On My Own Again

Tags

Aarchna, art, banlieue, Belleville, clouds, Danube, Eiffel Tower, flâneur, France, Il faut se méfier des mots, Ivy covered cottage, Jordain, Kristoffer, la Mouzaïa, Nausicaa Favart Amouroux, One must mistrust words, Opéra, Opéra Garnier, Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, Paris, Pré Saint-Gervais, quartier d’Amérique, Rosa Bonheur, rue de Belleville, rue de Crimée, rue du Télégraph, semaphore, Télégraph, Un Tapis de Poésie, villas, Water towers, weather

On Sunday morning I saw Kristoffer off on the Roissybus at Opéra. The ticket machine at the bus stop was broken but he was able to buy a ticket from the driver (since he had prudently saved 11 euros in cash).

Opéra Garnier looking lovely, in a rare moment of sunshine

Paradoxically, you have to stand at a traffic island in the middle of rue de l’Opéra, where the sides are blocked by other buildings, to see the full dome, and the pitched roof over the main theater.

In prior years I’ve just sent departing guests out the door with detailed instructions, but a Boston friend has taught me how nice it is to see someone off. This is especially true when I’ve been handling navigation issues for my guest while we’ve been together, so he may not have gotten particularly comfortable with the métro, etc. How I have remained oblivious to this all these years is a mystery, but it’s not too late to teach this old dog a new trick! (Though note that I didn’t go all the way to the airport and back; let’s not get carried away here!)

This year’s sojourn has been very sociable. A series of old and new friends have stayed with me for several days each: Jared R, Sherard, Omar and Kristoffer, and I’ve spent a lot of time with other visiting friends, including Jared W, CN and Arturo. As in other years I’ve seen a lot of Zhizhong, and I’ve started catching up with other French friends as well. Earlier in the trip I stayed with Charlie and Markevin near Toulouse and spent a couple of afternoons with Grégory in Bordeaux, not to mention my new Korean friends. This has been great fun, but it has also left me with less alone time than in prior years, and has greatly changed the blogging dynamic. From a discipline that I followed (almost) every evening in 2010 it has become a binge project that gets a week or two behind, then takes me a day or two to catch up! All a long way of saying that it’s different, but quite OK, to now spend a few days alone.

Sunday afternoon I headed over to Rosa Bonheur for old time’s sake. The weather has continued to be a mix of sun and rain, but there was a pretty good crowd on the terrasse. I didn’t get into any deep conversations but I did exchange a few nice words with a young woman who was there with her young son and older mother.

Rosa Bonheur, finally open and busy

After finishing my beer I strolled over to the area of little “Villas” to the west of the Park des Buttes Chaumont, which I now see is called la Mouzaïa or the quartier d’Amérique. I added a few shots to my Picasa/Google photo set on la Mouzaïa then continued on to see some of the open studios in an area I had not previously visited, the city of Pré Saint-Gervais, a banlieue!

As usual there was a lot of so-so art, but I really liked several pieces by Nausicaa Favart-Amouroux.

Painting by Nausicaa Favart Amouroux

I also enjoyed a poetry reading accompanied by violin at Un Tapis de Poésie.

Pré Saint-Gervais itself seemed to have something of a Turkish tilt, but otherwise seemed quite Parisian and not scary, except for an abandoned building, covered with graffiti.

Scary abandoned building covered with grafitti in a banlieue!

Somewhat less scary in the context of its spanking new neighbors

I had actually encountered a scarier scene earlier within the city limits at Danube.

Bucolic scene at Danube. Oh, wait…

I had a nice Indian dinner at Aarchna, on rue du Télégraph back in Belleville. I was interested to learn that the « télégraph » was actually one of the earliest lines of visual semaphores, which in 1794 allowed a message to be transmitted from Paris to Lille in three hours that previously took three days on horseback. That’s why it was placed on the highest hill in Paris, also why there are now water towers on the same spot.

Water towers on rue du Télégraph

After dinner I walked down rue de Bellevile as the sun went down (around 10 pm!). Here are a few atmospheric pictures from my day as a lone flâneur.

Ivy-covered cottage on rue de Crimée, near sketchy Place des Fêtes

“Beware of words.”

Doorway at Jordain, rue de Belleville

The other Paris: the Eiffel tower from rue de Belleville

Lovely clouds behind a dome on rue Réumur

All day Monday and Tuesday morning I did literally nothing but catch up on my blog. Enjoy!

Mot du jour: banlieue, literally, “suburb,” but many of the inner ring of cities just outside Paris are ethnic, depressed and at times dangerous so in France the term has a sketchy resonance.

My Omar

Tags

art, Eiffel Tower, Elliot, France, Harvard, HGLC, HGSC, Il Tre 3, Kazuho Hieda, Marais, meals, Montorgueil, Omar, Open Café, Paris, Place de la Concorde, Quetzel, rue Montorgueil, Shepard Fairey

Omar and I met for drinks on Friday night. That evening is a bit of a blur but the upshot was that it would be a lot more convenient if he stayed at my place for the next few days rather than at the garret apartment he had been living in. On Saturday evening we set out to explore the Marais. We started — as usual! — at the Open Café, then continued on to Quetzel, then … that evening is something of a blur as well…

Me and Omar at the Open Café

Omar and me and many new friends at Quetzel

One detail I do recall is that three touristy guys (on the left in the pic) barged into Quetzel while Omar and I were sipping our beverages. I was annoyed when one of them bumped into me. They came out with beers and eventually we got into conversation with them. They weren’t so bad after all, although we were ready to say farewell when we went off to our next destination.

