In Summary, My Advice to You – Friday, 6 May

“Really, you’re going to Paris again?” people often ask me.

Yup.  It’s inspiring, it’s familiar (at my advanced age it’s nice to not have to figure out everything about a new place), it’s drop-dead gorgeous, the citizens are gracious, the food is fabulous, concert halls, churches and theaters offer unique experiences, it’s easy to get by with just a bit of the foreign language, you can find unique treasures and gifts in tiny specialized shops, it’s safe, it’s temperate, its huge and tiny beautifully maintained gardens and parks are open to everyone, one can comfortably get along as a single person, it’s only 8 hours from Minneapolis, the value-price ratio of almost everything is very favorable, there’s always something to research or figure out if you want to, transportation options in the city are constantly improving, the air is clear, people-watching is a constant source of entertainment, housing/hotel options are plentiful, its museums contain antiquities and priceless works of art, you can engage with others or keep to yourself, learning opportunities abound, you spend your time in buildings that are often hundreds of years old (and not crumbling to the ground!), you see the same sights that attracted and inspired great artists and writers over the centuries, you do ordinary every-day stuff in a different way, whimsy is often around the corner, there’s a certain “feel” to the paving stones and clay paths under your feet, flea markets and antique stores offer the most amazing merchandise, and there’s a certain memorable quality to almost everything you do and experience.

And then there’s the snob appeal!

Join me here sometime?

This Trip’s Best New Product – Jam! – Friday, 6 May

Each trip yields a few eye-opening products, and this time the standout was a small jar of quince jam with warm spices (cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, maybe more) that I found at La Fromagerie, my favorite cheese shop on rue Montorgueil.  The cheesemonger told me that it was especially good with Emmenthal and other hard cheeses, and I’m happy to report that it was swell with all of the cheeses I bought over the week!  I’m guessing that I won’t be able to find this state-side, so I’ll just have to develop my own recipe, perhaps starting with the quince paste I know I can find!

Here you’ll see my little jar in the context of that morning’s foraging – Eric Kayser’s baguette aux cereales, Brillat Savarin with truffles, Roquefort, and Cantal.

The Best Pizza – Thursday, 5 May

I almost always have pizza my first night in Paris (not sure how that tradition started, but it’s sticky).  This time I waited until my last night in town.

And gosh, this was tasty. The sun is just setting at 9:30 (Paris is at 49 degrees north latitude, about the same as Baudette MN, almost on the Canadian border), it’s starting to cool down, and I'm sitting at a sidewalk table just across the street from the apartment, eating this huge pizza with yeasty almost-charred crust, crushed tomatoes, 'shrooms, olives, artichokes, salami, mozzarella, & basil, and drinking a draft Peroni. And all for 19 euros at at O’scià Pizzeria Napoletana.  42, rue Tiquetonne  http://xn--osci-pizzeria-napoletana-y7b.com/

C'est la vie.

I’m packing for an early morning departure tomorrow, so I need my nourishment. Or so I'm telling myself.  But wait, I don't need to make any excuses!

And just one more shot from the neighborhood, this of the elementary school at the end of my block.  Not bad!

I’m on the Street where You Live(d) – Maison Mozart – Thursday, 5 May

looking south on rue Sentier
 from in front of #8

Mozart’s mother Maria traveled with him on a concert trip in 1778.  He was 22 at the time, so didn’t really need a parent to accompany him, but perhaps she just wanted to hang out in Paris!  (Who wouldn’t?)  I recently learned that they stayed in a house just a few blocks north of my apartment, so I just had to make a pilgrimage to 8, rue Sentier.

OK, I know it’s sappy, but I just spontaneously started humming “I’m on the street where you live” as I was walking down rue Sentier.  The good news is that only some garbage men and one couple were around to hear me.  And I was humming very quietly!

