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Sunday, May 09, 2004
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“Man’s” Work & “Woman’s” Work
Anyone in a long-term relationship knows there is “Man’s” work and there is “Woman’s” work. Without general agreement on these tasks there is chaos. These are not broad cultural norms but differ from relationship to relationship.
As in most relationships, I, the man, have the lion’s share of the responsibility. I don’t mind, this is the way I was trained (by my mother, of course). Fortunately, I am very efficient and can finish my tasks with plenty of time left over for leisure activities. Christina seems less able to make time for “discretionary” tasks. Lest you think I am exaggerating I want to give you some examples (I’m sure this will sound familiar to the guys).
My responsibilities include all the important things –
- Making a living to support us in the style to which I have become accustomed. This is only slightly less arduous since we retired. I spend much time on the telephone with Barry and read many newspapers and magazines.
- Staying on top of global events. Not easy in a foreign land.
- Doing research and shopping for the big things. This includes jewelry, watches, knives and cars. Christina handles the smaller items.
- Researching and recommending restaurants to Christina. All she has to do is pick one from the list and make the reservation.
- Anything to do with maps.
Christina’s responsibilities are less demanding –
- Shopping for the little things. This includes food and household items (excluding knives). This is all pretty straightforward. You take your “Pousette-Marche” and go to a market or store where there is a great selection.
- Managing the households. I admit this is somewhat complicated with 3 locations (NY, Otis and Paris).
- Handling social arrangements. This includes the wedding, and the party as well as talking to anyone who calls and making all plans with others.
- Making reservations at restaurants.
- Making travel arrangements. This includes hotels, trains, airlines, cruise lines, car rental agencies, etc.
NOTE from Christina: He forgot to mention the daily living agenda—like answering the question: “So, what are we going to do today?”
As you can see, Christina’s responsibilities are much more straightforward while mine are more complex (do you know how many restaurants there are in Paris and New York?). I don’t understand why she doesn’t seem to ever have any time to read or knit. I’m already on my fourth book. It seems the more I try to help her (by making a few well intended suggestions on some additional alternatives she could have considered) the busier she gets!
delB/May 9, 2004
2:21:50 PM 
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Thursday, May 06, 2004
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No Sign of “Atkins”!
It’s a good thing that Paul and I aren’t on the Atkins Diet because in the past 10 days we would have certainly fallen off the wagon. Not that there isn’t meat of all varieties in Germany and Alsace; the problem for us is that there are more kinds of bread, Kuchen, pasta, and other starches then anyone needs. For the past 10 days leafy greens and fruit were things we had to actively seek out; even the asparagus is white! But ohhhh the varieties of bread, they would make your mouth water. On our last day in Alsace we ordered a ‘simple breakfast’ and were presented with the following in our room the next morning. For any bread lover you will see how easily we are lead into temptation!
Things wouldn’t have been so difficult for us in Germany had it not been for my three aunties who were determined to stuff as many carbohydrates as they could into our already ample bodies—didn’t they know I had to fit into a wedding dress! Aunt Walburga was the worst, bless her heart. When we arrived at her house for the appointed afternoon “Kaffe”, we were greeted with no less then 5 varieties of Kuchen! She was not happy until we had sampled three and even then was sad that we left goodies on the table. She herself only had a thin slice of her favourite. Every relative was equally eager to wine and dine us so there was no escape for the four days we spent with them. AND, I didn’t even tell you about the beer--but that’s another story. Suffice it to say we are now on a diet in Paris if you can imagine!
CDF/April 30, 2004
10:44:04 AM
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Tuesday, May 04, 2004
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How I earned 300 points As every guy knows, earning points with your partner is critical to your short-term happiness! However, there may not be sufficient opportunities to earn those points. That's why I was so happy for the opportunity to travel with Chris to Germany to meet her family.
A little background, Chris was born in Germany and emigrated to Canada with her parents when she was 5. The family was from a small town near Frankfurt called Winkles. The family still lives in the surrounding area. Her aunt and uncle own a small inn and we would be staying there.
First, the good news. The room was nice, the food was good, and only Chris was expected to help in the kitchen. Chris also considered it good news that nobody spoke English - relieving me of the responsibility to make conversation. Unfortunately, that meant that I would have to get by by smiling a lot. It would probably have been easier to learn German.
We carefully visited each relative in their home for a meal. Unfortunately, since they couldn't talk to me (and I couldn't smile enough) they judged my "happiness" by how much food I ate. Coming from a Jewish and Italian family you wouldn't think that that would have been a problem but each family we visited had a specialty that had to be consumed - in abundance and with beer. By the way, there are four meals a day:
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Breakfast (eggs, cheese, salami and bread)
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Lunch (meat, potatoes, bread and beer)
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Coffee (coffee and much cake)
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Dinner (meat, potatoes, bread and beer)
That probably explains why all her relatives were short and round (stumpy!).
As I smiled my way through each day, Chris would tell me I was being so good I was earning a LOT of points. We eventually agreed to 100 points a day - total 300 points. We are now negotiating how many points it will cost me for each of my potential transgressions. For example,
As of today, I'm sitting home planning how to stretch 300 points out over the next 6 weeks. I know I'm not likely to earn any additional points.
11:59:16 AM
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Tuesday, December 09, 2003
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Home Again to New York Home again, home again, . . .
In less then 24 hours, we’ll be winging our way back to New York, cats in tow after spending the past 11 weeks here in Paris. Time has flown and already we are looking forward to coming back in the spring.
While it’s exciting to be going home to see family and friends, we’re leaving a little bit of ourselves behind – ‘pousette’ included, and bringing some excess baggage home both in our bags and on ourselves!
It’s been a wonderful experience filled with lots of firsts for both of us - not only in terms of the Paris experience, but also what we learned about ourselves and each other. The good news is, we’re still speaking to one another even though we‘ve discovered that men are in fact from Venus and women from Mars!
Today we spent a little time going back to some of the places we’ve been, and saying goodbye to people we have gotten to know, particularly Ashley at the café, the lady at the dry cleaners, Elisabeth the ‘podologue’, and Rob and Nancy, our upstairs neighbors who are heading off to Australia soon. I’m only sorry that our favourite bakery was closed today and we’ll be leaving even before they get up tomorrow morning!
I’m personally going to miss the market experience, the pace of life and the friendly greetings wherever you go. Thanks to all of you who stayed connected through e-mail and sent so many comments to our ‘Blog Log’. We are looking forward to seeing you soon in person.
3:56:27 PM
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Tuesday, December 02, 2003
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The Remains of the Day!
November 27th, the day Scott and Jory arrive in Paris to join us for Thanksgiving. We are ready - have been for weeks. We live in a city where butchers think it strange that anyone would want to cook a 10-12 lb. bird, let alone have an oven large enough to do it in.
We are determined to enjoy a wonderful American tradition. We feel a little like the original Pilgrims, forging new ground. Our goal was to find the turkey and all the trimmings that go with the traditional Thanksgiving feast. Luckily, the expat network in Paris is efficient and we located not only fresh cranberries and sweet potatoes, but also a shop that promises a bird stuffed, cooked and with enough juice to make our own gravy! We are set!
On, Thursday evening Paul and I headed off at 6:00 pm with our ‘pousette marche’ to stand in line with other fellow American’s to claim our bird. (This is one time when we longed for the delivery system of NYC). Scott and Jory arrived to the smell of roasting turkey in the oven and what followed was a wonderful feast. Our only departure from tradition came at dessert with local pastry and crème frâiche.
Here you see the remains of our bird the day after our feast attesting to the fine taste of the bird! As you can see, there is not much left and while I was clicking the shutter, I had to fend off the cats who wanted their fair share at last! At $79 Euros, this bird while delicious was no bargain!
12:18:38 PM
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I have previously written about things that women can do better than men (folding and packing). But I find that I must now, with much reluctance, talk about one of the few things that men can do better...
I was just at the supermarket waiting to check out. At the front of both lines were women who just couldn't seem get their act together. Before paying, they wanted to check their packages through and then pack them away - neatly - in the bag or 'poussette'. Once that was complete, they first started to consider how to pay. One was insistent on finding the exact change somewhere in her commodious purse, the other was first taking out her checkbook to write a check. A guy would have paid first and then thrown the stuff in a bag, any which way, so as not to hold up the line.
This experience reminded me of other situations where people (read women) don't prepare in advance to minimize delays. Now I have to admit, right up front, that I am obsessive on this topic - I always plan ahead to pay most efficiently. I take out my change or card in advance to have it ready when the bus arrives - and I always have exact change or my credit card ready to avoid delays elsewhere. I keep my wallet handy to put it back in the same place without delay.
I don't understand why they can't do the same. They know the bus is going to arrive. They know how much the fare is. They know it's raining! I thought this behavior was limited to American women - I don't know why. But I was wrong. It's the same here. I know women are trained to guard their purse and wallet but I don't know what they are worried about. I don't think I look like a pickpocket. It's the same thing in restaurants - whether it's dividing the check or calculating the tip - it takes forever.
12:14:51 PM
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Thursday, November 27, 2003
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WILD WOMEN IN PARIS
Or - having my feet sloughed while making new friends!
I have new appreciation for tire rotation with all the mileage we put on our feet on a daily basis; so consequently, taking care of my calloused feet was fast becoming an obsession.
Having ?my feet done? was not as simple as one might imagine! The ?beautie de pied? booking proved to be a simple soaking, nail clip and polish. This all done by the way while I was lying down on a massage table if you can imagine!
For a true pedicure in Paris, it is necessary to book an appointment with a ?podologue? who has a license and approaches your feet much like a doctor. You sit in a chair similar to one you might find at the dentist and the pedicurist is at the other end with a variety of basins and the tools of the trade?which are ?serious? looking scalpel like objects. He/she often also is licensed to do reflexology and carries out therapy and foot care prescribed by a doctor.
In our neighbourhood there were several signs for ?podologue? services so I just picked one and made an appointment. I lucked out because I found Elisabeth who turned out to be a true character and a kindred spirit. When I got to her office she had just finished the feet of, a close friend and I could hear them chatting on the other side of the partition. As the time wore on, she shouted to me in French and then in English ?don?t worry, soon, soon?. When it was my turn, we introduced ourselves and the friend stayed on. Both these women were eager to speak a little English so getting acquainted became a jumble of discussion in French and English sometimes at the same time (with Elisabeth, it was difficult to get a word in edgewise)!
In the 45 minutes that I spent in her chair, the three of us shared stories about life, men, food and laughed a lot. My only concern was that she was not paying much attention to the bottom of my feet. This turned out not to be true and I left a small mountain of skin behind, my feet now ready to take on the cobbled streets of Paris once again!
CDF
5:50:40 AM
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Saturday, November 22, 2003
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He Said, She Said - how we found a great new restaurant He said, She said, or . . .
How we ended up in the wrong restaurant and still had a great time!
Paul and I have several loosely defined roles on this trip, two of which are: I make the suggestions for where we might go and/or have dinner on any given night, and he maps out our route. This is a pretty good arrangement and has worked amazingly well. There are times however, when we don’t get it quite right!
Last Thursday was a prime example. I had suggested we go to a restaurant called “Henry IV” which we had passed on our way home from the Latin Quarter some time ago and Paul had looked up in Zagat’s and found it to have a great review. He gave me the number, I made the reservation and on the night in question, we headed off. Now, one would think that with the address and map in hand, finding our way, would be pretty straight forward! Wrong! These two directionally challenged individuals - one with the address and map, the other with a notion that she remembered where the restaurant was - argued over the route we were taking and came close to missing our reservation.
