Winding Down

It's our last couple of days in Paris and we are sad to be leaving although we look forward to setting up our new home in Kingston Beach in Tasmania.  So we have been making the rounds of our favourite places for the last few days.  Yesterday we had a wonderful meal at Café Francoeur which included the French version of mashed potatoes.  Bruce calls them a cardiologist's nightmare since they consist of one pound of butter for every two pounds of potatoes.  And if that isn't enough to make our doctor wince, it was infused with bacon bits!

This morning we went to another cafe where we like the coffee.  Unfortunately they had already sold out of the usual Pain au Chocolat, but with a cheeky smile, our waiter suggested we go to the boulangerie a few doors down and get what we wanted, bring it back and have it with our coffee.  He even suggested we bring one back for him, which we did.

As we went up to the Place du Tertre, we noticed an interesting sign -- or rather a piece of graffiti -- complaining about the air quality in Paris.

Graffiti

It may have been sheer coincidence, but later we passed a refueling station for electric vehicles.  Many of the cars had a particular branding and our curiosity led us to explore this.  Interestingly, just as France has a public bicycle rental scheme, it has introduced a short-term electric car rental scheme.  You become a member and then pay for the use of the car by the half-hour.  Well, it is clean, green and means you don't have to worry about where you park the car since you leave it at any of the other stations near your destination.

Electric Vehicle at Station

While at the Place du Tertre, we had a quick drink at our favourite cafe, Sabot Rouge and bid a fond farewell to our favourite French waitress.  Adele has adorned the Sabot Rouge for as long as we have been going there and she now knows us so well she calls out "Chardonnay et Cafe?" to us as we approach.  She knows very well what we will be drinking.

La Belle Adele

And so it goes in the last few days.  But of course there is still the packing to be done, arrangements made to get to the airport and all of the last minute chores that must be done.  But for now - au revoir.

Coping with diet restrictions in Paris

Paris is known around the world for the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and all of its museums and galleries.  But it is also for many the place where some of the finest food and drink can be consumed.  But what do you do for, and how does Paris deal with, people who either for medical reasons or as a matter of choice can't or won't immerse themselves in the wonderful and rich foods of France's capital city.

Sign in Helmut New Cakes

If you are a vegetarian, you may be scorned, but you can get by. The French are, by their very nature, carnivores but they also have wonderful vegetables and sensational cheeses.  Most restaurants have elegant salads although you may find yourself asking that the ham or bacon frequently included be withheld. There are even a few (shock, horror) vegetarian restaurants to be found in Paris these days.

But nowhere in Paris have we seen a menu which, like our favourite Hobart restaurant, marks items as GF for gluten free or V for vegetarian, etc. But even here, Paris is beginning to recognize that there is a market for those with special dietary needs.  There are now two chains of stores, "Naturalia" and "Bio" which carry organic products as well as those required by people on special diets (e.g. gluten free, lactose free and diabetic).

Organic Shops

But having said this, we discovered something pretty special.  Searching on line we found a bakery, Helmut New Cake, which produces all gluten free products.

The shop is in the 10th arrondissement, quite a distance from where we are staying, but we ventured over there this afternoon and found an extremely elegant tea-room with all of its beautiful products gluten free. 

Helmut's Pastries

The shop also sells a range of other gluten free goods. We bought a couple of the delicious cakes, brought them home, and after dinner tonight tried hard to fault them but could not.

Our "Samples"

Well done Helmut New Cake and thanks for catering for those needing a gluten free diet.

La Fête des Méres

La Fête des Méres (Mothers' Day) is celebrated on different dates in different European countries but today was France's turn. Florists do a big trade on Sunday with people taking flowers when the go for family lunch.  Today, however, there were long queues at the flower shops. It looked to us as if Mothers' Day here is celebrated much as in Australia with a long lunch either at home or in a restaurant. This may be followed by an outing to a local park.

Square Maurice Kriegel-Valrimont, a lovely neighbourhood park

This Mothers' Day was a bit different with a demonstration (la manifestation)  against the new same-sex marriage law.  As usual, estimates of the size of the crowd differed.  The organizers put the number at over 1,000,000 but the Police were a bit more conservative estimating 150,000 participants.  From what we saw on the television we felt that the number was somewhere in between.

La Manifestation

We had been invited to a function at the American Cathedral but decided, since it would take us through the middle of the demonstration, that it was better to be prudent than valiant and went out for lunch at one of our favourite restaurants instead.

La Cremaillere Restaurant

Time Flies

After three months away from Hobart we feel very acclimated to our European life and are finding it hard to believe that in just over a week we will have to adjust to our Tasmanian life. After almost ten years of visits to this quartier of Paris we feel very much at home here.  We know the shopkeepers and many of the locals.

