Flowing water and hard rain

August 15, 2018 -- Surprise!  Paris has artesian wells.  In the 19th century, as the city was expanding, engineer Georges Mulot was hired to find these springs with water under pressure, and to dig wells so that the water could serve the needs of residents and businesses of the left bank.  He started work in the 1830s and, after 7 years and 10 months of efforts, finally dug a successful well in 1841.  The location was not the most savory:  the courtyard of the Grenelle slaughterhouse.

Georges Mulot dug an artesian well here, so the place is now named for him.

A tall font in the form of a column with three tiers was then constructed in the middle of the Place Breteuil, where the statue of Pasteur now stands.  The artesian well's font fed a nearby water tower (chateau d'eau) that was part of the city's water system.

Georges Mulot went on to dig several more artesian wells in the Paris region and in Algeria.  Later, when the Grenelle slaughterhouse was gone and the font had been replaced by the Pasteur statue -- about 1905 -- the new residential neighborhood that was built on the site included a fountain in the middle, on a square named in honor of Georges Mulot.  The neighborhood around the square is a quiet network of streets consisting entirely of attractive Haussmannian apartment buildings like the one below.

For a long time now, I've known that this neighborhood around and including the Place Georges Mulot is where I would choose to live if I lived in Paris.   The neighborhood has everything: beauty, peace, quiet, a couple small groceries, bigger groceries not far away, the Avenue de Saxe outdoor market not far away, a lovely neighborhood park at the southern end of the Avenue Breteuil, a few good, small restaurants, a butcher shop, a wine store, a bakery nearby, a private library, an extensive taxi stand on the Place Breteuil, the Segur and Sevres-Lecourbe metro stations (lines 10 and 6) adjacent, a reasonable air-conditioned hotel (Bailli de Suffren -- for guests) on Avenue Suffren, and more.

Many people think this neighborhood is in the ritzy 7th arrondissement.  It is not; it is in the populous and large15th.  This part of the 15th sticks like a thumb out of the arrondissement's eastern side, surrounded by the 7th, 6th, and 14th arrondissements.  It also includes the Montparnasse Tower and the sprawling and ancient Necker children's hospital complex.

Being in the 15th is important to property owners because taxes are lower than they are in the 6th or 7th.  I'm not sure about the 14th.

Pasteur statue in the Place de Breteuil.

The beginning of Rue Lecourbe is just across the Boulevard Garibaldi from the Georges Mulot neighborhood.  Tom and I both have come to appreciate and be charmed by the mix of shops and restaurants on the long stretch of the wide, busy Rue Lecourbe from this beginning to the town hall of the 15th arrondissement.

Adorable private library on the Place de Breteuil.

Off the northwest side of the neighborhood, off of the Avenue de Suffren, are globally important institutions:  UNESCO and the European Space Agency.  This morning I examined the photographic exhibition on the fence along the  Suffen side of UNESCO.  It is part of the Hard Rain Project, about efforts to achieve a sustainable Earth (named for the Bob Dylan song, It's a Hard Rain Gonna Fall).  See a film about the ambitious project here.

When you're in the Georges Mulot neighborhood, you don't have a clue that the enormous Necker children's hospital is not far away.  The same is true of the Pasteur Institute.  You also don't see any sign to indicate that this was formerly the Grenelle slaughterhouse site.

Whole Earth photographic exhibit is part of UNESCO's Hard Rain Project.

In 1810, Napoleon called for the creation of five slaughterhouses just outside the Paris boundaries because. At that time he banished the numerous "tueries" (open areas where animals were killed) and  forbade the driving of live animals through the city streets.  He did this not just for public health reasons. The butchers' association at one time was a powerful, profitable, and somewhat violent group. Napoleon had to divide and conquer.

His 1810 decree effectively albeit indirectly put the butchers who killed the animals and the butchers who cut up and processed the meat into separate groups.  The latter group became more divided when some specialized in sausages and charcuterie, others in poultry, still others in horsemeat, beef, or pork.

