i chronicled the trip in emails, and sent them to my friends and family. i think that process is what inspired me to start this blog. i'm not sure what i'm going to do with it, or who is going to read it. that's not really the point.
anyway, for my first entry, i'm pasting in the emails that i wrote last week.
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Monday -
im going to skip over the initial plane/train business, as it was rather arduous, and unpleasant. let's just say i'm now a strong supporter of adult-only flights. i'm not sure they exist, but they should.
anyway, after the travel ordeal, we finally made it to this cute flat that ben has been staying in for the last few days. it's very clean and modern, and has a giant tub in the upstairs bedroom. there's also a great, great shower, in which i had what i'm going to call an Epic Shower Experience:
i went in tired, sweaty, swollen, grimy, greasy and grouchy, and after 20 minutes of insane water pressure + consistent temperature (hot) i emerged smelling rather nice, and about as refreshed as one could hope to be after 19 hours of travel.
our first meal in paris was in no way french. we instead took a short metro ride to Belleville for some Pho. Pho is my go-to meal when i'm feeling any kind of bad, and at this point in the morning i was still feeling pretty nauseated from my trip. (my advice: never pop an AmbienCR halfway through your 10-hour flight.)
we found a table at Don Huong and ben ordered a really interesting version of the soup, which i had never tasted before: instead of the clear, beef broth it was a spicy peanut base, and it reminded me of some dishes that i had a few years ago in south africa. a great meal, and cheap, too.
as i was feeling better still, we wandered around notre dame/the seine for a few hours, eventually picking up some items to bring back to the flat for dinner. we found peppered ham at the Basilica market, bought a baguette, and then come upon this really cool little Greek market that had dozens of prepared salads, stuffed grape leaves and greek cheeses. we picked up some kind of marinated broad bean that was the best marinated-bean-anything i've ever tasted. they also had mini variations of vegetarian stuffed cabbage leaves that were filled with rice, pine nuts and white raisins. everything from this place was good.
after walking around a bit more, we returned to the flat. sitting on the (sticky) leather couch and surrounded by our guidebooks, photocopies of pages from guidebooks, laminated maps, google and post-it notes scribbled with the suggestions of friends, we plotted out our next few days.
i made it through a walk in the park and an ice cream cone before taking a cool bath and crashing out around 8pm.
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Tuesday -
On tuesday we had a rough start. we had to move from from ben's flat in the 19th to our "permanent" digs in the 15th, and our cab ride was jolty, traffic-y and overpriced. our moods were considerably lifted when we reached our destination, as zabby's flat is absolutely adorable. we have a kitchen, bath, living room, bedroom and a washer-dryer. it is furnished with antiques, and the sky-blue walls are hung with old portraits and vintage shadowboxes filled with butterfly specimens. after we settled in a bit, our next event was to purchase week-long metro passes. this seemingly simple task ended up being an hour-long ordeal filled with hidden costs and bitchy metro staff. at one point, i was rubbing my temples, and an alarmed ben asked,
"what's going on right now?"
"i'm about to have a meltdown."
"oh, my god. have some water."
happily, our meal at L'Ami Jean quickly erased all memories or our metro experience, and from there on out the day was pretty much perfect. L'Ami Jean is a totally unassuming bistro in the 7th, with a plain exterior and a small sign. however, as soon as we were seated we knew this promised to be an amazing meal: the people around us were eating off of wooden boards heaped with sliced salami, jamon and pate, and what we saw coming out of the kitchen looked absolutely amazing. for our first course, ben had what was basically a warm version of a caprese salad, layered with tomato confit and crispy proscuitto, and i won with a cold "soup" of mussels floating in a creamy lentil broth, sprinkled with miniature croutons, boiled egg, shallots and olive oil. the soup was delicious, and complex without being overwhelming. for our "plat", ben had pork loin and cheek with herbs and chanterelle mushrooms, and i had duck breast and confit. the best part of our course was when the kitchen brought out a surprise dish of the best potato puree i've ever tasted. a perfect bite consisted of perfectly carmelized duck fat, buttery potato puree and a swill of beaujolais. c'est si bon! the prix-fixe lunches come with dessert, of course, and this last course was, sigh, equally amazing. i'm sorry. ben had a concoction of icy, lemony...something, topped with a dark cardamom pudding, and served with homemade marshmallows, and i ordered - what else - the rice pudding. when the pudding came out, we both started laughing, as it was served in an enormous bowl. it was an incongruously large portion that arrived with a wooden serving "paddle", and was accompanied by toasted pistachios and a salty caramel mousse. um...yes, please.
after we lingered at our table, watching the chefs clean the copper pots and disassemble their mise-en-place, we started walking. (walking is very important after lunch, as it is the only thing that allows you to enjoy another meal later in the day.) we ended up at the musee d'orsay, and spent the next couple of hours perusing the galleries, and enjoying the max ernst exhibit. when we finally made it up to the most famous section of the museum, the impressionists, i had about had it with the mad tourists and baby strollers, and we left the museum to wander down by the louvre. i love this part of town. it has to be one of the most beautiful parks in the world. we treated ourselves to a shamelessly tourist activity, and from the ferris wheel we could see all of paris, and look down on this park with the green grass, families sailing miniature sailboats in the pond, and the vast expanse that is the louvre.