I had two previously-scheduled events on Sunday: A dinner party hosted by my friend Elliot for the Paris chapter of the Harvard Gender & Sexuality Caucus at 6 pm, and a Skype connection to my classics book club meeting at 10 pm (4 pm Boston time). Elliot’s dinner was delicious, as usual. About eight members attended, some of whom I already knew and others were new to me. It was an interesting evening but I had to leave at 9:30 to get home for book club … only to find that the meeting had been canceled. I was just half-way through Mémoires d’Hadrien myself so I was happy to defer the discussion to our July meeting.

On Monday Omar and I went to Fontainebleau, which I had hoped to see with Manu earlier in the trip. I’ll post about that separately.

On Tuesday we did some shopping and hit some art galleries.

Mer de Kumano étincelante (Kumano sea sparkling) by Kazuho Hieda at Galerie Yoshii

Many pieces by Shepard Fairey at Galerie Laurent Strouk

Tiffon Cognac in Crystal Dragon bottle. A bargain at 2,100 euros. At La Part des Anges

We had a late lunch on Tuesday at our local Icelandic sandwich shop, Lemon. I mentioned to the server in passing that Omar was treating me to a special birthday lunch; at the end of the meal they brought us coffees and a chocolate cake on the house, explaining that I was one of their best customers.

Free coffees and cake at Lemon to celebrate my birthday

Zhizhong had previously invited me to a posh Harvard-Yale reception on Tuesday evening. We had had an amazing time at the American Ambassador’s residence the previous year so I accepted, even though this year it was at a mere hôtel particulier. Zhizhong was called away to London for work at the last minute so I considered skipping it but eventually decided to attend. The space was quite a comedown from last year, but still pas mal.

Hôtel de Tallyrand-Périgord. Ho hum.

Harvard-Yale Reception at the Hôtel de Tallyrand-Périgord.

I had some pleasant conversations at the reception but nevertheless I was happy to step out into the Place de la Concorde and meet up with Omar for dinner.

Place de la Concorde after the reception

Waiting for Omar at the Ferris Wheel at Place de la Concorde

We had a couple of false starts with reservations on The Fork but we ended up having a good Italian meal at Il Tre 3 on good old rue Montorgueil. I had walked by this restaurant dozens of times but had never eaten there, since I had the impression that it was just street food (as is the Thai restaurant across the street). The patrons and servers were indeed young but the food was perfectly respectable and the interior decor was pleasant.

Omar is a keen observer. Not only did he notice the cool street art mosaics by Invader, but he found an app — FlashInvaders — that lets you score points by finding as many of them as possible. Invader started out in Paris but now has put up works in major cities around the world. I’m just starting out but I hope to do a lot better before the end of the month!

My sparse gallery in the FlashInvaders app

Omar left for Budapest on Wednesday, in part because I had to get ready for my next house guest. Meeting him, and spending several days together, was a special pleasure of this year’s stay. A true “expected surprise!” We both hope that our paths will cross again.

Meanwhile, another Omar was killing 49 LGBTs and allies in Orlando, to the horror of decent people everywhere in the world. I don’t minimize the intolerance of many Muslim countries for homosexuality, but I hope that the future of Islam will be closer to the spirit of my own modern, kind and moderate Omar.

Mot du jour: « hôtel particulier » “mansion”. The French word « hôtel » is an unreliable friend. In « hôtel de ville » it means “city hall.” Used alone, it actually means “hotel.”

 

On My Own Again

Tags

16 Haussmann, art, Carol Rama, contemporary art, crêpe, crêperie, Délices de la Lune, Eiffel Tower, fun house, funhouse, gallette, Henry Darger, House of Horrors, La Fourchette, Markus Lüpertz, meals, Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, pur, Rosa Bonheur, Rosa Bonheur sur Seine, rue Lafitte, Sacre Coeur, Sturtevant, The Fork, Tour Saint-Jacques, traveling alone, traveling with friends

I’m on my own for a few days between house guests. I’m always struck by the difference between traveling with friends and traveling by myself.

When I’m with others a large part of my consciousness involves my companions. I’m making sure we’re together and everyone is happy, or if not trying to figure out how to do better. Decisions require discussion, but they also also have the potential for a more interesting choice than if I followed my usual preferences. I don’t spend as much time absorbing my surroundings, but by seeing the environment through the eyes of others I often perceive something I would have missed. And being with friends is cozy and comfortable.

Alone again, however, it can feel as if curled-up antennae open out; even that a third eye opens! Suddenly I’m more aware of everything around me, and of my own thoughts and feelings. Acute self-consciousness was sometimes a problem when I traveled alone before I came out, but in recent decades it’s been stimulating rather than excruciating. Safety is another aspect; there’s a greater need to be aware of your surroundings when you’re alone (and I’m afraid that as I age I am becoming an increasingly attractive target). Loneliness and horniness can also be factors, causing me to pay more attention to those around me than when I’m already with a nice or attractive guy. On the other hand, being alone is more stressful, and I can run out of steam more easily on my own than when I’m swept along by the enthusiasm of a group.

As I’ve mentioned before, I have no clear preference between traveling alone or with friends. They are simply different experiences, both of which have their pros and cons.

