Oh La La! We Are In Paris... Our Day Nine... by Montreal photographer Hera Bell and her husband Anthony

 

 

We decided to head back today where we were last week, the Marche des Enfants Rouges.  Today we were not going there to shop, but to try out some food from a Moroccan food stall that we had seen the last time here.

Late Sunday morning and the streets were packed with shoppers hustling and bustling to get their fresh produce.  We got ourselves into line, as we pondered on what we were going to order.

Hera settled on the Chicken Brochette Couscous, while I went for the Chef’s special, a mix of chicken, lamb, hot sausage and kefta, a type of meat ball.  We also ordered a red and green pepper salad, and a sweet syrupy dessert made with semolina with dates within.  The meal was delicious.  
 

We had planned on not seeing many museums on this trip, as we have already seen most of them a few times already in the past.  They are all wonderful, and must be seen.  I am sure I would enjoy each and everyone of them if we entered them again.  With the Pompidou center always in our face, we just had to enter and visit.  

 

It is in a way an ugly building and an lovely building at the same time.  Some love it, others hate it, while I feel the tension of the love-hate sentiments.  And it fits so well with the work it contains, modern art.  The works also parallel that feeling.  Some pieces I love, others I do not at all, while many works seem to fall on that odd line in between.

We ended up staying in our neighborhood, and wandered the streets.  Hera bought a shawl-like jacket in one boutique.  Soon it was time for a rest, so we found a pub this time and had a beer.  Savoring our refreshing beer, we chatted and people watched.  

The days go by way too fast.


Photographer's notes: Today's entire photography was shot with a Samsung Galaxy SII cell phone. Sorry for the delay uploading the rest of the trip. We have few more days to upload. Thank you for your patience.

Oh La La! We Are In Paris... Our Day Eight... by Montreal photographer Hera Bell and her husband Anthony

Another day, another pastry fix.  We are settling into a routine with our 2 croissants.  With it, Hera had the cream brioche, while I tried their equivalent of an apple turnover.  Of course it was delicious.

Today we were off to the Champs Elysees.  If there ever was an iconic grand boulevard, the Champs Elysees is it.

 

We decided to start off at the Arc de Triomphe.  Larger than any Roman triumphal arch it is a grand structure with several boulevards radiating outwards, which gives the impression of a star.  The climb up, almost 300 steps, is well worth the view.  You get an impressive view of the Champ Elysees, lined up with the Obelisk of Place de la Concorde (where the guillotine once stood), the Tuileries Gardens and then the Louvre.  

 

 

Looking the other way along the same axis is the large rectangular Grande Arche de la Defense amid the skyscrapers.  In a sense, history is played out along this axis.  The ancien regime of the Louvre decapitated by the revolution (place de la Concorde), the growth and exuberance of the French Empire (Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe) and continuing to the future with La Defense (business).  Or politically, Monarchy superseded by democracy that is now being superseded by high finance.  

Back on street level, we started to walk the Champs Elysees.  Not a shopper myself, one still cannot help but be impressed.  The stores are magnificent. and the crowds of people add a vibrant energy.  We took our time and wandered in and out of many establishments, including quick peeks into two wonderfully elegant cafes,  Fouquet's  and Laduree.  Perhaps we will drop by again for a dessert one day.

 

 

The shopping ends at Round Point, which then leads to a set of gardens laid out centuries ago by Maria de Medici with the Grand and Petit Palaces within it.  Continuing onward is the Place de la Concorde, with the 3000 year old Egyptian obelisk.  It is sobering to imagine this area packed with eager onlookers watching so many lose their heads here.

 

Crossing over, we enter the lovely Tuileries Gardens.   We found a couple of chairs and rested like so many others at the large round pool.  We chatted and people watched, then got up and continued on our way.

 

 

Soon we were facing the pyramids in the inner courtyard of the Louvre.  We made our way out of a side entrance, and wandered along a few streets until we settled on a place to relax and enjoy a nice cold beer.  Yes, we ought to drink wine in France, but on a nice long hot day, a cold refreshing beer is just perfect.

 

 

Rehydrated, we continued our walk.  We had planned on trying a restaurant near our apartment, but  Carpe Diem Cafe  caught our fancy and we decided to give it a try.

 

 

 

We shared a Salmon Tartare, that was excellent.  Hera again had her steak tartare, while I tried their Duck Magret.  This time, my duck magret was wonderful.  The black cherry sauce was delicate and slightly sweet, and I could taste the perfectly cooked duck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had originally planned on having dessert, but we were quite full by the end of our meal.  A delightful find.

Soon we were back on rue St. Denis, the southern end this time.  A lively street full of people and various restaurants.  But one can only eat so much.  So we enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the neighborhood as we got closer to home.

Oh La La! We Are In Paris... Our Day Seven... by Montreal photographer Hera Bell and her husband Anthony

 

 

We started our day by going over to our adopted neighborhood bakery.  We ordered two croissants, two pain-au-chocolat, and “deux comme ca.”  I forget their names and that is how Hera ordered them, which caused a little chuckle from the sales girl.   

