Screaming facades

July 21, 2018 -- The sight of a building stopped me in my tracks this morning.  It made me forget how sore my feet were.  The street was narrow, so the building's elaborate façade was difficult to photograph.  Yet it begged to be photographed.  The building seemed to scream, "LOOK AT ME!"

All elaborate Art Nouveau buildings scream like that.  This one was doing it well -- loud and clear!

Yet the architectural gem is neglected.  I hope that someone will come along and restore it, the way 29 Avenue Rapp, the famous Art Nouveau building designed by the architect Lavirotte is being restored. (Here's what I wrote about the Lavirotte building in 2012, and my 2015 photograph of it is on this page.)

Statue of two women in a green space at the
beginning of  the Avenue Montaigne.

Who would expect such a showpiece to be on the simple, narrow, unassuming rue du Champ de Mars -- a street that seems to be a humble shortcut connecting the market street, rue Cler, with the Avenue de la Bourdonnais, near the Champ de Mars?

I did some research and learned that the architect of this find at 33 rue du Champ de Mars was Octave Raquin.  He designed it as a private middle school for girls.  The 1904 building has a name:  Les Arums.  And according to the French Art Nouveau blogger Eli Paseos, this was the only building Octave Raquin designed in this style.  Eli says that Octave Raquin is relatively unknown in the realm of Art Nouveau architects.

What is an arum?  It is a calla lily, a popular Art Nouveau motif.  In the case of Les Arums, we see the lilies in the stone facade, the metal grillwork on the doors, and in the tile mosaic inside, according to Eli.  Because the building was originally designed as the Longuets' school for girls, the calla lily motif may have been selected because it symbolizes purity and innocence.

Eli (a woman) writes that "It seems that this is the same Octave Raquin whose portrait Toulouse-Latrec painted in 1901 and who participated in the 'Revue Blanche,' a literature and art review from 1889 to 1903."

One of the Dior shops on the famous Avenue Montaigne.

Earlier, I'd walked up to the Champs Elysées via the Avenue Rapp and Avenue Montaigne.  I observed that, unlike the other avenues that lead to the Place de l'Alma on the right bank, the Avenue Montaigne does not go uphill.  Yet it is the one named Montaigne.  Go figure.

As you probably know, Avenue Montaigne is where most of the top fashion design houses have their main boutiques.  Some of them are not boutique size -- they are huge.  The Dior house, in particular, occupies much real estate on this swishy street.

The Avenue Montaigne takes me to the part of the Champs Elysées that I like:  the part that is park-like.  I do not like the commercial sections of the Champs Elysées, closer to the Arc de Triomphe.

The park-like part of the Champs Elysées

At the Grand Palais, I turned toward the Pont Alexandre III to head back to the apartment in the 15th.  I decided to zig-zag through the charming streets of the 7th arrondissement:  rue de l'Université, rue Jean Nicot, rue Saint Dominique, rue Cler, and then, voila, the rue du Champ de Mars where I made the Art Nouveau discovery of the day.

The night before, the three of us dined at an old favorite place, Stephane Martin on the rue des Entrepreneurs, and it did not disappoint.  We were surprised to see the Chef upstairs, in the dining room, out of the kitchen.  He is normally so shy!

But I guess he was training a new server/maitre d'hotel, so he had to be upstairs.

Chef Stephane knew our names and remembered that we'd been dining there for many years.  I said it was 18 years, and he said yes, the restaurant started there 19 years ago.

The Grand Palais, looking grand.

The dinner was very fine.  Tom and Dan had the specialty of the house, a slow roasted pork roast cooked in red cabbage, wine, and honey.  It is a large dish, meant to be shared by two.  I ordered the turbot, which was delicious.  It was accompanied by a fine mixture of vegetables cooked in butter.

The three of us shared an apple tart and cherry clafoutis for dessert.  We said our farewells to Chef Stephane, and assured him that Tom and I would be back soon.  Very soon.

Paris, from the sky

July 24, 2017 -- Pictures bring words to life.  Writer’s block doesn’t happen to me.  When it threatens, I simply turn to look at the photographs that I took yesterday – or even earlier.  Then the story pops into my head.

The photograph of the façade of the Saint Sulpice church, which I took with my sister in mind (she likes that façade), reminds me that the weather was a little cool and windy.  Tom and I noticed posters promoting a sale of men’s clothes.  The posters were sandwiched around posts and small trees all around the Place Saint Sulpice.   We recognized the address as that of the former workshop for Emile Lafaurie.