On Tuesday, after Matt and Chris left, I did laundry and reorganized the apartment, met a promising young man for an afternoon drink, then had dinner with an old friend, Larry Tu, at 16 Haussmann, in the Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hotel. As Larry says, it’s a calm and elegant room, and both service and food are good.

My delicious salmon appetizer at 16 Haussmann.

Larry and me at 16 Haussmann.

To put the cherry on top, by reserving through The Fork (which I heartily recommend) we could order from the regular menu for half price! Yet it somehow seems off kilter to come all the way to Paris and eat at a Marriott. I tend to prefer places that are more crowded and noisy, but also hip and trendy. On the other hand, this meal has me wondering whether it might sometimes be more pleasant to have a good French meal in a lovely calm room — especially at half price!

After dinner I strolled back home along the Grands Boulevards. At the end of rue Lafitte, right next to the hotel, Sacré-Coeur loomed like a Disney castle, or a hallucination!

When I was almost home I noticed that Bonne Nouvelle, the little bar on Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière across from the Grand Rex, was overflowing with gay men. Lisa’s Geoff had introduced me to it last year, but it had been dead every time I’d seen it this year. Tuesday seems to be its big night! I had a beer there just because. The owner greeted me warmly — possibly even remembering me from last year? — but I didn’t strike up any other conversations.

Wednesday I had lunch at Pur, a trendy locavore place on my own street that I had discovered with Matt and Chris last week. I really like the experience but I have to agree with one reviewer that you’re still hungry when you leave: the portions are tiny.

Lunch at Pur. Tasty and healthy but not filling.

Then I went over to have a look at the Modern Art Museum of the City of Paris in the 16th arrondissement. It’s overshadowed by the Pompidou Center, but it’s much less crowded and I quite enjoy it. I’ll put up a photo set of my favorite pieces from this year’s visit at some point, but for the moment here are a few glimpses. There’s a truly bizarre “House of Horrors” in the basement, a scary two-person ride in the dark with strange creatures popping out at you. The ultimate convergence of fun house and contemporary art!

House of Horrors at the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris.

In the House of Horrors at the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris.

And here’s a video panorama of the Surrealism Room.

Wednesday night I made and enjoyed a home-cooked meal with fresh pasta and pesto sauce (left by Matt and Chris), green beans, salad and a pain de tradition.

Home-cooked meal at 12 rue des Jeûneurs.

For Thursday lunch I tried out a Bretonne restaurant a few blocks away that I have walked past many times, Délices de la Lune (“delights of the moon”). The staff were friendly and professional, and the food was delicious and seemed authentic.

Lunch at Délices de la Lune in the 2ème.

I had not allowed enough time on Wednesday afternoon to see the three exhibitions that had just opened at the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris so I went back on Thursday afternoon to take them in. All three showcased eccentric artists somewhat out of the mainstream: Markus Lüpertz, Carol Rama and Henry Darger. They were all intriguing, but of the three I preferred the Lüpertz show.

Markus Lüpertz exhibition at the Modern Art Museum of the City of Paris.

Rough sculptures depicting characters from Greek mythology were my favorites. Much of Carol Rama’s work is lesbian porn, which can be stimulating but isn’t really my style. Henry Darger’s work is profoundly weird. His entire ouvre was discovered in his cluttered apartment after his death. Most of it depicts a grisly war between imaginary countries involving a group of girls, who are usually depicted naked, with immature male genitals. The progression of drawings might well be as interesting to an abnormal psychologist — or a child molester — as to an aesthete.

After the museum I strolled across the Seine and took a photo of the new Rosa Bonheur floating bar. I have been skeptical about this, since part of the charm of the original Rosa is its relative inaccessibility. Most of the patrons seemed straight — which is also true of the original guinguette, except on Sunday afternoons — but after taking the photo I did notice a table of four young men who seemed friendly.

Rosa Bonheur sur Seine. Bobo going posh?

On Friday morning, before Yunpeng arrived, I climbed the Tour Saint-Jacques in the Marais. You have to reserve on line several days in advance, and only 17 people are allowed up at a time. It was an interesting tour and a breathtaking view. Here’s a sample photo, and you can see the full photo set at: The View from the Tour Saint-Jacques.

Les Invalides, the Eiffel Tower and the Musée d’Orsay from the Tour Saint-Jacques in the Marais.

Paris – After the Top Ten Sights

Tags

Albert Kahn museum, Alcohol, Alfred Sisley, An Hour from Paris, Arc de Triomphe, Bastille, Bercy Village, Bois de Vincennes, Canal Saint-Martin, Catacombs of Paris, Château, Château de Vincennes, crime, day trips, drinking, Eiffel Tower, Grand Palais, Institut du monde arabe, Jardin de Luxembourg, Jardin de Reuilly, l'Oasis d'Aboukir, Latin Quarter, L’Étoile Manquante, l’officiel des spectacles, LB Café, le Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, le musée du quai Branly, le Musée Jaquemart-André, Marais, Metro, Montmartre, Montorgueil, Moret-sur-Loing, mugging, Musée Carnavalet, Musée d’art moderne, Musée des Arts et Métiers, Musée Rodin, Musee d'Orsay, museums, Opéra Garnier, Open Café, Palais de Tokyo, Palais Royal, Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, Parc Floral, Parc Monceau, Parc Montsouris, Paris, Pariscope, Passy-Auteuil, Petit Palais, pickpockets, Place des Vosges, Pompidou, Pompidou Center, Promenade plantée, Provins, Public Drinking, Rambouillet, Rosa Bonheur, rue de Charonne, rue Montorgueil, safety, Seine, Senlis, train

The Top Ten Sights

[If you just want to see what my life in Paris has been like you can skip this post.]