European Space Agency, off the Avenue de Suffren

Personal descriptions of the early tueries are a nauseating read.  A long time ago, the tueries could be almost anywhere -- at the butcher's convenience.  Animals could be killed in the streets,or on the sidewalks; blood flowed in the gutters.  People complained about blood sticking all over their shoes.  The butchers then tried to organize specific areas for tueries.  But the real solution was to construct engineered slaughterhouses like those at Grenelle (now the Place Georges Mulot neighborhood), Ivry (later called Villejuif (near the Boulevard de l'Hopital), Montmartre (now the Jacques Decour high school on Avenue Trudaine), Popincourt - later called Menilmontant (at the rues Parmentier and Saint-Maur -- the only Kosher abattoir), and Du Roule (on the Avenue Miromesnil).  As the city grew to absorb these locations, new abattoirs were constructed at Vaugirard (now Parc Georges Brassens) and La Villette (now Parc de la Villette).

After reading a number of items on this subject, I opted to return to my normal fish-and-veggies default dinner last night.  We dined at Axuria on the Avenue Félix Faure, where I had sole meuniere with mixed vegetables and puréed potatoes, which I shared with Tom.  We had started with sharing an order of 9 escargots.  Tom's main course was a nice piece of pork, with veggies and Grenaille potatoes.  All of the food would have been good if it had been hot enough, which it was not.  Oh well.  We will try Axuria again next year, hoping that the problem(s) will be corrected.

One thing was heavenly perfection at Axuria:  the soufflé Grand Marnier.  Aaaahhh.

A doorway on the Avenue de Suffren.

Take a hike

Wildflowers on the Petite Ceinture

July 13, 2017 – In spite of the slightly rainy weather, we decided to take a hike through nature, along the Petite Ceinture: a long section of what was once a beltway train around Paris.  The train was abandoned years ago, but the tracks and the banks of thick vegetation remained.  Under the green guidance of the Bertrand Delanoe administration, the City of Paris turned this neglected resource into a walker’s wonderland.

A couple beetles doing their thing

The gritty sandy mix used to fill and level the space between and beside the rails blends beautifully with the chunky gravel and stone mix that remains along the tracks.  That sandy mix is easy on feet that grow weary of walking on urban pavement.

To help the environment and to keep maintenance costs down, the gardeners have turned most of the work over to Mother Nature.  The native wildflowers that she fosters there are becoming more beautiful every year that we walk along the Petite Ceinture.  Surely the gardeners must pass through occasionally to remove noxious plants (does poison ivy grow in Paris?), but we’ve never seen them there. 

Like on the Ile aux Cygnes, there is no water supply along the Petite Ceinture, so the wildflowers and other vegetation must be tough; they have to make it on their own.

This year, Queen Ann’s Lace rules the Petite Ceinture, but there are plenty of other wildflowers adding spots of color everywhere.  I particularly love the orange-red poppies.  Can you identify some of the other flowers?

When we reached the end of the trail at the rue Olivier de Serres, we climbed steps to reach the street level.  Where we’d started our walk along the railway, at the foot of the Avenue Felix Faure, we were in former swamp land, so we had to climb a few flights of steps to get up to the trail.  Here, at the end, we were on the land that rises up to become Montparnasse, so we had to climb many steps again to reach the street.  The left bank of Paris seems fairly flat until you experience these steps (as well as those around the Pantheon area in the 5^th arrondissement).

On the rue Olivier de Serres, we located a doorway leading to one of the Russian Orthodox churches that Dimitry Vicheney mentioned in his interview (see yesterday’s journal entry).  Beyond the mysterious doorway were steps leading up to a courtyard, but because all the lettering on the bulletin posted at the door was Russian, we did not feel welcome to visit as we do the other churches in Paris.  Also, a school is associated with the church there, and we did not wish to be a distraction to the kids.  I wonder if the kids speak Russian in that school?  I suppose they do.

Bulletin, all in Russian.

Stairs leading to Russian Orthodox church and school

Continuing our trek down the rue Olivier de Serres, Tom was becoming footsore, so I suggested that we have refreshments at La Source again, at the intersection of the rues Alain Chartier and Vaugirard.  After a café gourmand which included a little ice cream, Tom was renewed and we walked home in the most direct way possible (rue Alain Chartier and rue de Javel to the Place Etienne Pernet and rue du Commerce) because of the rain. 

Axuria's incomparable souffle au Grand Marnier

At home we did the usual: relax while watching the end of the day’s stage of the Tour de France.  Earlier, as we’d started our walk, I’d ducked into Axuria to make a dinner reservation.  So in the evening, we dressed up a little and walked back down the Avenue Felix Faure for a fine dinner at 8.  It was a thick, juicy veal chop for Tom, sea bass with peas and risotto for me, and then soufflé au Grand Marnier for each of us.  That soufflé is heavenly, and it is cooked perfectly every time. 