Sadly, Maria died while they were in Paris.  Her funeral was at Église Saint-Eustache, just a couple blocks south of my apartment.  I’ve convinced myself that they must have walked down rue Montorgueil, between their house and the church, and perhaps even frequented the outdoor markets at Les Halles.  So I made a ceremonial journey in their footsteps.  You’ll be happy to know that I did stop humming once there were more people around!

My friend, the historian Nancy Blakestad, sent me this fascinating quote from a letter that Mozart's father Leopold wrote to Wolfgang and Maria when they were in Paris.  "My dear Wolfgang, you are young and do not worry much, for so far you have never had to bother about anything; you banish all serious thoughts, you have long since forgotten the Salzburg cross [i.e. the Archbishop's service] on which I am still hanging; you only listen to praises and flatteries and thus are becoming by degrees insensible and unable to realize our condition or to devise some means of relieving it. In short, you never think of the future. The present alone engulfs you completely, and sweeps you off your feet, although if you would only ponder the consequences of your actions and face them in good earnest, you would I know, be horrified. ..."  From The Letters of Mozart and His Family, Third Edition, ed. Emily Anderson, 1966 (reprint 1988 paperback).

Parisians Aren’t Particularly Religious, but… – Ascension Day – Thursday, 5 May

So this afternoon I hit the streets to cross some items off my shopping list before heading home tomorrow.  I waited too long – should have done this yesterday!  After hitting a couple shops and finding them closed, I realized that it was Ascension Day, which is a public holiday in France.  Among other things, I didn’t get a chance to visit with my buddy Franck at E.Dehillerin.  Rats!  Find info about that shop and a my buddy (a Frenchman who lived in New Hope MN for a while!) here:  http://mariellen-musing.blogspot.com/2009/06/chefs-shangri-la-e-dehillerin-saturday.html

I needed the pause that refreshes, so I grabbed an Orangina across the street.  Special treat #1 – Orangina has issued a new glass for bars and restos, and it’s very cute.

Special treat #2 – while I was enjoying my Orangina, three soldiers in camouflage and carrying rifles walked by, casually looking at those of us sitting there in the sunshine.  I refrained from taking a photo of them!

Other than at the airport, I had seen armed soldiers only one other time this trip, on the sidewalk outside the Bon Marché department store.  I’m sure that the citizenry is vigilant, but in general, people seem to be going about their lives, not letting the terror attacks consume them.

Talent Forges Ahead Despite Barriers – AG Les Halles – Thursday, 5 May

A lovely new resto called AG Les Halles came highly recommended by a few of the Paris food blogs and websites that I follow.  It sits next to the never-ending-construction-zone for the entrance and exhibit halls and park areas on top of this monstrous shopping center and transit hub.

So I decided to try it for lunch today.  It’s on the pedestrian rue Mondétour, just across the sidewalk from another favorite spot, Pirouette.  I give it two enthusiastic thumbs up!

My amuse bouche started with two tiny brioche accompanied by olive oils and a variety of herbs, Espelette and other peppers, served in a square porcelain tray containing nine little depressions.  Very clever!  And tasty.  Also a creamy egg concoction served in a cute little egg-shaped bowl – warm salty whipped egg yolk was on the bottom, topped with some cool eggwhite foam.  It came with a dried and charred leek leaf (I think) dotted with a salty fishy crème and little mounds of a sweet vegetable puree – perhaps sweet potato or carrot or some combination.  Very interesting – I’ll need to play around that charred leaf thingy to see if I can duplicate it!

My first course was an asparagus soup with marinated trout, steamed asparagus, mounds of an asparagus/herb mousse, pomegranate seeds (don’t’cha love how they squirt!), herbs and edible flowers.  The waiter brought the soup in a separate pitcher and poured half of it around the beautifully arranged ingredients in the bowl so it didn’t completely cover them, leaving the rest of it for me to add later.  LOVED this course – I’m going to have to add it to my repertoire, perhaps using smoked trout instead of marinated trout for every more interest.