When Virgina goes to the newsagent just across the road, she is greeted with a hearty "Bonjour Madame," and each Wednesday when her favourite magazine is published the newsagent makes a big thing of pulling a copy out from behind the counter ready for Madame. 

The Newsagent

Similarly at the local Alimentation, the three Tunisian staff always greet us with handshakes and warmth and express concern that we prefer rice to cous-cous. When Virginia shops there on her own, they always ask after Monsieur and whether he is working on his ordinateur (computer).  It is a bit of a standing joke which they all enjoy.

Just across the road, too, is a florist where we have bought flowers and plants on a number of occasions.  He recognises us as do the people who cut our hair. 

The Florist

 Bruce goes to a charming woman who knows that we stay in the neighbourhood and chats with him about her teenage daughter.  Virginia goes to David who requires her to call from Australia to make an appointment.  She has to do this on Fridays since this is his busiest day and he just loves telling his clients that this is one of his "internationals."  He often talks to Virginia about his children as well.

And so on... Here then is a classic example of being immersed in the French language, and what a wonderful way this is of improving one's skills.  Once a relationship has been established between shopkeepers and clients, they feel comfortable in helping us with our French and we accept this kindness with much laughter and good feeling.

School Trips

When a school in Australia or the United States organizes a trip, for whatever reason or event, it hires a bus and arranges for the picking up of the children at the school and their return there.  In France, we have noticed a completely different attitude to school excursions.

Here, even the youngest of children travel by public transport on such outings. We have seen "early primary school" children traveling in groups on the buses and on the Metro on the way to some event or exhibit. 

School Children at the Metro Station

Needless to say, those accompanying the youngsters are ever mindful of their charges and the children themselves carry labels around their neck with their name, the school they are from, and an emergency telephone number. Not surprising, like children anywhere on an outing, they seem to enjoy themselves immensely.

Most travelers seem quite happy to take the children in their stride and are aware of their entering or exiting vehicles.  Just how well the supervisors handle this was brought home to us when we watched a group get off a train in the Metro and the teacher count the children before signalling the driver of the train that he could depart the station. Clearly the driver of the train was aware of the children - even complicit in their safety. How this is arranged we don't know, but it is clear that something is planned in advance.

This kind of school outing can take place even in the most public of arenas.  For example, sitting as we were at a cafe on the Place du Tertre we watched a young group led, by a teacher, through this packed area as an experience of watching "artists" at work.

School Group at the Place du Tertre

 

A lesser known Paris treasure

If you are a museum and gallery explorer, Paris is a city that must not be missed.  Not only are there all of the well known galleries including the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, the Orangerie, and the Picasso to name just a few, there are dozens of less well-known, but equally enthralling places to visit.

Old Paris hands may scoff, but we just discovered the Musée Jacquemart-Andrée.  Housed in a magnificent hôtel particulier (a house of distinction) on the Boulevard Haussmann. Once the home of husband and wife Nélie Jacquemart and Edouard Andrée the art collection housed here is the most beautiful private collection in Paris.
  

The mansion and museum

In addition, the museum is the site of wonderful exhibitions.  At the moment it is housing Eugéne Boudin au fil de ses voyages and beginning in September it will have Désirs et volupté a l'époque Victorienne and will be featuring works by Alma-Tadema, Lord Leighton and Burne-Jones.

Concert at the Casino of Deauville (1865)

Venice - The Esclavons Quay, Customs House and the Salute (1895)

Not only are the exhibitions wonderful, the mansion itself is a living museum with gorgeous artworks of all kinds in all the public and private rooms.  To go to an exhibition is delightful, but it is only half the experience if you do not explore the remainder of the house and the other great art works.

The Winter Garden and the Staircase

 If you can, buy your tickets on-line you should do so and avoid the queues which can be extremely long.  Not having the facility to print out tickets we went early to avoid the queue but as a result we were too early to access the delightful tea rooms which are said to be the best in Paris.  On the other hand, by going early, we did manage to avoid the rain which has been plaguing the city for the last several days.

Périgord in Paris

Le Périgord

Because the Butte is such a popular area of Montmartre it is not at all surprising that it would be used for various promotions.  At the moment, there is quite a large display for the Périgord area, one of the most interesting places in France and one which is well known for a variety of products including truffles, pate de fois gras, walnuts, chestnuts, strawberries and mushrooms. All these and more were on display at the exhibition.

Foie Gras

Cheese

Escargot

In addition to the food stalls there were wines on display and entertainment. 

Entertainment

The Périgord Drummer

All in all, a delightful way to pass an afternoon and sample some the great diversity of products from the region.