The cool came back, just like that!

I'd seen the predictions.  The change was not unexpected.  Still, when it happened, we were excited.  The heat wave lifted, just like that!

View from our friend's home-exchange vacation apartment.

As if Mother Nature made a flick of her wrist, her weather wand sparked, and a stiff yet gusty breeze magically appeared in the early evening.  A few dried leaves on the sidewalk flitted this way and that.  Minutes later, the rain that had been threatening broke through the heavy atmosphere.  The thermometer dropped ten degrees F.

The air, which had been laden with bad ozone, became light and cool again.

All of this happened as we sat in Eclectic with our friend, W, having drinks.  The panoramic view of the riverbank through the restaurant's sweeping windows presented far away lightening bolts, big raindrops splashing forcefully, dramatically, on the pavement, people -- smiling -- dashing for cover.  Other people sauntering, delighting in being suddenly wet and cool.

The staff threw open Eclectic's two doors.  The cool breeze was a welcome addition to the air conditioning.  We heard thunder sounding as if it were in a muffled echo chamber.

Having drinks at Eclectic, in Beaugrenelle.

The three of us were so comfortable and happy at Eclectic that we decided, after an hour of drinks, to stay for dinner.  Tom and I ordered the Friday special:  moist, soft poached salmon -- with rice for me, and with fries for him.  W had a Burratina appetizer and indulged in the delicious bread.  W asked me what Burratina is; I replied that it is like Mozzarella, only much better.  One web site calls Burratina's taste "dreamy."

Afterwards, we went to Monoprix because W still needed a few necessities for the apartment where she is staying on the right bank, in the 16th, almost directly across from Eclectic, where we were drinking and dining.  She is doing a home exchange for her vacation, so a young Parisian family is enjoying Sanibel Island right now.

The Beaugrenelle Monoprix renovations have been completed since we were last there.  I'd say the renovation is a big success.  It is what you'd expect a Parisian grocery store to be -- attractively chic, practical, and reasonable.

View of the Statue of Liberty and Front de Seine from our
friend's home-exchange vacation apartment.

The walk from Monoprix to W's home-exchange apartment wasn't long.  We crossed the Seine on the Pont de Grenelle, where the Statue of Liberty stands, passed the Ogre restaurant that Tom and I would like to try sometime, and continued around the corner to the apartment building -- which was very similar to a building where we once had a home-exchange apartment for a few weeks, years ago.  We had exchanged our former rental house in Gulf Shores for that apartment, so that must have been somewhere between 2003 and 2008.

That apartment, too, belonged to a young Parisian family.  But their small children are now nearly grown ups.  That's what happens when a decade flies by.

The view from W's place is splendid.  The Seine, the Pont de Grenelle, the Statue of Liberty, and the Front de Seine.  If you lean out the window, you can even see the Eiffel Tower.

I could sit there for hours, watching the barges go by and the tourist boats turn around the Statue of Liberty end of the Ile aux Cygnes.  But we left after a brief visit and walked back down the avenues.  We'll see W and others on Wednesday.

By the time Tom and I were home, we'd walked 4 miles.  Not bad, considering that the first third of it was in 100 degree heat (but only 29 percent humidity) and air full of bad ozone.

Today, the air is clear and cool (in the 70s), with a pleasant and persistent breeze.  Peace.

Keeping it quaint and cool

Quaint old building at the corner of the rues du Theatre and Tournus,
in the Grenelle neighborhood.

Lunch at Eclectic, in the Beaugrenelle Center.

July 18, 2017 – Cold pea soup on a hot summer day.  Doesn’t that sound good?  Garnish it with a dollop of excellent goat cheese, grab a couple of rustic baguettes, and pour yourself a glass of pale, chilled rosé.  Add a plate of fine Italian beef carpaccio and a few glasses of sparkling water, finish with a café gourmand, and you have the perfect lunch for two.

We treated ourselves to all this in the air-conditioned comfort of the Eclectic brasserie after a walk on the bucolic Île aux Cygnes and an hour or so of shopping in the Beaugrenelle center, where we bought nothing. 

In the afternoon, we had a funny experience at the post office.  We were there to pick up a small package addressed to our friend Roy, who owns the apartment.  A notice indicated that the letterbox on our building was too small for the package.

