Paris day 4

We headed out with the idea of doing some shopping and then coming home, but in the end we didn't come home till early evening. First we went to Gibert Joseph for music, and then for books. I didn't find any music, but I bought a few books (from the Donjon comic series). (Graziella had suggested some French musicians to me, because I asked, but I couldn't find any of them in the store. Later she asked if I had tried looking under "variétés françaises" – no I had not, but I guess that makes sense. I forget that that section exists. It reminds me of when as a kid I couldn't find Tina Turner's "Private Dancer" because is was filed under "soul".)

We we went to Fnac to pick up our Rufus Wainwright tickets, and then perused the clothing at Celio (but didn't end up buying anything).

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant called something like Bistro du Métro on Blvd de Montparnasse, which we had been to before. Tony: steak tartare (very good, lots of caper, much better than last night). Eric: duck grilled with honey sauce (good but too sweet and too strong a honey taste). We split a pitcher of rosé with it. After lunch we passed by Poilâne to buy a couple of their exquisite apple tarts, which we saved for later.

We went to Au Bon Marché, which was fun, but we didn't find anything we wanted – not even anything worth trying on. It's often pretty expensive there. (I always have this experience: I see a shirt with a nice cut, but which isn't otherwise quite my style. Still, I'm curious enough to check the price; ~€500!)

Then we walked quite a while past the Invalides and the Ecole Militaire/Champs de Mars to get to Rue de Commerce, where one of Paris' two Jules locations is. Jules is where I bought one of my favorite pairs of pants during our last trip to France. This time I bought two new pairs of pants, but didn't find a shirt I liked. Eric found himself a shirt. I was pleased to have bought something, because it was pretty far to walk for no reason. I suppose it would have been more reasonable to take the train there and then walk around, and then take the train back. But it was more or less fun... though the route out there – the more direct one, that is – is not all that scenic. We did stop along the way for refreshments at a café by the Ecole Militaire, where I had an Orangina and Eric had a beer.

We did take the train home, at least to Odéon, where we stopped by both English language bookstores in St Germaine de Prés to find Eric something to read. Finally we got back to the apartment where we rested a bit and had some delicious Poilâne apple tart.

Finally we set out to meet Graziella. The time we were to meet her was not set because she had to go to the doctor, and she was going to let us know when she was on her way. We thought we'd find a nice place to sit and wait for her. On our way down to Odéon, we heard the sounds of a big brass band. A group of musicians were performing on the sidewalk in front of les Jardins de Luxembourg. Among other familar songs, they played Donna Summers' "Hot Stuff", which was pretty funny. Musically, they are a bit like Chicago's Mucca Pazza, but the music seemed to be all or mostly covers. We stopped to listen. They were selling CD's, and I wanted one, but I didn't want to try to make change, so I didn't get one. (And come to think of it, I didn't give them a tip, either.) They are called Les Plaies Mobiles, and I will look them up later.

We met Graziella at Odéon (not having time to find a nice place to sit) and ended up having drinks at Indiana, a Tex-Mex place where we've met her on other trips. It's fine, but a little goofy. They are known for cocktails, but we didn't have any. Eric and I had beers (Adelscott – made from Whiskey malt) and Graziella had a pastis.

For dinner we had planned to eat at one of the two rôtisseries we couldn't eat at last night (both were closed Sunday nights). We flipped a coin, went to one, got there and changed out minds and went to the other, called Avant Seine. It was pretty good. We drank more Bourgeuil. Tony: roast blue-foot chicken (which should have been better, thought the sauce was lovely), and then an apple and fruits rouges crumble (the French word for crumble is crumble). Eric: steak and marrow bone (good but not as special as one might hope), then strawberries with crème chantilly (whipped cream – typically unsweetened and not stuffly whipped). Graziella: pork ribs with honey sauce (the best thing at the table, really nice), and the same strawberry dessert as Eric.

Labels: france, journal

posted by Tony at 5:17 PM