The Saint Sulpice church

The cooler weather inspired clothes shopping.  Who wants to try on clothes when the weather is hot and humid?

From our September stays in an apartment on the rue du Canivet, we knew about Emile Lafaurie.  His men’s apparel business has grown, but back in those days he toiled away, designing clothes, right there in the little space on the rue du Canivet.  The back of the space has a metal verriere ceiling, with frosted glass, providing just the right light for sewing by hand.

Now the space is empty, cleverly renovated with interior walls of varnished chipboard, and opened occasionally for a sale of odd lots of Emile’s clothes and shoes for men.  Tom likes the shirts, especially.

Poster advertising the sale of Emile Lafaure clothing.

We entered the workshop, and Tom tried on clothes for a while until he decided upon a handsome, long-sleeved blue shirt with tiny little red and white anchors all over it – perfect for a former Navy officer who lives on Sanibel Island.  The shirt also looks great with Tom’s casual, dark blue jacket that he wears in cool, damp weather. 

When he paid for the shirt, he decided to wear it so he wouldn’t have to carry a bag.  He hates to carry anything when we walk in Paris.  He needed that extra layer between his t-shirt and jacket because the temperatures dropped to the 60s – which is cold for South Floridians.

We ambled around the Luxembourg Gardens for a while.  We admired the new message on the old pavers on the narrow rue Férou, a message that clearly tells drivers that pedestrians rule that little rue.  We noticed on that same street that the upper floors of the building that contains the best apartment that Hemingway ever lived in in Paris is in need of serious repairs.  The wooden shutters are falling apart, and that isn’t quaint or cute.

The rue Ferou, where pedestrians have priority.

While we were walking, Dan and the granddaughters were at the Cluny museum, taking a look at the magnificent Unicorn tapestries.  We’ve seen these tapestries multiple times, so we just rode the metro to the 6^th arrondissement with them, then went our separate ways for a couple hours.

After our walk, we stopped in the Café de la Mairie for a drink, and we called Dan, who has Tom’s phone.  Tom and Dan and the girls met a little later, and went to the Café Bergamote for refreshments.  I took the metro home so that I could watch the end stage of the Tour de France. 

That final stage is when the Tour comes into Paris.  I simply LOVE the aerial views of Paris that this last day of the Tour provides on TV.  Why do I love looking at Paris from the sky?  I do not know. 

The apartment one level up from the street at 6 rue Ferou was the best place Hemingway ever lived in Paris.

This time, the videographers were focusing on more left bank sights than usual because of the slightly different entry point the Tour took into the city – the Porte d’Orleans instead of the Porte de Versaille.

A huge new Defense Ministry complex south of here has recently been completed.  Observing it from the air made it possible to see what a complicated and lovely architectural achievement it is.  We’ve noticed the construction going on for the past couple years.  Now it is done, evidently.  Some are calling it France’s version of the Pentagon, but I think it is even more architecturally interesting than that.  Plus, it has the largest solar-panelled roof in the city.   The cost of the complex?  4.2 billion euros.

The Musée du Quai Branly and its beautiful tropical garden were featured.  The new domes of the Russian Orthodox Church shone brightly.  The magnificent Grand Palais was a centerpiece of the show;  the Tour rode right through it!  The Grand Palais has great possibilities for the 2024 Olympics, so the City was cleverly showing it off.

The magnificent fountain in the Place Saint Sulpice.

When Tom, Dan and the girls came home, the end of the Tour was still happening, so we all watched together for a while.  Then they asked me to make a reservation for dinner via lafourchette.com.  They wanted to go to the new Italian place, Pietro Commerce.

So we did.  It was impossible to entirely consume the copious servings of pasta, etc. But the food was very good.

I saw visions of plenty early in the day, too, when I took my market walk.  This is a Sunday or Wednesday morning walk when I take in the full length of the market under the tracks at the Boulevard de Grenelle, then retrace my steps, walk up the avenue de le Motte Picquet to the end of the Champ de Mars, pause to look at the Eiffel Tower looming over the Champ, walk on to the colorful pedestrian market street of rue Cler, walk its full length and turn left to go back to the Champ de Mars, cross it, and walk home. This is about 8,000 steps.

Add to that an afternoon walk and an evening walk and soon I’m at 15,000 to 20,000 steps for the day.  You’ll notice that by combining an afternoon walk with a metro ride, we are covering much territory in Paris this summer.

And the beat goes on.