On your first visit to Paris, like everyone else, you will go up the Eiffel Tower.

Iconic!

You will go to the Louvre and take a snapshot of the Mona Lisa.  You will gaze in awe at the facade of Notre-Dame. You will have an ice cream made by Berthillon on l’Île Saint-Louis. You will take a Bateau Mouche tour of the Seine. You will stroll along the Champs-Elysée up to the Arc de Triomphe.

Arc de Triomphe

You will eat a soggy crêpe at a stand in the Latin Quarter. You will climb the south slope of Montmartre up to Sacré Coeur and be dazzled by the view.

In all of those places you will be surrounded by other tourists doing exactly the same things, clutching their maps and mobile phones to ensure that they never stray from the well-worn Tourist Track.

Not only will you do these things, you must do them, and you should do them. Why? Because these places are iconic, and your friends would never forgive you if you didn’t. Because that’s what it means to go to Paris for the first time. And, last but not least, because they’re fabulous. It is not tragic that everywhere you go those first few days will be excruciatingly touristy. It’s normal.

Every travel book will tell you how to see the top ten tourist spots over your first few days, and I leave this task to them. But when you have gotten this out of your system — after your first few days, or on your second visit — read on. This post is about what to do after you’ve seen the top sights.

Getting Ready for More

First off you will need some technology. Get the RATP app, the Métro app and the TripAdvisor City Guide app that I describe in my Getting Into Paris post. These will help you get around and enable you to stray as far as you like from the beaten path without anxiety. And if your battery runs out just stroll for a bit until you run across a métro station. They all have detailed maps with a red dot labelled « Vous Etes Ici » (You Are Here). While you may have to change lines once or twice there will always be a station within a few blocks of your hotel.

Next, find out what’s happening in Paris. One excellent resource is the City of Paris English web site at this link (and there’s lots more on the French language site). For under a euro you can pick up a copy of Pariscope or l’officiel des spectacles at any newsstand (they come out on Wednesday). The text is in French but you should be able to puzzle out most of the listings even if you don’t read the language. Look in particular for exhibitions at the Grand Palais and Petit Palais.

Last but not least, shift gears. You are no longer checking off “must-see” sights. It is not important that you see the eleventh through twentieth best things in Paris. What you want now is to have some personally rewarding experiences, connecting in one way or other with this big, complex and fascinating city. Slow down, let your blood pressure drop a few points, and look up from your maps! What aspects of the city do you want to explore over these next few days?

Indoor or Outdoor?

The first big question is whether you’ll be exploring outdoors or looking for something under a roof. This obviously depends on weather as well as your own preferences. My one additional observation is that Paris can be lovely in the rain if you have the right gear to keep warm and dry, and you’ll want that gear anyway to get to an indoor destination if it’s raining.

Indoor Options

These are just a few suggestions out of a myriad of wonderful indoor options. Do two things in each case on line before you set out: Check the opening days and hours, and see what special exhibitions are on offer.

• Musée d’Orsay
  This wonderful museum is on many top-ten lists, but if not it certainly deserves top consideration as your next indoor destination. Buy your tickets on line or at a travel agent to avoid the ticket line, which can be more than an hour long. When you enter go left and take the elevator or escalators up to the fifth floor, to start with the Impressionist masterpieces. There’s plenty more on lower floors but you don’t want to risk getting tired before you reach the top.
• Pompidou Center
  The Pompidou is fun to look at since its structural elements and mechanical systems are on the outside, color coded. But it also has a great collection of modern art, an ok collection of contemporary art, and interesting rotating exhibitions. Your ticket also lets you see whatever is going on an the French first floor, opposite the escalators to the main floors. And whatever you do, check out the view from the top floor.
• Musée des Arts et Métiers
  If you like machines and technology allow a half-day for this enormous grab-bag of mechanical stuff, ranging from tiny scientific instruments to giant steam engines.
• Musée Carnavalet (closed for renovations until the end of 2019) This is the museum of the history of Paris. It’s also a marvelous grab-bag — of art, furnishings and memorabilia. Like all the City of Paris museums, it’s free, and closed on Mondays. But note that until the end of 2019 collections from the French Revolution, 19th century and the Belle Époque are closed for renovation.
• Opéra Garnier
  Strangely, I’ve never taken the tour of this utterly gorgeous building, but friends tell me it’s excellent. (I have been to several performances in the new opera building at Bastille. It’s a great space but you must reserve in the first few days tickets go on sale to get affordable tickets.)
• Catacombs of Paris
  These vast underground tunnels are where the bones are stashed when construction work wipes out a cemetery, most notably by Haussmann’s renovation of Paris in the mid 19th century. It’s ghoulish but fascinating. I’ve described the experience thusly: Ten minutes of “When do we get to the bones?” Ten minutes of silence. Then half an hour of “When do we get to the end of the bones?”
• Other Museums
  There are a hundred museums in Paris!  Among those I’ve enjoyed are le Musée Rodin (which needs good weather because at least half the masterpieces are in the extensive gardens), the odd and wonderful le Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, the informative Institut du monde arabe (which offers a great view from the roof even if you don’t want to buy a ticket to the museum), the primitive-art-museum-that-dare-not-speak-its-name le musée du quai Branly, one of several house-museums, le Musée Jaquemart-André, the city’s answer to the Pompidou, the Musée d’art moderne, and the adjacent — wild and wooly — contemporary art museum, the  Palais de Tokyo (but confirm first that the exhibitions are open). Some are quite obscure, but nearly all will reward your time. How about trying a museum that isn’t in the guidebook, or even in this post??  A full list is at this link.