By the time we walked home, we’d logged almost 25,000 steps for the day. 

The back of the dining room at Axuria.

Sunday dinner at Axuria is tempting.

Tom's veal chop was more like a slice of a roast.

The calm of mid-August

August 15, 2016 -- Not long ago, my friend Jean-Paul and I talked about how we like to just walk along through the market under the tracks at the Boulevard de Grenelle.  We usually don’t buy anything; we just walk along and look at all the goods, and all the people.  We’ve never done this together, of course, but separately.  Yet we know we’ve had the same experience, at the same market.

This Wednesday- and Sunday-morning market is one of many scattered throughout Paris, each with its own designated days of the week.  Most are just two days a week, in the morning, until 1PM.  A few are allowed to be open three days per week. Most of the booths sell food – produce, meat, poultry, eggs, cheese, foie gras, etc. – but many sell flowers, watches, shoes, clothing, costume jewelry, and more.

Evening on the balcony.

Tom is usually working on his textbook projects in the morning, but yesterday he opted to join me on my morning market walk.

There were plenty of people there, but not quite the crowds we’ve seen in the past.  And of course some of the market booth spaces were empty; that happens in August, when many vendors take their vacations.

Some of the empty spaces were taken over by oriental rug and furniture vendors.  The finer oriental rugs are like magnets to us, and we resist the urge to look closer.  In recent years, the U.S. has had an embargo against the import of Iranian rugs, and of course, those are often the finest ones on display.  The embargo was lifted this past January or February, as a small part of the landmark nuclear accord with Iran.

So now we COULD buy Iranian rugs, but we just aren’t in acquisitive mode.  As soon as Persian rug dealers notice what our eyes are drawn to, and then when they speak with us and discover that we know many of the names of various designs or the tribes who made them, they zero in on us.  It is hard to extricate oneself from the figurative grip of a good rug salesperson who knows just how addictive the love of Persian rugs can be.

Langoustine starter course at Axuria, on the Avenue Felix Faure.

We did well, taking in the sights yet avoiding the grip yesterday.  When we’d completed our tour of the colorful market, we veered off to the northeast to wander through the peaceful Place Dupleix.  We were surprised to armed soldiers patrolling the far edge of the Place, and we initially assumed that this was because that spot is near the Cuban embassy. 

We entered the middle of the little park and cut through to the other side, directly in front of the Saint Léon church.  Then we saw armed soldiers at the other end of the Place.  Church services were under way.  We concluded that the soldiers were guarding someone or some people in the church, not the Cuban embassy.

Today I see on the Saint Léon web site a notice in bright red, on the home page.  Here’s a translation:

SAFETY AWARENESS!
During the state of emergency, the doors of the main entrance of the church on the Place Dupleix will be closed during the Sunday services.

The Saint Léon church construction began in 1924, and in 1926, it became a parish independent of Saint John the Baptist of Grenelle (the church that is closest to our apartment).  Much of the beautiful Art Deco mosaic tile decoration of the Saint Léon church appears to be from the 1930s. 

We walked back to the apartment to have lunch, a simple salad.  In the evening, I donned a dress, and Tom put on his blazer, then we went for a circuitous hour-long walk that closely matched our wandering through the 15^th arrondissement on our first day in Paris together, back in 1998.

We discovered a FranPrix grocery store that was actually open until 10PM on this holiday weekend Sunday night!  It is at 143 Rue de Lourmel, at the intersection with the rues des Cevennes and Tisserand.  We stopped in to buy two boxes of zippered food storage bags, which we use as our own surreptitious doggy bags.  Tom usually has one in his jacket pocket when we go out in the evening.

Escargots prepared the traditional way, at Axuria.

On that first stroll in 1998, we got lost, but ended up at La Tour Eiffel brasserie in front of the St. John the Baptist church, where we found that we were no longer lost.  This time, we stopped to dine at Axuria, on the avenue Félix Faure, where I’d reserved a table about a week ago.  We could not get lost in the 15^th if we tried now, we know it so well.

I thought that the restaurant might be crowded since there are not many fine restos open in Paris on this mid-August holiday weekend.  (Today is the Catholic Church’s Feast of the Assumption – commemorating the day at the end of her earthly life when the Virgin Mary is taken up into heaven, body and soul.) 