Our trip started out right. But then we started to go in what, I felt was the wrong direction. It was taking us away from where I thought we had seen the restaurant. Paul was determined he was going in the right direction, but agreed that it didn’t seem right either. I became fixated on heading my way, and he on his—in opposite directions! We stopped a woman to ask for help. She didn’t know the restaurant but knew where the address was. Armed with this “confirmation”, Paul (he’s bigger than me), stopped arguing and just took me by the sleeve and away we went – the woman followed to make sure we didn’t get lost. I ‘harrumphed’ and indignantly went along to the restaurant whose address we had , “Chez Henry ” - NOT Henry IV! This story has a happy ending because the restaurant turned out to be a Great Find! It was small, local with not a tourist in sight. In addition, this was the day of the introduction of Beaujolais Nouveau and to honour the occasion, there was live music in the form of an accordionist.
Our meal by the way was outstanding—our first beef since arriving and it couldn’t have been better. Paul started with frog’s legs and I with a rabbit terrine, followed by chateaubriand and concluded with a mousse au chocolate and Tart Tatin (apple tart). We’ll be back!
A bientôt,
CDF/22/Nov./03
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Moulin à Vent "Chez Henri" (Au) |
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5ème arrondissement
20, rue des Fossés St-Bernard (Jussieu) Paris 014 3549937 |
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"A kingdom of copper and Châteaubriand" sums up this well-liked, pot-adorned spot, known for "exceptional meat", "sautéed frogs' legs" and other "Classic French dishes" offered by "adorable servers"; the stingy snap "you can find as good for less money elsewhere", but for most, this "bistro experience of yesteryear" "should be protected." |
2:03:52 PM
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Copyright ? 2003 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
| Stay or go home? On each side there's an answer of 'Yes, but' |
Jim Peterson IHT
Saturday, November 22, 2003 |
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PARIS We are an American expatriate family who chose three years ago to stay in France at the end of the corporate assignment that brought us here. It's now time to face an annual dilemma: Is it time to go home? Or shall we re-up?
The initial answer seems pretty brainless: What are we doing still here?
We regularly receive security alerts from the U.S. Embassy, so for safety's sake we take the extra peek over our shoulders.
On account of our taste in wines and the occasional frites, sectors of the American media excoriate our virtually traitorous support of "old Europe."
On the financial side, the purchasing power of our dollars has fallen by more than 20 percent in the last year.
And under the last U.S. tax bill, American expatriates were threatened with the loss of their tax break on the first sizable chunk of income earned abroad - one of the few sources of relief from the heavy imposts of two countries' taxation systems.
In short, the only sensible strategy should involve movers, packing cartons and return tickets.
And yet . . .
This morning I walked our daughter to her bilingual school. I am writing these notes on the sunny terrace of the corner caf?And somehow I don't feel so sure.
Julie has gaps in her American history and state capitals. But her school class of 14 students is a rainbow of 11 nationalities, kids who learn together gracefully and with seamless transitions among their languages of choice.
She identifies as a highlight of life in Europe the chances for exploration. She has traveled the alphabet from Amsterdam and Antwerp to Zermatt and Zurich, where she can knowledgeably compare not only the major landmarks but also the quality of room service and the cartoon cable channels in the hotels.
She cheers for the soccer played by les Bleus and knows a lot about red cards and golden goals - but none of the nuances of baseball's infield fly rule. Still, last summer while visiting the United States, she made a specific request to spend an afternoon at Wrigley Field.
There are a host of influences that pull us in opposing directions:
It matters that I can bring our pet Westie on the morning rounds. In the caf?he collects croissant crumbs and greets her other pals with their own humans, and she will walk with me through the shops and errands on the way home.
Because Paris is not New York, the local dogs still foul our sidewalks. Yet daily sweeping and garbage removal keep the city well-tended.
It matters that in the twice-weekly farmers' market on our street, the fruit merchant will select a melon or an avocado of particular ripeness depending on whether I want it for today or tomorrow.
For freshness of our bread, we go to the bakery at 6 p.m., rather than at noon. I maintain our wine stock through weekend jaunts to Burgundy, straight to the tiny plots and tasting rooms of the individual growers, who offer their premier crus at prices unburdened by the rhetorical excesses of the glossy magazines.
After years of futility, I have simply given up on repairs to a broken shutter in our living room. I simply tie it open with an old shoestring. But even if I can't book a maintenance man, our family doctor does make house calls.
The effect on French unemployment of the 35-hour work week is hotly debated, and under its fractured labor relations, the start of any holiday trip may be held hostage to yet another transport strike.
But the French commitment to leisure time contributes to both professional renewal and family cohesion. In America the idea of an extended annual vacation nearly amounts to employer betrayal, while in France, every employee has five weeks of vacation and a dozen paid holidays - and takes them all.
I am not a naive apologist. It is romantic to stroll the lavender lanes of Provence in July, but Americans used to customer service may argue that French town halls operate under the slogan, "It's not my fault."
In a culture both well-informed and eager to debate, we are challenged by differing French-American positions on everything from NATO to genetically modified foods. But within two days of Sept. 11, we had a handwritten note from our landlady, expressing her sympathy for us as affected Americans. And it is a certain antidote for the local passions about Iraq to walk between the rows of crosses in the American cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach.As a French friend observed after visiting the United States, in the French markets you can choose from 200 kinds of cheese but only three brands of breakfast food. In an American supermarket, it's just the reverse.
At my regular fish restaurant down near the Seine, my waiter does not insist on an intimate first-name relationship. He does his job as a professional, flawlessly filleting a grilled sole and he is not in between acting jobs.
True, In a French caf?ou can't get a Starbucks. And you may literally rub elbows with your neighbor, who may well be a smoker. Yet your privacy will be respected absolutely, and the noise level will not intrude (at least not by the French themselves; tourists in white sneakers are another matter).
For the price of one caf?xpress, you have effectively leased your table for the entire morning. And in exchange for a smile and a little outreach, the quality of welcome and service is seen in a friend's recent caf?xperience:
Friend: "Could I have an ashtray, please?"
Waiter: "Well, here on the terrace, our customers usually just put their ashes on the ground."
Friend, Pointing under the table at her new beagle, "No, it's for my dog."
Waiter: "What? Your dog is a smoker?"
Friend: "No. It's for water."
Waiter: "Huh! You'd put water for your dog in an ashtray? Wait!"
Whereupon instantly appeared a branded porcelain water dish, for the satisfaction of a thirsty puppy.
With all its drawbacks, with the impending gloom and damp of winter and the strikes and the politics, you could vote to live for quite a while in a country so inspired.
Jim Peterson's biweekly column, Balance Sheet, appears in the IHT's Money Report. His email address is jrpllc@aol.com.
 Copyright ? 2003 The International Herald Tribune
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6:23:50 AM
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Copyright ? 2003 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
| Dave Barry: True fact: guys' brains really are different |
Dave Barry Miami Herald
Saturday, November 22, 2003 |
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Miam I like to think that I am a modest person. (I also like to think that I look like Brad Pitt naked, but that is not the issue here.) There comes a time, however, when a person must toot his own personal horn, and for me, that time is now. A new book has confirmed a theory that I first proposed in 1987, in a column explaining why men are physically unqualified to do housework. The problem, I argued, is that men - because of a tragic genetic flaw - cannot see dirt until there is enough of it to support agriculture. This puts men at a huge disadvantage against women, who can detect a single dirt molecule 20 feet away.
This is why a man and a woman can both be looking at the same bathroom commode, and the man - hindered by Male Genetic Dirt Blindness (MGDB) - will perceive the commode surface as being clean enough for heart surgery or even meat slicing, whereas the woman can?t even ??see?? the commode, only a teeming, commode-shaped swarm of bacteria. A woman can spend two hours cleaning a toothbrush holder and still not be totally satisfied; whereas if you ask a man to clean the entire New York City subway system, he?ll go down there with a bottle of Windex and a single paper towel, then emerge 25 minutes later, weary but satisfied with a job well done.
When I wrote about Male Genetic Dirt Blindness, many irate readers complained that I was engaging in sexist stereotyping, as well as making lame excuses for the fact that men are lazy pigs. All of these irate readers belonged to a gender that I will not identify here, other than to say: Guess what, ladies? There is now scientific proof that I was right.
This proof appears in a new book titled "What Could He Be Thinking? How a Man's Mind Really Works." I have not personally read this book, because, as a journalist, I am too busy writing about it. But according to an article by Reuters, the book states that a man's brain "takes in less sensory detail than a woman's, so he doesn't see or even feel the dust and household mess in the same way." Got that? We can?t see or feel the mess! We?re like: "What snow tires in the dining room? Oh, 'those' snow tires in the dining room."
And this is only one of the differences between men?s and women?s brains. Another difference involves a brain part called the ??cingulate gyrus,?? which is the sector where emotions are located. The Reuters article does not describe the cingulate gyrus, but presumably in women it is a structure the size of a mature cantaloupe, containing a vast quantity of complex, endlessly recalibrated emotional data involving hundreds, perhaps thousands of human relationships; whereas in men it is basically a cashew filled with NFL highlights.
In any event, it turns out that women?s brains secrete more of the chemicals ??oxytocin?? and ??serotonin,?? which, according to biologists, cause humans to feel they have an inadequate supply of shoes. No, seriously, these chemicals cause humans to want to bond with other humans, which is why women like to share their feelings. Some women (and here I am referring to my wife) can share as many as three days' worth of feelings about an event that took eight seconds to actually happen. We men, on the other hand, are reluctant to share our feelings, in large part because we often don't have any. Really. Ask any guy: A lot of the time, when we look like we're thinking, we just have this low-level humming sound in our brains. That's why, in male-female conversations, the male part often consists entirely of him going "hmmmm" This frustrates the woman, who wants to know what he?s really thinking. In fact, what he's thinking is, literally, "hmmmm".
So anyway, according to the Reuters article, when a man, instead of sharing feelings with his mate, chooses to lie on the sofa, holding the remote control and monitoring 750 television programs simultaneously by changing the channel every one-half second (pausing slightly longer for programs that feature touchdowns, fighting, shooting, car crashes or bosoms) his mate should "not" come to the mistaken conclusion that he is an insensitive jerk. In fact, he is responding to scientific biological brain chemicals that require him to behave this way for scientific reasons, as detailed in the scientific book "What Could He Be Thinking? How a Man's Mind Really Works," which I frankly cannot recommend highly enough.
In conclusion, no "way" was that pass interference.
Copyright ? 2003 The International Herald Tribune
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6:05:01 AM
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Thursday, November 20, 2003
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Shopping in Paris
First, there are no bargains in Paris. The dollar has taken care of that. Even wine is getting expensive in the shops.
Secondly, French bureaucracy and work rules insure that customer service is,at best, different. Stores are never open when you want them to be. Most close one or more days a week. In addition, the smaller shops all close for 2-3 hours for Lunch. The "grand magasins" (primarily Samartaine, Au Printemps, Le Bon Marche, Galleries Lafayette and BHV) don't close for lunch. Also, the French seem to have an aversion to touching money. In most large and small stores there is a separate "Caisse" where you pay for your purchase and then return to the "vendeuse" to pick it up. It's sort of like Canal Street in NY. If you want to get a tax certificate at one of the "Grand Magasins" you have to go to the office on different floor.
On the other hand, it can be pretty wonderful, too. There is so much variety in the products offered. You don't just see the same things you do at home. When we were traveling around the South I commented on how hard it was to find anything typical or representative of the region. All the stores were the same ones you find everywhere (Limited, William Sonoma, Origins, you know the ones). Because the French government makes an effort to save local manufacturers, and because the people prefer to buy local products, there is a plethora of small stores featuring different products. This is especially true for housewares, clothing, books in addition to, of course, food. I know this is highly inefficient and drives up costs and prices - but it is also fun. We walk 2-3 miles everyday and it's nice to browse in the stores along the way. We don't buy much because we would have to carry it back (except for scarves and pens) home.
