[Back to our normal routine in Paris, as Dan and the girls are travelling about in Spain and Italy.]
July 12, 2017 -- On Sunday, as Tom and I were walking
through the lively and crowded outdoor market under the elevated train tracks
on the Boulevard de Grenelle, a pleasant-looking woman handed me a
magazine. I instantly recognized it as
the journal published by the town hall for the 15th
arrondissement. Sometimes a stack of
these are left in the porte cochere
of our building; the magazines are there for the taking. This time, we were graciously offered a copy
by a retiree who is volunteering her time to help promote her
arrondissement.
After 20 years of summering here, we can’t help but feel
proud of the 15th arrondissement, too. Reading about the ‘hood in this journal was
something I looked forward to with enthusiasm.
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| Le Jardin l'Intendan at Les Invalides |
A long feature story on the history of public transport in
Paris, with a special emphasis on the 15th, was captivating. It was told from the point of view of Dimitry
Vicheney, a Parisian whose parents were Russian refugees following the two
revolutions of 1917 (Dimitry was born in 1924).
He explained that Russian refugees in Paris were drawn to the 15th
by the factories there, where their labor was desperately needed following the
huge numbers of casualties in World War I.
An even larger influx of Russian refugees occurred in the
1920s. The 15th also
attracted these immigrants because three Russian churches existed there: on the rue Petel, the rue Olivier de Serres,
and on the rue Lecourbe. This year, a
new Russian Orthodox church was built at the Seine end of the Avenue Rapp, and
its huge golden domes are a brilliant addition to the Parisian skyline.
Dimitry had relatives scattered here and there throughout
the 14th and 15th arrondissements, so he was constantly
criss-crossing this sizeable territory.
Perhaps because of that experience, he became an amateur of public transport in Paris.
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| Domes of the new Russian Orthodox church in Paris |
The article (really an interview with Dimitry) is lengthy,
and I promise not to bore you with the details which I find to be so
fascinating. I also soaked in the images
– lots of historic photographs – included with the piece.
A far shorter article of interest listed the 11 chefs in the
15th arrondissement who were recently awarded the City of Paris
Medal for the quality of their cuisine and their restaurants. The ones that we know about personally, from
having dined in their establishments, are Baptiste Lotti of L’Antre Amis; Marc
Mouton of Le Troquet; Thierry Blanqui of Le Beurre Noisette; Thiery Faucher of
L’Os a Moelle; Claude Peraudin of Le Pere Claude, and last but most certainly
not least, Eduardo Jacinto of Le Pario.
Six out of 11 is not bad; we must
try the other 5 places.
On Monday, we were walking up the Avenue de Lowendal and remembered
that Tom’s Paris doctor, Nancy Salzman, has her office at the beginning of that
street. We stopped in to see about
making him an appointment (just a routine check) and were surprised to learn
that she had an opening that same day, at 2PM.
It was around 11:30 when we made the appointment, so we just
walked around, peering into the Jardin de L’Intendan at Les Invalides, and the
garden at the Rodin Museum (closed on Monday), then had lunch at the Café du
Musée across the street. It was a nice
lunch, but not remarkable.
Then we walked the full length of the majestic Avenue de Breteuil and
back, arriving at the doc’s office a little early. She was a little late, so after Tom and I
looked over a glossy British decorating magazine (something we love to do
together) in the waiting room, I walked back to the apartment while he had his
appointment.
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| Resting in the shade of the Tuileries |
Tom returned a little while later with a couple of
prescriptions (nothing serious), and so we were able to have another pleasant
French pharmacy experience.
French pharmacies are great, because you get such professional
and thorough advice there, and because the prices are so much lower than in the
U.S. Dr. Salzman made the experience
even more pleasant by giving Tom a list of area pharmacies rated according to
which ones had the best prices. One of
the best is right around the corner from the apartment. We’ve been there before, for advice and
over-the-counter meds. Now we realize
why so many other people go there, too; this pharmacy almost always has a line
of customers waiting, because they want the best deals.
So yes, the living is easy in the 15th. Still, we have to experience all of Paris, so
we walked up to the 1st arrondissement to see the Place Vendome
yesterday. While musing over the map, I
realized that the rue de Solferino, the Passerelle Senghor, and the rue
Castiglione all line up, and they lead directly to the Place Vendome. I planned the route in my head, making sure
to include the Place du Palais Bourbon. Along the way, we rested for a few minutes in
the deep shade of the Tuileries.
Much of the construction work that was going on during the
past two summers in the Place Vendome is now finished. We had a pleasant stroll around the east side
of the place, gazing into the chic jewelry store windows at some amazingly
beautifully designed necklaces fashioned out of diamonds, pearls, and
more. The only shop we entered was the
tiny Swatch store, a place where we’ve shopped before. This time, we didn’t buy anything, but
enjoyed talking with the young woman who minds the store.
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| An opening to a hotel and offices in the Place Vendome |
After that much walking, we were ready for lunch. I used lafourchette.com on the smartphone to
find the most likely location for eating nearby – the streets around the Place
du Marché
St. Honoré.
After examining menus and curb appeal at a couple places, we
selected Little Georgette at 9 impasse Gomboust. I enjoyed my lunch more than Tom did his. I ordered the daily special, which is what I
should have done at the Café du Musée the day before.
Anyway, we enjoyed watching a large group of women (almost all women) filter into the
restaurant. Soon they occupied two
thirds of the interior. (We had decided
to eat inside because the tables outside were much too crowded together.)
The lunches at Little Georgette are an assortment of things
brought out on a single tray. The small
portions and variety appeal to women, I think.
Tom was not too impressed with his lunch, and that was partly because he
selected a mostly beef dish. French beef
generally just does not measure up to American expectations.
My lunch featured a salad with rice and chicken, and a small
“terre et mer” pastry as a starter – stuffed
with potatoes and anchovies. A simple
little dish of super-ripe cantaloupe pieces accompanied this, and dessert was a
little dish of coconut pudding with some fresh berries on top. My entire lunch was 17.60, which isn’t bad
for this pricey part of town.
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| The beautiful St. Roch church. |
After lunch, we ambled over to the enormous church of St.
Roch. While this 18th Century
edifice is not old by French standards, it is on the site of a 13th
century chapel built by a baker and his wife.
And this church contains a large number of enormous and impressive
paintings. Money has been spent on
illuminated panels that explain what’s important about each of these paintings,
and the verbiage on the panels is in both French and English. We had not visited St. Roch for years; we were
impressed by its beauty.
We took the subway home from the Opéra station, but went out for
another hour-long stroll in the evening, after we watched the Tour de France on
TV. The weather has been a little rainy,
but not threatening, so we’ve been delighting in the cooler temperatures and
the chance to use our little umbrellas.
A little rain never stops us.
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