Paris Journal: Le Cafe du Commerce

Friday evening, we dined with Sanibel friends Jane and Marcel once again. This time, we had a drink in the apartment and then ventured simply around the corner to Le Café du Commerce, where I'd made a reservation by phone. Le Café du Commerce is not reservable online.

We paused for refreshments at Le Murmure Fracassant
(The Shattering Whisper) on Friday. It is a brasserie on the Avenue Félix Faure.
Notice the crows in the overhead display cases!

But it is always open, 7 days a week, even on holidays, all the way through the entire summer. Le Café du Commerce is big, and it is spread out on three levels, with a central atrium open to a glass ceiling that opens and closes according to the weather. Before the space became a restaurant, it was a fabric store -- hence the need for a glass ceiling that allowed for lots of light.

The servers are appropriately attired in black and white, and they are quite professional. The restaurant has a fairly extensive menu, which includes many of the French classics that we have come to expect.

Sardine appetizer at Le Café
du Commerce

After a delicious dinner, we walked our friends back up to their hotel on the Rue de l'Avre. That's a hotel which we recommended to them. In fact, we've recommended it to many friends over the years, yet we have never stayed there because we have the apartment. The Hotel de l'Avre has kept up with the times and now has air conditioning. The location is very convenient, yet the street where it lives is quiet. We recommend asking for a room facing the courtyard garden.

Earlier in the day, Tom and I found the Rougier et Plé art supply store that is located in our area, on Rue Lecourbe. While not quite as big as the Saint Germain location, the Rue Lecourbe store is impressive enough. It occupies a graceful building that was once a workshop or fabric store. Tall, arched windows line the upper floor's façade on the street side. Toward the back was an old glass ceiling with metal framed glass panels, some of which could be opened at an angle.

I've been wanting to do some sketching, so I bought two small sketch books, three art pencils, an eraser, and a small pencil sharpener. So far, I've sketched an image of the sunflower from the center of the Provençale tablecloth on our dining table. I hope to sketch some more today.

Interesting note about my main sketchbook: its 67-lb. paper is made in France, but the sketchbooks (spiral bound, with hard black covers) are assembled in China!

A women's hat shop on Rue des Entrepreneurs.

Yesterday was one of those Saturdays when Rue du Commerce is pedestrian-only. So far, this is just one Saturday per month, as an experiment. But people of the 15th arrondissement clearly like it. By mid-afternoon, swarms of locals were walking and shopping on the street. Pedestrians rule here, unlike back home in Lee County, Florida, which is the most dangerous place for pedestrians in the entire USA, according to one of my dearest friends who is an expert on the subject.

I needed to replace my handbag, which had a broken zipper. (Zippers are great deterrents to pickpockets.) So I joined all the other shoppers yesterday.

The first shop I entered, Le Bagadie, sells nothing but handbags and wallets. The saleswoman was particularly helpful. First she showed me several Longchamp bags, but as she learned about my preferences, she came closer and closer to finding a bag with the features that I wanted. Finally, she showed me a Lancaster Paris bag which seemed to be perfect. But, I explained, I just started looking, and needed to look around some more. I did say that I thought I'd probably return for that bag later. It was an expense, and I needed to shop to be sure I had the right thing.

And so I looked in every shop on the Rue du Commerce, Rue des Entrepreneurs, and the entire Beaugrenelle shopping mall that carried handbags. This took hours, and miles on my feet. After the Beaugrenelle mall, I returned to Rue du Commerce to check out a few last places. Then I went back to Le Bagadie and bought that taupe Lancaster Paris bag.

I explained to the saleswoman that I found myself comparing every bag that I saw to that particular Lancaster Paris bag, and all those other bags came up short. Lancaster is a French leather goods company, headquartered in the 9th arrondissement. The company was founded in the 1990s in the heart of Paris. Not coincidentally, France has numerous technical school programs in leatherworking.

Interior of Bernard du Qunzieme. Notice the many pepper mills
lined up, on display, in the middle. The Chef recommends a
particular kind of pepper for each dish -- even dessert!

Later, at home, I listened to Tom talk about his day (going over reviewers' comments about proposed new readings in the next Norton Sampler) and transferred the contents of my old, broken-zippered bag to the new French handbag.

Eventually, we decided to dine at Bernard du Quinzieme on Rue des Entrepreneurs. The walk to the restaurant is pleasant -- down Rue du Commerce to Place du Commerce with its beautiful park named Square Yvette Chauviré, and over to Place Violet and Rue des Entrepreneurs.

On Rue du Commerce, we paused in the doorway of Le Bagadie so I could show the saleswoman the new handbag in use, and how well it coordinated with my dress for the evening. She smiled said she loved the dress, and that the handbag went well with it. She is an excellent saleswoman!

Golden bream with julienned veggies at Bernard du Quinzieme.

Dinner was very nice -- rabbit terrine and golden bream with julienned veggies for me, and ham with melon and veal chop with veggies and scalloped potatoes for Tom. Desserts were a rhubarb concoction resembling profiteroles without the chocolate sauce for me, and a nougat for Tom. This was great value: three delicious courses (with properly sized portions) for 27 euros per person.

