The Beginning of the End

Tags

architecture, Architecture Museum, Au Bon Coin, Eric Carlson / Carbondale, Fabio Novembre, Fernando and Humberto Campana, food, food porn, Frank Gehry, Frédéric Borel, furniture, George Nakashima, Heure Bleue, Jader Almeida, Jared, l'heure bleue, l'Ile Saint-Louis, Little Beaver, New Chair, Org Table, Pont Marie, Roots Coffee Table, Seine, Vermelha Chair, Virgule, Zoltan, Zoltán

My perspective always shifts towards the end of a long stay: My social schedule fills up with farewells and my interest in meeting anyone new drops towards zero; a few exhibitions not yet seen become urgent; my thoughts begin to drift towards home. I still have another week, but the shift is underway.

Jared kept me moving this past week! We walked 10 miles a day, which has — at least for the moment — pulled my June average up to 7 miles. On Saturday he went for a long bike ride with Zoltán (to the lovely Parc de Sceaux, which I had enjoyed in 2012. I stayed home to catch up on my blog, but I still logged 6 miles with them after they got back from their bike trip. We started the evening with dinner at a charming local place, Au Bon Coin. We each had an appetizer and main, I had a glass of rosé, all for 33 euros each, which wouldn’t cover a single main course (with tax and tip) at a comparable restaurant in Boston. There was even an amuse bouche!

Jared, Bob and Zoltán at Au Bon Coin

My main course at Au Bon Coin.

Our amuse bouche at Au Bon Coin was a smooth scrambled egg topped with caviar, served in an eggshell.

After dinner we decided to stroll down to the Seine. The banks were crowded with happy young people, and some older as well.

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  Pont Marie

• 

  Point of L’Ile Saint-Louis

• 

  Dancers Along the Seine

• 

  Partiers Along the Seine

• 

  L’Heure Bleue

It was a lovely evening — capping one of the best weeks of weather in all my years in Paris!

On Sunday we headed south towards Place d’Italie to forage for lunch. Jared liked the look of a place he noticed down a side street so we tried it out. It was perfectly correct and fair value.

My lunch at Virgule.

Only as we stepped back onto the street did I realize that this was the same place, Virgule, that Lisa and Zhizhong and I had stumbled into last year on May Day. Although I haven’t yet gone there on purpose maybe I will next time!

After lunch we jumped onto the air-conditioned métro line 6 to go to a museum I have never visited in all my years in Paris, la Cité de l’architecture & du patrimoine (the City of Architecture and Heritage) at Trocadero. Jared had seen a listing for an exhibition of the work of three French architects, and thought that this would particularly appeal to Zoltán. I was really impressed by the first of the three architects, Frédéric Borel, from the perspective of his sculptural forms.

15 rue des Pavillions, Paris 20, by Frédéric Borel

I’m not sure whether I would be so enthusiastic if I actually lived in one of these buildings, or if I were responsible for the construction budget! I had photographed another of his projects in 2011, Logement rue Pelleport, Paris 20, by Frédéric Borel, 1993.

None of us much liked the other two architectural teams, although I found one display technique striking, albeit dysfunctional. The images were displayed on the floor (with power lines running up to the ceiling) and you had to walk up and down the aisles to look at them.

In true flâneur fashion it turned out that what we liked best of all was an exhibition of furniture made by architects that we hadn’t even planned to see.

Compressed wood chair, Eric Carlson / Carbondale, 2007

Little Beaver, Frank Gehry, 1987

New Chair, George Nakashima, 1981. (Amusingly misdescribed as being derived from American Quakers, when in fact it’s based on designs of American Shakers.)

Org Table, Fabio Novembre, 2001.

Roots Coffee Table, Jader Almeida, 2013.

Vermelha Chair, Fernando and Humberto Campana, 1993.

We didn’t have time for the permanant collection but I intend to spend more time there another year.

After Zoltán caught the train back to Delft Jared and I put together dinner at home from a few things we had on hand. Although I normally don’t bother meeting new people this late in a stay I made an exception for a young man who proposed to meet for a drink. « Alan » is smart, nice and attractive, and appreciates ahem maturity, so it was worthwhile, even though we won’t be able to meet up again this year.

