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| Statue at the entrance to the Parc Georges Brassens. |
According to the French Wikipedia, Robert Morane and Robert
Saulnier started the Société des Aéroplanes Morane-Saulnier in 1911, with offices
in Paris and factories in Puteaux. After
World War I, they focused on making planes for teaching and for tourism. After World War II, the factory moved to in
Ossun.
Both Morane brothers are interred in the Père-Lachaise cemetery.
The street named for the Morane brothers runs alongside the
Saint John the Baptist of Grenelle church, and merges with the rue de la
Croix-Nivert. It is the most direct
route from our apartment to the rue de la Convention. Convention really should be called an avenue
or a boulevard, because it is wide, with wide sidewalks and lots of mature
trees.
I love to walk down shady Parisian avenues like that,
especially when traffic isn’t too heavy.
Since yesterday was a holiday and the weather was warm, the time was
right to walk down the rue de la Convention to the Parc Georges Brassens.
Along the way, we were charmed by the Passage Dombasle, a
little lane between the rue de la Convention and the rue de l’Abbé Groult. At the Abbe Groult end of the Passage sat a
quaint, forlorn former restaurant called Le Passage Gourmet, promising “cuisine raffinée” (fine cuisine) on its
sign.
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| The Passage Dombasle |
After reading about its
story on the web, I am now sorry we never visited when Le Passage Gourmet was
alive. Le Passage Gourmet may be gone,
but the chef, Jean-Marc Perrain carries on, according to his blog. He is now at the Marché des Gastronomes on
the Place Pigalle in the 9th arrondissement. His blog informs me that he also was once
associated with one of our favorite restaurants which is no longer in
existence, L’Espadon Bleu – one of Jacques Cagna’s ventures in the 6th
arrondissement. Oh well.
When we reached our goal, the Parc Georges Brassens, we had
to rest our feet for a while. We gazed
up at one of the magnificent cow statues at the entrance, as we sat on a bench
in the shade, near other people our age.
Inside the park, young families with kids were everywhere,
especially on the hill of boulders where children love to scamper.
The park is on the site of a former slaughterhouse – which brings
gruesome images to mind. But it is named
after a famous French songwriter, which brings pleasant images to mind.
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| Neo-gothic chapel on the rue Blomet |
We walked to the far corner of the park, where we peered
over a wall to see a a wildly overgrown section of Le Petite Ceinture which has not yet been
turned into a pedestrian walkway, or promenade.
Slowly we made our way back toward our neighborhood, back up
the rue de la Convention. I noted that
the frames for market stalls stood along a stretch of many, many blocks on this
street. According to the parking signs,
this market operates three days a week: Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. It is extensive! We’ll have to visit it sometime.
We turned onto the rue Blomet to veer toward our restaurant
for the evening. As we passed by the
Clinique Blomet (private hospital), we noticed its beautiful neo-gothic chapel (Chapel
of the Sisters Sainte-Marie-de-la-Famille) rising above the surrounding
walls. This chapel was built around
1890, and has beloved stained glass windows by Louis-Charles-Marie
Champigneulle.
We rested on a bench in the Place Adolphe Cherioux, and then it was
time for dinner at Le Cap. That place
has changed since last year; dinner was unremarkable, but the café gourmand at
the end was colorful. Afterwards, we had
a pleasant stroll home, where we enjoyed another quiet hour on the balcony, as
day faded into night.
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| Café Gourmand and a glass of port at Le Cap, across from the 15th arrondissement town hall. |
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