The other thing that strikes me about the shops is the specialization. Tabacs are licensed to sell tobacco and it can't be sold anywhere else. This gives rise to an interesting quandary. The government is officially discouraging smoking through higher taxes and no smoking areas. As a licensed monopoly, the Tabacs are complaining that the government has a responsibility to make sure they make they make a living and are threatening to strike! 'Pharmacies' are another example. Only they can sell drugs (which includes all OTC drugs like aspirin). No drug products are displayed on self service shelves. You must ask the Pharmacist for everything. Other examples of specialist stores include Honey, Olive Oil (this is where 'Olivier & Co.' began), tea and soap. Yesterday, we went into a cooking oil store that had every imaginable type of oil (olive, walnut, mushroom, pecan, you get the idea). In addition they had all the products that go with oil - mortar and pestle, heaters, filters, cans and bottles, etc. Christina was like a child at Christmas! She reminded me how difficult it had been to find walnut oil this summer for our gourmet night. I on the other hand, was perfectly responsible when we passed pen and knife stores - buying only what I absolutely needed!
The shops are definitely one of the things I'll miss when we get home.
7:44:52 AM
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Friday, November 14, 2003
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Scarf Tying
In Paris, women wear scarves all the time! Not only do they wear them, they look great in them and I?ve decided that there must be a special 'scarf tying' gene that's missing from my gene pool!
Paul and I have sat at cafe observing the 'neck wear' trying to pick up clues about how it's done. There's the long scarf that goes around the neck many times, the shawl, a little fluffy look at the collar and it goes on and on. They all look so wonderful and the colour and interest that the scarf adds is a look I covet. It looks so easy - anyone can do this - wrong!
I now own 4 scarves! When I purchased them, I tried them on (with the aid of the friendly sales assistant) and they looked wonderful - the perfect accessory to my wardrobe. Next day, even with practice, I couldn't replicate the look that they'd created around my neck and ended up with the regular 'boy scout' knot, or the simple 'cross-over' the old ladies in church use - at least at home - here young and old have scarf tying down to a science! I'm left wondering if I will ever get it right.
As you can see, blending in has its problems and I stick out as a tourist without ever saying a word - you just need to look at my neck!
I have included a website with instructions on tying scarves for those of you similarly challenged http://members.aol.com/modefrance/tying/scarf_tying.html
CDF
November 13, 2003
11:22:04 AM
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I have just been using the French Page Jaune (Yellow Pages). It terrific!
First, it is offered in French and English.
You can search by name, type of business (of which there are thousands), neighborhood, telephone number (reverse directory) and address.
For every listing you get the name and address and a map of the area - including directions and a picture of the front of the building. The picture can be rotated through 360.
However, if that's not enough and you're not sure of the name but know where it is, you search by street and bring up a neat graphic showing you every business on the street arrayed by address.
In addition, from the same website you can access other directories around the world.
We've got something to learn from them! http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/pj.cgi?lang=en
11:01:20 AM
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Wednesday, November 12, 2003
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Outdoor food markets in Paris are symbolic of what makes France unique. You are assailed by a kaleidoscope of colors and smells. Each stall, and there are hundreds of them in large markets, most of them operated by a small farmer. The food is displayed with evident pride. It's as if there were a hundred little Balduccis. Every fruit or vegetable is polished and placed on the table with care. The meats/poultry/game is all freshly killed and displayed 'au naturel'.
There are markets in every neighborhood, some specializing in certain things, like the 'bio-market' open on different days and times, but NEVER on Monday.
Christina is drawn to these markets the way some women are drawn to clothing or jewelry stores. (Addendum from CDF--he can consider himself lucky!). Our agreement is she is to pick one market to go to each week, making dinner that night from what she found. Despite that we seem to "discover" several other markets during the week. The fall is one of the most interesting times to go to the market because it is hunting season. There is deer, partridge, pheasant, duck, hare, rabbit, quail plus a few we couldn't identify. We've tried it all (mostly at restaurants). It's been wonderful. I've never been a fan of game but this is different. Maybe it's the freshness. You can see from the way they are displayed that they are freshly killed and never been frozen. That brings me to another point..
I've learned that it is possible to get too close to the food you are going to eat. Much of the meat and game are displayed 'au naturel'. I'm not sure I needed to see the suckling pigs hanging up next to the rotisserie on which they were being cooked--they are just too cute! You can buy some food cooked because not many Parisian kitchens can handle a whole piglet. We also visited the 'tripiere" who specializes in organ meat. Having recently eaten 'tete de veau, I don't really want to see the display before it entered the pot! Picture this--it's off the bone, but wrapped in what looks like the cheek! I don't think I will be having that again. I also didn't enjoy seeing all the brains displayed in little muffin cups! The French also eat horse meat. Chris wanted to know where it came from - do you think they raise horses for meat or is the meat from old nags? Neither option was enticing.
There is a rigid market etiquette that one learns quickly if you want to be served! There are rules about touching and selecting produce, which side of the stall to form a line,(Chris has been frequently chastised for breaking the line) and how to pay (the French prefer money to be placed on the counter rather than in someone's hand. We have noted that some stands always have a line and others that look just as good have none. We haven't figured out whether this is because of price or quality but Chris generally goes to the one that has a line - Paul does the opposite! Marketing seems to be a family affair - lots of husbands and baby carriages. Parisians consider the market important enough to be a factor in picking an apartment.
France has more small farmers (and the biggest agricultural subsidies) of any country in Europe or the US. What we are now discovering as the delights of small artisinal farms is the norm here. As a result, the diversity and quality of food is outstanding. They are not really into what we call "organic", although there is a small "bio" movement which is similar and very highly regulated. We have noticed the beginnings of small organic food sections in super markets. The emphasis everywhere is on "artisinal' and fresh - which makes much more sense to me.
3:43:53 AM
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Tuesday, November 11, 2003
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November 11, 2003
Today is Armistice day, a holiday here with schools and most shops closed. It was picture perfect! So much so that Paul and I were able to enjoy lunch outdoors in the vicinity of the Notre Dame. We were out most of the day in fact, exploring the Latin Quarter and wandering around the rue Mouffetard that has been around since the 1600's. There are so many cute neighbourhoods here, that it will take us years to explore all the little nooks and crannies this city has to offer. Even with shops closed, the streets were alive with people. Here in the Latin Quarter you can find a variety of ethnic restaurants ranging from Greek to Vietnamese. Each has its own distinct smell and look and is very different from the Marais where we live.
One of our favourite discoveries in the south section of this Quarter is an old bookshop called 'Shakespeare & Company'. This is a long standing Paris landmark on the left bank, opened in 1951 by George Whitman. The original 'Shakespeare & Company' was owned by Sylvia Beach in the 1920's and was home to literary luminaries such as James Joyce, Earnest Hemingway and Ezra Pound. Today, the shop is still a gathering place for writers and there are regular readings each week. There is a bookstore on the ground floor with rooms that are much like a library upstairs. Here anyone can wile away the hours in comfortable chairs with books selected from the shelves. If you have a story and/or get permission from the owner, you can even bunk for any number of days in these same upstairs rooms. For more information about the colourful history of this unusual find, check out their website at: www.shakespearco.org.
We are in our 6th week in Paris and while we feel quite at home, it seems as if we only arrived yesterday.
5:31:19 PM
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Most of our meals in Paris have been at bistros, resturants, or cafes and in the past 6 weeks, we have sampled and tasted many things that are new to us. We have learned for instance, that the French love poached eggs on their salad and it is not uncommon to find eggs in many of the starter courses on menus even in the most elegant resturants. When we go out, we try to be adventurous in our selections and sometimes we simply point to an item on the menu and hope for the best! As Paul says, "The worst that can happen is we miss a meal, and we can certainly afford to do that!". The other amazing discovery is that it is almost as hard to find a bad cup of coffee in Paris as it is to find a good cup of coffee in New York!
Since Paul has posted most of the reviews, I thought that I would add my two cents worth given that the latest round of selections were places that I particularly liked.
L'Epi Dupin, 11, rue Dupin in the 6th (Metro: Sevre) 01.42.22.64.56
This was the first place that I was asked when making the reservation if we would be able to be out in 2 hours! I said yes, but we weren't and it wasn't a problem. The decor is spartan, and small, but we had a cute table by the wall with no one near us. The clientelle a mixture of tourists and locals and the service was friendly. I have to say that this was one of the most interesting menus we have seen with a mixture of game, fish and beef. To start Paul selected the calamari served on a bed of celeric and beets--it was great! I began with an endive tart with apple and cinammon that I also liked very much. My main course was 'fois de veau' (veal liver). Don't groan, it was incredible, and served perfectly pink accompanied with roasted potatoes and a vegetable relish that was outstanding. Paul enjoyed his meal (which he can't remem ber) and cheese topped off the meal beautifully. Portions were perfect so we didn't feel stuffed and the enitre meal with wine was less then 100 Euros.
Petit Prince de Paris, 12, rue de Lanneau in the 5th, 01.43.54.77.26
This resturant is in the Latin Quarter up the hill near the Pantheon. It is a little out of the way, but worth the treck. Like L'Epi Dupin, they asked if we could be out by 9:30pm with a 7:30 reservation. Our lingering also didn't cause a problem, but we did notice that they filled tables as soon as they were emptied.
The people were charming, the decor cute and the tables the usual cozy distance from your neighbour! Here too, there was an interesting menu with no poached eggs to be found anywhere! We both had the plat du jour of duck served with au gratin potatoes and a light sauce. We passed on desert to finish our wine and found the meal a bargain at less then 70 Euros.
Faugeron, 52, rue de Longchamp in the 16th, 01.47.04.24.53
A splurge in every sense of the word! At this charming beautifully decorated resturant we sat at a large table that would have seated 4 or more in a bistro. We we unable to overhear and join in the conversations of those next to us! The food and service was what you might expect form a Michelin resturant and we loved being fussed over! Our waiter indulged my French and corrected my pronunciation without seeming offensive. We enjoyed the meal from the beginning of our 'coups de champagne' through to the cheese and dessert. This resturant specializes in wild game. Our selections of wild rabbit for me and venison (male) for Paul seemed like the perfect choice. We were not disappointed because the meat was tender, the portions just right. I would have liked a little less sauce on my rabbit, but the flavour was outstanding. We had a wonderful 1998 Cote Roti. The food was fresh, piping hot and as I said before the service outstanding. We both had desserts, vefry elegant fruit tats (pear millefeuille and a fruit lafoutis). This meal was not a bagain at 350 euros!
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| FAUGERON |
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16eme arrondissement
52, rue de Longchamp (Trocad?) Paris 014 7042453
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 Run by Henri (winner of the Legion d'Honneur) and Gerlind Faugeron, this "small, sparkling" restaurant in the 16th is "certainly one of the best tables in Paris", offering "consistently superb" Classic French regional cooking, like the "celebrated soft-boiled egg with pureed truffle"; "professional, discreet service", plus "well-spaced tables", makes it an "absolute favorite", and while it's "on the expensive side", most find prices "fair" for "such an elegant", "unforgettable" place
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Le Baron Rouge,
The perfect stop after a morning at the street market in the 12eme. At Baron Rouge you can come and taste a variety of wines both red and white by the glass, enjoy fresh shucked oysters and then before going home, have your own bottle filled from one of the many casks that line the wall. This small wine bar has friendly service at the bar, a few tables along the wall and several stand-up spots scattered throughout the room. There was loud reagge music playing the day we were there and the place was filled at 11:30 in the morning. Wines by the glass ranged from 1.20 - 3.00 Euros and there was a wide selection of both red and white.
5:27:29 PM
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Tuesday, November 04, 2003
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Not long after we arrived in Paris, we knew we wanted to return. And, because we are still strongly considering buying or leasing an apartment, we wanted to be sure that it was the right thing to do for the long term. We’ve agreed that keeping both the NY apartment and Berkshires house is important because they are each home to us in a different way. This was to be a "pied a terre" in Paris.
