Paris - Day 3

  Paris, Île-de-France, France
Saturday, September 20, 2008

This was Jay's last full day in Paris.  I decided to join him on his run this morning. Let me tell you how much I loathe running.  It is definitely not my preferred form of cardiovascular exercise.  At the gym, I avoid the treadmills like the plague and prefer instead to burn my calories on the elliptical machine or stationary bike. Jogging in Paris will cure you of any dislike, or hatred, for running. We parted ways at the Louvre pyramids, which was my idea.  Since I run at a snail's pace, I didn't want him to slow down pour moi.  As I made my way through Jardin de Tuileries, I couldn't shake the grin off my face.  Jogging in such breathtakingly beautiful surroundings makes you forget that you are breathing laboriously and the part of your brain that associates pain with running is mysteriously disabled.  Besides, when you're up that early in the morning, you get to enjoy Paris without the crowds!


This picture taken with my iPhone during our early morning run.


Another iPhone photo - trio of women practicing tai-chi at Jardin de Tuileries.

As I progressed through the Champs Elysees toward the Arc de Triomphe, I noticed multiple groups of people making their way in the same direction.  A long line was forming outside of a building and the police had set up multiple roadblocks in the area.  After making inquiry with a couple of women, I discovered that the Palais de L'Elysees was open to the public that weekend, as part of the Patrimony Days.  My friend Linda would explain to me two days later that Patrimony is all about the public having access to sites usually closed off to the public, such as the Palais de L'Elysees, which is the official residence of the French president.


Arch de La Defense

After our run and another breakfast prepared by Jay, we hopped on the #1 and rode it to its terminus, La Defense.  The grand white arch was an impressive sight to see, but I must admit that we had a better time wandering around the shopping center adjacent to it.  Jay had not packed sufficiently for the cold weather in Paris, so he picked out a sweater and scarf at C&A.  And then, he stepped on my big toe and chipped a significant portion of nail polish.  Sephora to the rescue!  Within minutes, I had purchased matching nail polish and nail clippers.  We headed to the bathroom where I managed to set things right.



We found a Paul bakery and purchased several boittes (boxes) of macarons for Jay to bring home the following day.  Macarons always make great pasalubong. An English woman behind me was having difficulty communicating her order to the staff, so Jay asked me to help her out.  Pointing at the woman behind me, I said, "Elle voudrais deux sandwich - une fromage et jambon et une fromage, s'il vous plait."

As we headed toward the Metro station connected to the mall, I spied this little café, which reminded me of an expression that my Dad likes to use frequently, so I had to stop and take a photograph.


Is "blah blah" a French expression too?

Our next stop was the 15th arrondissement to see Harriet, the American pastry chef, and her furkids, Diablo and Sophie, at Mon Bon Chien.  Of course Jay couldn't come home without some treats for our Yorkshire terrorists.  We got off the Metro at Commerce and made our way toward Rue Mademoiselle.  After several minutes, it became very apparent that we were walking in the wrong direction.  Unfortunately, I had not written the address for Mon Bon Chien in my Moleskine, but I did have a vague recollection that it in the teens or lower.  I approached a woman walking her Labrador and asked, "S'il vous plait, madame, ou est le patisserie pour chiens - Mon Bon Chien?" "Je ne sais pas," she answered before recognition set in and she pointed in the opposite direction. "Merci!"


Mon Bon Chien

Soon enough, we found ourselves at 12 Rue Mademoiselle.  It was nice to see a familiar face(s) in Paris. Harriet gave me the good news that her papers had been renewed for another year and gave me a brief synopsis on how it all went down.  Paris and its chiens are lucky that she gets to stay! The other great news was that Mon Bon Chien had been featured in the latest edition of Paris Match (the one with Pope Benedict on the cover).  We picked out some truffles and other assorted goodies for our furbabies and told Harriet about our plans to go to Parc Floral for the Animal Expo that was going on that weekend.  She was kind enough to give us two complimentary V.I.P. tickets.  Score!  We bid adieu with a promise that I would return on Tuesday for more goodies.

Now that we had all four hands full of macarons and dog treats, we decided it was time to head back to the apartment before we had lunch.  I had planned to have tartines for lunch at the place next door to Poilane on Rue Cherche-Midi, but found myself craving Chinese food (again).  After dropping off our goods at the apartment, we headed down Pont Neuf and Rue Dauphine and soon found ourselves at a place called Wok. Craving satisfied, we wandered around Rue St . Andres Des Arts, where I found the cutest gift shop full of Pylone-esque items.  I could spend hours browsing around in there.


My favorite place to get crepes in Paris


Crepe Especial!

Jay wanted to revisit Shakespeare & Company, so we made our way toward St. Michel. I stopped at my favorite crepe stand at Café Le Lutece and ordered a crepe especial.  It wasn't as good as I remembered it to be from last February, but Jay gobbled it up for me.  When we got to Shakespeare & Company, we found that they were giving away free brand-new books, biographies of Willa Cather and Edith Wharton, written by Hermione Lee. Instinctively (free?!), I grabbed a copy right away but put it back down when I realized that others would enjoy the read more than I would.  After Jay had taken his photos, we walked back to the apartment to get ready for dinner with a fellow Paris-phile.


Giveaways at Shakespeare & Co.


I had phoned her the day before and she confirmed that she had made reservations at Chez Rene.  At a quarter to 7:00 pm, Jay and I left our apartment for a quick stop at La Tour Eiffel before dinner.  I'll admit that I was delusional to think that we would have time to see the Iron Lady and make it to Chez Rene by 8:00 pm.  With the long transfer at Montparnasse Bienvenue, we should've just turned around right then and there. Once we got off at Bir Hakeim, we walked a few minutes toward the Eiffel before I glanced at my iPhone (the battery on my watch had died in Italy) and realized that we had better hop back on the Metro.

When we got off at Maubert-Mutualite, we were already 10 minutes late.  I was mortified.  I repeated the same mistake I'd made on Rue Mademoiselle by walking in the wrong direction on Blvd. St. Germaine.  After we realized we were walking away from Chez Rene rather than towards it, I started running and Jay wasn't too far behind me. By the time we finally arrived at Chez Rene, we were egregiously late.

I entered the restaurant and immediately saw a petite woman sitting at a table across from the door. Her head was adorned with a beautiful black hat.  I greeted her and exchanged bisous and apologized profusely for our tardiness.  A few minutes later, I realized that I had also forgotten my manners when she leaned across the table and asked my husband, "So, what's your name?" Oh dear.

All seemed to be forgiven by the time we ordered our meals (coq au vin for the ladies and duck confit for Jay and goat cheese salads all around), with the assistance of our delightful companion. She had a captive audience as she regaled us with her tales of her life in Paris and her more recent escapades of the previous week.  And then the unforgiveable happened.  We'd ordered a bottle of Bordeaux and I took the liberty of refreshing Lilia's glass.  Apparently, my two kirs had impaired my coordination and a great deal of the precious wine ended up adorning the tablecloth.  She brushed it off as if it was nothing, but I'm sure she was wondering by then what she had gotten herself into.


Goat Cheese Salad

Duck Confit

Coq au Vin





Millefeuille 

I had to make amends. Since I had committed two crimes against her- being late and spilling wine, I decided that we would take care of dinner that night. The entrees and plats were delicious, the desserts (which we three shared) were superb, but the company was even better.