A Monday Stroll

Tags

Berkeley Books, Boulevard Saint-Germain, Design et Nature, Deyrolle, Edgar, Fontaine de l’Observatoire, France, Galerie Vivienne, Instutute du Monde Arabe, Jardin de Luxembourg, Palais Royal, Panthéon, Paris, Right Bank, Sénat, Security Fence at the Sénat, Seine, Sherard, Square Barye, St. Etienne du Mont, stuffed animals, taxidermy

On Monday Sherard and I set out to explore the right bank, which we had slighted so far. We strolled over by way of the elegant Galerie Vivienne and the lovely garden of the Palais Royal.

Bookshop in the Galerie Vivienne

Greenery in the garden of the Palais Royal

We crossed the Seine and entered the 7ème arrondissement along the rue du Bac, so I could show Sherard Deyrolle, a world-famous taxidermy shop with an astounding collection of animals and insects. I respected their rule against photos but to give you the idea here are some pics from the smaller but also wonderful Design et Nature [Photo Set] at the other end of my own rue d’Aboukir.

Stuffed animals at Design et Nature

Stuffed animals at Design et Nature

After walking along the posh Boulevard Saint-Germain we had coffee at the square in front of the Odéon, were disappointed to find that Phyllis Cohen’s Berkeley Books is closed on Mondays, then strolled through the Jardin du Luxembourg.

Panthéon seen from the Jardin du Luxembourg

Security fence going in around the Sénat in the Jardin du Luxembourg. Necessary, but sad.

Fontaine de l’Observatoire of the Jardin du Luxembourg

We chose a pleasant spot and read our books for an hour in the Jardin du Luxembourg.

Sherard pretending to read Foucault in the garden of the Palais Royal (which he really did in the Jardin du Luxembourg)

Then we walked over to Vavin, where I had had a memorable Niçoise salad my first year, at La Rotonde. They didn’t have this on the menu, though, and everything else looked pretty pricey, so we had cheap and cheerful baguette sandwiches at a boulangerie instead. We then walked up to the Panthéon, where I was disappointed to find that the beautiful St. Etienne du Mont church is closed on Mondays. Then through the Jardin des Plantes, fortunately open. The free observation deck of the Instutute du Monde Arabe is also closed on Mondays, and Square Barye, the little park at the east end of l’île Saint-Louis, was closed due to the flood, so all in all we had a good walk but were frustrated by closures at several points.

We partially made up for the disappointments of the day with a lovely small-plate meal at Edgar, a newly-opened hotel restaurant right around the corner from my 2016 apartment.

Dinner at Edgar

First Days With Sherard

Tags

Art, Arturo, Experimental Cocktail Club, France, Gaîté Lyrique, Galerie Linz, Lucas Talbotier, Marais, meals, Montorgueil, Nanashi, Open Café, Paris, rue Montorgueil, Seine, Sherard, weather

Sherard arrived on Wednesday morning for a week-long visit to Paris, his first. After he got settled in I asked what he particularly wanted to see or do here and he gave me a short, straightforward list:

• the Louvre,
• the Musée D’Orsay, (most famous for its unparalleled collection of impressionist works) and,
• the Pompidou Center (the national museum of modern and contemporary art).

“No problem!” (I thought!) Because it was closest, and in the gay-friendly Marais, we set out that afternoon to see the Pompidou Center, the national museum of modern and contemporary art.

At the café atop the Pompidou Center

We started with an exhibition about the life and work of Paul Klee. It was large and comprehensive, although I was surprised not to see some of his most iconic images. These were a few pieces from the show that caught my eye.

Paul Klee, Green X Above Left, 1915

Paul Klee, Mask Fear, 1932

Paul Klee, Snake Paths, 1934

It’s always a pleasure to revisit the Pompidou‘s permanent collection but I’ve blogged about it many times before so I won’t repeat myself here. I did get a decent video clip of a rotating op-art piece I’ve always liked, however: Nicholas Schöffer, Spatiodynamisme (visions condensées), 1958

Also, I hadn’t noticed this piece before, which embodies the absurdity of some branches of conceptual art.

George Brecht, Three Arrangements, 1962 / 1973 / 2015

That evening we strolled down to the Seine. The recent rains had caused the river to rise higher than I remembered seeing it. I took a photo, but didn’t give it much further thought…

The quai at the tip of Île Saint-Louis on June 1, 2016, at the start of the Great Flood of 2016.