In Paris, we immediately felt comfortable and loved the area we were in, but thought it wise to explore other neighborhoods and a different season before moving ahead. So, we decided to rent an apartment for 6 weeks in the St. Germain area this coming spring (May-June). Chris took on the lead responsibility J for identifying apartments. She was naive and happily agreed!
We got newspapers, magazines and referrals from everywhere. We visited rental offices, talked to people in restaurants and stores and made good use of all our networking skills. The bottom line is - the internet is the best way to go. There are literally hundreds of sites ranging from personal ads with only a couple of apartments to large services. Chris spent more than two weeks glued to the computer (when we weren't eating!). I have included some of the links for the more masochistic of you. We did come to the realization that renting an apartment is the way to go if you are going to be here for more than a week. There are lovely apartments with good services for about 200 euros a day.
As of today, we have found a lovely one bedroom apartment in the 6eme (St. Germain) for May 1 – June 15. So we’ll be back!
Vacation Rentals by Owners: http://www.vrbo.com/vrbo/fra.htm
Lodgis: http://sublet.apartment-paris.com/en/--65a1ba08b6--/contact/
Cooper: http://www.wfi.fr/cooper/
6:40:48 AM
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I have been remiss in updating our journal for recent restaurant experiences. This posting should bring me up to speed through yesterday:
Bilboquet
This is a small, pretty cabaret in the St. Germain area. They serve food but we came after dinner. There is not cover charge but drinks are about 18 euros ($20). We stayed through 2 sets and had 2 drinks each. I thought it was pretty reasonable and would go back. They don't have any published schedule beyond the current and next act.
Chex L'Ami Lois and Chez Jenny
We had reservations at Chez L'Ami Louis, a well known, but very small (40 people) bistrot famous for it's meats and huge portions. They asked us to confirm when we made the reservation, but typically we forgot until too late. We called, got voice mail, and left a message. We then walked, about a mile in drizzling rain, to the restaurant - only to be told that they had given away our table. Apparently, the message on the voice mail says not to leave a message after 3:00. Our FRench was not up to the challenge. We called at 4:00. Louis was very apologetic (not enough for me but enough for Chris who had made the reservation and felt guilty about not confirming - I thought they should have found us another restaurant nearby).
We then went to Chez Jenny. A short distance away. The Zagats review has it just right - "fabulous setting" that is "better than the food". Unfortunately, they asked us if we wanted non-smoking and we foolishly agreed. There is a small non-smoking area outside the beautiful main dining room. It is separated from the smoking section by a small plant. The people on the other side of the plant were smoking cigars. The good news is we made the acquaintance of the two French women at the next table who were similarly afflicted by the smoke. We now know to never ask for non-smoking in France. It's always in the least desirable place and never far from smokers.
We had Alsatian charcuterie (assorted German sausages), the house specialty. It was barely edible - too fatty and not spicy enough. Chris was especially chagrined with the sauerkraut. It was pretty tasteless. Apparently, she has childhood memories of homemade sauerkraut aging in the cellar. This was a bitter disappointment.
Atelier Maitre Albert
This is a surprisingly modern-looking restaurant (large open spaces and tables). It is a Jacques Cagna (Michelin 3 star chef) spinoff. They specialize in rotisserie cooking and the large fireplace is the center of attraction. We both had Faisane Roti (pheasant). It was terrific - tender and moist, not gamey. It was served with outstanding french "mac and cheese" (Penne gratinee en francais). Typically we loved the pheasant, but couldn't stop talking about the penne. The portions are a little smaller here than in most of the other bistros we have been at - but frankly we welcomed a smaller portion. The French seem to be following the American style of larger portions.
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Au Gamin de Paris
This is a nice restaurant within a block of our apartment. Zagats ratings are just about right but the words go a bit overboard. It is a very cozy place with candles on the tables and in the fireplace. The service is very friendly. About half the patrons seem to be French. The food is solid if a bit slapdash in it's presentation.
I had Magret de Canard (duck breast) that was quite good and Christina had lamb cutlets (lamb is the only meat we eat here) which were OK if a bit overdone. The carafe of house wine was also good. One of the nice things is you can just have a salad (they have a whole menu of just salads) or a plat without feeling obligated to order a whole meal. It's a great place for a "quick" bite or a light meal. The food is better than a cafe but not up to the standards of a true restaurant or bistrot.
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6:01:45 AM
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October 29, 2003
It's raining in Paris!
For the past few weeks we have had nothing but sunshine! Most of our time has been spent exploring as much of the outdoors as possible. We have mostly been waiting for the fall rains to visit museums and other indoor locations. Yesterday we wandered all over the Isle St. Louis and then sat outside a small cafe soaking up the late afternoon sun; people watching as we sipped some hot spiced wine (delb: absolutely awful). It was so warm we couldn't resist stopping for a scoop of ice cream at our favorite shop on the Island called 'Amorino'. Those who know Paris will think us traitors because the "all time favorite" here is the famous 'Berthillon'! We beg to differ, and would match the rich flavorful Amorino scoops against the miserly balls of Berthillon anytime.
So today it's raining and we decided to head off to the 'Pompidou Center' -- a quick few blocks from our apartment. Many people in Paris consider this structure to be an eyesore because the architect put all the inner workings of the building on the outside. His goal was to let people see what it took to make a building function. He color coded all the pipes, airshafts etc. so they could be easily distinguished and placed them on the outside. This structure really doesn't fit in with the old 18th and 19th century buildings around it, but as a center of modern art it seems quite perfect. It is extremely well used by the people in the city because apart from modern art, this is the site of one of the most extensive city libraries. People, mostly students, can be found daily in long lines to use the facilities due to insufficient resources of local schools.
This was the perfect place to spend a rainy afternoon exploring the more modern works of Picasso, Matisse, Kandinsky and others not so well known to us. We ended our stay on the 6th floor of the building, where we enjoyed lunch overlooking the rooftops of Paris. Who could ask for anything more!
CDF/29/Oct./03
4:43:21 AM
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Monday, November 03, 2003
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Market Day Sunday, November 02, 2003
Market Day
Another Sunday, and like most Parisian families, I took my ‘pousse mârché’ (shopping cart) and headed off to the local market (LeNoire - Bastille). Paul has agreed to one meal at home each week and I want to make it from the freshest ingredients purchased at one of Paris’ wonderful marches (outdoor market).
My marketing adventure takes me the better part of the morning as I first check out who is there, what looks good and if I haven’t already decided on a menu, find something that strikes my fancy. I’ve been trying to select items that I wouldn’t ordinarily either find in New York or something that I have never made before. So far, we’ve sampled rabbit, a pork roast that was tied up with herbs and spices and looks just like a present when you buy it, a beautiful salmon and “Bresse” chicken (which costs 16.00 Euros a kilo or about $18.00 a pound!). Today, the adventure is going to include a loin of porc, pumpkin soup made with a crème frâiche and a slightly moldy cheese in a crock (the French adore moldy cheese) and some weirdly shaped ‘saucisson’.
The meal was great. We enjoyed the pork roast seasoned with rosemary and I made roasted vegetables (some of which I can only guess at) in olive oil. We drank one of the bottles of Chateau Lynch-Bage that we bought when we were in Bordeaux.We also bought wonderful chocolate from ‘Debauve and Gallais’ to have with our coffee. We then finished with a digestif (poire Eau de Vie).
Just another simple Parisian couple.
My marketing experience underscores the need to work on my French. I know that sometimes the shop keeper slips in a joke - perhaps even at my expense. Today for example, the veggie man tried to sell me lots of every item in his display - even dates which he said were good for growing larger breasts - I just looked down, and he smiled!
1:52:30 PM
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Tuesday, October 28, 2003
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We've had some really good and some bad experiences in the last few days:
Paul(!:)) http://www.paul.fr/index.htm (a chain of Boulangeries)
This has been a great find (although not for our waistlines). In addition to the standard bakery fare, they have the best "flute pavot" (small baguette with poppy seeds) I have ever had. We have them with a Cafe Creme for breakfast and with various fillings for lunch. We sometimes plan our day around being near one at lunch. Unfortunately, or fortunately!, like anything in Paris they close at the oddest times (after lunch - just when we're getting hungry; Sundays, when every other boulangerie in Paris is open; Tuesdays???).
Les Vapeurs du Marais:
This had the distinction of being open on Sunday and being nearby. It is the second worst meal we have had since we have been here. The food looked and tasted like it had been prepared in advance and microwaved. In addition, the waiter was totally unhelpful. In answer to our questions about the menu, he just kept answering "poisson" with no further description. I had Rouget (small mullet). It was fried and tasted from old oil. Chris had salmon that had a crust making it look and taste like it had been cooked the day before. I had cheese for dessert. There was no selection. Just a cold plate of brie, camembert, mystery cheese and butter. It had obviously been precut and refrigerated. We should have followed our initial reaction to leave when we first came in and noticed an odd odor--we were a little early and the waiter locked the door after we arrived!
Chez George:
This is a very traditional French Bistro. We had a lovely dinner. The tables are close together banquette style and we made 3 new friends. One of which was a French businessman who had just sold his house in Manhattan (64th Street) and was moving back to Europe. He had a home in Burgundy, a large apartment in the Louvre area and was looking for a home in Italy. He said he couldn't afford (tax-wise) to live in Paris! Great dinner of pickled herring followed by a breast of duck for Christina and escargots followed by scallops for Paul.
L'Osteria:
This is an Italian restaurant that has the distinction of being recommended by Zagats, Michelin, Irv Molotsky (our landlord) and the French businessman we met at Chez George. Despite all these recommendations we had never gotten there. It is located on a quiet street with no sign anywhere. Also, they are closed on Saturday, Sunday and Monday Lunch.They have only enough space for 30 people with paper tablecloths and napkins. Without all these recommendations we would never have tried it.
It was fabulous! I started with a huge plate of jambon de Parma and Chris with Mozzarella de Bufala. They were both terrific. Then the "piece de resistance". We shared a Risotto Perdreux (Partridge). We each got a plate of risotto topped with a half a partridge. It may have been one of the best things I ever tasted. The partridge was cooked to perfection. It was tender and tasty with no gaminess. The risotto was firm and flavorful. The only disappointment was the cheese plate. They served undistinguised Italian cheeses (parmesan, padano and a mystery blue) but Christina oohed and ahhed over the fresh figs marinated in raspberry sauce.
Dome Du Marais
According to the menu this is actually located in a 17th century pawn shop that only later became a church. We had a very nice meal. The only really memorable thing was I had my first (second if you count one in Italy in 1982) "Tete de Veau (veal head). It's a classic bistrot dish. It's served "off the skull" in Paris (unlike in Italy). It was OK. The meat is a bit mushy and fatty. They serve it with a grilled brain pancake. I probably won't feel the need to have it again.
| Dome du Marais (Le) |
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4eme arrondissement
53 bis, rue des Francs-Bourgeois (H?-de-Ville/Rambuteau) Paris 014 2745417
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| Located in a historic church -- hence, the gorgeous cupola over the dining room -- this handsome edifice has a popular new lease on life as a restaurant with a Breton accent; Nantes native chef Pierre Lecoutre skillfully reinterprets the region's traditional dishes, as well as offering an appealing range of French classics; N.B. it also boasts a terrace for summer dining -- a rarity in the Marais. |
6:37:54 AM
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A Love/Hate Relationship! Many people have correctly said that the Metro is the best way to get around Paris. What they haven't said is that it is usually the only way to get around! Paris, unlike more 'modern' cities, is not laid out in a grid. Here the concept of directions (N, S, E, W) or 'sides' (up/downtown, East/West side) is absent. All is oriented to the Seine, which is "U"-shaped. There are also no numbered streets that you can use to orient yourself. The Parisians compensate for this by locating addresses by "arrondisement" (borough) and Metro stop. All addresses usually include both the Arrondisement and Metro stop. Even the arrondisements are not laid out in a grid, but in a large spiral (like an "escargot" as the Parisians say). Here, businesses include the local Metro stop in their ads. Imagine Le Cirque providing you with their subway stop as part of their address! The problem with the Metro is it does not run in straight lines either. Look at the map below. Except for the suburban RER, none of the metro lines go straight. The meander and zig-zag all over the place.
