use way too much).  Also something I've never had before: they brought a tiny glass of Pastis and an eyedropper!  The waiter explained that I was to put exactly six drops in each snail.  Wow, was that good!  Just the slightest aroma of licorice arose as the Pastis hit the hot snails, and it left a wonderfully subtle flavor.

Next, magret de canard (seared duck breast, typically done rare and sliced thinly) with sautéed cubes of potato.  This was a disappointment.  I could tell that the duck was a good product, but it was totally slathered with a honey-vealstock sauce.  If I were to order it again I would ask them to "hold the sauce!"  But the potatoes were dry and overly hot, so this dish wasn't the winner I had hoped.

But the dessert was great!  Three scoops of absolutely wonderful salted caramel ice cream with little ribbons of caramel running through it.  I would put it in the top two or three I've had.  (The best being at a little resto just outside the cathedral at Chartres).  And so pretty, served in a martini glass!

One of their specialties is lobster, and apparently Thursday nights are the big lobster night.  Grabbing one of those might be worth a try, or at least better than swimming in their duck sauce!

Memories of Mom on Vacation - Wednesday, 24 October

When I was a kid we often rented a cabin at Bay Lake (near Brainerd) for our summer vacation.  I have vivid memories of my mom packing the station wagon with a bunch of projects for her "leisure" time (ha ha ... as if moms ever have leisure time) - even the sewing machine - and items to be mended were not the least among the projects.

Those memories came flooding back today when I sat down to mend my leather coat that I ripped (big time) last week.  Beth Ann, Lydia and I were being seated at a tiny booth in a café next to Notre-Dame, and the pocket of my coat caught on the corner of the table as I was plopping myself in, and (totally ungraceful person that I am), not only did the stitching rip but big swaths of the leather tore as well.  I said "oh, phooey" (or maybe it was another word that sounds a lot like "Dame").

It warmed up this week, so I haven't had to use the coat, but today was a bit chilly and damp so it was time to get to work!  Needle and thread wouldn't be enough, so I hoofed it down to the local hardware store and found some glue that could be used on leather.  After an hour or so of prepping, positioning, gluing (times 5) and then some hand stitching, it's back in usable form.  It doesn't look like new, but it's not TOO bad.

Mom would be proud (I hope).  And I am cozy warm again.

Shopping & Steak-Fries in the 'Hood - Tuesday, 23 October

This apartment that I'm renting is just on the north side of the "Les Halles" area of the 1st arrondissement.  For centuries (really - since the late 12th century) this was the central market where farmers, fishermen and  producers brought their meat, fish, seafood, vegetables, fruits, grains, poultry, mushrooms, eggs, dairy, honey, nuts, herbs, spices, preserves - you name it - to sell to restaurants, shops and individuals.  Émile Zola wrote a novel featuring the market and its merchants called Le Ventre de Paris (The Belly of Paris).  In the 1850s enormous glass and iron buildings were erected to house the daily markets; they were all torn down in 1971 when the wholesale market was moved to the distant suburb of Rungis.

But while it operated as a market area, scores of food-related cafes and shops opened to support the suppliers, customers, bakers, chefs, etc. who shopped the markets.  Many of these still operate in this area, making it a foodie haven!  You can find anything you need (and many things that you had no idea you needed until you saw them!) in the shops that specialize in kitchen equipment, porcelain, baking supplies, spices, silverware, pots & pans, candymaking supplies, chocolate, etc.  And there are plenty of bars and cafés in which to rest your weary legs and have a drink & bite to eat!

Today was mostly a day of shopping in the 'hood, just admiring some stuff and buying other stuff.

While I was out wandering, I came across this charming couple just outside the church of Saint-Eustache.  They were quite good!  Little-known fact (that I learned from my friend, expert in all-things-Mozart, Nancy B.): Mozart's mother's funeral was in this church.