We ended the evening with cocktails at my old favorite, the Experimental Cocktail Club.

The next morning Sherard was kind enough to give me moral support at a coffee date with Arturo, a guy I had been chatting with for a few years but had never met in person. He turned out to be great — handsome, smart and sweet! We made a plan to meet again for drinks that evening and continued on our way.

We got our art fix on Thursday from less mainstream sources. First was a quirky show at the Gaîté Lyrique, a former theater that is now the neighborhood cultural center for the 3ème arrondissement. The show started out with some cute-ish computer enhanced image manipulations, then developed into a meditation on information gathering and surveillance, and on our mostly-futile attempts to protect ourselves.

We had lunch at an old favorite, Nanashi in the Haut Marais. We both enjoyed our  meals as well as the handsome and friendly waiters.

Sherard with our Bento boxes at Nanashi in the Haut Marais.

We spent the late afternoon seeing galleries participating in Les Jeudis Arty (Arty Thursdays) in the Marais, which now happens just three times a year.

This exhibition space was as interesting as the works (which were on plastic tables suspended by wires from the ceiling struts).

This piece was one of Sherard’s favorites.

Sherard with Memory Drift, 2015, by Nicholas Dhervillers at School Gallery Paris

Painting by Lucas Talbotier at his Biome show

I liked several pieces by Lucas Talbotier at Jola Sidi Gallery.

I was pleased to learn that the handsome young artist will be spending a semester at Rhode Island Institute of Design (RISD) starting next January. We exchanged contact info and I hope I’ll have an opportunity to show him around Boston next winter.

My favorite gallery of all was the Galerie Linz, hidden at the back of a courtyard. I liked almost everything but my favorite piece was a remarkable balanced stone sculpture.

After a minor SNAFU we met up with Arturo and had a beer at the Jeudis Arty after party at the Carreau du Temple, then decamped for cocktails at Le Mary Celeste.

Arturo and Bob at Le Mary Celeste. (Photo credit Sherard)

The drinks were fine and the atmosphere was nice but the service was lackluster. We then tried the Experimental Cocktail Club, but we couldn’t get in because it closes at 2 pm on Thursdays. By this point we were close to home so Sherard and I invited Arturo up to the apartment and we ended the evening with a few glasses of wine.

A Weekend with Yunpeng

Tags

acrobats, Bastille, Chez Louisette, Cour Saint-Émilion, flea market, Lézard Café, Marais, Marché aux Puce, meals, Metro, Montorgueil, Parc de Bercy, Paris, Place des Vosges, Promenade plantée, rue Montorgueil, Saint-Ouen, Seine, singers, street acrobats, street performers, Yunpeng

Last year and again this year Yunpeng visited me for a weekend. He is originally from China but is working on his PhD in bioinformatics at a university in Bergen, Norway. It has been quite cold there but fortunately we had nice weather for his visit to Paris. Here are some of the highlights.

Just down the street from my place we saw a troupe of Brazilian acrobats setting up for their performance. I asked permission to take a photo, but then got invited to join in the picture.

Bob bonding with Brazilian street acrobats on rue Montorgueil.

One of the acrobats took a short video of an acrobat jumping over our arms.

Friday evening we had dinner at Lézard café, which I had enjoyed in prior years. This year the welcome was chilly and the service was simply terrible. The food was ok, but mostly pre-made. The crowd was young and attractive but I don’t think I’ll be going back any time soon.

On Saturday we had a picnic in the Place des Vosges, then took a stroll along the Promenade Plantée, which follows a disused railway line from near Place de la Bastille. The first half is elevated and the second half is below grade, with occasional bridges.

Yunpeng in the bamboo grove of the Promenade Plantée.

Bob and Yunpeng at the reflecting pool on the Promenade Plantée.

We continued on to the Cour Saint-Emilion shopping area to have gelato, where we saw several fine soul singers giving samples of their work to promote an upcoming concert.

A soul singer at the Cour Saint-Emilion mesmerizes a young fan.

We then strolled through the Parc de Bercy, then across the Seine on a graceful footbridge.

Bob in the rose garden of the Parc de Bercy (wearing Yunpeng’s stylish hat).

We strolled across this graceful foot bridge and had a drink at this lively riverbank bar.

