Highlights from the Blur

 

The Mona Cheesa - latest nominee for cheesiest souvenir

 

Yes, I’m alive. I’ve just been in hiding. What do you think of my disguise?

I have fallen way behind on my communication here. Mostly because life caught up with me a bit. Between the rest of Debra’s visit, catching up on work, flying to Barcelona and back and now to Heidelberg, I’ve been busy or sleeping.

I don’t want to skip things, so this post is the first in the “catch-up” series.

From cathedrals to patisseries to museums, the balance of Debra’s visit was a blur of activity that I don’t recall in complete chronological order. Thank goodness for my cameras, notes and store/restaurant receipts… and of course pictures like this one.

We ate, played and shopped quite a bit. While no Jacques’ really approached us (they seem to like it when you are flying solo) we did spot some interesting male characters that I will note later in this post.

EAT - While we dined and sampled quite a bit, the stand out moments were these:

Can 2 bumpkins from the states dine like Barack? Yes we can! Sort of. We had a very nice lunch at La Fontaine du Mars.This restaurant, not far from the Eiffel Tower, is now even more notorious because of it’s most recent famous diner: Monsieur President Obama. We arrived for lunch at La Fontaine without a reservation, at noon on the dot just as they were opening. Thank goodness we arrived early, because there was just one table left. It was crammed in the corner for the “special guests.” (And I’m not talking about chief executive sort of “special guests” either.) No one else- especially the regular elite crowd - would settle for this sad little table but we were perfectly happy. Since we were not behaving like the typical 4-course foodie  or” ladies who lunch” crowd we  knew we were not the most popular diners. We simply wanted lunch, something good, and to eat where Barack ate… or at least within a few meters. (Look at that. I’ve gone all metric system!)

Hail to the Chef!

Our waiter was none too pleased that we only ordered entrees, no wine and no dessert. Such peasants! Really, we didn’t have  the time or appetite on that particular day. I had chicken with chantarelles (yum!) and Debra had the most enormous pork chop I have ever seen. I know, you are probably saying “Chicken?” You could have had tripe, escargot or calf’s brains. Perhaps some rabbit?” My chicken was excellent and I was content to watch the ladies next to us be more adventurous as they dug into all of the items listed above. They went on to enjoy some nice desserts as well. The mound of tiny srawberries made me wish we had more time. It took us almost as long to get out of there as it did for them. We were being ignored just a little, as you can imagine. Oh well. I’m sure our lack of adventur-some-ness was something of an insult to the restaurant and every one working there. If I go back, I’ll wear a disguise and try to eat some body part of something that I don’t really want to try. Maybe I’ll even like it.

The other noteworthy eating adventure was both of our first ever visit to Laduree, the famous patisserie. We went to the original location on Rue Royale. I have heard of the place but didn’t realize until we entered how special it is. Tourists and locals alike flock to Laduree to pick up macaroons and other tantalizing treats for the taste buds. We found the atmosphere just as delicious. There are cherubs baking pastries adorning the ceiling. Everything in the tea room makes you feel like royalty. I’ve been collecting Paris rooms to include in my “Princess Dream House.” I’ve decided that Laduree’s tea room is most certainly my perfect dining room.

Feeling like a princess, I ordered Marie Antoinette’s Tea. (“Let them drink spicy black tea with a hint of vanilla and fruit floating in it!) and something I couldn’t even imagine: A cream puff with violet cream filling, violet ganache and crystallized violet on top. Was it purple? Yes. Almost as purple as if Barney were a pastry. It could have sung “I love you, you love me… “. Was it delicious? It was heavenly. I’ve often avoided French pastries because I had made up a story that they are all looks and no flavor. Au contraire! I had not eaten the good ones yet. This little violet work of art was as delicate and regal sliding over taste buds as the finest silk. OK, maybe I’m getting carried away with the princess theme. Let me just say that it was exceptional. Debra’s tarte tartine was also scrumptious.

Will that be all, Your Majesty?

The other diners did not disappoint. A rather eccentric looking woman was sitting, with her dog, directly to my right. She was dressed in lots of colors and textures in a very imaginative combination. I’m not talking Paris Chic, I’m talking Paris Flea Market Quirky. I kept sneaking shots of woman and dog with my flipcam. In the end, Debra caught her getting a shot of me with her pink cell phone. I wonder if I’m in her blog? Caption: “Tacky American tourist in dull attire making a fool of herself in Laduree.”

PLAY – On Friday, we took a side trip to Chartres, home of the cathedral, Notre Dame de Chartres. It is a lovely gothic cathedral with a famous labyrinth. We purposely went on Friday so we could walk the labyrinth. I’m not much for still meditation, but I do enjoy moving meditations. Walking a labyrinth is one way to do this. Both Debra and I took our turn. It was a surreal experience. Here we were, shoes off, reverence on, slowly making our way along the twists and turns on this stone floor where millions of other feet have tread. The idea is to connect with spirit, god, or whatever you want to call it. I was also enjoying connecting with all of the other souls (and their soles) who had walked it before me.

 Meanwhile, half the people standing in the labyrinth had no idea where they are standing. Many of them were trying to get a good shot of the Rose Window or some other element of the cathedral. Walking along in my deeply-in-touch-with-the-oneness-of-the-universe state, I had to dodge or step around a number of  these “unenlightened boobs.” I’m sure they were as confused as I was about what was happening. “Why is this zombie-like woman stepping right into my perfect shot?” “Why is this goofball blocking my spiritual epiphany?” Patience, came the message from on high. They know not what they do. I reminded myself to be a bit more aware of my impact when visiting other places of worship in the future. I’m sure I’ve stepped on someone’s “labyrinth” a few times.

Dude, move! I'm having a precious moment here.