As it turned out, only five tables were occupied as we completed our dinner – two singles, and three couples, including us.

People don’t know what they were missing.  Dinner was delicious, and the service was friendly and professional.  We were seated at a table in the window, right on the sidewalk.  We felt blessed.

Colorful leg of lamb for Sunday dinner at Axuria.

We began with a langoustine starter course.  Three of these tiny lobster tails were wrapped in a fine layer of crispy pastry, and served with a savory aspic topped with caviar.  Tom also ordered nine escargots, served in the traditional butter-parsley-garlic way.

As we enjoyed this beginning, a man in colorful Muslim attire walked past on the sidewalk, wishing us a “bon appetit.”  Tom responded, “merci, monsieur.”

Each of us ordered the tender leg of lamb for the main course, and of course Tom had to have the restaurant’s signature soufflé Grand Marnier for dessert. 

The incomparable soufflé Grand Marnier at Axuria.

That was a wonderful dinner, worthy of the Feast of the Assumption.  Tonight we’ll be dining at a slightly less formal place, Le Cap.  But I’m fairly certain that the food there will be wonderful in Le Cap’s own way.

Splendid

September 26, 2015 – Just as we finished working at our computers, the weather changed from gloomy to splendid.  We went out to play.

There was no plan, but since we went west on our last walk, we turned north to begin this walk.  As we approached the Champ de Mars on the avenue de la Motte Picquet, I said, “Let’s go on up to those two adorable little parks on either side of Les Invalides!”

Square Santiago de Chili

We had not yet visited those parks, the Square Santiago de Chili or the Square d’Ajaccio, yet this year.  We found them to be two verdant oases of peace and solitude in an area surrounded by busy avenues.  In between the two parks, we walked along the front of Les Invalides, admiring the canons, topiary, and the posters for the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, which features macquettes (to-scale models).  These macquettes were used for military strategic purposes; the collection comprises models made under the direction of Louis XIV’s minister of war.

I have a friend back in Columbus (the artist, Chris Steele) who builds macquettes for architectural firms.  I wonder if he’s ever seen this museum?  Maybe we’ll check it out next summer.  But for the time being, we just wanted to enjoy the outdoors on a gorgeous Autumn afternoon.

Poster showing the macquette of Rome, from the Musee des Plans-Reliefs

The avenue de la Motte Picquet in the 7^th was a bit of a construction site, so we walked home through the mature trees in the southern part of the Esplanade des Invalides and then along the rues Saint Dominique and Grenelle, through the Champ de Mars, and finally down the rue du Commerce, which was thriving with pedestrian activity.  We’re still amazed at how trendy and popular this shopping street has become.

Tom went on to the Eric Kayser bakery as I went up to water the plants on our apartment’s balcony.  It is quite a chore because there are so many plants.  We have a double length of garden hose that we stretch to a fitting by the kitchen sink on the other side of the apartment.  Then I inch along the narrow balcony with the hose and nozzle, shooting water right into the pots. 

Les Invalides, from the Square d'Ajaccio

Fortunately, I did not inherit my father’s fear of heights.  Tom helps with maneuvering the hose through the apartment and controlling the spigot by the sink, but he does not volunteer to go out to water the plants, partly because he’s not sure how much water they need.

In the evening, we walked down the avenue Félix Faure to dine at Axuria.  The chef, Olivier Amestoy, was upstairs in the dining room, with three young men in business suits, shirts and ties.  These were new servers!  I applaud the decision that the servers will not wear blue jeans in such an elegant restaurant whose tables boast linen tablecloths and napkins.

Les Invalides

The dinner was lovely, but a little expensive without a lafourchette.com discount.  We’re spoiled, I guess.  Our starter courses were small croustillantes de gambas with a bit of salmon mousse and caviar, and little slightly spicy country sausages in a creamy sauce.  The main courses were yet another supreme de pintade (guinea fowl, my third or fourth for the summer!) and a carre de cochon pate negra (fancy, high-quality, thick-yet-tender boneless pork chop).  Tom had the incomparable soufflé Grand Marnier for dessert.

"La Defense du Foyer" (Defense of Home) by Boisseau (1887),
in the Square d'Ajaccio.  His face looks like someone
who is a realtor on Sanibel Island.  Can Sanibelians guess who?

Thank you to Axuria for such a delicious and elegant dinner.  It will give us the strength we need for packing.