We took our driver’s licenses and a piece of forwarded mail of our own, to show that we really do belong at the apartment’s address.  We explained to the postmaster that we were picking up the package for our friend, who is in the U.S.  He said that the rules are such that we are not allowed to pick up the package.  We thought this might happen, but we wanted to try to do this for Roy if we could.

So, we said we understood and agreed, and we left.  As we were crossing the street, the postmaster came running after us, package in hand!  He said, “I’m sorry.  I did not make myself clear.”

Evidently, he had been saying that the rules are such that we are not allowed to pick up the package, but this time he will allow it since the package is “not important.”

View from a park bench on the Ile aux Cygnes.

We told him it was our fault for not understanding him.  If you miss a word here or there, you can end up thinking something that isn’t so.  All three of us had a good laugh over the misunderstanding.

The package really wasn’t too big for our building’s letterbox. 

In the evening, we walked slowly to the Trois Garçons brasserie to join a crowd of locals for a dinner on the terrace.  Mine was a delicious, whole daurade royale (golden sea bream), and thankfully, nobody offered to de-bone it for me.  Tom unfortunately ordered a steak – almost always a mistake in a regular café or brasserie.  The steak was so tough that it was practically inedible.  We traded knives, because mine was sharper.  But still Tom could barely cut that steak.   I shared my fish with him.  His fries were great, however, and I had a wonderful pile of carrots cut into tagliatelles, roasted in honey and butter.

We thoroughly enjoyed being out with everyone else.  The couple at the table next to us said, “Welcome to Paris,” because they heard us speaking to each other in English.  Then they asked us several questions about where we live.  I ended up telling them about mosquito control in Lee County, because Tom brought up the subject.  The French always seem to be interested in this subject, and they are impressed by the elaborate mosquito control program that we have in our part of Florida.

On the way to and from Trois Garçons, we passed through the Place Etienne Pernet, the site of an irritating and not-so-successful bar called Charlie Birdy.  In recent months, Burger King had announced its intention to establish a fast-food restaurant there.  But thanks to the “strong mobilization of Philippe Goujon [the mayor], who had agreed with the neighbors about the risks of nuisances tied to the establishment of a Burger King restaurant originally planned,” the building will instead become home to a brasserie called “Au Bureau” (source: Paris 15 magazine, summer 2017 edition).

Pont de Bir Hakeim

At the other end of the rue du Commerce is a McDonalds which is heavily patronized by locals.  Tom asked why the Burger King should be denied if the McDonalds was allowed.  I speculated that the problem is the site; the Place Etienne Pernet is the center of the old village of Grenelle.  With the church and a number of old, village buildings (including the one that houses Charlie Birdy), the whole place is picturesque, historic, and architecturally significant.  The same can’t be said of the McDonald’s site.

I thank Philippe Goujon and the neighbors for keeping Paris Paris.

Time flies; we're having fun

September 22, 2015 – Brunching at Eclectic on Mondays is a new routine for us.  We discovered how good the croque monsieur, green salad, and fries are at this chic, ultra modern brasserie, and so that’s where we go during the second hour that Maria the house cleaner takes over our apartment.  During the first hour, we walk.

We walked on the Allée des Cygnes, which has become an unofficial dog park because no rules are enforced there.  Particularly popular among dog owners and their beasts are two grassy slopes on either side of the Allée where it descends from the Pont de Grenelle to the ground level.  These grassy areas are fenced in by a very low, green wire fence, which is adequate for containing only the smallest of dogs.  Big dogs and small dogs play happily together; we’ve never seen a dog fight on the Isle aux Cygnes.

In the evening, we walked again down the full length of the avenue Felix Faure – 30 minutes each way --  to dine at La Table d’Hubert.  If we gave awards, this restaurant would get the “Best Value” award for the summer.  With the Lafourchette.com discount on top of already very reasonable prices, we dined sumptuously for a total of only 28.30 euros.

But it isn’t just about the price at La Table d’Hubert; it is about the experience.  Dinner there is casual (by Parisian standards), comfortable, generous, and enjoyable.  It is well worth the walk, but it is also very close to the metro line 8’s Balard terminus.

Following a shared starter of Italian bruschetta, Serrano ham, Mozzarella, and greens, we had classic French dishes that were prepared absolutely correctly.  Mine was a confit de canard, which was crispy on the outside, and sticky, tender, and flavorful on the inside.  This duck leg came with perfectly oven-roasted potatoes.