For my main course, a substantial portion of medium-rare cannette (female duckling) served with little bundles of thin slices of daikon wrapped around cooked spinach and then steamed, sweet celeriac purée (it might have contained some potato), roasted chopped macadamias, grapefruit sections, and veal stock.  Outstanding!

I chose the strawberry theme for dessert.  Deeeelicious intensely flavored fresh strawberries, a square rope of homemade marshmallow, fluffy shaved lime ice, cilantro oil (wow!), crème Chantilly, hazelnuts, spun sugar, tonic syrup, and almond cookie.  Huge flavors without being heavy – perfect!

With my excellent coffee came two chocolate-covered toasted rice candies (featuring an audible snap-crackle-pop!), a financier and some cocoa-covered almonds.

Chef Geaam

Chef Alan Geaam stopped by to chat.  I thanked him for his terrific food and asked how things were going.  They’ve been open for about four months, and it’s a bit out of the way, and I think that the construction disruption is continuing longer than anyone anticipated – he said that business isn’t as brisk as he would like.  It’s clear that he spent a lot renovating this place, the former Autobus Imperial resto that closed a few years ago, and this guy is very talented, so I hope that things pick up soon.  I told him that I would send my friends, so you’d better go!

Here's their website:  http://ag-restaurant.fr/les-halles/

Still Missing the Samaritaine – Wednesday, 4 May

how it looked, back in the day....

Back in the day, my favorite department store was La Samaritaine – built in the 1870s, right on the banks of the Seine at Pont Neuf, a gorgeous building featuring beautiful curving ironwork and stunning stained glass, it was a manageable size, had the best views of Paris from its rooftop cafés and resto, sold just about everything, was easily accessible by bus and Métro (the Pont Neuf station was in its basement), was buzzing with activity, and since it was in the center of town just steps from the Louvre, you were probably walking past it anyway at some point!  It stood on the site of the one-time home of the Three Musketeers.  And it was 1/2 block from my hotel on my first solo trip in 1988, so I got to know it pretty well early on!  One particular shopping trip remains burned in my memory – I was walking through the electronics department looking for a charger for my Palm Pilot in September 2001 when I saw footage of planes hitting the World Trade Center on the TV screens in that department.

Anyhoo, it closed suddenly in 2005 – employees came to work one day and were welcomed by signs on the doors saying that the Fire Marshal had declared it unsafe.  It was supposed to be renovated and re-opened by 2013, but apparently mixed-use redevelopment plans met with lengthy complications.  In 2010 it was finally announced that a Japanese firm had been chosen to redesign the building as a combination hotel/apartments/offices, with a small retail component.  On recent trips the exterior was still intact, but now some of the building along rue de Rivoli has been torn down, the majority of the building is covered with scaffolding, and large crews of workers can be seen welding and hauling and building between the cracks in the panels covering the scaffolding.  I look forward to checking out the “small retail component” sometime in the future, and I dearly hope that they restore rooftop access to the public, because I’m sure that I won’t be able to afford the hotel or one of the apartments!

pretty much the same view today

Walking home from lunch today, I crossed the Seine on the Pont Neuf and snapped a couple photos.

I also stopped into the lovely Square Dauphine for a bit – it sits between the two bridges of Pont Neuf.  Guys playing pétanque, people walking dogs, small children trying out their tricycles and bicycles-with-training-wheels, people eating & drinking in the cafes, and couples enjoying each other’s … um … company – everyone enjoying this fine day as much as I was.

Delicious, Entertaining, Friendly Fun at Ze Kitchen Galerie – Wednesday, 4 May

Ask to sit by the kitchen window at Ze Kitchen Galerie, and enjoy the controlled chaos!  At first I was offered a seat along the wall, but the host said, “or perhaps you would like to sit looking in the window – it’s like watching TV – Master Chef!”  Most excellent idea.  He then picked up the rectangular stone knife/fork rest from the other side of the table, held it horizontally, and said “if you’d like to turn it off or change channels you can use the remote.”  I’m sure he’s used that line before, but hey, I laughed!  As you can see, this small (about 10’x10’) final-prep kitchen was filled with cooks (I saw 9 of them at one point), many of them apparently from local schools doing their internship (called a stage, pronounced stazh) here.  I caught a glimpse of chef/owner William Ledeuil a couple times too.