Even though we've dined at Bernard du Quinzieme only a couple of times, the place has fond memories for us: it used to be the location of Le Tire Bouchon, a fine bistrot that was run by Isabelle and Laurent Houry. Nobody makes a tarte fine aux pommes or a pomme purée as well as Chef Laurent does. He makes so many things so very well! And you'll never meet a sweeter, nicer person than Isabelle. We miss having them in the neighborhood!

Here are some more photos:

Veal chop and veggies (above) at Bernard du Quinzieme, along with scalloped
potatoes served on the side (below).

Two kinds of pepper, one for each main course, at
Bernard du Quinzieme.

Desserts at Bernard du Quinzieme: rhubarb and cream stuffed pastries with pepper ice cream (above),
Nougat with pepper, below.

Starter courses at Bernard du Quinzieme:
ham with melon, above, and rabbit terrine with gherkins, below.

The former town hall for the village of Grenelle was terribly neglected for years,
but now is is properly restored, maintained, and used for community programs.
It sits at one end of the lovely Place du Commerce.

Around the hugging bears statue in Square Saint Lambert are new community
gardens, with apples, ripe tomatoes, peppers, and much more (above and below).
We passed these on our way to Rougier et Plé on Rue Lecourbe.

Notre Dame de Paris is slowly, very slowly, coming back to life. The enormity of the project is even more apparent now than it was in the immediate aftermath of the fire. Now, with many windows removed and wooden braces built up beneath the flying buttresses, the cathedral looks fragile.

Charming doorways on Rue Frédéric Sauton in the 5th arrondissement.

A large construction crane has been set up on the north side of the structure. Solid metal construction fencing encircles the grounds. We were moved, but not surprised, by the cathedral views as we walked along the left bank by the booksellers, along the Pont de l'Archeveche, and up the Rue Chanoinesse.

Notre Dame de Paris, as seen from the booksellers row on the left bank (above and below).

Notre Dame de Paris from the Pont de l'Archeveche (above and below).

Notre Dame de Paris as seen from the Quai de l'Archeveche.

Construction crane on Rue Massillon and Rue du Cloitre Notre Dame (above and below).

We left the somber sight as we turned on the Quai de la Corse and followed along the back side of the Hotel Dieu hospital. Then we came upon the cheerful flower and bird market by the Cité metro stop -- one of those lovely Guimard-designed metro entrances (photo below)
.

Then we continued up the Rue de Lutece, and around to stately Place Dauphine, where we rested while watching two men play boules in the golden dirt.

Men playing boules in Place Dauphine.

When we crossed the Seine and continued walking along the quai, we admired the newly widened sidewalks. Some of that work is still under way. When it is all done, the Quai Malaquais, Quai Voltaire, and Quai Anatole France will have far more space for pedestrians (and bikes), and less for cars.

Just before we reached the Musée D'Orsay, at the corner of Rue du Bac and Quai Voltaire, we stopped for refreshments at Le Frégate, as we often do when we take a walk like this one on a Sunday afternoon. If we had not had lunch at the apartment, we would have had a full Sunday afternoon feast at Le Frégate. I remember having classic dishes like blanquette de veau in the Frégate's beautiful Art Nouveau dining room. Yesterday, however, we chose to sit outside, on the Rue du Bac.

Restored by the refreshments and rest, we walked down the ramp to the bank of the Seine, where we noticed new floating cafés and other amenities. As I waited for Tom to use the restroom, I saw a model who'd been participating in a photo shoot. She was unusual because she had a congenital nevus all over, like I do; but hers is more noticable because it occurs as splotches of color, whereas mine is dots, like freckles, but distributed weirdly in patches.

When my granddaughters noticed my congenital nevus, they said, "THAT's different! But that's good. It is okay to be different. It's good to be different." I'm proud of them.

There are a number of French fashion models with large birthmarks now. It is a thing.

We walked along the bank until we reached the Pont des Invalides, where we realized that we'd reached our five-mile goal. So we ascended to the street level and hailed a cab from a bus stop on the Boulevard de la Tour Maubourg.

Place Dauphine.

In the evening, we reserved and dined at Le Café du Commerce because Tom wanted the special of the day, onglet de boeuf (flank steak), and I wanted the classic aile de raie (skate). The restaurant did not disappoint. Both dishes were excellent. Tom's came with a fascinating red cabbage that was zingy with vinegar and pepper -- very nice! We shared a fresh green side salad with a vinaigrette that was almost as good as one of mine.

Aile de raie at Le Café du Commerce.

Onglet de boeuf at Le Café du Commerce.

Café gourmand at Le Café du Commerce.

Again I wondered why skate isn't served frequently in Florida restaurants. It is a mild but tasty fish, and the bones are so large that they are easily removed. Skate is great with a lemon-beurre blanc sauce like the one the Commerce serves. The skate came with large, flavorful capers, too, along with steamed potatoes and croutons.

We shared the tiny desserts that came with Tom's café gourmand. We were home in time to sit out on the balcony in the fading light.

Here are some more photos from the day's trek: