A rainy day with gardens and a roast

July 1, 2017 – The Parc Georges Brassens has a split personality; in the past, we’ve visited mostly the lively western half of the park, which is dominated by a huge pile of boulders where children like to play, as well as some historical remnants of the slaughterhouse that used to be on this site.

This time, we visited the eastern half – a serene place of intimate gardens with stone paths and a stream of water babbling through.  I particularly enjoyed seeing a formal bed of succulent plants, organized in the shape of a heart.  I noted some ideas that I could incorporate in my succulent beds that I’ve just barely started at home (around the base of knarly, big old trees), although I will never go for the formal look that we saw at Georges Brassens.  Still, I admire the park gardeners’ artwork.

Tom walking through the gardens in the eastern half of
the Parc Georges Brassens

Our walk to and from the park focused on big avenues because, once again, the day was punctuated by rainshowers.  The shops on the broad rue Vaugirard and rue de la Convention offered shelter when we needed it.  We stopped at one of the ubiquitous luggage/housewares shops to buy an umbrella for Tom.  He’d been trying to use a broken umbrella from the apartment.  Now he has a nice, black retractable man’s umbrella to complement my floral one.

The succulent garden at Parc Georges Brassens

Flowers in the eastern half of the Parc Georges Brassens

On the way home, we stopped for refreshments at La Source brasserie, situated in the picturesque plaza formed by the intersection of the rue Alain Chartier, rue Vaugirard, and rue de la Convention.  Tom ordered a café gourmand and a dish of ice cream.   I shared the café gourmand’s special treats with him.  It was a fine afternoon snack in lieu of lunch.  I noted that La Source looks like it might be a good spot for a casual dinner sometime.  For example, the awning advertises that La Source serves Mariage Freres tea; that’s a sign that the management there really cares about quality food and drink.

On the way home, we ducked into Pour, a jewelry shop on the rue Vaugirard near the rue de l’Abbe Groult where I buy at least one pair of earrings every year (for the past four years).  This time, with Tom’s help, I picked out three pairs.   Pour has a good and stylish selection of clip-ons, which is what I wear.

View from our table on the terrace of La Source, on rue Alain Chartier

The threat of rain had dissipated, so we walked up the less commercial rue de l’Abbe Groult to go back to our neighborhood.  There, we bought more butter from the Thomas fromagerie and a perfect baguette from the Eric Kayser bakery.

In the late evening, we dined at the Restaurant Stephane Martin, just an 8-minute walk from the apartment.  I’d reserved via lafourchette.com, and we were thus able to get a 30 percent discount on the food (not on beverages). 

We’ve been dining at Restaurant Stephane Martin ever since it opened in 2000.  So many memorable dinners we’ve had there!  The signature dish is a pork roasted and served with red cabbage, slowly cooked in honey and spices.  The cut is huge; almost the same cut as a Boston butt roast – what we use to make pulled pork.  According to the menu, this jarret de porc is a dish to be shared by two people.  However, it could easily serve a family of four or maybe even six.

The Association du Parc Georges Brassens now occupies one of the old
buildings that flank the former entrance to the slaughterhouse grounds.

We were prepared.  After consuming a decent about of the tender, juicy, savory pork and cabbage, Tom surreptitiously spooned the rest into two zippered storage bags, which he then placed into one of my re-usable shopping bags.  I wish doggie bags would become more of a routine practice in France, but that just hasn’t happened yet.  We hate to waste food.

Dessert was a fine apple tart for Tom, and a moelleux au chocolat for me.  The chocolate is from Tanzania, and is super dark and rich. 

Moelleux au chocolat

Tarte fine aux pommes

Stephane Martin is a gifted chef.  I note that he now has achieved the designation of “maître restaurateur.”  He was only 30 when he opened this restaurant; he’s made a real success of it. 

Today is another rainy day, but we’ll go out walking in the afternoon anyway.  Dinner, of course, will be at home – another go-round of tender pork and cabbage and sauce.