then, sweaty and dusty, we crashed at the flat for about five hours. around 11pm, hunger drove us out on the street in search of moules frites. miraculously, ben was able to find a bistro we enjoyed on our last trip, called Suffren. we sat down and both ordered a glass of wine and an order of moules. after a few minutes, the waiter brought us two enormous black pots filled with tiny mussels in white wine and butter.
the parisians seem to know that an alarming mound of these onyx steamers will yield relatively few bites of their winy, briny goodness, and so they pile them high. so high, we couldn't finish, and probably should have split an order, but whatever. we're on vacation. Wednesday -
wednesday was all about L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. this meal was our main splurge of the trip. it's a really cool concept: instead of tables, the seats are arranged around the kitchen, sushi-bar-style. the idea is that you enjoy the process of the food, and get to watch the cooks fret over your courses. really fun. our favorite part of the experience was watching a series of three cooks consorting over ben's carbonara. we tried a lot of great stuff, but the best and most interesting things were a roast squab with fois gras (sorry) cooked in napa cabbage just to medium, and langoustine that was wrapped in paper-thin pasta and served with a little pile of buttery brussels sprouts leaves. we also got to try his famous mashed potatoes, which were...well, really good. after lunch, we were in a little bit of a drunken haze when we fortuitously happened upon the Rodin museum, which was one of the things on our to-do list. half of this museum is the outdoor garden, which is beautiful, and not too crowded. we got to see "the thinker", and a couple of other really famous pieces.
Thursday -
every vacation has an "off" day, and this was ours. we went to an open-air market in the morning, that was just dumb and full of ugly shoes and pushy olive salesmen. the restaurant we had planned on eating at was inexplicably closed, and so we decided to go to one that was recommended to ben, called Bofinger. never, never go there. the only good thing about it was the decor: it was built around the turn of the century and retains its art nouveau architecture, which is kind of cool. the food was not. while we sat in the heat, the waiters stuffliy served up bistro versions of what was basically airplane food. ben's tartare had the appearance and aroma of an uncooked hamburger patty and my overcooked chicken glistened with a brown, gooey glaze. yuck. we sulked home, and spent the rest of the afternoon planning the rest of our trip and making reservations. for dinner we went out to an odd part of town and tried the moules at le Academie de la Bierre, which was a fun, noisy neighborhood place full of drunk frenchmen singing songs and pounding on the tables.
Friday -
A lot of trains. our hard-won passes are paying off!
We started the day by visiting E. Dehillerin, which is basically Williams Sonoma on crack. this store has an aisle devoted to the whisk, and sells a ladle as big as my head. the best thing about E. Dehillerin is their offering of copper pots and roasters - they seem to have every shape and size. as god is my witness, some day, some day, i shall own one of their bronze roasters! they are gorgeous, and they fill me with copper-lust.
for lunch we trekked out to Hier et Aujourd'hui, which is in the 17th. this little restaurant was utterly charming, delicious, and a great deal. the lunch service was run by only two people: one waitress and the chef, who occasionally came out of the (tiny) kitchen to serve a table, or make an espresso. ben tried a sardine-piquillo terrine, which was a bit of a palate-stretcher, but worth it. my favorite course was his entree, which consisted of tiny, caramelized squid that were tossed with fresh peas, haricot-vert, snow peas and mint.
after lunch we took a few trains to the centre pompidou, which is the parisian MOMA. it was really comprehensive: i don't know of another place you can experience extensive examples of dadaism, cubism and...diane arbus all under one roof. they also had a special alexander calder exhibit, which was my favorite. when i think of calder, i always envision the mobiles/later works, but he did some amazing stuff (wire portraiture!) earlier on that is just fun. and pretty amazing.
after that it was really time to have some ice cream, so we took a couple of trains to Berthillon, which is on that tiny island behind Notre Dame. we both got double cones, walked around for about 15 minutes, and then went back for seconds. (lest you think we're totally out of control, one scoop is about the size of a meatball...)
for dinner, we created a domestic scene in zabby's kitchen with semi-homemade meal of salad, potatoes, poulet roti and a bottle of wine. yum, and a welcome break from all the rich food. although...the potatoes here are roasted in a pan at the bottom of the rotisserie, and they catch all of the drippings from the rotating chickens. naughty.
saturday - several years ago we visited a bakery in monterey that sold a tiny pastry called a canele, that was new to both of us. in response to ben's questions (!) the proprieter of the bakery talked extensively about the history and the process of these tiny buns...how they were created by nuns, how only proper canele were cooked in beeswax, and for several hours. etc., etc. as a result of this experience, we became devoted fans of the canele's custardy, caramelized goodness, and have been on a quest for the perfect specimen ever since. this saturday morning was devoted to finding the perfect canele, and first in the running (so far) is a place called le Moulin de la Vierge, which sold the best canele we've tried thus far. four parisian canele before 11am = a good morning.