While I was considering the menu and sipping my rosé Champagne (it seems to be a “thing” with me this trip), they brought an amuse bouche – a warm puréed potato soup containing lots of cream and a bit of fish roe (I think that’s what it was!), topped with salty crouton crumbs – foamy, peppery, smooth, crunchy, yummy.   This resto also serves in-house carbonated water in special reusable bottles to cut down on waste and the cost & environmental impact of transporting bottled water – and it’s very pleasant stuff.

My first course was an outstanding light shellfish broth served over peas, white beans, asparagus, leeks, galanga (a root vegetable in the ginger family), and crabmeat – each prepped individually to its point of perfection – and topped with cilantro and dill.  It was full-flavored and peppery yet light.  Wowzer.

Next I had the daily special main course of young goat cooked medium on la plancha with barely pickled red onion, roasted baby onion, just-seared zucchini, tiny slightly-roasted radishes, beet purée, spinach, and demi-glace.  I hate to admit that I’ve never had goat before, so I don’t have a basis of comparison, but this stuff was tender, sweet, mild, similar to veal but slightly more firm and elastic in texture.  Holy moley, this was a wonderful plate.

Finally, chocolate soup!  Actually, it was just-cooler-than-room-temp slightly chocolaty crème Anglaise with little blobs of chocolate ganache, three meringue “floating islands” and praline.  It was so delightful that a person (at least this person) just had to chuckle.

I asked my server whether I could get a copy of the menu for a souvenir (thanks to Chef Don Saunders at The Kenwood in Minneapolis for this great suggestion) and he said, “of course, and I can have Chef Ledeuil sign it for you if you’d like.”  Well, sure!  Priceless!  I would have loved to shake Chef’s hand too, but he was pretty busy with the kitchen staff and students.  Maybe next time, because trust me, there will be a next time!

This resto is a couple blocks west of the Place Saint-Michel, just steps from the Seine.  So if you’re going to Notre Dame or Sainte-Chapelle or the Latin Quarter, you really should stop in.  Fabulous food and entertainment are guaranteed!

Check out their website here:  http://www.zekitchengalerie.fr/en/

Chef Ledeuil is in the center of this photo

Two Charmers Stole our Hearts – Thomas Enhco and Vassilena Serafimova – Tuesday, 3 May

These two expressive charmers grabbed us by our hearts in the very first seconds of their piano-marimba-percussion-voice performance at the ancient Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord (opened in 1876), and never let go.  Bach and then Mozart, and then a wild romp through jazz, improvisation, Fauré, rock, their own compositions, Piazzolla, chant….  Two hours without intermission, and with just a few remarks between some of the pieces.  Their clever and often whimsical arrangements and masterful performances and movie star good looks held us as happy hostages.

They have made their first recording, for Deutsche Grammophon, and I read that it was supposed to come out in April, but I haven’t seen it in the online shops yet.  The France “ARTE” channel was filming this concert for broadcast.  The sold-out house was holding its breath during the performances and letting loose with shouts and applause and whistles at the end of each.

You can see a 2015 video of them here:  http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ge7n6

OK, so who’s going to bring them to Mpls/St.Paul?  MN Orchestra? Schubert Club? Chopin Society? MPR? Someone had better get on this soon!

check out the TV camera on tracks

and the TV camera right next to me!

Peace Amid Chaos – Jardin Anne-Frank – Tuesday, 3 May

Paris has so many hidden parks and gardens (in addition, of course, to the not-hidden-at-all destination gardens and parks!).  This is one I had seen on a map but never visited.