Steak, fries, marrow bone,
Bordelaise sauce,
fleur de sel

Eggs Mayo - a typical
1st course in a bistro

And at the end of the day I tried one of the highly regarded steak & fries bistros in the area, Aux Tonneaux des Halles at 28, rue Montorgueil.  Some say that their fries are among the best in Paris.  I can tell you that they were pretty darn good! I must have been in a protein slump, because I ordered eggs for my first course and finished most of my larger-than-I-thought-it-would-be, perfectly-seared, medium-rare, deeeeelicious steak!

28, rue Montorgueil  http://www.auxtonneauxdeshalles.com/

Le Cordon Bleu (yup, again!) - Monday, 22 October

It was back to Le Cordon Bleu today for a late afternoon lecture/demonstration featuring:

*  Canneloni de langoustines royales, fumet mousseux - "Cannelloni" (actually made from parallel strands of spaghetti - what a hoot!) stuffed with large langoustine tails, forcemeat and truffles, served with a fennel/onion/shallot/herb froth and cockles.  Sweet, salty, tender, earthy, with just enough acidity to lighten things up.

*  Caneton mi-sauvage en deux services, flan aux cèpes et endives - Pan-roasted duck breast with legs/thighs braised in veal stock and red wine; mushroom "flan" (actually almost a soufflé) baked in individual Belgian endive-lined molds; split pea puree.  Deep and intense with interesting accents of herbal & improbably airy fluffy cèpes.

*  Moelleux orange et citron servi tiède, sauce mandarine - Individual warm orange cakes with "imprisoned" lemon filling that oozes out when you cut into the cake (this employed a very clever technique that I'm just going to have to try when I get home) and tangerine sauce.  Clean, concentrated and oh so tasty!

During class

Students swarming to take photos
of the finished dishes

The stove and workbench

I really am hooked on this place.  I always come away having learned something useful and new and fun, and it's always amusing to observe the students and Chefs.  And every trip I find one or two more cool doo-dads in their gift shop!

 

Pirouette - Monday, 22 October

In Paris, one could eat foie gras every day, so I say hey, why not?  Today I tried a new resto, "Pirouette" for lunch (it opened in late August).  Their 3-course lunch menu is 36 euro (and they even have a 2-fixed-course 15 euro option), and it's right around the corner from my Étienne Marcel Métro stop.

I ordered:
*  the foie gras terrine with port aspic, fresh figs and fig jam (mmmm...mmm...good, and the bread on which I smeared it was perfectly textured and tasty);
*  roasted pigeon with what seemed to be a warm foamed pigeon liver pâté on a crispy crouton, lettuces & lardons, and a delicious jus (and no, I don't think it was one of the birds who was pestering me at the Eiffel Tower a few days ago!);
*  rice pudding with caramel and candied nuts;
*  wine and coffee.
All very tasty and nuanced and beautifully presented.  My server was very friendly and helpful, and she spoke perfect English.

My taste buds were spinning a pirouette of excitement when I left this place.  Highly recommended! 5, rue Mondétour   http://www.oenolis.com/pirouette/pirouette-english/

I learned about this resto from the blog of John Talbott, a pithy, humorous and insightful American scientist who loves food and art, and lives here in Paris most of the year.  Check it out if you're interested:  John Talbott's Paris

The ardoise (menu on a slate board that they set
on a chair next to your table while you're choosing )

Happily, Nobody was Depending on me Today! - Sunday, 21 October

I like to think of myself as a dependable person.  It might not always be true, but that's how I like to think of myself.  Anyhoo, it's sure a good thing that nobody was depending on me today!  It was a day of "regrouping," as my friend Jan L. would say.