Outdoor Options

• • People-Watching from a Café
    This is one of the most delightful things you can do in Paris. You can do it almost anywhere, but here are some of my favorite spots.
    • My favorite street for people watching is rue Montorgueil in the 2e, and my very favorite table is at the LB Café with a view down rue Tiquetonne as well as up and down Montorgueil. You will see all sorts of people, from stylish youths to women pushing baby carriages, to still-elegant retirees. Some foreign tourists — increasing every year — but still mostly French. Order an expensive coffee or kir and nurse it for an hour or two as you take in the passing parade!  Then become part of the parade yourself as you stroll up to the top of the street, beyond the arch, to check out the L’Oasis d’Aboukir.
    • A close second, though much more touristy, is L’Étoile Manquante on rue Vielle du Temple in the Marais, at the intersection with rue Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie. Or if you want a stronger gay flavor, the classic Open Café on rue des Archives.
    • Another busy and stylish place is Bercy Village, a posh shopping area at the Cour Saint-Émilion métro stop.
  •  Stroll Along the Promenade Plantée
    This is a linear park along the top of a disused railway viaduct – the (earlier) Parisian version of New York’s High Line. Depending on the season it has beautiful flowers, and always offers commanding city views. The elevated portion ends with a pedestrian bridge over the green center of the Jardin de Reuilly, a favorite sunbathing spot. You can plan lunch at le Janissaire, then continue another mile or so along a portion of the tracks that ran through a depressed cut. Or you can window shop your way back to Bastille by dozens of artist studios and art-related stores that have been created in the arches of the viaduct.
  • Have a Picnic
    There are so many great parks to choose from!  A few of my favorites are:
    • the lovely little Place des Vosges and the similar garden of the Palais Royal
    • the big and beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg
    • posh little Parc Monceau
    • large and hilly and un-touristy Parc Montsouris
    • spectacular though somewhat remote Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, which has the wonderful ginguette Rosa Bonheur in the top corner (near métro Botzaris), and the delightful little Temple de la Sibylle overlooking its man-made lake.
    • The Bois de Vincennes on the east side of Paris (like the Bois de Boulougne on the west) is dauntingly enormous, but there are great things to do there: rent a boat on the lake, visit the gorgeous Parc Floral, go to the brand-new zoo, tour the Château de Vincennes, etc. Just make sure the métro stop you go to is within walking distance of the part of the park you’re aiming for!

    But don’t limit yourself to parks. There are other lovely spots to picnic.

    • The banks of the Seine are classic spots for a picnic, especially around or in the vicinity of the two islands at the city’s center. Just go down one of the flights of steps and find your perfect spot.
    • Another favorite place to picnic is along the banks of the Canal Saint-Martin in the 10e. Most charming is the section from rue du Faubourg du Temple (where it emerges from its long tunnel) up to the bend when it turns towards the east.

    Everyone seems to have wine or beer with their picnics, except in parks where a sign specifically prohibits alcohol, but the legal picture in theory appears to be quite complex. My thought is that if others are drinking in the same area and you aren’t rowdy you are unlikely to get more than a warning. In particular there doesn’t seem to be an “open container” law like in the U.S., just prohibitions on actually drinking in public.

  • Take a Walking Tour
    Strangely, I’ve never taken an organized tour, but it should be worthwhile. There are good self-guided walking tours in the TripAdvisor City Guide app mentioned above, and if you speak French and have data on your mobile there are fascinating (albeit uneven) self-guided tours at ParisInconnu.com that I enjoyed in 2014.
  • Get Lost on Your Own!
    This is my favorite thing to do in Paris. You always find something interesting, especially if you’re willing to divert from your original plan to do down a curious alley or investigate an attractive patch of greenery. Here are some possible areas to try, but don’t let this list limit you. In each case zig-zag through the area, exploring side streets, arcades (passages) and alleys as well as the main street.
    • • Le Marais, 4e
        The lower Marais, the 4e arrondissement, is a classic area for strolling — and getting lost. There are plenty of restaurants and shops, open even on Sunday. The busiest and most touristy area is north of rue de Rivoli but I recommend a quieter stroll also on the other side of rue de Rivoli, including the little pedestrian area called Village Saint-Paul.
      • Montorgueil, 2e
        This is a nest of narrow pedestrianized streets chock full of shops, restaurants and bars.
      • Latin Quarter, 5e and 6e
        There are curious walking areas in every direction from the fountain of Saint Michel. Notice the throngs of tourists to the east. Check out the many bookstores downhill from Odéon. Stroll up past the Sorbonne to the Panthéon, then continue down to the charming old market street rue Mouffetard.
      • rue de Charonne, 11e
        This is a hip and slightly edgy area. Be sure to go up and down the side streets!
      • Montmartre, 18e
        Lots of tourists, but also lots of fun windy streets. Be sure to explore the north side of the hill as well as the busier south side.
      • Passy-Auteuil, 16e
        Yes, this is where the rich people live. And indeed there are sterile canyons of wealthy apartments. But some of those buildings are gorgeous, and there are some nice restaurants and bars there if you can put up with locals dripping with money and privilege (and English). Start at with a coffee at posh La Gare, at métro La Muette.

