Paris Encore 2022 Market Day

Rick went to the Boulangerie again this morning for more fresh bread and croissants. We’ll need our strength for the market today.

The local open air market happens here on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and it was a beautiful Saturday for a stroll through the 800 meters, or about 1/2 mile, of booths lining both sides of the street. We saw every possible kind of edibles - vegetables, fruits, meats, seafood, fish, cheese, breads, as well as flowers, housewares, clothing and jewelry. And, lots of fun street market food: kabobs, crêpes, rotisserie chicken, paella. It was a feast for the senses. Vendors were cheerful on this beautiful day, and customers crowded the walkway, lining up at favorite booths. We had fun picking out 5 different cheeses, marinated anchovies, cheese wrapped in bresaola (thin sliced salted beef), strawberries, raspberries, and canoli, all to go with our baguette for lunch. We got a rotisserie chicken and roasted potatoes to have for dinner. With all of this wonderful, fresh food, it’s a shame we don’t have a bigger kitchen.

How much cheese?

Back at our apartment, we plated our cheeses and ate a light lunch, then we were off on the Metro again, to check out a few things in the Bercy area, in our Arrondissement, the 12th., but nearer the Seine. 

Sorry there are no pictures of the cannoli, they were great!

We got off the Metro at the Bercy stop, and headed past the big arena toward the Cinémathèque Française, a French non-profit film organization founded in 1936 that holds one of the largest archives of film documents and film-related objects in the world. Based in Paris, the archive offers daily screenings of worldwide films. Frank Gehry designed the building currently housing the organization in 1994, after it had bounced around to different locations over the years.

We weren’t there to see a film, but rather to see the building. Frank Gehry has designed some of the most creative buildings in the world, and we were curious about this one. As expected, it was very striking, and a fitting home for one of the arts.

There was a beautiful park between this building and the Seine, that had lots of different areas for visitors to sit, and for children to play. I’ll try to get some pictures of that another day😊.

The ultimate goal of this day’s foray into lesser-known Paris was to see Bercy Village. I’d read that a street of wine storage buildings, along the Seine, had been refurbished. The pictures looked quaint, and I thought it would be nice to see the area. Much to our surprise, the row of old stone buildings was now a hoppin’ restaurant and shopping street. 

I tried to get a few pictures without mobs of people in them, but it was a sunny Saturday, after all, and all of Paris was out enjoying it.

We got a kick out of this sign.

We headed back to our neighborhood on the Metro. As we were looking at the menus in the window of a Japanese restaurant just down the street from us, a woman walked up and said, It’s not very good. The food isn’t really Japanese, it’s Chinese. It turned out she was from New York, and she and her husband, both retired, spend part of the year in Paris, and part in New York. Thus ensued a lengthy conversation about the neighborhood, the neighbors, politics, family, and just life in general. We were chatting on the street, just like Parisians. It was the highlight of our day.

Paris Encore 2022 - Honoring Rock & Roll and Revolution

Rick visited a local boulangerie first thing this morning, and brought back some little quiches, a baguette and 2 pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants), for our breakfast. As much as we love coffee and all things gluten, we felt the need for some protein too, thus the quiches. The shop is just across our street. He got back so fast I thought he’d forgotten something, but no, it only took a few minutes for this entire shopping trip. The baguette cost a whole euro, subsidized by the government. Every French person has a right to good bread at a reasonable cost.

Today our plan is to take the Metro over to Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, in the 20th Arrondissement. It’s just a few Metro stops away from our neighborhood station, Place de la Nation. This cemetery is the largest and most elite of any cemetery in Paris. Not to disparage the many famous French authors, poets, composers and other dignitaries, but our main interest here is to visit the grave of Jim Morrison, American Rock and Roll icon, who died in Paris in 1971. Our Rick Steves guidebook indicated we should get off at the Gambetta stop. That turned out to be at the farthest corner from Jim Morrison’s grave, where there was also an entrance. ( The Phillipe Auguste Metro station seems the closest.) I guess Rick Steves was making sure we’d see something beyond the American Rock and Roller. We did. The cemetery is full of interesting monuments, and we saw several people there tending the graves of family members - tidying them up, replacing flowers.

I could add 100 more pictures of amazing monuments and headstones. The place is gigantic. Chopin, Pissarro, Baron Haussmann, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Sarah Bernhardt, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas are all buried here.

We came upon this monument, and wondered who it was. We could have asked the young woman who walked up, kissed the stone, and went on her way as we stood there.

