A day for shopping

As we were finishing a long, warm evening walk that had taken us to the lower reach of the 15th arrondissement along the leafy Avenue Félix Faure, we stopped in the Thomas fromagerie shop (cheese shop) near the apartment, on the Rue du Commerce.

Yes, the little fromagerie is a good place to buy cheese -- Salers is our favorite.  But we also buy butter, milk, and eggs there.  Occasionally Tom buys fruit preserves there, and once in a while I purchase a bottle of the excellent, pale rosé wine that sits, quite chilled, in the refrigerator case next to the orange juice.

The Eiffel Tower early this morning.

In fact, the entire shop is very chilled.  The super air conditioning felt great, so we didn't mind waiting while a couple of other customers were served.

One of those customers bought some country ham to go with his cheese.  When it comes to things like wine or ham, the fromagerie will offer only one or two selections.  But those selections are superb, and not too expensive.

You never touch the cheese in a fromagerie.  You wait to be served, and you say the name of or point to the cheese you want (after you say bonjour, and s'il vous plait, of course).

Tom completed the food shopping with the purchase of a baguette de tradition at the famous Eric Kayser bakery.  It was a delicious addition to our dinner later in the evening.

Earlier in our walk, I showed Tom the new news kiosque on the Place du Commerce/Square Yvette Chauviré (still getting used to the new name for this little old park).  Evidently, the news kiosques are being replaced all over the city.  The new one at Commerce is especially nice.  One day I went past and the old kiosque was gone, with nothing but a concrete foundation to mark the site; two days later, the new kiosque was up and functioning, it seems.  I'm impressed by the efficiency.  The new kiosque is so attractive that we almost wanted to go in and buy a newspaper, the way we used to do.  (Nowadays, we read the papers online.)

News kiosque on the Rue du Commerce at the Square Yvette Chauviré

We also stopped in a dress shop that I'd been noticing on the Rue du Commerce.  The place is called Liu Jo.  An Asian-French woman was minding the store yesterday.  She was an excellent salesperson.  She made me feel comfortable, and motioned Tom to an easy chair where, she instructed him, he would wait for the "fashion show."  She was good at assessing my size, and selecting dresses that would accommodate and even compliment my broad shoulders and chest.

I think I tried on six dresses, and selected one.  I also bought a useful and cute fan to use in stuffy restaurants.  The fan (eventail) folds neatly and stores in my handbag.  And it is cute, featuring an image of a black cat.

I noted that the tags on the dresses in Liu indicate that they are all made in workshops in France.  The web site states that the clothes are of Italian design, from the Carpi region.  Aha, I thought.  That's why the dresses fit me so well.  Clothes made in China and elsewhere in Asia often cheap out on the amount of fabric used in the sleeves and chest, and so they don't fit me well.

Dresses work in warm weather in Paris -- at least, for me they do.  The high temperature yesterday was 81 degrees F, which was pleasant combined with a low nighttime temperature of 60.  The normal high temperature for this date is 73, but that would seem uncommonly cool, given the kind of weather we've had for the past few summers.

Back at the apartment, I made a summery gourmet salad for dinner, and we enjoyed the cool evening air.

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.