I was impressed by all the multi-cultural options at this place, but we ate dinner at a Malaysian place instead.

I was impressed by the multi-cultural cuisine offered by this place: Indian, Middle Eastern, American, Italian, Bretonne.

We took the 14 métro line home. Like the 1, the 14 is fully automated so there is a big window in front where the driver would otherwise be. I was finally able to capture a video of the view from the front of the train as it goes through the tunnel and pulls into a station.

That evening we went to a remarkable dance bar that Antoine had recommended: Tango, in the Arts et Métiers neighborhood. The decor and ambiance is straight out of the 1950s. Very accomplished couples — mostly but not all same-sex — danced to music from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. Many others, like ourselves, just looked on and sipped their drinks. We didn’t stay too late, but it was clearly the kind of place where it would be easy to strike up a conversation with people at a neighboring booth.

On Sunday we slept in, then had lunch at a local fish place I had first tried with Matt and Chris, La Criée.

Yunpeng with his lunch at La Criée.

Then we took the métro up to the Marché aux Puce (flea market) at Saint-Ouen.

A rainbow display of teapots at the Saint-Ouen flea market.

I steered us to a drink at Chez Louisette, where a soulful singer did not disappoint.

A soulful singer at Chez Louisette in the Saint-Ouen flea market.

Yunpeng headed home on Monday after a lovely weekend.

Last Days in Paris — For My Friends

Tags

Antoine, apartment, Bateau Mouche, Chris, Cocktails, Experimental Cocktail Club, Gillian, La Faille, Matt, meals, Montorgueil, Old Cuban, Paris, Pont Alexandre III, rouget barbu, rue Montorgueil, Sacre Coeur, Seine

Monday was the last day in Paris for Matt and Chris. Our first plan was to get the view from the top of Sacré-Coeur, but Chris was feeling a bit under the weather so we switched to something that didn’t involve so much climbing: a boat trip on the Seine. It was 100% touristy but actually rather fun.

A selfie of me with the Eiffel Tower taken on a Bateau Mouche. Could anything be more touristy?

Detail of the most beautiful bridge in Paris, the Pont Alexandre III. You can’t get this view from shore.

Revisiting from the water side so many buildings we had seen from the land made this a rather good way to round out their visit. That evening Matt and Chris made their last home-cooked meal – with fresh pasta from a market on rue Montorgueil — and I headed out to meet  my nephew’s girlfriend Gillian, her mother and her brother Rob for dinner. Gillian had been traveling through Europe for weeks, and her mother and brother had joined her in Paris a few days before; this was also their last day here. We met at the Sentier métro station, then strolled down rue Montorgueil looking for a good place to have an apéro. We settled on a corner table at Blanco that was sunny but not smoky. We all had kirs, with different flavors of liqueur. Then we foraged for a meal. We settled on La Faille, a relatively new restaurant on rue Montmartre that I hadn’t previously tried. I was impressed with the decor and the very energetic service. I also liked the way the owner chased away a panhandler who started bothering us. The wine and food were both quite good, and the price seemed consistent with other good restaurants in Paris.

Gillian, with her mother and brother at La Faille on rue Montmartre.

My rouget barbu at La Faille on rue Montmartre.

After wishing them a good trip home to Chicago I headed back to my apartment around midnight. Normally I feel quite safe in the neighborhood, but this evening three young men were loitering around the door to my apartment.

Young men loitering about my apartment around midnight.

I was right to be concerned, since they dragged me away! … to the Experimental Cocktail Club for a couple rounds of creative drinks. (We particularly liked the Old Cuban, and an unusual little chicory-flavored drink that Matt got.)

In the morning Matt and Chris headed back to Boston, after a lovely visit. The apartment is quiet again! But not for long…

A Long Weekend

Tags

An Hour from Paris, Chris, Jamie, Jardin de Luxembourg, le Musée des Tramways à Vapeur et des chemins de fer Secondaires français, Little Italy, Marais, Matt, meals, Montorgueil, Morton, Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, Paris, Place des Vosges, poularde, Rosa Bonheur, rue Montorgueil, Seine, Steam Trains, Tramways

Chris and Matt have been great friends for many years with Jamie, an American who now lives and works in Denmark. Jamie and his Danish partner Morton arrived late Thursday night from Denmark. We all met up for breakfast on Friday, at a café on rue Montorgueil.

