gomiki

We arrived in Paris at 6AM on Friday, zipped through passport control and were able to check into our apartment at 8AM instead of 4PM, a huge bonus. We had a nice note from the owner and two small boxes of Alain Ducasse chocolates to welcome us which was a nice surprise. We purchased our usual essentials and took a nap. We can't power through, especially this early after no sleep. It was a lot cooler than we expected and I wished I had a warmer jacket. After purchasing a Navigo Easy and loading our Navigo card for the next week we went to Marche Monge to purchase oysters and French breakfast radishes. Success with the oysters but not the radishes.

We had dinner near our apartment where we had wonderful mussels and frittes last fall. Not so much this time. The mussels were the size of a thumbnail and did not taste fresh. Our waiter was very nice (he was our waiter last year) and insisted on giving us free desserts. Unfortunately my cheesecake was also not very good (very overdone crust) but we just thanked him for his consideration. We were surprised that the restaurant had a Neil Young tribute band starting to play as we were finishing. They were good but does every Neil Young song sound the same??

Saturday morning in Paris always entails a pilgrimage to one of the oldest wine bars in Paris, Le Baron Rouge, for oysters and wine. It's very small and there is a lot of spillover outside. Diners get creative with cardboard on trash cans and window ledges for tables outside when it fills up. If you leave a 2 Euro deposit they fill a liter wine bottle from a barrel with the wine of your choice for 4 Euro. Our choice was a bottle of Sancerre and was quite good! We also go to the small flea market at D'Aligre practically next door. I usually find a small inexpensive treasure to bring home as a momento. If you are a market fan there is a huge covered market at D'Aligre as well as an open air market and the prices are less than some other markets.

gomiki

Dinner was at Le Bistrot Chez d'Henri on the rave recommendation of TYPAT from her December trip. It was outstanding. We had perfect seats near the door and could people watch. An interesting sight was seeing a waiter come running in carrying loaves of bread. And running out. Later he ran in with an empty cordial glass and out with a full glass. Interesting. The owner has another restaurant a block or so away and I found it rather amusing.

Sunday morning is the pilgrimage to the Bastille market. I love this market. But I love all the markets.The array of food, flowers arranged to look like paintings and just random stuff amazes me. Even more that it is hauled there at an ungodly hour, in all kinds of weather, set up, and packed up for the next day to do it all over again. We always look for the products by Helene Moudry. She has an extensive line of canned pates, terrines, and canards that are excellent.

We left to meet R's DD2 who lives in Berlin and was coming in for two days. We had tickets to see Inventing Impressionism at the Musee d'Orsey for 3:30. There was a short line but we got in quickly. The exhibit is huge and comprehensive and we were there until it closed at 6PM. Musuem #1....check.

millie2112

looking forward to more. I will be in Paris at the start of October so have taken note of some of markets

gomiki

Monday was a visit to the Musee National de la Marine de Paris. The theme is maritime history, past, present and looking to the future. It has an amazing collection of centuries of French naval history and all things maritime. It is huge and on three floors. The special exhibit was a history of "L'Ocean Filme." There were clips from the earliest films starting in the late 1890s. It was fascinating. This museum was my favorite and is a must if you have any interest in ships, history, art or the sea.

Figurehead from Napoleon's ship.

This museum is at Trocadero so we were able to see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. There was giant scaffolding being set up for the Olympics.

kerouac

I think you might like one of the guided tours of the astounding Rungis wholesale market if you love markets. Some of the tours are in English, but I must warn you that they leave from Denfert-Rochereau at 5 a.m. (or at least they used to). The tours end around 9 a.m. with an included "butcher's breakfast" and those people do not eat just croissants when they have been slaving away since 2 a.m.

gomiki

kerouac, I would love to see that as I find the "behind the scenes" fascinating. Putting it on the 'next time' list.

rosiecaro

I love Bistrot d’Henri too, i am already salivating over duck breast in honey sauce when I go in September!

TPAYT

Gomiki…..So glad Bistrot d’Henri was as good for you as it was for us.
I’m making notes from your TR for our next time in Paris……
because there always will be a “next time”

rosiecaro…..I will keep my eye out for your TR in Sept.

gomiki

R's daughter left in the early afternoon. She brought me a warmer jacket that had been left behind when a friend returned to Australia. It was a perfect fit and kept me warm. We wandered over to Hotel de Ville tourist office as they always have some sort of small temporary exhibit. It it closed until the fall which was surprising as there will be so many people looking for information during the Olympics. We wandered to La Samaritaine, now completely renovated and owned by LVMH. I love the Art Deco steel stairs and glass roof. I was there many years ago before the reno and still remember a favorite scarf I left behind in a bathroom. We looked at $100 K+ watches in the cases and talked about what we would buy or do that much money. (Travel.)

gomiki

gomiki

Next stop was Notre Dame to watch the giant crane removing scaffolding. There are wooden bleachers for the comfort of the gawkers. And entertainment. A slightly built man put on a rubber mask of an ugly man and a hat and would walk up to someone and gently hold their hand as they were walking. A man or a woman or couple. The person would look and be so startled and then laugh. As did the crowd in the bleachers. I know it must sound very odd but it worked. We then went to Le Depart Saint Michel, a must every time we visit Paris. It's right at the Metro stop, the fountain is in view and we love the bustle and people watching while sipping a glass of wine.

gomiki

gomiki

Our apartment has a W/D so we packed light. Around 8:30 PM R put in a load of wash. The washer locked, would not start and would not open. Since most of his every day clothing was locked in, after trying everything we could, we called our apartment contact. He responded quickly and would see us at 9:AM on Wednesday. We had tickets to two museums on Wednesday and hoped he would be prompt. He was, could not fix the problem, made a 3 PM app't with a tech, got the clothes out AND had them washed, folded and he delivered them back to us the next day. We were impressed and happy with his response.

Then we were off to the YSL Museum for the special exhibit, Transparencies, which ends August 24. We had 11 AM tickets and we were early so we saw a street market and it was Marche President Wilson. It seemed to go on forever and appeared to be a bit upscale. We found our breakfast radishes there and I wish we had more time to explore it. Another next time.

The exhibit is wonderful. museesylparis.com . R was interested as soon as he saw the photo for it. If you have any interest, please google for much better photos than I have.You might try www.sortieaparis for photos.

Next stop, Les Pavilions de Bercy - Musee des Arts Forains

millie2112

Gomiki, would you be able to share the apartment where you are staying.
Understand if you do not want to. I am trying to find one for my stay and just finding the task very overwhelming.

TDudette

Wonderful, gomiki! Great mind picture of the waiter with the bread. We saw a Waiters Race in the way back when.