Jardin Anne-Frank is located in a high-traffic, hectic, noisy area (buses, cars, motorcycles, emergency vehicles, sirens, tourists) just across rue Rambuteau from the Centre Georges Pompidou.  Just head down a short passage-way right at the Rambuteau Métro station, and suddenly you’re in another world.  No crowds.  Only distant sounds.  Today the blooming trees were FULL of bees, the city workers were painting benches and watering flower beds, perennials were emerging, some junior high age boys were hanging out, a couple kids were on the playground equipment, I was just soaking it all in & catching some rays.  Sanity regained.

Peace amid chaos.  What a beautiful way to remember Anne Frank.

the entrance to the garden is just down this passageway; Pompidou is across the street

playground

over my head - you probably can't see it, but it was full of bees!

hanging out

Nothin’ “Nouveau” Here, Folks! – Tuesday, 3 May

No highfalutin, fancy-schmanzy lunch for me today!  I decided to try a classic regional resto called L’Ambassade d’Auvergne, located close to the apartment and recommended by Patricia Wells, whose word I trust implicitly.

If you don’t like pork, don’t go here.  On the other hand, if you do….

A small ramekin of terrific pork rillettes with rustic toast were brought for an appetizer.

Then for my first course I had a nice big bowl of creamy, earthy, peppery, well-done Puy lentils cooked with aromatics and served with some finely diced fresh onion and lardons.  You’d think that would be enough to ground you, but then came the main course….

A big pork sausage served with a plateful of “Aligot,” a concoction unique to the Auvergne consisting of mashed potatoes with a substantial quantity of cheese beaten in, giving them a stunning elastic quality.  Yummy!  (Really…no hyperbole here…they were great.)

And hey, after all of that you just have to finish up with a huge spoonful of intense chocolate mousse and some slices of cake.

Not retro – just unchanged.  That would be another word for dependable.  And I’m fine with that!

22, rue du Grenier Saint-Lazare  http://www.ambassade-auvergne.com/en/

Feeling Hopeless at the Ballet – Maguy Marin – Monday, 2 May

OK, that was strange.  I knew that this dance piece by Maguy Marin called “Les applaudissements ne se mangent pas” was going to be in a serious piece in a contemporary language/style, but hey, it was being performed at the Opera Garnier and it’s always fun to sit in those stalls.

the view from my seat

16 dancers (both men and women) wearing street-clothing-type costumes entered and exited and collapsed and were dragged through “walls” made of about 50-foot-long vinyl strips hanging from frames on three sides of the stage.  Sometimes they ran, sometimes they walked slowly, sometimes solo, sometimes in groups – so sometimes entrances and exits were quite quiet and other times the strips made interesting noises flapping against each other (and interesting patterns oscillating as they were hit).  Dancers sometimes bolted across the stage, sometimes encountered each other with hostility, sometimes helped each other, sometimes provided climbing ramps for each other, sometimes "vanished" through the vinyl strips.  A couple times they “logrolled” across the stage, varying their speed as they rolled, again creating interesting sounds.  There really wasn’t a musical accompaniment – instead, a soundscape that was at times like static, at times extended tones, at times loud and dissonant.

a page from the program

This went on for about an hour without a discernible (to me) progression of the story, with the same movements and interactions recurring multiple times.  And there were only a handful of spots where dancers executed what I would normally think of as beautiful movements.

About 2/3 of the full house didn’t applaud at all at the end.  There were some boos.  Maybe 1 or 2 bravos.

The program says, “An allegory for despotic societies, and, in particular, South American dictatorships, the work explores the strategies of power and the dynamics of authority that forge the relationships between men.  The dancers switch from oppressor to oppressed, embodying both the persecutor/executioner and the ‘missing’ victims of the dictatorship.”

Hmmm.  OK, I guess I saw some of that.  Perhaps the piece was intended to make me feel hopeless about or to fear despots.  Or to rise up against them.  Pondering….