Another noteworthy visit was to Sainte-Chappelle. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post I wanted to go there when it was sunny. The density of the stained glass there deserves some good light. We had heard that part of it was blocked off for renovation. Alas, it was true. That didn’t stop the appreciation for what we could see though. There is no way to describe the infinite amazing details of this place. Everywhere you look a thoughtful adornment has been created. It is as if you have entered a universe of exquisitely wrapped gifts, with jewel encrusted walls. I took some video and made a little movie here. I most certainly can’t do it justice. But, if you have been there and want to pay another visit have a look. I’m mostly posting this video so that I can remember. In my dream house, this is the living room. (Well, maybe with a little less religious adornment, but I’ll keep the color, the motifs and the thousand gorgeous surprises.)

All in all, I think some of our most playful moments were people watching. We met and talked with people on trains. We watched people in cafes and metro stations. We made up stories about them. It is true. There is never a dull moment in Paris if you only open your eyes and look. And then you need a good friend to talk to about it.

During our tea at Laduree that day we heard a big racket outside. Not sure what was going on, we headed for the Place de la Madeleine directly after. There we saw hundreds of people of all ages dressed in elaborate white costumes. There was a big tour-bus type apparatus nearby. There was music and laughter and a general sense of celebration. It turns out a Brazilian festival and annual ritual had just taken place: Lavage de la Madeleine. While we were indulging ourselves with Marie Antoinette’s tea, tarts and crème puffs, they were washing the steps of the Eglise de la Madeleine in a purification ceremony of some sort. What fun! And judging from the sense of celebration, I’ll guess that now that the church was pure and lily-white many of them were off to indulge themselves in some way as well. The circle of life.     

Some of the Costumes at Lavage de la Madeleine

SHOP – We most certainly went into a lot more shops while Debra was here. We shopped along Boulevard St. Germain, Rue St. Dominique, Rue St. Honore, Rue de Rivoli and Rue-Fill-in-the Blank. If there were shoes or yarn in the store we went in.

Speaking of the name Madeleine, here is one of my favorite shops we discovered on Blvd. St. Germain. Medeleine Cely (or Gely… not sure.) I don’t know how to describe les objets inside,  but there were these cool handmade parasols and umbrellas, plus other unique and lovely things. The shop directly connected was where they made the stuff. It was like a princess’ dress up plus arts and crafts room. Guess I’ll have to add that to the dream  house, too.  My Prince, are you out there? I hope you’re ready to flip that house!

Princess Play Room

I made my first venture into Galleries Lafayette with Debra late one day. We never made it out of the shoe department. The shoes take up a whole massive floor of this massive store. If you find a pair you like, you had better leave a trail of bread crumbs or they will be lost to you forever. (Maybe that’s why Parisians carry around a baguette all the time?)

I did make my first Paris shoe purchase of the visit – an interesting pair of black flats, made in Brazil. And they are made not of leather… but plastic! Mon Dieu! Plastique??? Trust me, they are very stylish and extremely comfortable. They are a new concept in shoes and I like that they spare the cows. Let’s hope this very special plastic (I was assured of it’s specialness by the saleswoman) has some very special ventilation/anti-odor feature I don’t know about. Time will tell. But they look FAB!

Of course there were also souvenir shops. Debra had to take home some mementos for friends and family. A favorite item of mine was the plastic shopping tote with a complete color metro map on it. How practical is that? I have not bought it yet, but I’m contemplating. Why pull out a metro map when you can just look at your tote?

Debra took home some interesting things. The most amusing was a pound of beurre sel de Mer for a co-worker. If you don’t know how delicious butter can be, try it with big sea salt crystals mixed right in. We bought some after an old friend of mine wrote that when visiting Paris she always takes home some “beurre de mer.”  It occurred to me that she might have been referring to some sort of face cream, but I decided to look for it in the market. Sure enough, there was some butter that said Sel de Mer. We tried it. We tried it again. We tried it on everything. A whole pound of it went into our mouths that week. Debra decided to share the love of salty, buttery goodness and took some in her suitcase.

The Jacques Report- To finish out this post, I will now share with you some of our most interesting Jacques sightings. Again, they are not official because they did not hit on us. But we enjoyed talking about them:

Petit Jacques Bonjour- this little toddler was walking toward us on the street one day. All dimpled cuteness with huge blue eyes, he looked at us with a big drooly grin and exclaimed, “BONE JOOOOER!” Both of us melted like beurre sel de mer on a hot day. He was just about the cutest little thing we ever saw. Such manners for such a tiny tyke. We decided he had just learned the word, and how to use it. Tres cher!

Jacques le King - It’s not official, but we think Elvis may be alive and living somewhere near the Guy Moquet Metro stop. Clad from head to toe in burnt orange (a new palette for the king) this dude had some serious Elvis on. Big, black slicked-back hair and quite a stage presence. Of course, he appeared to be missing a number of teeth and had aged a bit, but why couldn’t it be Elvis? Nobody has ever been certain…

Jacques Flambeau- He was Debra’s discovery. Up by the terrace one night at Sacre Coeur there he was, twirling his fire baton and setting hearts on fire. Well, maybe not but it sounds good. As Debra said… “He’s Smokin’!”

   -Jacques Flambeau

Theme song? Well, everywhere we went we heard two songs. One I’ve already mentioned. “Those Were the Days.” Couldn’t seem to get away from that one!  The other one? “Autumn Leaves.” Here’s about as french a version as you can get:

 

I feel a little bit caught up now. Thanks for coming to visit me, dear friend Debra. We had so much fun!

Just after the Twinklies finished their hourly Twinkly Show

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next: EatPlayShop takes a quick trip to Barcelona! I should be back in a couple of days with that one. Stay tuned…

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