The Assemblée Nationale from the Place Bourbon.  People are lined up
to see it, because it was open for Heritage Days this past weekend.

Tom’s main course was a sausage made in Toulouse, served with mashed potatoes.  Our shared dessert was a delicious homemade peach clafoutis.

Hubert greeted us warmly, by name, and showed us to our regular table in the front window.  He gave us complimentary kirs and little homemade cheese biscuits.  Later he brought a bread basket, which he always has filled with an assortment of good breads.

He asked again where we are from, and if we live in Paris.  We explained, and told him that we’re returning to Florida on Sunday.  So when we left at the end of the evening, we said our goodbyes for the year, and said “see you next summer.”

Time flies when you’re having fun.

Panorama of our view from tea time on the Rosa Bonheur café boat on Saturday.
The view of houseboats, the Grand Palais, and the Pont Alexandre III is captivating.
(Stitched with Microsoft Image Composite Editor.)

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.

Imagine that, in Paris

A favorite Art Nouveau building at the corner of the avenue
Felix Faure and the Place Etienne Pernet.

September 8, 2015 – To be able to stay through the month of September in this apartment in the 15^th arrondissement is a blessing, for many reasons.  The sunlight that floods the double living-room as the sun sits lower in the sky, the coolness of the air sifting through the slightly open windows, the re-opening of some favorite neighborhood spots, following weeks of vacation closings  -- these are some of my favorite things about September here.

And now, we can add Maria to the list.  Maria normally cleans this apartment every Monday, ten months out of the year.  But she goes home to Portugal for the months of July and August, so we’d never met her.  Now she’s back, and we’re still here.  We met her for the first time when she arrived at the door late yesterday morning.

We clicked.  Tom and I liked her, and she seemed to like us, instantly.  Our French was perfectly adequate for communicating with her, and her French was very easy for us to understand – unlike the other Maria, the guardienne, who is a lovely person also from Portugal; but Maria the guardienne has a thick accent combined with little enunciation.  We love Maria the guardienne, but it is harder for us to converse with her.

After our cheerful meeting, we left

Maria the cleaner to her work.  We went for a walk.

Tom needed more coffee, so we decided to check out the brasserie called Les Trois Garcons on the Place du Comtat Venaissin, near the park behind the Saint John the Baptist of Grenelle church.  For us, the weather was a bit too chilly for sitting outside for coffee, so the server motioned for us to sit either at the bar or on a cozy weathered-leather loveseat sitting by an equally weathered leather chair and coffee table in a front corner window.

The interior of Au Trois Garcons

We chose the loveseat.  I ordered Marco Polo tea, and Tom had an espresso. We talked and watched the server make his preparations for the lunch crowd, which would begin to arrive in about an hour.  We admired all the old wood paneling, the zinc bar, the ceramic mosaic tiled floor, and the old-fashioned, simple bentwood brasserie chairs.   The tables were the classic bistro squares, with heavy, black, ornate cast iron pedestals.

The music on the sound system was funky rhythm and blues – American, of course.  We felt at home.  I noticed, on one of the blackboards stashed behind the leather armchair next to me, that aile de raie is on the menu at the Trois Garcons.  We’ll have to dine there sometime so I can check that out.

We paid our tab, said good day, and began a leisurely stroll up the rue de Javel and the rue de l’Eglise.  This year, I am coming to a deeper appreciation of the rue de l’Eglise.  

Yesterday, we were captivated by a modern single-family house that has been constructed on a small lot at the corner of the rue de l’Eglise and the impasse de l’Eglise. 

Modern single-family townhome on the rue de l'Eglise.

It is brick, with a slate mansard and some large windows.  It is built in a lean-to style right up against an older and taller apartment building on the rue de l’Eglise.  On the impasse side, the house has a small walled-in garden shaded by a couple of trees.

I could imagine a Parisian who was absolutely frustrated and fed up with syndic boards (like coop boards or condo associations) but who was also determined to live in central Paris, who desperately searched and searched for a small lot in a residential area with all the amenities that Parisians require – I could imagine that Parisian finally finding this spot, hiring the architect, and pressing through all the hassles of building with steely determination.  And finally, I can imagine that Parisian’s joy at this final product, this inviting home of one’s own.