    I never worry much about safety in the daytime – you can basically go anywhere within the Peripherique highway (which you can’t cross without noticing!) At night you might want to ask your hotel if you plan to stray far from the touristy zones, but even in the dark much of the city feels quite safe. The type of crime you’re more likely to encounter is a pickpocket or mobile-snatcher on the métro, at a railroad station or in a crowded museum or other tourist area, though kids from the rougher suburbs are reputed to go in for street robberies now and then. There are also scams such as petitions, shell games, gold rings, etc. that you should just ignore. Paris is beefing up its police presence to reduce crime against tourists.

Day Trips Outside of Paris

In the unlikely event that you run out of things to do in Paris proper I am a big fan of the guidebook, An Hour From Paris. I’ve done a dozen day trips from it over my years in Paris, each accessible by train:

• • • Chantilly
    • Château d’Écouen – Musée national de la Renaissance
    • La Ferté-Milon and a 4-1/2 mile walk along the Canal de l’Ourcq (wonderful)
    • The Jean-Jacques Rousseau museum in Montmorency
    • Parc de Sceaux (only 15 minutes from Paris; gorgeous though rather recent restoration of Le Nôtre park)
    • Crécy-la-Chapelle (wonderful though requires a train change)
    • Conflans-Sainte-Honorine and Andrésy (wonderful)
    • Champs-sur-Marne (where the château has now reopened)
    • Albert Kahn museum and garden in Boulogne
    • Alfred Sisley Pilgrimage to Moret-sur-Loing
    • Senlis
    • Provins
    • Rambouillet

Eating!

Last but not least, Paris is a paradise for food. My own forays have only scratched the surface but you can check out Dining Off (and On) the Beaten Path if you like. The TripAdvisor City Guide has suggestions and reviews. You might also like the The Fork site or app, which allows online reservations and also offers discounts.

Dynamo!

Tags

art, cheese cake, Eiffel Tower, Experimental Cocktail Club, gâteau de fromage, L'Absinthe Café, language

After our half-marathon Monday (which, by the way, included the equivalent of 53 flights of stairs, per my fitbit) both Brian and I were ready for a quieter Tuesday. He went off to the modern art museum of the city of Paris, then wandered over to the nearby Tour Eiffel. I slept in, blogged, and was still here when he got back! We had dinner at L’Absinthe Café, a neighborhood restaurant in the nearby Arts et Metiers quarter that Elliot Marks had recommended years ago. I was mildly horrified when the waiter gave us English menus, but at the end of the day it lived up to my claim that it primarily catered to nearby French residents.

Dinner with Brian at L’Absinthe Café

We rested after dinner, then walked a few doors down rue Saint-Sauveur to see whether we could get into the Experimental Cocktail Club, which I had enjoyed several times over the last two years. I had been concerned about Brian’s jeans, but that proved not to be a concern. The issue was whether we were cool enough! The doorman was affable but insistent on my answers to a series of questions (en français, bien sûr). First off, he needed to know whether I have been there before, which of course I had, on several occasions. I also claimed to know one of the owners (though not by name). Then it was important for him to know whether I was “leading” (amener) young Brian. I wasn’t exactly sure what this meant but I claimed that I was. For whatever reason, we made the cut and were invited to enter. There were two dj’s spinning mellow music, and excellent experimental cocktails, in a cosy little room.

Brian with an experimental cocktail.

Brian’s petit séjours in Paris made a nice bookends to his Grand Tour. He got away early Wednesday morning to catch his flight home. But not until he made the baguette run — the first time one of my house guests has been so thoughtful. He also offered me his spare U.K. adapter; at first I declined but then I realized that I was really going to need one during my short trip to London later in the month, so I gratefully accepted.

The day was cloudy, with predicted showers, so I booked the Dynamo show at the Grand Palais, which surveys the last hundred years of art involving light and/or movement. I tend to like those types of art — which can mimic the pleasures of an amusement park or fun house. But I was blown away by the size and quality of this show. The exhibition must be ten or fifteen times as large as the entire Boston Institute of Contemporary Art. At several points I thought to myself that the show had been cool, and well worth the price of admission; but then it went on and on!  Light and movement calls for video, so I’ve posted a few clips on YouTube, as well as a still photo set on Picasa.

One of dozens of rooms at Dynamo, at the Grand Palais in Paris, June, 2013.

Anish Kapoor’s Islamic Mirror, 2008.

There were several variations on the theme of a hall of mirrors in the show, but I had never before seen a vertical hall of mirrors.

Here’s my full photo set:  2013 Dynamo Exhibition, and here are the video clips:

• Rotating Labyrinth, Jeppe Hein, 2007 (Finally a work of art that is all about me!)
• Double métamorphose III, Yaacov Agam, 1968-69
• Slow Arc Inside a Cube, Conrad Shawcross, 2009
• Gregorio Vardanega, Espaces chromatique, 1970
• Gerhard von Graevenitz, Kinetisches Objekt mit konkaver Ellipse,1972
• Elías Crespin, Circunconcentricos Transparente, 2013

Meanwhile I’ve also done several loads of laundry, etc. Fortunately, I love playing house. Jared arrives on Monday morning so I have a few days left to my own devices, apart from several evening plans.

