We set off for Paris by Eurostar last Tuesday morning and made it up the 6 flights of stairs to our rented studio apartment where our host, Christine, was waiting for us. You may wonder why we chose somewhere on the 6th floor without a lift! Well, the apartment looked lovely and it was a challenge!
The studio did not disappoint. After our shabby chic rental in La Butte aux Caille this was a different kettle of fish. A practical kitchen and everything in beautiful condition and spotlessly clean. There wasn't much of a view from the windows, except for an interesting row of chimney pots.
Peter went off to meetings and I did a bit of shopping and got myself some lunch. This apartment is on the fringe of the area we lived in before so we knew our way around. In the afternoon Peter returned and we went out to dinner later at Variations, a restaurant we have been to several times before. I had riz de veau aux morelles for my main course. I need to take a course in food photography as I haven't done it justice at all! It was sweetbreads with morelle mushrooms and was delicious but I have made it look like a dog's dinner! Almost literally!
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| Riz de veau aux morelles |
On Wednesday Peter set off for 'work' again and I set off for the club (British and Commonwealth Women's Association) on what turned out to be day one of a two day general strike. I wish I had known in advance. The bus journey turned into a nightmare with diversions and road blocks to avoid demonstrations and visits of VIPs and in the end the bus simply stopped and turfed us out. I walked a long way to find a metro weaving my way through police cordons and policemen lounging, smoking, talking on their mobiles etc, and in the end abandoned the idea of using public transport and got into a taxi. The driver did a lot of moaning but got me there in pretty short time, only an hour and twenty minutes after I planned to arrive. Anyway it was lovely to see everyone in the 'craft' group and we spent a happy day chatting and making this and that. After the club four of us went off for a drink and then back to Penny's apartment for champagne and nibbles and the rest of the group caught up with us. They had been on a guided tour of Roland Garros, the French equivalent of Wimbledon. We all went out to dinner at the Chinese restaurant opposite Penny's flat.
On Thursday we braved the bus again and managed to get to the Musée d'Orsay without too much trouble intending to see the Bonnard exhibition. The queues were monstrous - even for those with tickets like us. We stood in line for a while and then decided to go and come back for the late night opening.
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| Paris in the spring...sunshine every day of our visit |
We decided to walk over to the Palais Royal as I had heard the gardens were beautiful in the spring and when we got there they were closed because of the strike! We consoled ourselves with a coffee and then I set off back to the neighbourhood of the studio to meet up with Khem for lunch and Peter went back to the 'office'. Well my journey back was even worse than my journey on Wednesday. The bus going a completely different route to the one advertised and coming to a complete standstill in traffic several times. I was frantically texting Khem but she was quite relaxed about waiting. In the end I hopped off the bus and walked for half an hour to get to the restaurant - only an hour late! Khem and I had a good chat over our noodles and then after a trip to the shopping mall nearby (Khem's second home) I pleaded tiredness and went back to the studio and lay down for a couple of hours before setting off again (this time by metro) for the Musée d'Orsay where there were no queues at all and Peter and I met up and enjoyed the exhibition in relative comfort! But the day had not yet ended...we took a taxi to another of our favourite restaurants, Le Buisson Ardent, and had a smashing time. Literally! We were shown to our table and in taking off my jacket I swept a large wine glass to the floor. We beat a retreat to another table on the other side of the room and after we had sat down, the waiter knocked over the menu and sent another shower of glass everywhere! Things quietened down after that and we had a great meal.
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| Peter's starter |
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| My main - lamb shank - no foam! |
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| Peter's main course - beef and more foam! |
On Friday - energy levels having dropped slightly as a result of much walking around in the sunshine in winter clothes and several bottles of wine and ascents of the six flights to the studio - we made a lazy start. We packed up, left our bags in the apartment and went to the Jardin de Luxembourg where we sat and soaked up the sunshine before wandering in search of lunch. We chose a little bistro with red checked table cloths and ordered the salad of the day which turned out to be a very elegant concoction of fish mouse, celeriac remoulade and langoustine foam with a balsamic drizzle!!! It was quite unexpected and quite delicious. Again, in my excitement, I have taken a fuzzy photo. The bistro was called Jo and is on Fleurus next to the Jardin de Luxembourg and is highly recommended.
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| Lunch |
From lunch to an exhibition of Gustav Klimt and the Vienna Secession - glorious and curious Klimt's and some interesting furniture and an historical overview of the art of the period. I particularly like the jewelry of the Wiener Werkstatte but there were only 4 examples, though they were lovely.
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| Klimt |
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| Josef Hoffman |
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| Josef Hoffman |
And then back to the flat to collect the cases and off to the Gare du Nord and dinner at the old fashioned brasserie opposite and then back to London.
