Paris Encore 2022 - A New Neighborhood

We were sad to leave our little hotel in Passage Jouffroy, but excited to see a new neighborhood. We had a taxi take us to the apartment on Boulevard Picpus in the 12th arrondissement. The translation of the name of our street is no more pleasant than it sounds in French. Something like ‘scratching at a flea bite’. In spite of that, it looks like a nice neighborhood bereft of fleas.

We arrived well before check-in time, but were able to leave our bags in the owner’s apartment, have some lunch and look around until our unit had been cleaned and readied. We’ve rented a 7th-floor studio for the next 2 weeks, so we should have plenty of time to get to know the area. Our landlord, Benoit, is very welcoming and happy to share tips about the attractions near here. He lives in the apartment directly below us.

The building, now containing 50 apartments, was built as a large family home in 1910. It’s complete with servants’ quarters, down a back hallway, on our floor, which is the top floor. While the rest of the building has beautiful woodwork, and ornate ironwork, the back hallway is drab and stark. These rooms are now used as storage rooms for the apartment owners. I would love to peek inside. I opened one of the doors and found a small dingy room with only a toilet. Of course, I know that I would have been a servant in the past, not a lady of the house, so this would have been my lot. I hope, at least, the other servants would have been fun to work with.

Here’s the servants’ hallway and facilities.

At least they had indoor plumbing, and pipes up to the 7th floor.

As Maggie Smith, Lady Grantham in Downton Abbey said, when finding out that one of the female servants had taken a job as a secretary, Why would anyone want to work elsewhere when they can work in this beautiful house?  (Really, why would they?😄)

We’re happy with our little apartment, though the kitchen is very small. Rick loves to cook, and it won’t really be possible here.

Here’s the view out our window. It’s a nice, quiet neighborhood.

First order of business is to find a nice beverage. There are plenty of bars and restaurants in the area, in addition to grocery and specialty food shops.

We sat outside, and I ordered an Aperol Spritz. I know it looks like Orangeade, but it’s made with Prosecco and a sweet liqueur, and I first had it, and loved it, in Venice. Rick had a pastis, delivered to the customer as a small amount of anise-flavored liqueur in a tall glass, along with a carafe of water, which is added to the liqueur to taste. The little serving of toasted baguette with olive tapenade was very tasty.

We stayed at this place, Jango, for dinner, and I had a nice mushroom ravioli. Rick had escalope of veal with a pasta with tomato sauce. We were shocked when the waiter asked if we’d like to take the leftover pasta home. That wasn’t customary here in the past, but maybe the carry-out culture during Covid changed that.

It was a nice intro to the cuisine of the neighborhood.

We’re getting settled in to our little place, and finally on Paris time.

Next time, we spend the day honoring Rock and Roll, and the American Revolution. Stay tuned.