Morton, Jamie, Matt, Bob and Chris at breakfast on rue Montorgueil.

We then strolled down to the Seine and over into the Latin Quarter. As we arrived at the Jardin du Luxembourg Matt suggested a picnic. I ducked into a crisp-looking wine store and asked the friendly proprietor whether it is permitted to have a picnic with wine in the park. He said yes, then directed us to a nearby cheese store and boulangerie and suggested two refreshing rosés. When we asked for plastic cups he offered to loan us real wine glasses! Our compliments to the Cave du Senat.

The proprietor of the Cave du Senat.

Our picnic was lovely, although there was a glitch. We had invited Antoine to join us but just before he arrived he suffered a wardrobe malfunction and had to hightail it home, then off to his tutoring gig. As we finished exploring the park Antoine suggested that we meet him before dinner at Rosa Bonheur in le parc des Buttes-Chaumont. I had been planning to take Matt and Chris there on Sunday afternoon, which is the gayest time, but the weather seemed perfect so we set out by bus — despite my ignorance of the need to flag it down — and métro. We got there in time to see the last few sunbathers, and to get a photo in the late afternoon light.

Morton, Jamie, Chris and Matt at le parc des Buttes-Chaumont.

By the time we circled back to Rosa Bonheur the crowd was growing — perhaps 1/3 gay even on a Friday — and we arrived just as the crowd-control barriers went up. We bought our third bottle of rosé to toast the moment, then … umm … perhaps one or two more, while we waited for Antoine (who arrived a few minutes later) to get to the front of the very slow entrance line. We had saved a few glasses of wine to help him catch up, but just as he was finishing it started to rain, and everyone headed for the interior of the little guinguette.

Rosa Bonheur after everyone took refuge indoors from the rain.

While the rain was annoying I was glad that Matt and Chris got to see the indoor scene, which can be quite fun. Fortunately the rain stopped fairly quickly, and we were treated to a lovely sunset.

Sunset at le parc des Buttes-Chaumont.

Antoine had made reservations at Le Baratin, a restaurant in the 20ème that is frequented by the chefs of other top restaurants.

Morton, Jamie, Bob, Matt, Antoine and Chris at Le Baratin.

It’s quite an appealing place, but it caters more to French patrons than to tourists. Our experienced and persuasive waiter commented, for example, that I was “as bad as the Chinese” when I took a snapshot of my meal.

My tender poularde at Le Baratin. NOT to be called « poulet ».

As we left I noticed a mature woman having a smoke outside the front door. After she confirmed that she was the chef, she agreed to let me take her photo.

The chef outside Le Baratin.

On Saturday Matt, Chris, Jamie and Morton went off to Versailles, which I have visited several times. I did laundry, ironing, grocery shopping, and, just for you, gentle reader, wrote a week’s worth of blog posts.

Sunday morning we all caught up again for breakfast, in the Haut Marais, then wandered down to the Place des Vosges, and finally back to the 2ème, where Matt, Chris and I said our farewells to Jamie and Morton, then set off to le Musée des Tramways à Vapeur et des chemins de fer Secondaires français (the Museum of Steam Tramways and Secondary Railroads of France), about an hour from Paris by train. This proved to be a charming little museum, with the additional benefit — only two days a month — of a ride on a steam-powered secondary train!

We got to ride on this working steam tram from the turn of the last century.

Not only were there no other foreign tourists there, but the friendly volunteer staffers told us that they get almost no foreigners ever. I trust that our train-loving friends will fix this on their future visits to Paris!

Bob, Chris and Matt with Bob’s new French bff.

We had neglected to eat lunch, and nothing was open in the vicinity of the museum, so we were starving by the time we got home. A restaurant on rue Montorgueil that I have turned my nose up at many times because of its English name — Little Italy — satisfied our hunger rather well.

Travel Note: I realized half-way through the trip that I had made a 6 euro travel error. I had purchased one-way tickets to Valmondois for all of us, forgetting that my monthly Navigo pass includes the entire Ile-de-France system on weekends and holidays. We only bought two tickets back to Paris after I confirmed this with the clerk at the train station. The monthly Navigo pass for zones 1 and 2 now costs 70 euros. It’s fun to just slap your wallet on the métro gate like the cool kids but it doesn’t really save money unless you use the weekend deal a few times a month. Note also that the weekly Navigo does not include the Ile-de-France deal.

