Well, the elevator service did not come overnight, so this morning it was encounter #2 with the stairs!
I packed my bags and tidied up the apartment and headed out, leaving the door ajar. Going down the stairs was different and somewhat more difficult than going up them last night, and it took me 15 minutes to go the three floors, and I had to roll my purse down ahead of me, but I made it without incident with five minutes to spare before my driver arrived!
With mixed English and French, I let the driver into the building and told him where the apartment was (just down the hall and to the left, the door is open) and asked him to shut the door after retrieving my bags. Voilà, three minutes later he was downstairs with my bags! Then into the car and off to the airport. Happily, he took credit cards so no need to bother with getting cash. When I got inside the terminal it occurred to me (duh - too late!) that I should have asked for his card in case something like this (heaven forbid!) happens again, but then I remembered that there was a private driver listing in the “helpful numbers” section of the apartment’s instruction booklet - will need to confirm that this is him.
This is one of those good news - bad news - good news - etc. etc. etc. stories, for which the final scene has not yet been written!
I got home from my last evening of hitting the shops and cafés, thinking OK, just need to do some packing and wash a couple dishes and hit the sack. I got in the elevator and … eek … my worst nightmare! (OK, maybe not my worst nightmare, but…). The elevator didn’t work. The interior door closed, I hit the 3rd floor button, it sat still and then the interior door opened. (A worse nightmare would have been if the interior door didn’t re-open!) I went out, got back in, tried again. Same thing. And a couple more times! What to do?
I went outside, sat down at the café just steps outside my door, ordered an orange juice to lubricate my brain, and texted the concierge for my apartment for advice. No response for 30 minutes.
So I went back into my building and looked for an elevator repair phone number to call. Bingo! But I had no phone reception inside the elevator or the hallway so had to go outside again.
Finally, I connected with the elevator repair company, but the woman who answered spoke very little English and I couldn’t understand what she was asking me. So she found a colleague whose English was great, and who confirmed my address and asked if I was inside or outside the elevator. Outside! He said they would dispatch someone either tonight or tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning??? That’s when I’m leaving for home! Hey, the sign said that their service was 24x7! Images of me struggling down the stairs with my suitcases in the morning (there are a few straight steps, then a few with a sharp turn, then straight again, for every floor)…not a pretty picture!
I mustered up the courage to climb the three flights very slowly, putting my package and my purse a few steps ahead of me while grabbing on to a banister or wall (no handrail here) and shifting my cane technique depending on the step. Luckily, the steps aren't too steep. About 15 minutes later I was in my apartment. Whew!
So, then, what to do about tomorrow morning in the event that the elevator isn’t fixed by 7am when I need to leave? I tried my concierge again to see if there would be anyone who could help me with my suitcases, and happily she responded on her WhatsApp this time. But she said it might be hard to find someone at this point. I told her "bonne chance" to you and to me!
Then a few minutes later she wrote back to say that she had found a car service, and the driver could come up to the apartment and take my bags down for me! It will take a bit of choreography - I’ll leave my bags in the apartment with the door open, head downstairs however I can (elevator, fingers crossed, or stairs), greet the driver, have him go up and retrieve my bags, and ask him to close the door (it will lock on its own). She wasn’t certain whether this car service took credit cards, so I’ll have to go out extra early and hit the cash machine around the corner (don't have quite enough left in my wallet at this point).
Hopefully the final scene will be in the “good news” camp! Wish me luck!
Tonight I needed a replacement for a tray that I had broken in the apartment. Done!
L’Ami Jean is one of the stalwart bistros in the 7th arrondissement, and yet I had never been there! The chef, Stéphane Jego is known for being a bit old-school and boisterous in the kitchen and specializing in meat and game in large portions. So I had to give it a try!
Since chef Jego is a game specialist, I just had to try his hare for my main course. The shredded leg & thigh meat was in a salty red wine sauce with barely-cooked slices of leek (a nice zingy contrast) and thin slices of chestnut (a genius sweet element - I just wish there had been a few more slices!). Nice deep flavors, it would have been even more perfect on a winter’s day. The huge portion (could have served a family of five!) was served in a large casserole with a bowl of slightly watery mashed potatoes. The sad news is that I could eat only about half of it; the good news is that my server offered me a doggie bag (somewhat unusual in Paris) for the leftovers; the sad news is that I’m leaving tomorrow for Minneapolis; but the good news is that I took it home anyway “just in case” I was a bit hungry tonight!
With my meal, a 2000 Saint Joseph Sylvain Badel - a dry red wine from the northern Rhône. It was beautifully complex - warming and earthy with suggestions of currant, rosemary, mushroom, cherry, raspberry, and leek - my first sip was smile-inducing, and the various flavors went to the foreground or background based on the particular bite of food I had just taken.
I didn’t have room for dessert, but the espresso was blistering and tasty, and served with a little bowl of milk chocolate covered nuts.
Simple décor with no space between the tables in typical Paris bistro fashion!
One of the true blessings to come out of the Pandemic, in my opinion, was the adoption of technologies like Zoom which allowed people to still work, gather, hang out, meet, celebrate, connect, support, and entertain from home or "wherever." I'm on a few nonprofit Boards, and I can tell ya, we've been much more efficient working together over Zoom than we were in person, and meeting attendance has been better! Hopefully we've more effective too, although the absence of the in-person connection has left a gap. And we haven't been able to enjoy treats together!
There is still scaffolding all around Notre Dame. Here are a couple photos from the back side.
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| from a bit of a distance |
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| closer up |
Madame Pic offers three prix fixe menus at lunchtime; four, five or seven courses, with optional beverage pairings for each course. I went with five courses and beverages. Maybe one of these years I’ll be brave and go with all seven! (Menu photos are at the bottom of this post.)
Have a special occasion coming up? Might I recommend La Dame de Pic? Think being in Paris is a special occasion in itself? Well, same recommendation!!!
And the menus and some interior shots from my table:
A block from my apartment is a deli selling caviar, smoked salmon, other smoked and preserved fish, fish patés/rillettes, blinis, Scandinavian-style rye/seed breads, and a ton of accompaniments. They also have sandwiches and salads to go and sidewalk tables. Yipee!