A little farther down the street we saw another modern building, this one several stories high, with a sleek modern façade and overlapping, alternating, undulating balconies.  One corner of the building was wrapped by floor-to-ceiling windows.  I could imagine that this was a location of one of the many former factories in the 15^th arrondissement – one of many that were demolished to make way for apartment buildings from the 1920s to the present.

At the rue Saint Charles and the rue

Le Bon Panneton bakery at the rues de l'Eglise and Saint Charles.

de l’Eglise we encountered a sizable bakery that was obviously far better than average.  I could tell by the people lined up inside, intently waiting to purchase their carbs.  I could also tell by the gorgeous creations on display in its front window, on the rue Saint Charles side.  And I could tell by the brilliant blue paint and sparkling windows forming its façade.  This must be one of that neighborhood’s important landmarks.

We turned up the rue Saint Charles, passing by the sprawling Zola Color hardware and housewares store, and continued on to Beaugrenelle.  Tom was ready for lunch, and we wanted to try Eclectic again.  It is an ultra-modern brasserie facing the riverfront at Beaugrenelle on the rue Linois.

Soon we had a table near the window, with a view of the terrace and riverfront and brilliant blue sky.  Funky American music played on the sound sytem.  The server showed us the prix fixe menu, which would

have been tempting if that were to be our main meal of the day, but we had plans for La Table d’Hubert in the evening.

So Tom selected crab spring roll, and I chose a croque madame at Eclectic.  The server asked me if I wanted fries or a salad with my croque. I really didn’t want either, but since he implied that this came with the croque, I asked Tom if he wanted fries.  He certainly did – I could tell by the expression of craving on his face.  So I said, “frites, s’il vous plait.”

Salmon and vegetables aumoniere (above, and below) at La Table d'Hubert

What a good choice that was.  The fries were superb – cooked in truffle oil, thin, hot and crispy on the outside.  Oooh la la.

The croque was impressive, too.  Instead of being made with ordinary bread, it was almost like a pastry, pressed together with the ham and cheese in the middle and a fried egg on top.  Tom’s spring rolls were a little less impressive, but at that point, we didn’t care.  Lunch was good, and scenic.

When we’d finished, we thought it was time to return to the

apartment.  Maria would have completed her work and be gone.  We look forward to her next visit, next Monday.

In the evening, we had that nice half-hour walk down to La Table d’Hubert along the leafy avenue Felix Faure.  After we were seated at our usual table in the front window, I noticed that a movie crew was working across the street.  Red-and-white plastic tape blocked off a number of parking and delivery spaces in front of and near the Mozart bakery across the street.  A little later, more tape was stretched out to block the parking and delivery spaces in front of La Table

d’Hubert.    We have no idea what is being filmed and we don’t care because we see this sort of thing so often.  But I can imagine that it irritates some in the neighborhood, to lose those parking spaces.

Dinner began with Hubert bringing us complimentary kir and homemade cheese/charcuterie crisps/biscuits.  We followed this with a shared starter of charcuterie and homemade fig preserves.  Hubert’s charcuterie is high-quality stuff, and the preserves were delicious.

We each ordered the plat du jour, called salmon en papillote, but I would have called it an aumoniere.  Details.  The aumoniere was made of aluminum foil, and with a bit more work, could have been formed into one of those aluminum foil swans that some fancy U.S. restaurants know how to make for holding your leftovers.

We imagined teaching a class in leftover containers to Parisian restaurant proprietors.  We’d start by having them each make an aluminum foil swan, just to break the ice.

While we waited for the main course, we watched Hubert debone another dorade royale for another older lady, just as we’d done last week.  We listened to a diverse group of six people from heaven-knows-where, who were chatting non-stop in non-native English at a table near us.  We once again enjoyed the fine American jazz that Hubert plays on the restaurant’s sound system.

Dinner arrived at the table.  The salmon and vegetables in the aumoniere were hot and steamy, and were bathed in a flavorful herb-and-butter sauce.  The green salad was a strange garniture for this dish – rice would have made more sense.  But the aumoniere was so wonderful that I didn’t give the garniture much thought.

Hubert got confused and brought us the wrong dessert – a white chocolate tarte, when we’d ordered a chocolate-and-caramel tart.  He realized his error and then insisted that we have both – one on the house.

We could hardly believe the bill when it arrived.  With the Lafourchette discount, the total was only 22.50 for this dinner for two!  And it was delicious, through and through.  Imagine that, in Paris.