After several busy days we were happy to make it an early evening.

Mot du Jour: poularde. According to Antoine, a “young fat chicken.”

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.

Solo in Paris

Tags

île de la Cité, île Saint-Louis, banlieus, Berkeley Books, Caesar Augustus, café, ghetto, Grand Palais, Hôtel de Ville, La Perla, Orestes, Panthéon, Petit Palais, Pont Alexandre III, Seine, Venus of Arles

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday exploring Paris on my own. Here are a few glimpses.

Lisa had mentioned that there’s a wonderful spice shop on my street. I bought some nougat and amandes grillée (one doesn’t say roti).

After stashing (and sampling) my new acquisitions I strolled down to the Seine. It was looking quite lovely, especially since the government buildings that had been shrouded in scaffolding last year now look as good as new.
There is a fairy tale feel to many of the monuments of Paris. But France is a much more complex place today, and a photo like the one below reminds us that the banlieus — which I have only seen from train windows — are very different from the magical center city.

Hôtel de Ville and a ghetto truck.

As I was crossing Île de la Cité I noticed a particularly charming café scene. I usually don’t take photos without permission. But it’s less personal when there are a lot of people in the picture, and for whatever reason I went back and grabbed this shot. If you look closely you will get a sense of the range of characters one sees here on every corner.

A typical café on the Île de la Cité.

This year it’s the turn of the Panthéon to be renovated. I look forward to seeing it refreshed, but in the meantime the Paris skyline has taken a significant hit.

Lacking certain je ne sais quoi, no?

Lisa’s friend Phyllis Cohen, who I last saw at the Jane Mack memorial reunion in 2012, has taken over Berkeley Books of Paris in the Latin Quarter, and seems to be doing a wonderful job with it.

Phyllis Cohen, the new owner of Berkeley Books.

Inside Berkeley Books.

Walking back across the river I empathized with a young man sitting by himself on the quai of Île Saint-Louis.

Solo in Paris.

I took a nap after my walk, then had a Mexican meal down the street at La Perla, the site of the crazy Bon Voyage party for Jaffar and me in 2011. The food was good and relatively cheap and the staff were very nice.

On Wednesday I handled some computer chores and uploaded some photos, then headed over to the Grand Palais to see an exhibit on Caesar Augustus that a friend had recommended. I have always considered Augustus one of the most interesting personalities in history, so I was easy to persuade.

Orestes and Pylade. Looks to me like the guy on the left is checking his 1st Century Grindr.

My full photo set — NSFW — is at this link: Caesar Augustus and Friends.

As I stepped out of the Grand Palais it occurred to me that only in Paris would the building across the street be called the “Little Palace.” I’m definitely going to see the Paris 1900 exhibition that’s currently there.

Le Petit Palais.

The view of the Grand Palais and the Pont Alexandre III from the other side of the Seine gave me pause just for a moment. Is it possible for there to be too much beauty?

View of the Grand Palais from across the Pont Alexandre III.

But then I got a grip on myself and realized that no amount of beauty can ever be too much!

I’ll be on a road trip with Zhizhong from Thursday to Sunday so I won’t have a chance to post again until Sunday evening.

Vivaldi and the Three Little Pigs

Tags

Aux Trois Petits Cochons, Open Café, Paris, Sainte Chappelle, Seine

On Friday I roused Rafael around noon and we enjoyed leftovers of his chicken dinner as lunch (for me) and breakfast (for him). After he took care of some details for his father’s visit we strolled over to (you guessed it) the Open Café to people-watch, read and have a few drinks.  Heriberto, who we had met the previous evening, happened by so we invited him to join us as well.

Our first evening event was Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at Sainte Chappelle.  It was a rousing performance in one of the most gorgeous spaces in the world.

Sainte Chappelle

As we strolled back to my neighborhood for dinner I noticed how atmospheric the Seine was near dusk under an overcast sky.