Alain Baschung was a singer-songwriter and actor, known as one of the most important French rock musicians. He died in 2009, at the age of 62, and is obviously still loved.

Then there was this monument. The author Violaine Vanoyeke is still alive, but has her spot ready.

Finally, we reached Jim Morrison’s resting spot. It was surrounded by a low fence, and there were a handful of other fans there. 

Gum stuck to a bamboo fence protecting a tree trunk right next to the chain link fence was an interesting 

commentary, or was it supposed to be a tribute?

I visited this spot in 1995, and there was graffiti on the graves all around Jim Morrison’s. There was also a uniformed guard nearby. I was sad to think visitors, hopefully not all American, had defaced everything in the area. There had been a bust of Jim on top of the grave initially, but that was stolen long before I was there. So, it’s better now. There’s still evidence of the graffiti that was scratched into the surrounding  headstones, but that’s nothing compared to what it looked like years ago.

We’ve checked Rock and Roll off of our to-do list for today, and now we’re on to Revolution. Two Revolutions, that is. But first, we had a history lesson about our neighborhood. Our landlord mentioned the Picpus Cemetery, and recommended we see it. He told us a bit of the story that made it famous.

The Place de la Nation, very near our building, had originally been named the Place du Trône (Square of the Throne). It was an entry point to the city, where taxes were levied on people bringing in goods to sell. During the French Revolution, the Place was re-named the Place du Trône Renversé, the Square of the Overturned Throne. During what was known as the Great Terror, Robespierre was a key figure in the condemnation and execution of 1306 people here in the square. The charges brought against them were mostly petty, absurd or imaginary. Those included were ex-nobility, religious men and women, military men and commoners.  The victims, executed by guillotine, ranged in age from 16 to 85, and all of this happened in a six-week period - between June 14 and July 27, 1794. Sixteen Carmelite nuns were among those executed, because of their faith, and mounted the scaffold singing the Salve Regina. They were beatified by the church in 1906.

After all this, Robespierre’s sidekicks turned against him, and he was guillotined. They were undoubtedly afraid that they would become his next victims.

The corpses of the 1306 victims were taken, under cover of darkness, and thrown into two mass graves at the bottom of the walled garden of a convent that had been appropriated by the revolutionaries. Families of those killed secretly met and found the location of the graves. They secretly bought the land, and turned it into a place of meditation and prayer, watched over to this day by the Sisters of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. There’s a chapel on the grounds where the walls are inscribed with the names, ages and occupations of the victims. 

This is now the only private cemetery in Paris, and only the descendants of those killed in the square are allowed to be buried in this cemetery. That’s how General-Marquis de LaFayette, hero of the American Revolution, came to be buried here. His sister-in-law, mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law had all been guillotined during that horrible time. It is said that he brought soil from Bunker Hill, in Charlestown, Boston, back to France, and this soil covers his grave. He died of natural causes in 1834. An American flag flies over his grave, and each year on July 4, the American ambassador visits the grave. 

Below is the gate through which the cart of bodies would be taken, after dark, for burial in a common grave.

At the back of the cemetery, the unmarked graves are recognized.

LaFayette is buried next to his wife, and the American flag flies over him, in gratitude for his involvement in the American Revolution.

Other family graves, related to the victims, fill the small cemetery.

The cemetery is very moving, and a reminder of the excesses of men led astray by materialistic ideologies.

The park that leads to the cemetery affords a few minutes of contemplation before reaching the cemetery itself.

There is a small fee of 2 euros per person to enter the walled park and cemetery, but it’s well worth the cost.

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. 

Paris Encore - April 2022 - Passages and Picasso

Paris in the Springtime. … in April. … after the election. …after the Covid lockdowns. …. ….during Spring school vacation. It’s a good time to be in Paris!

Several months ago, Rick and I made a plan to spend a few weeks in Paris this spring, with a different focus this time. We’ve seen the major sights here, more than once, so on this trip we’ll be looking for different attractions. We’ve rented an apartment in the 12th Arrondissement for 2 weeks; and prior to that, in the 9th, a hotel in one of Paris’ unique passages, for 2 nights.

Prior to the trip, we made sure our paperwork was in order - passports valid for at least 6 months beyond our return date, Covid vaccination cards, Passenger Locator Forms, and we even had a Covid test a few days before departure, though it wasn’t required.  I loaded all of the documents into the Delta FlyReady app. As with my travel experience in November on British Airways, no one needed or wanted to look at the app on my phone. At check-in, the Delta agent just wanted to see our passports, and paper copies of the other required documents. Kind of discouraging to go to the trouble of loading all of this into the app for naught.

We departed Seattle on a Delta flight at 12:45 p.m. It flew directly to Paris, landing at 7:30 a.m. the next day. The flight was over 9 hours long, and we’d splurged on Business Class seats, which convert to totally flat beds, so we were hoping to get some sleep on the plane. That didn’t happen. It was partially because we weren’t flying during what would have been our normal sleeping hours.

We got through Charles de Gaulle airport without any trouble. The only document we needed to present at this end was our passport. Our airline was responsible for checking the other requirements prior to letting us board the plane. 

First order of business was to get some euros. The only working ATM we found was attached to the Money Exchange office, so that might be why the exchange rate wasn’t very good. Though the current rate was a little under $1.054 dollars to 1 euro, I was charged about $1.225 for each euro. Hopefully, the banks in town will give us a better rate.

It looked like a combination of the RER train, and 2 Metro lines would get us to our hotel, Hotel Chopin, in the 9th Arrondissement. Luckily, an agent was at the bank of ticket machines to help us buy the appropriate tickets. Masks are required on public transportation, and most riders complied with this. Next time I think we’ll take a cab into town. It might have cost us 30 or 40 euros more, but would have saved us lots of walking with our luggage.

Our plan was to drop our luggage off at Hotel Chopin, and check out the neighborhood until we could check into our room. It was only 10:30, and check-in wouldn’t be until 2, at least. But our room was ready, and the desk clerk let us check in early. So nice!

I chose this hotel because it’s located in one of the covered passages of Paris. There are several of these remaining in the city, mostly in the older areas. They were built between 1799 and the mid-1800s, and provided a nice, dry shopping experience rain or shine. This was especially nice when women were wearing long skirts.

In 2018, when we stayed in Paris, we were near 2 of the passages. See my previous post the-montorgueil-neighborhood.html

Once we discovered the covered passages, I found lots of info about them. On this visit, we were lucky to have 3 right around us. Our hotel was located in Passage Jouffroy, which housed several antique stores, a few restaurants, a great miniature store, and some gift and souvenir shops.

Just across the street was Passage Panoramas, with lots of restaurants and tables filling the walkway. This is the oldest surviving passage, and was built in 1799. The passage is narrower than Jouffroy, which was built 50 years later, making Panoramas harder to navigate when it’s busy.

The third passage near us was Passage Verdeau, also containing a mixture of shops and a few restaurants.

 

We had a nice buffet breakfast each morning at our hotel, and spent several hours meandering through the passages and around our neighborhood, during our 2-day stay here.

On our first full day in town, we decided to walk over to the Picasso museum, not far from our hotel. It’s a great little museum, filled with paintings and sculptures from his private collection. There was a good film describing his life, and his relationships with women, both his wives and mistresses. He fathered 4 children, by 3 different women, and was a doting parent, at least while the children were young.

The picture below demonstrates how Picasso saw art in everything.

An old bicycle seat and handlebars! I think we’ll try this at home.

The other thing that amused us was a school group, or maybe a preschool group, of children taking a tour of the museum. We happened upon the group as they were sitting quietly in front of one of Picasso’s paintings, while a docent explained to them the subject and technique. I captured their photo heading down the stairs. I think these young students will have a real advantage with the school placement exam question, Can you name one famous cubist painter?

J

There were plenty of restaurant choices in our area, although we didn’t find anything worth blogging about. 

One exception, not necessarily regarding the food, was our dinner at Le Bouillon Chartier. We were shown to a little table behind the waiters’ station, and when I questioned the table, our waiter said, You can sit here, or over there, where you’ll have 2 strangers sitting with you. We decided on the table behind the wait-station. We noticed some other less-than-satisfied customers being seated with strangers. Our table was separated from a table of 4 by a plexiglass divider, probably added during Covid. If not for the divider, we would have gotten chummy with the foursome next to us. The restaurant has been in business for well over 100 years, so I guess it doesn’t affect their reviews.

Rick sitting behind the wait-station. If not for a plexiglass divider, 

the girl in the gold sweater would be his new best friend.

We had enjoyed our time in the 9th, and would go back! Our room at Hotel Chopin was very small, but the hotel was charming, and nicely maintained. Next time, we’ll request a bigger room. 

Stay tuned - next we’re in the 12th, and far from the tourist crowds.