Once you figure out the map, the Metro is easy to use (that is why Chris loves it). Every stop is clearly marked and every sign includes the endpoint for that line and every stop on the line. This is important because there are umpteen Metro lines and you never go anywhere without changing at least once.
However, we much prefer the buses. You ride above ground and can see the city as you travel. There is an extensive bus system, but even the Parisians admit you can't figure it out. The routes are even more jumbled than the Metro. This weekend we were going to the Tuileries. We were proud that we knew which bus line to take. Unfortunately, that bus line does not run on Sunday!
Taxis are a bit pricy but comfortable. Unfortunately, they can be very difficult to find. They cannot be hailed within 50 meters of a taxi stand (and they seem to pay attention to that rule). Unfortunately, no one seemed to consider that if you knew there was a taxi stand nearby you wouldn't be trying to flag them down to begin with. Also, for some reason, some stands don't seem to 'work' all the time.
That leaves walking. We (that includes me) love walking around Paris. We walk wherever we can; which is most places in the city center. The small, meandering streets are a pleasure to stroll down. However, the street names seem to change every block two and the building numbers seem to be randomly assigned and frequently hidden or missing (at least in the older areas like the Marais where we are). It frequently takes us a lot longer to get anywhere than we expected. Fortunately we are not in a hurry!
Paul (October 20, 2003)
Addendum from Chris:
The good news is that I have never been averse to asking for directions and since arriving in Paris, Paul indulges this as a way for me to practice my French!
5:24:53 AM
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Monday, October 27, 2003
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We were walking in the Left Bank yesterday when Christina said to me; "you know, when we get back to NY, one of the things I'll really miss is how nice everybody is". This has really been a big surprise. That's not to say we haven't met our share of curmudgeons... French bureaucrats are miserable like bureaucrats everywhere - self-important and officious (this is not a trivial problem in a country where everything is regulated). They mandate a 35 hour work week and a minimum vacation of 5 weeks per year. After that arduous work schedule, they retire at 58! They even have rules about when stores can have sales and how much prices can be reduced.
On the other hand, nothing is ever rushed. People have time to chat - in stores, restaurants, on the street. This weekend we were walking on the left bank. We stopped when a door opened revealing a beautiful courtyard. There was an older French gentleman who stopped as well. We (Christina) got into a conversation about the beautiful buildings and he pointed out some lovely sculptures (and told us the story behind them - there's always a mistress in it somewhere). He then led us on a 45 minute tour of the neighborhood showing us his favorite and least favorite sites, streets and alleyways. Along the way, we discussed the highlights of the "7 Ages of Paris" which we are currently reading. He told that, unlike many other Parisians, he knew about the City's history. He thought of himself as really quite a good tour guide--we certainly agreed! People see us struggling with our map (see A Love/Hate Reltationship) and stop to ask if we need help. Often, they walk us to our destination or take great pains to make sure we are going in the right direction.
On another night we were having dinner at Chez George. We got into a conversation with the man at the next table. He turned out to be a French businessman who had just sold a house in Manhattan (64th street). He spent the next hour telling us about restaurants in Paris that were not too "touristic". We (Christina) have also made friends with our local "epicier" (grocer), "teinturerie" (laundry), "boulangerie" (baker), and cafe waitress. Everybody seems to have time, and the desire, to chat (at least with Christina). The language is often a barrier but people seem willing to work with us (even when we tell them we want to speak French).
I know many of you are thinking, it's not the Parisians, it's Christina, but it's not only that. People seem to have the time and willingness to engage the way New Yorkers don't. In that way, there are great similarities with parts of the South and the Mid-West.
12:46:10 PM
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Saturday, October 25, 2003
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Last night we went to a lovely little (10 tables) bistrot just a couple of blocks from Rue de Rivoli and the Louvre. Despite being so close to the Louvre it was typically french and we were the only english speaking people in the restaurant. The food was good (and reasonably priced). I had the "Salade de Boeuf" (cold beef salad) and Rognon de Veau (veal kidneys) Chris had a Frisee salad and Bar (sea bass). We then shared a "plat de fromage". We had a reasonably priced, but nice 1998 Chateau Beaumont Haut Medoc. As you know because there are so many places to go, we rarely go back to the same place again. However, this was a place we enjoyed and felt to comfortable we plan to go back.
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Epi d'Or (L') |
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1er arrondissement
25, rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Louvre-Rivoli) Paris 014 2363812 |
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"Constant in both quality and kindness", this "wonderful bistro" between the Palais Royal and Les Halles is treasured for its "good", "traditional family-style cooking", including "real [French] classics, such as marinated leeks", "lentil salad, cold beef salad and roast leg of lamb"; the "friendly welcome" and "charming service" add to the allure of this "sentimental favorite" that's also, wonder of wonders, "a sure value." |
11:30:16 AM
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Tuesday, October 21, 2003
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Many people have correctly said that the Metro is the best way to get around Paris. What they haven't said is that it is usually the only way to get around! Paris, unlike more 'modern' cities, is not laid out in a grid. Here the concept of directions (N, S, E, W) or 'sides' (up/downtown, East/West side) is absent. All is oriented to the Seine, which is "U"-shaped. There are also no numbered streets that you can use to orient yourself. The Parisians compensate for this by locating addresses by "arrondisement" (borough) and Metro stop. All addresses usually include both the Arrondisement and Metro stop. Even the arrondisements are not laid out in a grid, but in a large spiral (like an "escargot" as the Parisians say). Here, businesses include the local Metro stop in their ads. Imagine Le Cirque providing you with their subway stop as part of their address! The problem with the Metro is it does not run in straight lines either. Look at the map below. Except for the suburban RER, none of the metro lines go straight. The meander and zig-zag all over the place.
Once you figure out the map, the Metro is easy to use (that is why Chris loves it). Every stop is clearly marked and every sign includes the endpoint for that line and every stop on the line. This is important because there are umpteen Metro lines and you never go anywhere without changing at least once.
However, we much prefer the buses. You ride above ground and can see the city as you travel. There is an extensive bus system, but even the Parisians admit you can't figure it out. The routes are even more jumbled than the Metro. This weekend we were going to the Tuileries. We were proud that we knew which bus line to take. Unfortunately, that bus line does not run on Sunday!
Taxis are a bit pricy but comfortable. Unfortunately, they can be very difficult to find. They cannot be hailed within 50 meters of a taxi stand (and they seem to pay attention to that rule). Unfortunately, no one seemed to consider that if you knew there was a taxi stand nearby you wouldn't be trying to flag them down to begin with. Also, for some reason, some stands don't seem to 'work' all the time.
That leaves walking. We (that includes me) love walking around Paris. We walk wherever we can; which is most places in the city center. The small, meandering streets are a pleasure to stroll down. However, the street names seem to change every block two and the building numbers seem to be randomly assigned and frequently hidden or missing (at least in the older areas like the Marais where we are). It frequently takes us a lot longer to get anywhere than we expected. Fortunately we are not in a hurry!
Paul (October 20, 2003)
Addendum from Chris:
The good news is that I have never been averse to asking for directions and since arriving in Paris, Paul indulges this as a way for me to practice my French!
4:01:36 AM
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Saturday, October 18, 2003
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Two restaurants - one good; one bad and a home cooked meal In the last few days we have eaten out twice and home once (that's right "home"). Christina went to the wonderful outdoor market at the Bastille and did all the market shopping for dinner. She came home with chicken, mushrooms, vegetables and bread and cheese. There are a lot more choices to make when you shop in Paris - especially in a Marche. For example, there are at least 4 different kinds of chicken that range in price from 3.5 euros per kilo to 14 euros (that's about $1.50/lb to $6.00/lb) at the market - signficantly higher at the store. None of them look like Perdue (especially with the head, feet and feathers). They clean them for you when you buy them. For example, we had a "Bresse" chicken ($30 for a chicken big enough for 2 people). It did not look or taste anything like our chickens. More more bone and less meat (especially white meat). On the other hand it was much more flavorful than ours. Christina roasted it with Cepe mushrooms and we had a feast.
The good restaurant was "Au Vieux Paris" at 24 rue Chanoinesse on the Ile de la Cite. We read about it in Thirza Vallois' wonderful book "Romantic Paris". She is a wonderful writer about all things Parisian http://www.thirzavallois.com/. We met Thirza in Paris last year (she was our guide on a "where to live" tour of Paris. We later had a wonderful dinner with her. The restaurant is located in a tiny 16th century house. There are two floors with about 6 tables each. The food is country french (from Aveyron in the SW) and the hosts are a husband and wife team. She cooks, he serves. We started with a wonderful terrine and salad. We followed with "Cofedou" (beef stew) and baked scallops. I went to the cellar to select my own bottle of wine (with advice from Georges). The food is good but the setting is exceptional. It's clearly worth a visit.
The bad restaurant was "Le Rouge Gorge" (the red breast or throat). It is a tiny wine bar on the Rue St Paul in the Marais. The wine was good. The food terrible. Even the cheese plate was bad. They only had Chevre (goat cheese) although they had 6 varieties. The cheese looked a little bit like leftovers from a better restaurant.
8:05:38 AM
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Today we visited the Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise www.gargl.net/lachaise, the largest and best known cemetary in Paris. We spent most of the day looking at the tombs of some very famous people: Chopin, Moliere, Piaf, Heloise & Abelard (famous 11th century lovers), to mention a few. There were also a number of very moving memorials to WW II resistance fighters and to the many French Jews who died in concentration camps.
Our personal favorites however, were Victor Noir, a 19th century journalist shot by Napoleon's cousin, and Oscar Wilde. Noir's tomb is marked by a bronze statue of him lying just as he fell in death on that very spot with top hat by his side. It has become the Parisian "fertility god". Women wanting to become pregnant bring flowers to his grave and rub his genitals for luck! The numbers of visitors is obvious if you note the shiny spot on his trousers.
We also enjoyed the Oscar Wilde site. His tombstone was replaced in 1992 (it wore out?). The new tombstone is covered with lipstick kisses. It's not clear to us why, or who is doing the kissing. He's hardly a romantic figure to women and we can't imagine that many guys wearing lipstick, kissing a tomb.
6:31:21 AM
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Friday, October 17, 2003
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Last Pitch Lands the Yankees in the World Series
Trying to follow the World Series from here really sucks! There is no coverage on TV, the closest is CNN covering wife carrying? as a sport but not baseball. I have been reduced to watching the score change on Yahoo at 3 in the morning! I could miss the other series but not the Yanks/Sox--that has to be the greatest rivalry in sports.
I couldn't believe it was going to end with BOSTON beating the Yankees for the pennant. God would not let that happen. I got up at 2, 4, and 6 to check the score on Yahoo, and was very depressed the first two times. I couldn't bear how happy those Sox fans (Barry?) would be at our expense. I went to bed at 4 thinking our only chance was relievers? Martinez tends to tire quickly and they don't have a Rivera! We were still in it--although after yesterday's performance I was worried. I had gone to bed with a lead and we lost.
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Thursday, October 16, 2003
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2:43:28 AM
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Tuesday, October 14, 2003
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We quickly learned that it's not about the food in Bordeaux. As you drive you see mile after mile of grape vines but almost no other farms. They don't even make cheese - they say they would rather "import" it from other regions. In France, that's a sacrilege. We quickly confirmed the truth of that statement with several uninteresting meals in local restaurants (including the beautiful 4 star (for lodging!) Relais du Marais). Our best food experiences were at a local spot called 'La Pauillac', where the mussels, fish and duck were mouthwateringly good. On Saturday night, a "typically French" place (not typical in my books Paul!) - the spa "Les Source de Caudalie" http://www.sources-caudalie.com/ on the grounds of the Chateau Smith Haut-Lafite. This was a spa with a difference ...