 

 

 

 

The “deux comme ca” we had were about a half inch in diameter, and an inch high.  It looked syrupy and sweet.  To our surprise, they were not overly sweet, and quite chewy with a hint of cinnamon.

 

With our pastry fix done, we headed off to Montmartre.  Montmartre used to be a separate city walled off from Paris.  It was a mining town where gypsum was mined (plaster of Paris fame) with an ancient vineyard.  Wine was taxed in Paris at the time, and thus the wall, with taxes collected for anything that crossed into Paris.  When the wall did come down, the first boulevard was created.  The word boulevard is French derived from the Dutch word bolwark meaning bastion.

 

 

 

Climbing up the stairs gives great views of the skyscape of Paris behind us, while Sacre Coeur looms high above.  Sacre Coeur is a relatively new church, built  just over a century ago.   It was built as an act of penance for the presumed sins that they must have committed.  How else could they explain how the glorious French Empire ushered in by Napoleon be so humiliated just over a generation later by the Prussians.  To this day, there is always at least one person praying day and night, 365 days a year asking for forgiveness.

 

The Church itself is lovely and worth a visit.  While classic, the interiour is not overly garnished, giving a clean and welcoming feeling.  This coming Sunday a relic of St. John Paul II will be brought here.

 

 

 

 

 

Right next to the Sacre Coeur is the much older Church of St. Pierre de Montmartre.  It is actually one of the oldest in Paris.  The Church was founded by King Louis VI and his wife Adelaide.  Her tombstone can be found on the left side wall inside the church.  Adelaide also went on to found the sprawling abbey of Benedictine monks and nuns.  She also planted the nearby vineyard which now hold some of the oldest vines.  The Abbey and vineyard was the original claim to fame for Montmartre.

 

 

 

 

The story goes that a bishop, soon to be St. Denis, was going to be executed by the Romans for preaching Christianity.  On the way up the hill, the soldiers got tired, and decided to chop off his head early.  St. Dennis picked up his head and carried on up the hill where he finally died.

 

 

Montmartre, or Mont of Martyrs is really Mont of Mars from Roman times.  Within the Church of St. Pierre de Montmartre you can see four of the original columns from the Temple of Mars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While both churches are worth a visit, the real beauty of Montmartre is the winding little streets of this town.  Do take your time to walk up and down a few streets, giving lovely views one after the other.  

 

 

This is where Edith Piaf was discovered, where Renoir painted Bal de Moulin de la Galette   (visit the link and you will recognize the painting).  Picasso and van Gogh were here, and of course Toulouse-Lautrec was just down the block, along with a host of others.

 

 

 

 

Not too far is the Lapin Agile Cabaret, where they would all congregate, drink, listens to poetry and discuss whatever struck their fancy.  One night, they tied a paint brush on a donkey’s tail, and called the painting Sunset Over The Adriatic   (Again follow our link to view the painting.)  

 

 

 

 

 

They entered it as an abstract painting at the Salon.  Of course the academics who were still red faced for missing the boat with “Impressionism,” gave the donkey’s painting critical acclaim and it sold for a good amount.  I wonder how they felt when the finally did meet the artist.

 

 

The French word “bistro” was coined here too.  Apparently when Russian soldiers were here, they rushed the waiters shouting out “bystro” which means quickly.

 

 



 

 

For those who enjoyed the film “Amelie,” she worked at the Cafe des Deux Moulins as you walk down the street towards the world famous, Le Moulin Rouge.  (I would suggest watching both the film “Amelie” as well as Nicole Kidman’s “Le Moulin Rouge” as they will give you two different, but satisfying impressions of the neighborhood.)

 

 

 

 

Walking along Boulevard de Clichy to the Pigalle is a bit seedy, but worth the stroll to get a different feel.  It has been cleaned up a bit, but not sanitized as New York’s Times Square.  We walked a bit past the Pigalle, and headed down the colorful market street of rue des Martyrs.
 

 

 

 

I had thought we would stop somewhere here to eat, but while the shops were a delight, there were not many places to eat.  So we ended up eating at a Restaurant on the corner with Boulevard Haussmann.  Hera again had a delicious steak tartare while I had the Magret de Canard (Duck breast) served with a pepper sauce which was good but I felt overpowered the duck.

 

 

 

Boulevard Haussmann is a lovely place to stroll, although the name keeps changing every few blocks.  One delightful discovery this time was the glass covered passageway Jouffroy to the north, and the passageway Panorama to the South.  Exploring the passageways and its shops, we retraced our steps back onto the Boulevard and continued East towards home.

 

 

We took St. Denis south, and while a bit seedy at first, with older working girls manning the corners.  A bit further down the ways, and the street starts to get more gentrified, but remnants of its past can be seen in some of the boutiques that still exist.

 

 

Soon the Pompidou could be seen, meaning we were getting close to home.