Mot du jour: « cheese cake ». Playing the language game with our waiter at L’Absinthe Café I ordered « un gâteau de fromage » to share even though he had given us English menus. He explained that the French term for “cheese cake” is « cheese cake ».  Addendum: A Canadian friend subsequently explained that in Quebec it’s illegal to use English terms like “cheese cake” on menus, so there they in fact do call it « gâteau de fromage » !

Paris High and Low

Tags

Canal Saint-Martin, Club 18, Duplex, Eiffel Tower, gay bars, Gerry, Haut Marais, Marais, meals, Montorgueil, Open Café, Raidd, rue Montorgueil, Saint-Emilion, Spyce

Friday we ascended the Eiffel Tower.  My nephew Andy and I had climbed to the second level on foot four years ago so it was a quite a luxury to be whisked up effortlessly this time.  The forecast had been encouraging when we reserved but it was in fact cloudy and drizzly (as it had been last time).  The views were still impressive, but they didn’t photograph well.  Gerry captured a terrific panorama, however:

Eiffel Tower Panorama

Initially we were told that the elevator from the second level to the top was broken, and we would get a partial refund.  But happily it started working again so we got all the way up.  The height at the second level didn’t bother me, but I felt a bit uncomfortable on top.  It seemed as though the floor moved slightly as people walked on it, and the angles prevented you from seeing any supporting structure.

Lightning Rod and View from Eiffel Tower

Dinner was at another of my old favorites, Le Loup Blanc (which closed in 2014).  We enjoyed the ambiance as well as the food, and an excellent half-bottle of Saint-Emilion Bordeaux.  I was pleased to re-establish my friendly nodding acquaintance with a particular cute waiter, who had seemed distant earlier in the trip.

After dinner Gerry and I headed over the Marais to further explore the bar scene.  We started at Spyce [Now Closed], which was jammed with an attractive mixed crowd.  One enters this bar through a small lobby, with two doors, each operated by a bouncer, that are never open at the same time. This is evidently to keep the music from disturbing the neighbors.  I asked two unusually hunky guys if they would be in a picture with me.  They graciously agreed, and only later did we realize that they were two of the evening’s three dancers.

Bob’s New French Friends (Dancers at Spyce – Now Closed)

This only whetted our appetite, however!  We continued on to an even spycier club, Raidd, which specializes in “shower dances.”  Gerry boldly pushed through the crowd to get us a prime position near the shower stall.  Shortly after we were rewarded with a fine performance by a gifted young man.  I have cropped my photos so as not to épater la bourgeoisie, but in fact very little was left to the imagination.  Update: Here’s a video of a more modest shower dancer in 2016.

Shower Dancer at Raidd

Shower Dancer at Raidd

Saturday morning we slept in, for obvious reasons! When we roused ourselves I took Gerry on a walk across the Haut Marais to the Canal Saint Martin.  I took him via the linear park atop the last covered portion of the canal, and I invited him to puzzle out what the wire-covered ventilator shafts were there for.  Just as he was figuring it out we came on the tunnel opening and the first lock.

Gerry at Canal Saint Martin

We had a very good lunch at Chez Prune, on the banks of the canal.  While there were other tourists there, it had an authentic-seeming bohemian atmosphere.

Gerry at Chez Prune

After a circuitous walk home and a disco nap Gerry took me out to Le Pré Verre, which I had enjoyed on previous visits.  While the food was good the service was brusque and sloppy.  The menu was both in French and English (though I admit that this was convenient), and none of the diners in our vicinity were French.  I realized that this restaurant  is predominately fed by its Rough Guide listing, where I had seen it four years ago.  What seemed like an insider’s secret then now seemed relatively banal.

After dinner we walked along the Seine to — of all places — the Palais Royal, to try out yet another bar, Club 18. We were a few minutes early so we strolled around the area until midnight, when it opens.

Palais Royale at Midnight

It initially seemed odd to find a gay bar in a place so steeped in history and literature, yet even in Balzac’s day the area was a hotbed of gambling and prostitution, so I guess it’s not really so different.  The club has a tiny dance floor, but an amazing number of guys managed to squeeze their way in.  At times it seemed as though it should have been called “Club 16”, but there were other older men and on the whole it seemed more friendly and comfortable than not.  We danced until about 2:30 am, then strolled back to rue Montorgueil.  Several bars and cafés were still open, while others were just closing up.

My own assessment is that Duplex and the Open Café seem to offer the best chance for conversation.  Spyce [now closed] and Raidd have the hottest dancers, but eye candy gets old rather quickly, and guys primarily drawn to that form of stimulation are less interesting anyway (present company excepted).  Club 18 is a really fun place to dance if you didn’t mind being jammed in like sardines, and the crowd was very attractive, even though in some cases actually too childish-looking.  On the whole, the Paris gay scene is good, and I can imagine going back to any of those places at some point or another.

Club 18

Paris Panorama

Tags

Antoine, champagne, Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides, Paris Panorama, Saint-Germaine-des-Près, Tour Eiffel

I spoke a bit too soon in my last post about my Sunday being uneventful.  Shortly after posting I got a call from my French friend Antoine, inviting me over to see the view from the roof deck above his new apartment, in Saint-Germaine-des-Près, in the 7ème.  He has free access to it when the owners are away, so this might have been the only chance I’d have to see it.  I snagged the bottle of champagne that Lisa and Ali had brought the first night, then headed for the métro.