After putting Beth Ann and Lydia in the taxi this morning, I poked around the apartment and got ready to head out to church. I thought I'd take a different bus route (#38) this time to get to the #63 that stops right in front of The American Church ACParis.  Ha ha.  I had been on the #38 before, but had forgotten that, since it runs on one-way streets, the southward direction street is separated by a few blocks from the northward. I walked for a few blocks on the wrong street (which was already several blocks from the apartment) before I realized ... DUH! ... my oopsiedoodle.  So I stopped at a café to have a coffee and consult a detailed map to make sure I got it right the second time.  But the waiter was taking his own sweet time (it was a Sunday morning, after all, and who's in a hurry on a Sunday morning?) and pretty soon the option of taking a couple busses to get there was pretty much a non-option.  I thought about finding a taxi, but noticed that an intriguing shop, La Pistacherie, was about to open just across the street from where I was sitting.

After yielding to temptation and buying a couple things at La Pistacherie (including a "candy bar" consisting of pistachios in caramel - a great concept, but it would have been even better if the pistachios were slightly salted and the caramel wasn't quite so hard - must give it a try myself), I decided to wander back in the direction of the apartment on this gorgeous morning, one that featured the first really clear blue sky of my visit.  Streets all over Paris run at odd angles to each other and are sometimes very short, so there are usually many ways to get from point A to point B that offer unique things to look at along the way.  After a bit of wandering and locating a couple restos that are on my list for later this week, I decided to sit down for a cup of tea close to the church of Saint-Eustache, one of the major landmarks in this 'hood.  I just had to get a shot of the beautiful packaging and presentation.

Then it was back to the apartment for a late lunch and some relaxing before heading out to a late afternoon concert.  This time I fairly quickly found the bus stop I needed, and I knew that this #85 bus ran on Sundays (not all of them do), but I sat there for about 15 minutes before I realized that this line provided "partial service" on Sundays and this wasn't one of its stops!  DUH #2 (or was it #3 by this time?).  But a young family with two little kids was also waiting at the bus stop, and I enjoyed watching them play, and it was a beautiful day, and so not all was lost.  By this time I was likely to arrive late for the concert no matter what other transportation plan I made, so I decided to regroup again and explore yet other streets in my 'hood that I hadn't seen yet.  In doing so I found a cool little shortcut, and I came across an apparently-popular band setting up in an open shopfront (its fans were quickly gathering in the pedestrian street in front of them and they started singing in unison with the band as soon as the band started playing), and I found a couple of shops that I'll need to explore on Monday when they're open, and I saw a dozen really cute doggies of all sizes, and I was able to just sit back and observe the "joie de vivre" that's so apparent here on Sundays, especially in pedestrian neighborhoods such as this (most of the streets are closed to everything except cabs and delivery vehicles) when most of the shops are closed and everyone is just out with their friends and families enjoying life and the city and the sunshine and each other.

The view from my table at
"Père et Fils"
("Father and Son")

So if you had been here with me today and depending on me to reliably get you from point A to point B, you would have been quite disappointed, as I would have been.  But if you wouldn't have minded just wandering around and seeing and experiencing what you could see and experience, you might have enjoyed yourself!

We Skipped the Tricycle Taxi & Horse-Drawn Carriage - Saturday, 20 October

Well, I managed to get my sister Beth Ann and niece Lydia to/from/around Paris via the RER train, subway, city bus, tour bus, taxi and feet during their 3 days here!  We skipped the tricycle taxi and horse-drawn carriage and rental bicycles and sightseeing boat, but I think we did pretty well!  And they got a glimpse of how Parisians live and get around.

Today Lydia wanted to take a photo of the Moulin Rouge (go figure!) so we went up there via the Métro.  It was PACKED and at one point it lurched (very unusual), flinging a 75-year-old gentleman in Beth Ann's lap.  Now there's a unique story for her to take home!

Saint Denis was the first Bishop
of Paris.  He was martyred in
connection with the Decian
persecution of Christians,
shortly after A.D. 250.
After his head was chopped off,
Denis is said to have picked it up
and walked ten kilometres (six miles),
preaching a sermon the entire way.
Here's his statue on the north portal
of Notre Dame.