The following is from the front page of their website. How many spas highlight their restaurants and wine and cigar bars! Their spa specializes in "Vinotherapy" which is essentially soaking in vine and grape extracts.
Welcome to Les Sources de Caudalie !
Hotel de charme and Vinotherapie Spa
A charming four-star luxury hotel
49 luxurious rooms and suites, swimming pool, gym, 3 hole golf course, etc.
Two restaurants
Two different sorts of cuisine, two unusual atmospheres:
"La Grand'Vigne", a gourmet restaurant
"La Table du Lavoir", a country inn.
Le Bar du French Paradox
Devoted to great growth wines. You can enjoy the finest wines in the world by the glass.
La Tour des Cigares
A club where cigars can be tasted on top of a tower, with a panoramic view of the vineyard.
Vinotherapie Spa
This famous centre dispenses treatments to relax, slow down the ageing process, and lose weight.
There is nothing else quite like it in the world.
Their restaurant, on the other hand was terrific--not only from a food and drink point of view, but also the staff. Chris and I shared a "gigot d'angneau" (a whole leg of lamb). It was the best I have ever had. It was also so big neither Chris nor I could finish our portions--it meant Joe could have a substantial taste. We had a wonderful Smith-Lafite 1996 from the chateaux. It was marvelous. Joe and Sheila enjoyed incredible looking Dorade and a perfectly cooked piece of beef steak. We finished with a cheese plate and skipped dessert! That's what I call a spa!
Les Sources de Caudalie
Chemin de Smith Haut-Lafitte
33650 BORDEAUX-MARTILLAC - FRANCE
Tel : +33 (0)5 57 83 83 83 Fax : +33 (0)5 57 83 83 84
6:24:24 AM
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Monday, October 13, 2003
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Over the past few days we have been visiting the Chateaux of Bordeaux with our friends Joe and Sheila Malvagna. They are much more serious wine aficionados than we and have previously visited many wineries in Italy and France. They made most of the arrangements for this trip which included appointments for tours and tastings at a selection of first and middle-tier wineries. At each chateaux we met with their representative, sometimes a family member, for an overview of their operations, took a tour of the facilities and finished with a tasting of recent vintages of their premier and secondary labels. In most cases these were young bottled wines--the better Bordeaux wines need 8-10 years in the bottle before they are ready to drink. For those interested, check out the following links for more details.
The people at each chateaux could not have been nicer, and often went out of their way to accommodate us. For example, the son of the owner at Chateau Haut-Marbuzet heard we had not eaten yet and arranged for us to have a quick meal at a nearby restaurant while he waited to begin the tour; and the guide at Haut-Brion waited a half hour for us to drive down from Pauillac. She delayed her lunch (a BIG deal in France) to give us a private tour and tasting. The warm welcome and courteous behaviour also extended to people on the street and in restaurants who often readily stopped what they were doing to help us find our way. There were several mentions of the "boycott-Americaine" but they were more in the way of a discussion of external variables like the weather. They didn't seem to personalize it (at least not to us, who were obviously not boycotting). On the other hand, the newspapers were full of talk (not complimentary) about President Bush. We were impressed with the organization and cleanliness of all of the wineries we visited. The richer ones were also beautiful to look at with incredible landscaping and statuary.
While many of the things we saw were similar, there were some significant differences in how the wine was made. For instance, some do the first stage of vinification in steel barrels, some in concrete and some in wood. About half remove the final sediment from the wine before it is bottled by putting egg whites in the barrel to precipitate the settling. Others preferred a more natural approach. Some blend the Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot and other grapes in the barrel, some in the vat and some only when they are bottling it. The differences seem to be not related to quality or reputation but more to the personality of the owner and wine maker and probably gives each vineyard it's own unique style. With so many controls in place from the government to insure quality, this is the most significant opportunity for individualization and creativity.
We were able to visit Chateau Leoville-Barton. As some of you may know, Barry and I were fortunate to buy futures of the 2000 vintage (Parker - 98 points!). The wine will not be ready until our 65 birthdays, so this was my first chance to taste one of their wines, although not the 2000. We tasted the 2001, it just gave a hint of what it will become. What a birthday party we will have (of course, none of you will be invited unless you bring your own wine (:).
Château Mouton-Rothschild (Pauillac) http://www.bpdr.com/
Chateau Haut-Brion (Pessac-Leognan http://haut-brion.com/
Chateau Lynch-Bages (Pauillac) http://www.lynchbages.com/
Chateau Kirwan (Margaux) http://www.chateau-kirwan.com/
Chateau Margaux (Margaux) http://www.chateau-margaux.com/
Chateau Leoville-Barton (St. Julien) http://www.wine-journal.com/leobarton.html
Chateau Haut-Marbuzet (St. Estephe) http://www.scpomillesimes.com/article.php3?id_article=53
Chateau Giscors (Margaux) http://www.chateau-giscours.fr/
4:29:52 PM
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Thursday, October 09, 2003
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Last night, we had dinner at Allard, a small traditional Burgundy bistrot on the left bank. It was great, and very different than anything we have had before on this trip. Their specialty is game, usually served for two people. Last night I shared a 'Bresse' chicken with Sheila Malvagna, our friend who was visiting from NY and MA. The chicken was roasted and served with roasted potatoes and 'Cepe' mushrooms. Bresse is the legendary home for what are reputed to be the 'Kobi beef' of chickens. Christina had partridge. It was the first day of the hunting season. The wine, a Medoc Grand Cru in honor of our impending trip to Bordeaux. For dessert, we shared a wonderful 'tarte aux pomme' with 'creme fraiche' which was baked after we had ordered it!
5:10:21 AM
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Monday, October 06, 2003
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L'Orangerie--Isle St. Louis, 5/October/03
"I can't believe we are the first to arrive again!" This from Paul as we enter the restaurant for our 8:00pm reservation. It's been a running battle with me wanting dinner no later then 7:30pm (keep in mind, we haven't eaten since breakfast and that was a cafe creme and tartine!) and Paul (and the French) thinking that entering the resturant before 8:30pm is sacrilege! People are still coming to dinner after 9:30pm--doesn't anyone work??? So here we are--the first ones to arrive again--but wait, here comes a second group and yes, they too are English speaking and of course are seated right next to us. This has been the first establishment where things felt a little 'stuffy'! Waiters insisted on speaking English, and although we were early, they were eager to have our order.
L'Orangerie is on a very quiet street on Ilse St. Louis, and a leisurly walk from our apartment across the river. It is a beautiful room and our meal is a delight: Paul's never tires of escargot and followed this with 'steak au poivre', while I enjoyed a green salad (at which the waiter was a little aghast--probably because in true French fashion this should come after the meal), and breast of duck which has a slight taste of prunes. Lately I have been having prunes and figs in all manner of combinations and wonder what will replace this taste when they are no longer in season. This night we spoted Sidney Poitier at a corner table with a young blonde; looking only slightly older then he did in "Guess Whose Coming to Dinner"! Our landlord Irv would be delighted to hear that the bathrooms (which are located at the bottom of the steepest, narrowest winding staircase I have ever seen) have toilets with the magic button that covers the seats with plastic for each 'sitting'.
On our walk home we were heading off to Hotel de Ville to check out the action for the Nuit Blanche (sleepless night) celebration in its second year in Paris. The Louvre is free all night and there are special cultural events and light shows all over the city--more then one million people participate so just imagine the crowds. On our way across the river, Paul and I stopped to peer over the bridge to see what the commotion was on the banks below. There at the waters edge were a group of young students 'mooning' the Baton Mouche as it passed by. It seems that things are really the same where ever you go!
CDF
5:36:25 PM
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Sunday, October 05, 2003
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Market day at the Bastille (5/Oct./03)
Well it's Sunday, market day at the Bastille. I/we have never seen anything like this. It makes the Union Square market look like a bodega. There are hundreds of stalls selling every possible kind of food - straight from the farm or artisinal producer. You not only need to know you want a chicken but what kind - Breton, Fermier, nature, etc. You can buy them plucked or unplucked, head and feet on or off. You can also get whole rabbits (see the lower right hand corner of the picture next to the little girl). There are more kinds of fish, shell fish, game, cheese, bread, vegetables than you have ever dreamed of.
A man at the end of a long row of produce was sellings sea salt for bathing. To advertise its curative properties he sits all day with his bare feet in a bowl of salt water--the water being kept warm with a heating element submerged between his two feet. Anyone can examine his feet to see how soft they are!
And, let's not forget the flowers! They too can be selected or purchased by the piece, or in ready made beautiful bouquets--and the colours! Right now the flowers seem to be at their brightest. You don't see any carnations here because for some reason, the french think the are unlucky--je ne ca quoi!
By the way, we learned an important lesson in French market shopping. Everything looks so beautiful (every little store displays its goods like Balducci's). But, in the shops - DON'T TOUCH. In the open air markets you can touch and pick out what you want.
Dinner tonight: pork terrine, olives and bread, fresh salmon fillets, fingerling potatoes, green salad and white wine. Pas de dessert!
5:53:11 PM
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Our Corner of the Marais
It?s been a week and we are loving it here in Paris - our part of Paris anyway because we can't seem to tear ourselves away from the neighbourhood for too long.
Already we are discovering the characters that make this spot so unique. Each morning we meet the same group of regulars at Les Philosophes for our morning 'cafe creme' and 'une tartine'. There is the young man with the yellow lab who brings his own pastry each day and when the waiter sees him, already has the dog bowl with water and coffee waiting at the usual table. These two have their own routine of fetch and when his owner tires of kicking the ball, there is no shortage of passersby who will oblige her! She drops the ball in front of you and then starts backing up to catch or block the shot. One difference from home ? the ball must be kicked, not thrown. There are many regular dog walkers (in Paris, people love their dogs) but we especially like the man who heads off pulling his reluctant basset hound out for their morning constitutional. Man and dog head off with the same ?hang dog? expression returning in less then 15 min. Here in Paris there are very few people who 'stoop and scoop', but magically, overnight, most dog droppings and trash are flushed away by morning.
Our street has a resident long-haired white cat with her own private entrance to the apartment. The owners of the trendy shops have hours that while posted seem to conform to a time frame based on their individuals whims.
We are enjoying visits to the local ?charcuterie? and no day is complete without a stop at the ?patisserie! This is a city that invites you to spend time lingering over coffee outdoors no matter what the temperatures?there are heaters to accommodate. The pace here is slower and the concept of a ?quick bite? has still not caught on everywhere.
We are looking forward to a visit from friends Sheila and Joe who will join us for a tour of the Bordeaux wineries.
A bient?
Christina
4/Oct./03
3:11:11 AM
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Friday, October 03, 2003
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A Little Bit of History! 28/Sept./03
It's Sunday afternoon during, the "Fete des Jardins," and the gardens of the Musee Carnavalet were open to the public. This museum is located in our neighbourhood on a narrow street that borders the 3rd and 4th arrondissements.
Hotel Carnavalet is dedicated to the history of Paris and is housed in two 16th and 17th-century mansions offering more than 140 rooms displaying archeological remains, paintings and artifacts from prehistory to modern times.
The museum is interesting not only for it?s contents, but also because of a past resident: The Marquise de Sevignon, a notable wit and distinguished member of the aristocracy, made famous for the letters she wrote to her daughter - she was the equivalent to today's gossip columnist!
Here you can learn about events leading up to the revolution with graphic paintings of the period including the severed heads of those who met their maker at the guillotine. We learned about 'reliquaries' the boxes used to house the bones of saints and the hearts of past monarchs. It seems that reliquaries were often melted down for their precious metals and in the 17th C, artists liked to purchase those with hearts. Just imagine, they would cut the hearts up and use the rendered blood as a thickening agent for their paints!
