Day 10: Paris

Day 10: May 19, Paris

Weather: Glorious, very cool (low 50s at 7:30am) to moderate (low 60s), clear, a day for walking, that is until it started raining, then the sun came out again, until it started raining again. We got wet, not too badly, a couple of times

Breakfast from one of the best bakeries in Paris, Poilane. DB finds a local branch in our terrific little Paris guidebook (the one that replaced all those THB left in E-ville) and we walk over this morning and get warm croissants, a raisin bun, and half a loaf of a mild sourdough (the guy in front of us bought the other half), $10. Stop and buy a jar of cassis jelly, $6.  Heaven: eating below with café au laits in our apartment.

Short stop at ATM and a few items at the Monoprix, then on to meet Martine, our gallery guide for the day, in front of the Pompidou. It’s a short walk and plenty cool.

 

The front?

The back?

The Pompidou is undergoing construction, right outside (it’s closed today, so THB can’t tell if they are working inside). Of course, the place looks like it is always undergoing construction since the inside stuff is all on the outside (tubes, pipes, escalators, etc.).

 

At the Pompidou, books grow on trees

A sculpture to the side of the Pompidou

Martine is there with Karine, the agency rep that we booked through. Martine is a petite French woman (is this a redundancy) in her mid-50’s, and she’s having quite a week: her first grandchild, a girl, was born day before yesterday, to her daughter (age 31, celebrating her b’day today, two days after giving birth), and Martine’s mom is also here, so 4 generations of women are meeting at the hospital after our tour.

 

Local graffiti 

We start off in La Marais, and proceed to visit six or seven galleries, ranging from the edgy up to famous oldies. Some examples of what we saw:

Detailed close-up

This is combo of glass and painting on back, with fabric transfer (and the florescent light inadvertently included)

Same problem with light

Detailed close-up of roof (showing this is not a photograph of a Detroit house)

More detail

Collages made entirely out of cardboard (similar to an artist THB and DB saw a few years ago in Berlin)

Martine, who is Jewish, picks a spot in the Jewish Quarter for us to eat lunch at, As we were walking into the restaurant, an orthodox young guy (maybe 25-30, black jacket and pants, white long sleeved shirt, black hat, black beard, black shoes, white socks) crosses paths with THB and says something unintelligible to THB (well, it could’ve been French) and then half-whispers: You a little Jewish? Sounds like a punch line: isn’t everybody a little Jewish? A line JOB would’ve loved…maybe she heard it?

You think Marianne got asked if she was a little Jewish?

Lunch is mezze style: you pick 4 or 5 things and they come jammed together on one plate, along with a basket of rye bread. On THB’s plate: hummus, a bright red pepper, a slice of meat (corned beef?), pepperoncini’s, and eggplant that tasted exactly like it came off a LoCoco’s pizza, and something like eggplant caviar with cumin.  THB has a Schweppes Indian Tonic (no idea what it was when ordered, not much more of an idea after drinking it), DB and Martine have tap water, total for three is 50E.

A short cab ride and we are on the Right Bank in the St Germain arrondissement, which is much more upscale that La Marais (which is very nice), and the galleries are carrying a more expensive, less edgy type of art. Here are a few examples:

 

Actually, THB didn't take pics of art in St Germain, nothing of note, so instead you get this building!

After that, Martine has invited us back to her apartment, and along the way we run into a demonstration that has brought out quite a bit of the local police force. The apartment is in a neighborhood full of ministries (Martin can occasionally see the Prime Minister out on a balcony having a ciggie break). We dodge around the commotion and keep walking, barely breaking stride. That’s because we’re trying to get inside to order THB (if possible) more 2016 O’s tix (THB did not get all the tix he ordered originally, something that has never happened to him before)..

The protesters are hiding behind the bus stop

The apartment is lovely and full of art she or her husband or friends have done and one great feature: glass doors what are made to slide and cover up the kitchen, with a photograph imprinted on the two panels in the middle. THB and DB think this is brilliant and may give it a go at the loft (where a major kitchen remodel is under consideration).

 

Martine's building, very elegant

Bad news: THB and DB are struggling with the French keyboard and Mac and having difficulty logging in to Yahoo. So we shift directly to Cosport, site of the ticket agent. Good news: they have postponed the sale due to technical difficulties (well, they only had 4 years to prep, you can see why they might not have got it quite ready yet).

Sister to the clothing shop DB patronized yesterday

THB and DB decide to walk back to our apartment, maybe 1.5 to 2 miles (round up!).  We had planned to do drinks and snacks and then go out to a spot just down the street for oysters and wine. Showing we are flexible and accommodating, since it is getting close to 6pm, we decide to switch the order and end up going to Le Bar a Huitres first.

GOOD CHOICE!! A glass of Sancerre, one of Muscadet, and two sets of two each of three different oysters, plus bread and butter, lemons and vinaigrette. Or was it six different oysters, two each, served six to a platter, two platters? Or, maybe two each of three unique oysters, times two.

All good! Total 62E. On the same block heading home, THB encourages one more stop, at one of the many chocolate specialty stores, and we select a bar of Sao Tome, 70+%. Another good choice. We round out dinner with apple and cheese and chocolate.

THB is getting used to this pace and growing ever more fond of Paris.