We were going to take the Métro and RER down to the Musée d'Orsay next, but as we were having an Orangina after Lydia's photo shoot, I realized that we could catch the city bus #74 from right where we were down to Hôtel de Ville (city hall), which is just across the river from Notre Dame.  Multiple bonuses: we could see even more of the city from the bus, and we'd get a peek at the spectacular Hôtel de Ville, and we'd get to walk across one of the beautiful bridges of Paris and observe life on the water (including seeing an open umbrella floating upside down down the river...quite a fanciful image...one could almost imagine it coming out of a Madeline story!), and we'd walk right past a bunch of gift shops that they wanted to hit.  AND they had never been in a church anything like Notre Dame, an awesome (in the true sense of the word) experience in itself.

We stopped for a snack at one of the cafés right outside Notre Dame, and Lydia ordered something I've never had: a French hot dog!  It was actually a couple of hot dogs, totaling about 12 inches, on a toasted half-baguette, covered with melted cheese.  She said it was very good.  Now I gotta order one of those myself!

The "Cars Rouges" tour bus that we used off-and-on yesterday and today dropped us off at the Palais Garnier (the old opera house) at the end of our travels today.  As we walked past the front of the building on our way to the Métro to get back to the apartment, we found some young opera singers (very good) performing for the crowd on the front steps.  Hey, if it's every opera singer's dream to sing at the Paris Opera, these kids found a way to do it!  We listened for a few minutes and Lydia got some video of the performances, and then we made a quick stop at the cash machine and the supermarket on rue Montorgueil on our way back "home."

Lydia was working up a bunch of creative excuses for staying a few days longer, but it was time to pack their bags for an early morning taxi ride back to Aéroport Charles de Gaulle.  She'll just have to save her money and come back again to see several things on her list that we couldn't squeeze in plus a ton of things that she didn't know to put on her list.  As Beth Ann observed, Lydia has caught the travel bug!  And of all the bugs one can catch, it's a pretty good one.

Your Pal Mariellen, Swimming Upstream as Usual - Friday, 19 October

La Tour Eiffel is a must-do...once or twice in your life!  You endure long periods of standing around with a stifling mob for some moments of great views of the most beautiful city on earth.  But it's worth it!


The tower is a marvel, too.  The elegance and beauty and engineering of the ironwork never cease to amaze me.  I learned today that 2.5 million bolts hold all of these pieces of iron together...what design and craftmanship!

The view eastward

When we bought out tickets we were told that only the first and second levels were open.  They provide marvelous views, so all is not lost.  But when we got to the second level we learned that the final elevator to the top was indeed running.  I led the way through a long, tight and narrow zig-zagging maze to get to the third floor elevator, only to find that it wasn't the line for tickets - that line was elsewhere!  DUH!!!  So we had to swim up against that very narrow, very packed stream of humanity to get out and find the ticket desk.  I know that I've never said "pardon...pardon moi" so many times in the course of 5 minutes in my life.  (There were probably other situations when I should have, but I didn't!)  I let Lydia and Beth Ann buy their tickets for the top floor while I stayed on the second floor and found a bench where some nice Chinese people were resting (and who made space for me), and I had a bit of a sit-down!  People were feeding the pigeons up here, tosing crumbs on the floor and even inviting them to eat out of their hands, so they all flocked over.  And this was inside!  Creepy.  I should have thought to catch one to roast for supper!

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel

Flashbulb lights covering the surface of the
tower - at night they twinkle every hour

Beth Ann and Lydia

Houseboats on the Seine

See, I was there too!

Walk, Nap, Walk, Nap, Walk - Thursday, 18 October

This morning I took the train out to the airport to meet my sister Beth Ann and niece Lydia.  It's a very efficient means of getting back and forth, especially if you don't have too much luggage!  Although the train station is right inside the airport (between terminals 2E and 2F), it is a bit of a hike.  We then took the train into Gare du Nord and transferred to the Métro and took that to our stop at Étienne Marcel, then walked about 4 blocks to the apartment.  It was a little taxing for those dragging suitcases, so we relaxed a bit and one of us commenced napping!  Lydia and I went out to get some groceries and explore the 'hood a bit, then came back and relaxed some more.  In the early afternoon we went out for a nice lunch at Café du Centre on rue Montorgueil (a burger, a salade Niçoise, a confit de canard) and did a bit more exploring, then back to the apartment.  Supper was takeout from a local Italian deli.