It is not difficult to lose oneself here, and we wished that we were better versed in French to more readily understand the history around us. This visit made us curious enough to delve into history further, me with the rereading of 'Tale of Two Cities', and the more current 'Seven Ages of Paris', and Paul, with Umberto Eco's, 'The Name of the Rose'.
2:43:47 PM
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Copyright ? 2003 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
| For its intellectuals, France falters |
John Vinocur/IHT IHT
Thursday, October 2, 2003 |
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PARIS A growing sense of France's decline as a force in Europe has developed here.
The idea's novelty is not the issue itself. Rather it is that for the first time in a half century that the notion of a rapid descent in France's influence is receiving wide acknowledgment within the French establishment.
At its most hurtful and remarkable, and yet perhaps its most honest, there is the start of acceptance by segments of the French intellectual community that French leadership, as it is constituted now, is not something Europe wants - or France merits.
Several current books, three on the bestseller lists, have focused discussion on the country's incapacities, rigidities and its role, they say, in the context of the Iraq war, in dividing the Western community and fracturing notions of Europe's potential unity.
The books, with titles that translate to phrases like "France in Free Fall" or "French Arrogance," are merciless in their accusations of the fantasy-driven ineffectualness of French foreign policy and the extent of the country's economic breakdown. Or they more specifically target what one of books, "Le Pouvoir du Monde," by Bernard Poulet, regards as the implosion of the newspaper Le Monde, mirror of the French establishment, from one-time symbol of rectitude to self-appointed "universal mentor and Great Inquisitor"; or what another, essentially a short essay, called "Au Nom de l'Autre" by Alain Finkielkraut, contends is the rise in France of a new kind of anti-Semitism in proportions greater than anywhere else in Europe.
Together, they project the image of a decadent France, adrift from its brilliant past, incapable of inspiring allegiance or emulation and without a constructive, humanist plan for the future.
Of all the books, the current No. 2 on the bestseller list of L'Express, "La France Qui Tombe," by Nicolas Baverez, has been the focus of unusual attention.
Baverez, a practicing attorney and economist who has a strong place in the Paris establishment, argues that France's leadership hates change. Rather, it "cultivates the status quo and rigidity" because it is run through the connivance of politicians, civil servants and union officials, bringing together both the left- and right-wing elites. They are described as mainly concerned with preserving the failed statist system that protects their jobs and status.
Although he has little patience with the American role in the world (it is branded unilateral, imperial and unpredictable, yet flexible and open to change) Baverez charges that the failure of French policy on Iraq and Europe - resisting the United States with nothing to offer in exchange, and attempting to force the rest of Europe to follow its lead - "crowns the process of the nation's decline" and leaves France in growing diplomatic isolation everywhere.
Over the past year, said Bavarez, "French diplomacy has undertaken to broaden the fracture within the West, and duplicate American unilateralism on the European scale by its arrogant dressing down of Europe's new democracies. It has sustained a systematically critical attitude that flees concrete propositions in favor of theoretical slogans exalting a multipolar world or multilateralism."
As for Europe, Bavarez maintains that France has been discredited by its reticence to transfer any kind of meaningful sovereignty to the central organization, its resistance to giving up its advantages in the area of agricultural policy and its disregard for the directives and rules of the European Union executive commission.
He does not stop there. Of a united Europe, Bavarez said, France has "ruined what might have remained of a common foreign and security policy, deeply dividing the community and placing France in the minority." His country was at the edge of marginalization in Europe and the world, he claimed, because of its "verbal pretense of having real power" that is "completely cut off from its capacity for influence or action."
In a real sense, none of this is new. But this time, the provenance is a respected establishment figure talking, so to speak, from the belly of the beast. The echo has been striking within in national debate.
Over the years, foreign journalists, free of establishment pressures, have made Bavarez's points one by one without denting French public discourse. Talk circulated during the presidential election campaign last year about French decline, coming largely from Jacques Chirac, but it was basically dismissed as political taunts aimed at the Socialist government of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.
Now, in response to the Bavarez book, there is public rage from the Chirac camp, which the Bavarez book charges with having neither the courage nor the competence to confront the basic problems.
But the density of Bavarez's factual argumentation, bolstered by the presence of the other books, all treating France's pride-of-rank and French conceits with brutal disrespect, have given the notion of French decline a legitimacy, reality and currency that it lacked before in public debate.
Alain Duhamel, perhaps the most consensual of France's mainstream political commentators, has praised Bavarez for launching "a legitimate debate on a subject that merits one: French decline." He said it touched "a sensitive point in the national subconscious that set off an intellectual hullabaloo."
An ardent advocate of limited surrender of French sovereignty so that the EU can become the vector of French worldwide ambitions - he too has written a new book whose title translates to France in Disarray - Duhamel acknowledges that France no longer pulls Europe along behind it, although he insists Europe will not advance without France.
Indeed, Le Monde, which normally makes French ambitions, or distress about their failures, synonymous with Europe's, made some rare admissions this week about the French descent in Europe's eyes.
Daniel Vernet, a former senior editor of the newspaper, wrote, "We often irritate our partners because too frequently we have the tendency to want to impose our views, or only to consider as truly European those positions that conform to a French vision, however much in the EU minority it may be."
That resulted in a dilemma without an obvious exit, Vernet said. "The European partners don't want to hear about European policy independent from the United States," he wrote. "So, either France acts alone, and, regardless of what's claimed, its influence remains limited. Or it seeks a common denominator with its partners and it has to give up its ambitions."
Even Chirac may have given a sign that he understands the changing vision of France's real possibilities. In two major speeches on world affairs since the end of the summer, he dropped any references to multipolarity, the French notion of a world of competing poles with Europe set up as a rival pole to the United States.
In the sense that they project the picture of a country that has lost its way, the other books complemented the Bavarez thesis and set the tone of discussion.
In "Ouest contre Ouest," by Andre Glucksmann, one of the few leading French intellectuals to challenge the country's position on the Iraq war, France is described as a nation, with others in Europe, that fled the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, on the United States in panic and attempted to set up a sterile biosphere away from the world's realities.
The book, also a bestseller, maintains that this flight from confronting trouble carried with it an attempt to create two opposing notions of the West: a serene Europe, sheltered from terrorist kamikazes, and a warlike, imperialist, autistic United States.
Glucksmann wrote that the central question of the future was not hegemony or multipolarity, the key French terms illustrating the Chirac government's seeming obsession about the United States and its desire to counter the Americans, but civilization versus nihilism, and whether the West together could make a fight to protect civilization.
Glucksmann believes that France's leadership has wanted to bring Russia into its project to counter the United States, with France promising in the bargain a return of Russia's lost rank and prestige.
"What does France gain?" he asked. "The possibility to continue its siesta. It would be up to Russia to counterbalance America, and keep the Islamist and Eastern hordes away. It would be the United States' job to chase down all the worldwide risks that we want to avoid. Paris, in all this, gives itself the role of directing the world by proxy. Once the Euro-Asiatic bloc is cemented through the inspiration of the Elys?Palace, Washington, put in its just place and counterbalanced, will conform."
These messages converge with that of "L'Arrogance Fran?se," by Romain Gubert and Emmanuel Saint-Martin, whose chapter and section headings - How France Lost Europe or Narcissistic Blindness - well sum up a book that holds that French foreign and European policy is guided by "obsessive concern with its standing, and terror in the face of its decline."
France's essential arrogance, the authors suggest, is in continuing to act as if the world community and its European partners do not comprehend that for the French leadership, the "EU serves as the means for France to recover its influence and to reconquer its lost power."
In this light, although the writers of "L'Arrogance Fran?se" do not say so specifically, it is possible to see French policy in relationship to Iraq as a temporary instrumentalization of Germany in an effort to recapture European primacy - an attempt understood and foiled by the vast number of its NATO and EU partners.
Months later, the fact is, after Sweden's rejection of the euro (in part because of France's refusal to conform to the economic performance standards it set up itself for the currency's credibility), and the likely splintering of the EU into groups of several speeds without any semblance of a unified foreign or defense policy, France has come up empty.
The sum of the messages of the books, in French to the French, is that this vision of the country's current circumstances is not a French-bashing invention from afar, but a home truth.
For Bavarez, France is threatened with becoming a museum diplomatically and a transit center economically. To do anything about it, it must revive itself internally first, getting away from what he calls its "social statist model." To advance, it must end the dominant role of a "public sector placed outside of any constraint requiring productivity or competitiveness."
The reform of the rest of French policy, based on genuine integration into Europe, should follow, he argues.
He recommends what he calls shock therapy, a forced march toward modernity that involves the risk of a clash among French interest groups and an end to the "sinister continuity" that unites the presidencies of Fran?s Mitterrand and Chirac in a kind of angry immobility.
But for Bavarez, and most of the other writers now gaining the nation's attention, the present reality is harsh for France.
"Overtaken by the democratic vitality and technological advance of the United State," Bavarez concludes, "downgraded industrially and challenged commercially by China and Asia, the decline of France is accelerating at the same rhythm as the vast changes in the world."
International Herald Tribune
Copyright ? 2003 The International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/112118.html
6:57:43 AM
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Well, last night we had a meal to remember. The restaurant, Benoit is a small Bistro in the neighborhood. It is very "cozy" and the staff was very helpful and pleasant. We ordered mostly in French (at our request) and they mostly understood us.
Chris had 'Langue Veau' (veal tongue sliced and and layered with fois gras) as an "Entree" (French for appetizer). She said it was one of the best things she had ever tasted. She also had bouillabaisse which she thought was good but not as good. The soup was too bland. She thought the bouillabaisse at Rouge was better.
Paul had 'Escargot bourguignon' for an entree. It was superb. The snails were delicate and tasty and the garlic/butter sauce was perfect. I had to ask for more bread twice as I sucked up every drop from each shell. I followed it with a 'Cassoulet' (French for meat and bean stew). It was made with veal sausage and cutlets. I loved it and Chris kept stealing my beans (I didn't mind - there was enough food for both of us).
Given that we were having meat and fish, the waiter 'conseill-ed' us to order the Chirouble (a fine Beaujolais). It was great.
Then we really went crazy with dessert (which I don't eat!). It must have been the wine. We couldn't decide between the 'mousse au chocolat' and the fraise "napoleon" and a 'warm prune thing' Chris had. They brought us the mousse with our wine because Chris told them she wanted to dip her finger in it ( a la a mixing bowl) and the others afterwards.
The tab was less than 200 euros. Not bad for a 4 course meal with wine at a Michelin one-star restaurant.
| BENOIT |
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20, rue St-Martin (Chatelet-Les Halles)
Paris 014 2722576 |
5:51:05 AM
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Wednesday, October 01, 2003
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We were only here two days and we saw a sculpture we had to have. It's a large sculpture of a women by a Belgian sculptor http://www.dirk-de-keyzer.com/. We got it at a small gallery on the Place de Vosge http://www.vivendi-gallery.com/. It's called "L'embrassement" - "the Hug". We couldn't resist. It's perfect as a hostess for our apartment.
1:54:33 PM
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September 30, 2003
Well, last night we learned that you can get a bad meal in Paris. We should have known better. The place (Le Tartine, Rue de Rivoli) looked nice, but it was pretty empty. The menu was very limited. I had Saucisson Chaude with Lentils. It was awful. The saucisson had been "chaud-ed" for so long it was almost indistinguishable. The best part were the lentils and I hate lentils. The wine list was extensive: Red or White; Carafe or bottle.
I am contributing to an update of Zagats Paris guide so I will have chance to get even!
We have been trying to get into two of the better Bistros in the area, Benoit and Chez L'Ami Louis and we have reservations for later in the week - so hopefully we will have something good to report again.