Three favorites for the flaneurs of the fifteenth

In the past three days, we’ve taken our three favorite long walks in the 15^th, somehow fitting them in between rainstorms.  Each walk is an hour and a half or so of strolling at a medium pace.   Each walk is different from the others.

The avenues walk entails walking down the avenue Felix Faure, across the rue de la Convention, which is called a “rue” (street) but really is more like an avenue, and then up the rue Saint Charles and back home along the avenue Emile Zola.  We meander off the main route to explore anything we happen to see along the way.  This walk covers the south/central/west part of the 15^th arrondissement.

Four musicians from a folk music ensemble crossing the street in front of the Ecole Militaire. They were coming
from the Champ de Mars, where the activities for the La Parisienne race were just beginning.

The next walk takes us up to the northern reaches of the 15^th and into the 7^th.  It includes strolling up either the rue Violet to the Place Dupleix and beyond, or up the rue du Commerce and the avenue de la Motte Picquet to the residential streets that parallel the southwest edge of the Champ de Mars.  Then we cross the Champ de Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower, and continue back down either the avenue  de la Bourdonnais or the little residential streets parallel to the northeast edge of the Champ de Mars.  Then it’s back home again on either the Place Dupleix/rue Violet route or the avenue de la Motte Picquet/rue du Commerce route.  We did that walk yesterday.

The third walk goes down the avenue Emile Zola to the rue Linois and the grand Beaugrenelle district, with all its glitz and glass and shopping mall, and then across the Pont de Grenelle to the place where the Statue of Liberty stands, where we turn right and walk down the length of the rustic Allée des Cygnes.  The return trip is just retracing our steps, but it might involve a detour in the mall to shop or to escape inclement weather.

Le Jardin des Enfants shop on the avenue Felix Faure
has everything you need to outfit your favorite small princess.

In the evening, we walk again.  Tonight, it is a half-hour stroll each way to Le Tipaza, our favorite elegant North African restaurant on the rue Saint Charles, in the southern reaches of the 15^th.  Actually, we’ll probably take walk number 1 to go to and from Le Tipaza tonight.

In these walks, we have plenty of elbow room.  We can walk arm in arm, or holding hands.  There is plenty of window shopping and people watching to do.  People around us are generally very polite.

Today was the day for Maria the Cleaning Lady, so we abandoned the apartment to her for a couple hours while we took walk number three and had brunch at Eclectic, the ultra-modern brasserie overlooking the riverfront at the end of the Magnetic section of the Beaugrenelle mall.

We went to Eclectic last Monday, too, and discovered that the croques and fries there are superb.  This time, Tom had the croque madame (with an egg) and I had the croque monsieur (with no egg).  Tom had fries, and I had a fresh green salad with a splash of vinaigrette.   These are the best croques we’ve ever had in Paris.  The cheese in the croques was especially nice.  We aren’t sure how they make this and serve it with either fries or salad for just 12 euros, but they do.

Everything else at Eclectic seems to be a bit overpriced.  But I think it is one of those places you go to for the ambiance.

Flowers on a building near the Champ de Mars.

The elegant interior of Eclectic was designed by a British decorator named Tom Dixon, I’d read.  He did a good job.  The place is brilliantly eclectic and comfortable.  This is Dixon’s first French creation.

A couple named Fabienne and Phillippe Amzalak run Eclectic.  They’re known for running the restaurant called Le Bon and for starting up a place called Ma Cocotte.  

According to the restaurant’s web site, at Eclectic, the couple has made a “union of chic Parisian and eccentric British, paying homage to the 1970s and revising the codes of the brasserie to favor a comfort that is more private.”  I’d say that’s a pretty accurate description!

Croque madame at Eclectic Brasserie.

Dinner last night was in another eclectically decorated restaurant, Axuria, on the avenue Felix Faure. We shared an elegant croustillant de gambas with a delicious lobster mousse in the middle (photo below). 

Then Tom had a small, tender steak (coeur de l'entrecote) and I had a roasted wild duck with rich, smooth polenta.  Both dishes had what seemed like the same dark, rich reduction sauce, and perfectly cooked veggies.  

Tom's steak, veggies, and roasted potatoes at Axuria.

Tom had the classic soufflé Grand Marnier, which I also tasted.

It was a beautiful and delicious dinner, with just the right walk home up the pretty avenue Felix Faure.