Friday will be our "hit the landmarks" day.  First on the agenda: la Tour Eiffel!  Lydia has her new video camera all ready to go.

Aspic, Aspic, Everywhere (and I'm Lovin' It!) - Wednesday, 17 October

Tonight I had dinner at a fairly trendy new spot in my 'hood, l'Apibo.  For my main course I had a wonderful roasted Turbot over a bed of delicious white beans in a "spicy prawn juice" that wasn't nearly spicy enough (but wow, this fish really lends itself to roasting...substantial in texture, mild and moist and buttery, it simultaneously deepens and comes alive with a bit of a browned surface).  And a baba au rhum for dessert with absolutely perfect strips of mango.  But the star of the meal was the first course, a slice of foie gras terrine with fresh figs, Montbazillac aspic and a sprinkling of fleur de sel.  The foie gras was lovely, but wow that Monbazillac aspic blew me away.  Monbazillac is a late-harvest sweet white wine like Sauternes, and it had been cooked with some aromatics and reduced into the most perfectly intense sweet and savory syrup then solidified with some gelatin.  Amazing.  And combined with a few flecks of fleur de sel and the fairly decent foie gras - home run!

31, rue Tiquetonne  http://www.restaurant-lapibo.fr/

It's yet another thing that I must figure out how to add to my repertoire.  When I get home I'm going to just HAVE to retire so that I can have the time to refine and manage this growing repertoire!

LCB is a Hecuva Deal Most Days, but Today - WOW! - Wednesday, 17 October

As you undoubtedly have heard from me in the past, I just love catching as many classes as I can at Le Cordon Bleu when I'm in town.  For a mere 45 euros, one can attend a 3-hour lecture/demonstration with the regular students.  You receive a copy of the ingredients list for the (usually) three courses that Chef is preparing/teaching and a pen, and you get ready to start taking notes!  Chef explains what to do and how, alternative ingredients/methods, history of the dish, info about the region from which the products come, food safety, etc.  Because none of this is written down, you have to madly take notes while he's talking, and hope that you don't miss seeing what he's doing while you're writing!  Although he teaches in French, most of the classes are translated into English.  The students come from all over the world, but French and English are the two common languages.  When all the food has been prepared, Chef presents it in an individual serving style (and sometimes in family serving style).  Then the students rush up to take photos and tiny portions of each dish are distributed to everyone as the final "demonstration" of how it's supposed to taste.  LCB Paris

Today's lecture/demonstration was even more exciting than most because it was FREE to those of us in the general public.  It's a special promotional "Semaine du Goût" ("Week of Taste") all week.  So the classroom was packed - more regular students than I've seen before, plus about 8 of us outsiders.

Today's class included these three courses:
1)  Crème de chou fleur servie avec un consommé de légumes gélifié aux coques et caviar (Cream of cauliflower served with a jellied vegetable consommé, cockles and caviar)
2)  Selle d'agneau Prince Noir, petite chartreuse de légumes (Black prince saddle of lamb, vegetable "chartreuse")
3)  Ananas et fraises juste cuits dans un sirop au gingembre, plissé croustillant et sorbet Campari (Pineapple and strawberries in syrup with ginger, crisp fan and Campari sorbet)

Read on and check out the photos of the dishes (you can click on any of the photos in this blog to see it full-screen) and the "recipes" (before I wrote any of the instructions on them):