10:07:09 AM
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25/Sept./03
WE HAVE ARRIVED! It's hard to believe, but here we are in Paris with two cats who are none the worse for wear. As the taxi begins to get close to our neighbourhood, we see that we have 'hit the jackpot'. Our little apartment on rue Tresor is in what was once the predominantly Jewish district and now looks very much like Scott's neighbourhood in the West Village. The streets are small and windy with shops, bakeries and galleries we can't wait to explore. Our street is a very small pedestrian cobblestone avenue with cafes and a restaurant at the end. This is like a dream and I can't believe that we will be here for the better part of three months.
For our first night out, we decide to eat at a restaurant suggested by our landlord Irv Molotsky and his wife (who by the way seem to be foodies judging by the extensive list of restaurant suggestions included in the manual that comes with the apartment). We try Baracane, 38 rue des Tournelles, 01-42-71-43-33. It's a small, cozy place where our attempts at French are quickly answered with replies in English. Our appetizers of marrow and fois gras, will make the cholesterol meter hover dangerously high; but we can't resist and both are excellent--don't scoff at the marrow until you've tried it--I can imagine some of you gagging. In any case, if the rest of Irv's suggestions are like this, we are in for some gastronomic delights.
26/Sept./03
HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT WE COULD LOSE OUR CAT THE FIRST DAY???? But, she was gone when we got up this morning so we've spent our time making up posters and polling the neighborhood for Gin the cat!
The good news is that we found we could communicate and make ourselves understood, and hoped that the love the French people have for their animals will result in a happy ending to this day. Decided the best way to take our minds off things was to explore our neighbourhood as planned.
Sights worth mentioning: Place des Vosges--not only worth seeing from an architectural point of view, but the galleries, antique shops and restaurant can keep you busy for an entire day. We opted for a take out lunch from Paul pour Pain, rue de St. Antoine, near the St. Paul-St. Louis church (how could we resist with a name like that!) Two incredible baguette-like sandwiches were about 7 E. I really like my Paul's explanation of how differently the French and the American's view their sandwiches: in the US, the bread on the sandwich is like the handle or cover so you can eat the filling inside; while in France, the filling is simply a condiment for the wonderful bread on the outside. He was right, we enjoyed our two 'pains' in the little park in the middle of the Place des Vosges.
Picasso Museum--Housed in the Hotel Sale in Place de Thorigny (Hotel is simply a large, important building). This building has the distinction of having been the 17th Century home of M. de Fortenay who was the "fermier general", the choicest job in France during that time. Turns out, he was the man who controlled the distribution of salt during that time which made him both the richest and most hated man in all of France! Apart from this, the museum contains an incredible collection of Picasso's art--pieces obtained from his family after his death in lieu of inheritance tax! I preferred his early work and his sculptures and was amazed at how his art evolved over his lifetime---AND the number of women he was involved with!
We had dinner at Les Philosophes http://www.cafeine.com/philo.htm this evening, a local cafe/bistrot.
Things we learned today: When people hear us struggling with French, they are quick to speak English to us but enjoy when we ask them to 'parlez en francais'! Our French is better then we thought.
We were working hard to communicate with our waitress this morning about Gin when she gave up and switched to English - turns out she is Austalian and has only been here five months herself!
4:51:22 AM
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Tuesday, September 30, 2003
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Tues. 9/30
We are here only 5 days but they have been exciting days. On the first day we lost Ginny for two whole days. We thought the whole trip would be ruined. Then Chris heard her crying in the courtyard behind the house. She had jumped out the window!
She's Back
Then we had one good (great!) day and I woke the next morning and couldn't move my hand. We spent whole day at the American Hospital in Neuilly. I had an MRI (brain scan), an X-Ray and some horrible test where they poke needles in your hand and give you electric shocks to see what's wrong. They say it's a pinched nerve and should recover by itself. After one day, I have about 65% use - but I can't type.
Considering all of that, we are having a great trip. We ARE IN PARIS! Everybody we have met (from the people we asked about the cat to the hundreds of people Christina has asked for directions have been great. We have seen no sign of anti-Americanism or anti-Semitism. Everyone has been gracious and helpful. I hope it continues.
We have eaten in a number of restaurants and I continue to be surprised how good the average restaurant is. I think it is the bread. It makes everything else taste good. I am going to post comments separately on the restaurant we have visited on the blog site so only those people who are interested need to see them. We will do the same thing with museums and other sites.
Paul
4:31:19 PM
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Monday, September 29, 2003
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Paul says that there is a very significant difference in the attitude of Americans and the French to the notion of 'le sandwich'. It is his claim that in the United States, the bread acts as a 'handle' to hold enormous amounts of stuffing. In France, however, he claims that the filling in the sandwich is simply a condiment for the bread itself. I must say that I agree, the 'tartine' (simple length of what we would describe as a 'baguette') is simply delicious just on it's own.
Many people have asked us to keep a log of some of our favourite resturants that we visit while here in Paris. I have tried to give names phone numbers and in many cases addresses for some of the places we have enjoyed and some that we thought were not so great.
Amorino, 47 rue Saint Louis en I'lle Saint Louis, 01.44.07.48.08. This is by far the best ice cream shop we have been to ANYWHERE. Paul had pistacchio and framboise. Fantastique! It is more like a gelato, rich creamy flavours that taste like the real thing. Definitely not to be missed.
La Charlotte de L'isle, 24 rue St. Louis en L'isle, www.la.charlotte.fr. A cute place (see photo in our web log), but the pots of chocolate were too rich for us. If you are a chocolate lover, you will delight in the thick little pots of what seems to be melted chocolate thinned with very little of anything. Be prepared for a rich treat.
Chez Julien, 1 rue du Pont Louis Philippe, 01.42.78.31.64. This is a lovely restaurant near the Seine. It is included in the book "Historic Restaurants of Paris".We especially liked the old bar and the glass painted ceilings. The night we went, it was filled with American and English speaking tourists. This is the best restaurant we have been to so far. Profiterole des Escargot (in puff pastry) was especially good as was the salad with pignole nuts. For a main course we enjoyed the duck l'orange and coquille St. Jacques. As always the sauces are the best part!
5:20:16 PM
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Thought you might enjoy some of our pictures from our trip so far. In order L to R: Paul & I on the bridge toward Notra Dame, A small chocolate shop on Isle St. Louis, Purchasing art at Place des Vosges with Alex at the Galerie Vivendi, breakfast table at the apartment on rue Tresor.
4:52:37 PM
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Sunday, September 28, 2003
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AND THEN THERE WERE TWO!
At about 2:00am this morning as I was getting into bed I was sure that I heard a cat meowing outside the window. You can imagine how I screamed for Paul to dress and 'run to the courtyard to see if the cat was there. To make a long story short, we retrieved her from between the trash cans and a pile of old flower pots and found that miraculously, she was unharmed. We can only assume that she somehow squeezed her way onto the window ledge the night we arrived and fell out because there is no access to that part of the courtyard other then through a series of doors, and we were pretty certain that we didn't let her out.
You can probably imagine how we celebrated and what a relief it was! Both cats now sport collars with their names and the apartment telephone number should they get out again!
It was great to have a good nights sleep and to awaken and spend an entire day without wondering where she could be or looking around corners and behind bushes expecting to see her whenever we left the building.
4:54:10 PM
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DAY TWO AND NO SIGN OF THE CAT! It has been a long stressful night and though, I heard her, or thought I heard her crying during the night, we cannot find her anywhere. The day continues with more inquiries and more signs offering a reward. There isn't a corner that we don't turn where we half expect to see her. This will be a dark cloud over us for the next 10 weeks if she doesn't turn up. It has been a struggle to sort out the answering machine so we can intercept messages in response to our posters--we can't imagine that someone would keep her and do not voice our fears about what it could be like for her 'out on the streets'. Neither of us can talk about this to friends back home and are keeping our own counsel.
We soldier on and salve some of our pain with the purchase of a new sculpture we discovered the previous day at a gallery at Place des Vosges. The artist is from Belgium and it is titled, "The Hug". She will bring smiles to everyone who see her and you will want to reach out and touch.
4:35:14 PM
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25/Sept./03
WE HAVE ARRIVED! It's hard to believe, but here we are in Paris with two cats who are none the worse for wear. As the taxi begins to get close to our neighbourhood, we see that we have 'hit the jackpot'. Our little apartment on rue Tresor is in what was once the predominantly Jewish district and now looks very much like Scott's neighbourhood in the West Village. The streets are small and windy with shops, bakeries and galleries we can't wait to explore. Our street is a very small pedestrian cobblestone avenue with cafes and a restaurant at the end. This is like a dream and I can't believe that we will be here for the better part of three months.
For our first night out, we decide to eat at a restaurant suggested by our landlord Irv Molotsky and his wife (who by the way seem to be foodies judging by the extensive list of restaurant suggestions included in the manual that comes with the apartment). We try Baracane, 38 rue des Tournelles, 01-42-71-43-33. It's a small, cozy place where our attempts at French are quickly answered with replies in English. Our appetizers of marrow and fois gras, will make the cholesterol meter hover dangerously high; but we can't resist and both are excellent--don't scoff at the marrow until you've tried it--I can imagine some of you gagging. In any case, if the rest of Irv's suggestions are like this, we are in for some gastronomic delights.
26/Sept./03
HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT WE COULD LOOSE OUR CAT THE FIRST DAY???? But, she was gone when we got up this morning so we've spent our time making up posters and polling the neighborhood for Gin the cat!
The good news is that we found we could communicate and make ourselves understood, and hoped that the love the French people have for their animals will result in a happy ending to this day. Decided the best way to take our minds off things was to explore our neighbourhood as planned.
Sights worth mentioning: Place des Vosges--not only worth seeing from an architectural point of view, but the galleries, antique shops and restaurant can keep you busy for an entire day. We opted for a take out lunch from Paul pour Pain, rue de St. Antoine, near the St. Paul-St. Louis church (how could we resist with a name like that!) Two incredible baguette-like sandwiches were about 7 E. I really like my Paul's explanation of how differently the French and the American's view their sandwiches: in the US, the bread on the sandwich is like the handle or cover so you can eat the filling inside; while in France, the filling is simply a condiment for the wonderful bread on the outside. He was right, we enjoyed our two 'pains' in the little park in the middle of the Place des Vosges.
Picasso Museum--Housed in the Hotel Sale in Place de Thorigny (Hotel is simply a large, important building). This building has the distinction of having been the 17th Century home of M. de Fortenay who was the "fermier general", the choicest job in France during that time. Turns out, he was the man who controlled the distribution of salt during that time which made him both the richest and most hated man in all of France! Apart from this, the museum contains an incredible collection of Picasso's art--pieces obtained from his family after his death in lieu of inheritance tax! I preferred his early work and his sculptures and was amazed at how his art evolved over his lifetime---AND the number of women he was involved with!
We had dinner at Les Philosophes http://www.cafeine.com/philo.htm this evening, a local cafe/bistrot.
Things we learned today: When people hear us struggling with French, they are quick to speak English to us but enjoy when we ask them to 'parlez en francais'! Our French is better then we thought.
We were working hard to communicate with our waitress this morning about Gin when she gave up and switched to English - turns out she is Austalian and has only been here five months herself!
12:29:28 PM
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© Copyright 2004 Christina DeFreitas.
Last update: 5/9/2004; 2:23:20 PM.
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Many know this "very popular" bistro in the 6th where chef-owner Francois Pasteau serves up "delicious" food ("the cod with gravlax was a revelation -I thought only I could make my girlfriend's face look like that") as one of "Paris' biggest bangs for the buck"; but this "price-performer" may be "getting arrogant", as several snarl over "the difficulty of making reservations", long waits and "snippy", "overwhelmed" service in the "small, frenetic" dining room; to decide for yourself, be sure to "book early."