Seine Near Dusk

We ate at an old favorite of mine, Aux Trois Petits Cochons (the Three Little Pigs).  [Update: Then on rue Tiquitonne, Aux Trois Petits Cochons moved in 2014 to Montmartre.]  The meal was delicious as usual, but I noticed for the first time that most of the diners were tourists, perhaps because the prices were a bit high for regular dining. Rafael and I agreed, however, that the fetish of avoiding the “tourist track” can be overdone. Towards the end of the meal we got into a conversation with two women at the next table. It turned out that they were a lesbian couple from England on their honeymoon. We did our best to help them find a compatible bar to continue their evening.

Aux Trois Petits Cochons

We finished our evening at a little bar in my block that I had been curious about for several weeks. It has a stylish little brass sign reading, “Experimental Cocktail Club” (in English) and thick curtains that keep you from seeing the interior. I asked the friendly bouncer what was inside and he jokingly said, “C’est dangereux !” Rafael and I decided to take the plunge anyway. What we found was a cheerful young crowd, all or mostly straight; tasty albeit pricy (12 euro) cocktails; and a terrific dj spinning a mix of jazz and jazzy American classics.

Experimental Cocktail Club

The joint was still jumping past midnight but our beds beckoned…

A Lovely Dinner Party and an Outing

Tags

An Hour from Paris, Andrésy, Art, Conflans, Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, meals, Oise, Seine, train travel

On Friday evening Lisa and Ali invited me over for a delicious middle-eastern dinner with old friends of Lisa’s family, Patrice and Eve.

Eve, Patrice and Lisa

Politics and religion, far from being off limits, were the meat and potatoes of our conversation. I came closer than ever before to understanding and participating in a French conversation, although people switched to English when it became obvious that I had lost the thread. I admired Eve’s passion even when I didn’t follow every nuance of her arguments.

Eve

Eve, Patrice and I headed to our respective homes around 1:30 AM, having solved most of the problems of the world (though not reaching full consensus on how Obama should have handled Osama). I knew that the métro stayed open until 2:00 on weekends but I was concerned about whether it would be scarily empty so late. Au contraire, it was jammed, mostly with tipsy young people making their way home. While the métro felt quite safe I took two additional hops to Sentier — a block from my apartment — instead of walking up from Châtelet, which Jacques had warned me against doing after 1:00 AM.

On Saturday I went on my second day trip from An Hour from Paris, to Conflans-Sainte-Honorine and Andrésy, at the confluence of the Oise with the Seine.

Seine Map

(There’s an oddity about this map that you might find interesting. Maps of river systems generally look like veins or arteries — there are no loops, except around an island. The loops on this map reflect the many canals in the region, where water flow is managed to enable travel outside of the river’s natural channel.)

Conflans is between the Oise and the Seine, while Andrésy is on the Seine just below the confluence. The Romans recognized the strategic importance of this spot; they fortified the heights of Andrésy, and even drew a chain across the river at night to block smugglers and marauders. This is now an active barge port, and dozens of retired barges are used as house boats:

House barges in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine

I had a nice lunch at a quay-side restaurant in Conflans, then walked a few miles over to Andrésy, where I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was the first weekend of an annual contemporary sculpture show installed along the riverbank and along a web of trails on an adjacent island. The photos from the outing are at this link, but here’s a glimpse of the old part of Andrésy:

Andrésy Church

I learned something concerning train travel today. I had previously noted that our credit cards don’t work in French ticket machines (2019 update: This problem now seems to have been fixed), and my solution was to find a person to buy a ticket from. This has worked well in the past but this morning there was a line of at least twenty people waiting for the lone clerk at Gare Saint Lazare. Most were foreigners with limited French and lots of questions so the line was scarcely moving. I realized that the ticket was less than five euros and I had a five euro note. The machine didn’t take bills, and there were no change machines, but I was able to break the bill at a tabac in the station and pay with coins; I just made the next train. For the return trip I was careful to accumulate five euros in coins but what I didn’t figure on was the fact that I had walked a few miles to a different station and the fare back to Paris from there was 5,15 euros. There was no clerk at the station so I had to trek a few blocks to the nearest tabac where I could break another bill. So the ultimate lesson is to carry a bunch of coins when you go on little train trips, and budget extra time to buy your ticket when it’s too expensive to pay with coins.

Mot du jour: “guele de bois.”  Literally “mouth of wood” but actually “hangover.”  Used in 20minutes.fr (a free paper similar to our Metro) to describe what the folks who had been predicting Judgment Day for May 21 had on May 22.