The cream of cauliflower was quite wonderful - cooked in chicken stock with onions, and then pureed with cream, stabilized with some leaves of gelatin and finally folded together with whipped cream after it had cooled down a bit.  It was like a slightly warm savory mousse with a very gentle cauliflower flavor and voluptuous mouthfeel.  It was served with cockles - I am shocked that I've never had them before, and I must now add them to my repertoire - they tasted like a cross between shrimp and fish - definitely a shellfish but very mild (and very cute!).  The vegetable aspic was really wonderful - I must add this to my repertoire as well - basically a clarified mirepoix (carrots, onion, celery) stock with spices that is jelled and cut into fancy shapes or small cubes.  It would be wonderful as a side to any fish or shellfish, or of course as the "glue" for a vegetable terrine.  And the little dab of caviar gave a welcome salty and elegant touch to this course.

The saddle of lamb with vegetable "chartreuse" was very complex but delivered probably the best lamb I have ever eaten - intensely flavored, soft & pink, just fatty enough.  I wish I could have gotten doubles of the tiny portion handed out to the students!  The saddle was very carefully trimmed of all skin (which is called "parchment," I learned!) and excess fat (but not all fat) and nerves & connective tissue.  The skirt was pounded thin and rubbed with a half-lemon, then sprinkled with pepper and fleur de sel, then spread with a little veal forcemeat (more about that in a minute), and then rolled up around the "tenderloin" portion of the saddle.  The little roast was then wrapped in caul fat and very carefully tied, then gently seared, then roasted for about 20 minutes at 340F, then allowed to rest for 20 minutes before being untied and served.  Wowzer...absolutely the best.  The veal for the forcemeat was cubed, then ground in the food processor, then pushed through a tamis and transferred to a bowl over ice, at which time cream was whisked in and tiny batons of truffle folded in.  A portion was set aside for the lamb, and sweated carrots, shallots, and mushrooms were added to the remainder along with some herbs.  This mixture was the "stuffing" for the vegetable "chartreuse" (a very fancy stuffed cabbage with blanched green beans and sticks of carrot and daikon radish (cut to exactly the same dimensions as the beans), made into a tight little sausage-shaped bundle that was steamed).  Lamb bones and trimmings with more mirepoix, garlic and rosemary were made into a wonderful sauce.  A massive amount of work but oh, my goodness, what results!

The dessert was appropriately light and acidic given the heft of the first two courses.  A fabulous tart sorbet was made from orange & lemon juices, orange zest, Campari, sugar and glucose.  Oh, my goodness, is this going to be a hit next summer!  A baby pineapple was pan-roasted with a ginger syrup and some powdered vanilla and a splash of dark rum.  The flavors were deep, sweet and a little bit tart - holey moley, it was good.  Chef cut some little strips of brik pastry and brushed them with butter and wrapped them around some cylinders to make cookie tubes in which to hide the sorbet.  Then strawberries were simply sliced thinly used as a base for the dish.  Heavenly!

Here's a picture of Chef at work - he made this very complex stuff look easy!

And here are the "recipes"

Snackiepoos! - Tuesday, 16 October

Not much to report today - just a quiet day at "home" (a girl can dream!) relaxing my knee (I strained it a bit just before leaving for my trip), doing a bit of shopping for staples and snackies, and munching on those snackies.

I absolutely love Eric Kayser's bread - he won the Grand Prix for the best baguette in Paris in 2000 (in addition to a cash prize, the honor, and an immediate boost in sales, the winner supplies the Elysée Palace with their baguettes for the next year).  He has several styles, but his "Baguette Monge" is the winner, with its mix of flours, not-overpowering natural sourdough and slight sweetness!  He now has about 15 bakeries around Paris, and one if them is just a couple blocks from my apartment.  How lucky am I?!?  The baguette I picked up this afternoon was still slightly warm, and that crunchy crust and tender crumb just can't be beat!  The three lovely cheeses in this photo were from a fromagerie just a few doors down.

And here's what's left of the pâté en croûte aux morilles that I bought on Sunday.  Plus a dry sausage of duck meat.  And a slice of spicebread with currants.  I am not suffering at all!  Actually, the spicebread reminded me of the raisin muffins and bread that my amazing and wonderful Auntie Edythe made decades ago and served with thick butter and Cheese Whiz - I kid you not - something tells me that she would have loved this stuff!!!