They come and go

August 16, 2016 -- The rue des Frères Morane is named for a couple of pioneering aviators, Robert and Léon Morane, who lived in Paris.  Robert lived a long life, from 1886 to 1968, but Léon (b. 1885) died from the Spanish flu in 1918.  Before that, they both almost died in 1910 when they attempted to win the Michelin aviation prize by flying from Paris to the summit of Puy de Dôme in less than 6 hours.  They crashed near Boissy-Saint-Léger.

Statue at the entrance to the Parc Georges Brassens.

According to the French Wikipedia, Robert Morane and Robert Saulnier started the Société des Aéroplanes Morane-Saulnier in 1911, with offices in Paris and factories in Puteaux.  After World War I, they focused on making planes for teaching and for tourism.  After World War II, the factory moved to in Ossun. 

Both Morane brothers are interred in the Père-Lachaise cemetery.

The street named for the Morane brothers runs alongside the Saint John the Baptist of Grenelle church, and merges with the rue de la Croix-Nivert.  It is the most direct route from our apartment to the rue de la Convention.  Convention really should be called an avenue or a boulevard, because it is wide, with wide sidewalks and lots of mature trees.

I love to walk down shady Parisian avenues like that, especially when traffic isn’t too heavy.  Since yesterday was a holiday and the weather was warm, the time was right to walk down the rue de la Convention to the Parc Georges Brassens.

Along the way, we were charmed by the Passage Dombasle, a little lane between the rue de la Convention and the rue de l’Abbé Groult.  At the Abbe Groult end of the Passage sat a quaint, forlorn former restaurant called Le Passage Gourmet, promising “cuisine raffinée” (fine cuisine) on its sign. 

The Passage Dombasle

After reading about its story on the web, I am now sorry we never visited when Le Passage Gourmet was alive.  Le Passage Gourmet may be gone, but the chef, Jean-Marc Perrain carries on, according to his blog.  He is now at the Marché des Gastronomes on the Place Pigalle in the 9^th arrondissement.  His blog informs me that he also was once associated with one of our favorite restaurants which is no longer in existence, L’Espadon Bleu – one of Jacques Cagna’s ventures in the 6^th arrondissement.  Oh well.

When we reached our goal, the Parc Georges Brassens, we had to rest our feet for a while.  We gazed up at one of the magnificent cow statues at the entrance, as we sat on a bench in the shade, near other people our age.

Inside the park, young families with kids were everywhere, especially on the hill of boulders where children love to scamper.

The park is on the site of a former slaughterhouse – which brings gruesome images to mind.  But it is named after a famous French songwriter, which brings pleasant images to mind.

Neo-gothic chapel on the rue Blomet

We walked to the far corner of the park, where we peered over a wall to see a a wildly overgrown section of Le Petite Ceinture which has not yet been turned into a pedestrian walkway, or promenade.

Slowly we made our way back toward our neighborhood, back up the rue de la Convention.  I noted that the frames for market stalls stood along a stretch of many, many blocks on this street.  According to the parking signs, this market operates three days a week: Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.  It is extensive!  We’ll have to visit it sometime.

We turned onto the rue Blomet to veer toward our restaurant for the evening.  As we passed by the Clinique Blomet (private hospital), we noticed its beautiful neo-gothic chapel (Chapel of the Sisters Sainte-Marie-de-la-Famille) rising above the surrounding walls.  This chapel was built around 1890, and has beloved stained glass windows by Louis-Charles-Marie Champigneulle.

We rested on a bench in the Place Adolphe Cherioux, and then it was time for dinner at Le Cap.  That place has changed since last year; dinner was unremarkable, but the café gourmand at the end was colorful.  Afterwards, we had a pleasant stroll home, where we enjoyed another quiet hour on the balcony, as day faded into night.

 

Café Gourmand and a glass of port at Le Cap, across from the 15th arrondissement town hall.