for lunch, we headed to the 7th for L'Amie Jean, take two. we loved this place so much that we decided to go back and try it again. aside from the food, which is amazing, and the head chef, who is really serious and fun to watch, the best part about this place is that it is just fun. it manages to serve up really high-end cuisine without being stuffy, and everyone that walks in the door seems to have a good time. the menu had already changed, so and so we both got to try new and interesting things. as an entree i had a raw tuna starter with peaches and olive oil that was surprising and wonderful, and ben had a cold cream/bacon/chive/fresh pea soup (a lot lighter that it sounds), followed by a whole fish that he had fun filleting at the table. for dessert, cherries stewed in wine with homemade ice cream, and a pineapple gazpacho with cherry/black pepper sorbet.
after lunch we hauled ourselves out to versailles. i don't know what exactly to say about versailles. it's mind-blowingly vast, and opulent, and gilded to the gills. and there were more tourists that ive' ever encountered at any single location. at one point, i became so claustrophobic that i considered throwing myself off a balcony into the garden. it was crazy. i was glad we went, and really glad when it was time to go.
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sunday -
the bastille market! a *!kaleidoscope!* of hundreds of stalls hawking produce, fish, sausages, cheese and olives. we tried some of the Best Apricots Ever, and brought home ingredients for salad. (as i'm writing this: across the courtyard, a man is pouring fertilizer on the flowers in his window box, and about half of it is spilling onto the children's play area below. hmm.)
for lunch we took the train to a stop near the Pantheon to eat at Christophe restaurant, which ended up being kind of a bummer. we went on the recommendation that it was good food for the money, but atmosphere can either make it or break it, and this dining room felt oppressive (which was pretty remarkable considering that the place only seats 20). i say that the food was decent...i enjoyed a buttery fillet of white fish and some saucy soba, but ben's hanger steak was Not Awesome, and he gave the whole experience a thumbs-down.
the best part of the day had to be our visit to the paris Ritz, and the Hemmingway Bar. this place isn't touted as one of the best bars in the world for nothing. it is indeed Awesome. (and expensive. whoa.) we dressed up a little, took a train to the fancy-pants part of town, and i changed into my heels before we walked in. classy. the bar is situated at that back of the hotel, and at the end of a long corridor that is flanked by glass case after glass case displaying insanely extravagant merchandise. swarovsky crystal-encrusted tableware is followed by Hermes bags, followed by crazy designer shoes...you get the idea. after hearing so much about this bar, we were surprised at how small it is. it's really just a booky, cozy, dim little place that serves amazing drinks with impeccable service. the bartender recommended a "Serendipity", which was mint muddled with sugar, some crazy-good apple juice and champagne. um...yes, please. after that i had a martini, and ben had a Nautilus, which is.....ahem: a hollowed-out passion fruit shell filled with pureed strawberries and vodka, and then a passionfruitmuddledwithsugarmixedwithrum mixture is poured around the shell so it floats to the surface a-la whatever analogy you care to insert here. submarine? something like that.
needless to say, we cabbed it home.
monday -
started with a hangover, surprise-surprise. madelines and a shot of espresso put me back in order, however, and we made our way over to a patisserie called Pierre Herme. the guidebook describes this as a "jewel box" of a store, and it is. really pretty, and interesting macaroons (olive oil, grapefruit/campari).
we had lunch at the cafe des musees, which was so great (and cheap! two courses for 13 euro) that it made it into our Top 3. ben had a fish soup that he enjoyed so much it was almost disturbing to watch, and i had a great steak frites. after lunch we wandered around the neighborhood, which was full of cute little boutiques and shoe stores, and then we came home to pack/clean the flat a little bit.
for dinner we headed over to belville for what ended up being a long and fruitless hike through a creepy neighborhood in search of a restaurant that we never found. we ended up coming back to our neck of the woods and eating at a little creperie, and ben went a little nuts...consuming not one, not two, but THREE crepes. might as well go out with a bang; they were good, and everyone was drinking ale and having a good time. we were going to walk over the the eiffel tower, but after tramping around all day we decided to call it a night and get some sleep before our insane travel day.
on monday i observed the small passing details that signal the ending of a trip: we are almost out of water, the clothes are off the floor and the suitcase partially packed, and the refrigerator is bare except for a small packet of cheese. it's always a little sad. i'm hopeful that we'll be back in the not-too-distant future. i found that i was able to reach a relaxed state really quickly in this city: within just a few days i was ignoring clocks and eating carbs with abandon. perhaps paris really is steeped with centuries' worth of energy compelling its residents to slow down and take pleasure in the day-to-day. it's nice. especially compared with what i was faced with stepping off the plane. i could feel myself getting anxious behind the wheel within seconds. hopefully i can keep some of this vacation with me for the long-haul. i'm going to try, anyway.
and now i'm going to try to stay awake. my goal is 8pm.