Blown Away at the Ballet - Monday, 15 October

My highly anticipated evening at the Paris Opera Ballet (at Le Palais Garnier) met every expectation!  More about that in a minute, but first a few happy words for the ticket-acquisition process.

In August I tried to buy a ticket for tonight's performance, but they were already sold out.  Happily, though, I learned that the Paris Opera has a wonderful web-based ticket turnback mechanism whereby someone who can't use their ticket can post it to the Opera's system.  Someone (like me!) who wants a ticket for a particular performance can post their request on the same system.  So I signed up.  A couple weeks later I received an email informing me that a ticket was available.  I clicked for more info, decided that the price was right, paid the Opera for the ticket, they notified the seller, she emailed the .pdf of the ticket to me, I notified the Opera that I had received it, and they released my payment to her.  Easy peasy!  And no markup - just 3.5 euro for the service.  Everything should work this smoothly.  And it was a great ticket - way up at the front of the house, with a just-slightly obstructed view - scroll down to see photos.

The performance was absolutely wonderful.  A tribute to George Balanchine, it featured three ballets in three quite different styles from three periods of his life.  Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Paris was in the pit - quite the house band!  Their playing was pretty much flawless and always beautiful in full orchestra passages, smaller ensemble passages and solo lines.  All the horn players were men though, so maybe I should audition!

The program opened with "Sérénade" performed to Tchaikovsky's sumptuous 4-movement "Serenade for Strings."  It had to be one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen (it brought me to tears more than a few times) - about 20 ballerinas in pale turquoise leotards with diaphanous sheer long skirts creating the most wonderful images of floating and swirling color and line.  Just a few male dancers in a matching unitards entered the picture supporting the ballerinas, but this was a work of the most stunning femininity, with the music and dance absolutely inseparable.  I will never again listen to Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings" without seeing these spectacular images in my mind.  This piece was from the middle of Balanchine's career, in 1934, just after he moved from Paris to New York.

Next, a piece called "Agon" from later in Balanchine's career (1957); the music is by Stravinsky.  This was a masculine piece, performed primarily by male dancers in black pants, white t-shirts and white shoes/socks supported by a few women in black leotards with black shiny belts.  It was punchy, humorous, jolting, bouncy, sarcastic, aggressive, athletic, percussive, geometric - again, a perfect marriage to Stravinsky's brilliant writing for full orchestra, solo strings, blatting trombones, interrupting percussion, and ensembles of winds.  I chuckled (quietly) more than once during this performance!

Then after intermission "Les Fils Prodigue" (The Prodigal Son) in the grand Russian tradition, one of Balanchine's earliest works (1929); the music is by Prokofiev. This was more of a narrative ballet, with sets and costumes and an obvious story line.  Emotions were up-front and unmistakable, from tender compassion to rebelliousness to freedom to competition to conflict to passion to playfulness to abandonment to brokenheartedness to reconciliation.  Again, totally beautiful but in a quite different way.  And charming and insightful.

What a fabulous evening in one of the most fabulous venues anywhere.  Of course, photos cannot be taken during the performance, so the dance photos are from the program book I bought.  The others are by me!

Obviously, I highly recommend this kind of cultural experience for your visit to Paris.  You can take a tour of the spectacular Palais Garnier, completed in 1875 (wowzer...they don't make buildings like this any more!), but if you can possibly manage it, attend a performance here.  You will thank me!

My box, #4, was way down at the end of the hall.
But that's a good thing!

Many a foot has trod
this well-worn mosaic floor

The view from my chair #1

The box has its own vestibule with a fainting
couch, mirror, coat hooks and RED everywhere!
And 8 chairs

The ceiling by Chagal

The view from my chair #3

The view from my chair #4

The strings of Orchestre de l'Opera de Paris
warming up