The roof deck affords a 360° panorama of the Paris skyline, including nearly all of the most famous monuments, obstructed only by two nondescript modern buildings in the middle distance.  And the excellent champagne further enhanced our appreciation of the unique place and charming moment.

Antoine on his roof deck

Bob on Antoine’s Roof Deck

Antoine was kind enough to narrate a video panorama, which you might enjoy even though it’s hand-held and quite  wobbly:  Paris Panorama

After sunset most of the monuments are illuminated, affording another lovely perspective on a lovely city.

The Eiffel Tower and Les Invalides from Antoine’s Roof Deck

As one says here, pas mal !

Red, Yellow and a Drop of Gold

Tags

Eiffel Tower, flâneur, kir, La Goutte d'Or, Montorgueil, rue Montorgueil, tourist

A few more quiet days — not a bad thing for someone who lives in Paris instead of being a tourist here. Wednesday and Thursday mornings I caught up with the blog and worked on my roommate transition in Cambridge.

Wednesday I had lunch at a stylish-looking quick-lunch place a block or two down rue Réaumur, Boulangerie Pâtisserie Bigot.  My tuna salad was pre-made but quite ok, and I was struck by how efficient and friendly the place was. Not only was my server personable, but several other staff members wished me bon appetit as well.

That afternoon I read Middlemarch on my Kindle and people-watched for a while at a café on my beloved rue Montorgueil (opposite rue Tiquetonne).

Kir on rue Montorgueil

There was a funny moment at the end of this lovely interlude. Wanting to be a cool kid I asked for “la note” instead of “l’addition.”  My waiter heard “an autre” (another) instead, so brought me a second kir! He was gracious when I explained the mistake, but the incident underlined how far I still need to go just to function normally in France, much less converse fluently!

On Wednesday evening I had dinner with Alexis, a friend I made last year who has been away for much of my visit. We enjoyed a wide-ranging intellectual conversation, as expected. He made a particularly trenchant analogy concerning my discomfort with the more touristy parts of Paris.  He compared me to a straight man in a gay bar. If the straight man is comfortable with his sexuality he will find the environment odd or funny but not threatening. Only if he is unsure of his own identity will he be deeply uncomfortable. The point being that my distress reflects anxiety that deep down, despite the pretentious label of flâneur, I am at heart really just a tourist!  As if to test my self-confidence he walked me after dinner across the Champs de Mars, with its wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower.

Almost midnight, fin du bac, Champs du Mars

We parted there and I lingered — flâneur or tourist or whatever — to take in the scene. (I only discovered the next day that all the young people were there because that day had been the fin du bac, the end of the examinations required as a prerequisite to getting into a university.  And the mellow mood may be in part due to the fact that drinking alcohol had been declared illegal in the student hang-out areas for the night to keep things from getting out of hand!)

Alexis and I had eaten at a very good Provençal restaurant, Le Petit Niçois, that I would be happy to return to. I had pretty much written off the 7eme last year as being excruciatingly bourgeois, but I may have to give it a bit more attention next trip.

I recently ran across an interesting iPhone app that I run on my new iPad — Besafe.  It gives you assessments of the level of danger by area and time of day in three cities: Paris, New York and London.  My own neighborhood comes off fairly well, but — as Jacques had cautioned me — the neighboring Les Halles area is rather dangerous late in the evening. The most hazardous neighborhood in Paris is La Goutte d’Or  (“a drop of gold”), north of the Gare du Nord. So naturally a prudent guy like me would … go there!  After lunch with Jeff at Nanashi, Le Bento Parisien I took the métro up to Château Rouge and encountered this shocking scene:

Château Rouge, métro for La Goutte d'Or

Umm, it looks a lot like Paris. To be sure, most of the folks are black, African and/or Muslim. But it didn’t feel that much different from Central Square, Cambridge. My first impression was confirmed by a photo exhibition called The Goutte d’Or (sic) at the Institut des Cultures d’Islam, a City of Paris cultural center located in the district. A British photographer developed a trusting relationship with the residents and captured a wonderful series of intimate images of the life of the quartier. Drugs and crime are indeed a problem, and I promise not to go there after dark, but the emphasis was much more on the richness and variety of life there than on the district’s scary reputation.

Thursday night I got a huge deal on filets from the local fishmonger — four for five euros — and made my standard meal.  The trip is coming to a gentle and wistful end, though I still do have a week left!

Rodin and Eiffel

Tags

Eiffel Tower, meals, Rodin, rue Cler

Another gorgeous day — ho hum. Jason and I took a long walk through the 7e arrondissement, starting at rue du Bac and ending up at Trocadero. The highlight for me was the lovely garden of the Rodin museum, filled with sun and bird song as well as statues.

Garden of the Rodin museum.

There are more photos from the Rodin museum in the new Picasa set, which is up at Paris-8

After lunch we strolled down rue Cler, a market street that rivals — but does not surpass — my beloved rue Montorgueil. Then we walked through the gardens of Les Invalides and took a look at the Unesco headquarters and an exhibition there. Detouring around the massive École Militaire, we approached the Eiffel Tower along the Champ de Mars.

Eiffel Tower and Bob.

I have dinner planned with locals each of the next three evenings: a friend from Boston who lives here part of the year, my cousin Lisa, and Jacques, a grad student whom I met through the internet. I just got a couple of messages from other folks proposing coffee or whatnot. And of course Jason is still here. Apart from a few solitary days at the start of the trip my stay has been quite sociable.