We took a cab to the Hotel de Blois in the Montparnasse area, just off the Avenue du Maine. This was a Jeff Gauthier recommendation and it was an area we had not stayed in before as we could not get into our regular place, L’Hotel des Allies. Paris was very busy and many hotels were full.
The Hotel de Blois is a small, family-owned, one-star hotel on the Rue de Plantes. It is run by very nice people, but our room was very small. The room had obviously just been redone and the bathroom had brand new sink, toilet and shower stuffed into a a former small closet (perhaps a reconditioned phone booth). I have never seen a smaller complete bath. When you sat on the toilet, you rested your chin on the sink. It was perfect for one who might be hung-over! I could only flush the toilet by reaching between my legs! Is this too much information? It seemed to me that the hotel must assign certain rooms based on the girth of their guests. Polley and I were just barely a suitable size. They were probably holding out until the last for midgets!
While we were in Paris, our having spent a month in Toulouse seemed to lessen the impact of our visit to the big city. On Thursday, the sun came out and we did venture over to the Les Halles area and wandered around St. Eustache, with the wonderful Giant Head sculpture.
We walked by the Pompidieu Centre, which seemed just a bit faded from our first visit to it in 1978 only a year after its opening. It no longer seems very outrageous. Then, we started down the Rue de Rivoli, passing by the famed L'Opera.
We had then planed to do some serious window shopping, which the French call léche-vitrines: window licking! However, we soon discovered that as it was the 1st of May, it was a holiday in France. And if there is anything the French are serious about beyond food, drink and conversation, it is taking their holidays. Nearly everything was closed. As the weather was not great, we wandered about some and then returned to our hotel and went out for some lunch, but did very little else beyond walking about the neighborhood.
The next day we would get in some window licking by visiting the famed LaFayette Galleries. This is a huge shopping mall for those with beaucoup bucks!
Based on the prices, I could see where one’s mouth would drop open as they looked at the price tags. There were some wild displays, not just there, but in a great many French stores. In Paris, store windows are a real art!
However, what I think was confirmed on this trip is what we have been coming to suspect during this winter and spring. We really travel for people. It is really about meeting new people and revisiting old friends. We enjoyed just sitting in a little café called Felice’s and watching life unfold in the neighborhood we were staying in. There were very few tourists, virtually no English spoken (except for our hotel) and just the stores and business necessary for day-to-day living. We got to be regulars in a very short time. Waiters knew what we ordered and began to more comfortably converse with us.
Mostly, however, this visit was about reuniting with our dear friend, Genevieve Galman. We met Genevieve and her husband, Jacques, at a restaurant in fall, 2001. We kept in contact via e-mail and revisited them in spring, 2002. They took us into their home for dinner and then took us out for a most memorable day at Monet’s home, Giverny. They gave us our beloved Pierrier Jouet champagne glasses; it became a very significant friendship. In 2005, Jacque passed away and we had not been back to Paris or to visit Genevieve since. This visit was not only to renew the friendship, but also to see how she was doing since losing a very important part of her life. The answer, all things considered, is very well. On Thursday evening, we met her at a famous Paris rendevous, Le Chartiers. This is a restaurant right on the edge of the Montmartre that has been in continuous operation since 1896. It has retained the menu and the style of the last 19th century. In the ambience of the Victorian period, male waiters in long aprons bustle about.
When we arrived there was a line out to the street waiting to get in (they take no reservations). In among all those people we found Genevieve. The line of people moved quickly and in a half hour we were seated, quickly renewing our connections to Genevieve.
While the restaurant is a bit touristy and the food is not anything special (I thought of it as the French version of the Spaghetti Factory). It was not the best place to try and carry on a conversation, especially since Genevieve has NO English. She, however, is very expressive and we managed to discuss family, and politics with seemly little difficulty.
Any evening with Genevieve has to include a drive around Paris at night.
Genevieve loves to drive fast with American music blaring out of all speakers. She could easily make a living as a cab driver it she choose! Eventually the tour came to an end and she poured us into our hotel. Actually, Polley and I had to go over to Felices’ for a last glass of wine as we unwound from an evening of working very hard to understand and speak à française!
The next day the weather was even more beautiful and we headed to back to the Rue de Rivoli. From there we went to an special exhibition of the Chinese “Eternal Soldiers (Les Soldats de l’Éternité). These are the life-size terre-cotta sculptures that were created to pay respect to the warriors of the 9th century. An exhibition of copies of these has traveled the world, but these were the actual originals. It was most impressive. Unfortunately no photographs were allowed. But we had a marvelous time at the exhibit. Beyond that, we mostly strolled about. Paris was very busy. It used to be that June 1 was a date that you counted on for the tourist crowd to arrive. Now, I think, the city is packed all the time. There were not many Americans, but there seems to be hundreds of couples, families, etc. from Eastern Europe. Sidewalks, cafes, crosswalks were almost impossible to navigate. We longed for our quiet neighborhood and made our way back, as were having dinner at Genevieve’s home that evening.
We, of course, needed to rest up for another evening of operating totally in French, but when we arrived at 8 p.m., we were delighted(and a little relieved) to find that Genevieve had invited a gentleman friend to join us. This is a man she has met since Jacques passed away. His name is Christian. He is a charming man, a former doctor, who not speaks English, but also has Italian, Spanish and a fair amount of Arabic. He is retired, but donates a great deal of his time to Mercy Corps; he is very active as one would have to be to keep up with Genevieve. And, of course, to the relief of everyone, there was an interpreter and we could all sit back and relax and enjoy a fabulous evening. And we did!
It was a French meal. We had to start with appetizers and champagne. Then, we sat down to an avocado mousse with salmon caviar on top. This was followed by hot foie gras on toast with warmed apples. Then it was a salad, then the cheese course and then dessert.
This, of course, was accompanied by the rest of the champagne and two delicious bottles of Bordeaux wine. Christian is a wine expert as well as a most delightful man. He seems a perfect partner for Genevieve and it is clear that she enjoys his company. Jacques would be a very tough act to follow, but she seems to have found a man up to the task!
As the evening was coming to an end, it is always mandatory to take your glass of brandy or pastis and walk over to Genevieve's window and enjoy the Paris skyline from the 32nd floor of her building.
Genevieve always insists on delivery guests home personally. She will not allow anyone to take the metro at night. So, after midnight, Christian delivered us back to our hotel. Again, keyed up by an unforgettable evening, Polley and I returned to Felices’ for wine (just what we needed) and conversation that allowed us to sort of debrief our sensual overload. It was a glorious Paris night and we sat outside at the café until after 1:30 in the morning, before staggering across the street to our hotel. As I say, it is the people that we love and our hosts by the time our heads had hit the pillow, had moved to the top of our list!
We had one more day in Paris, but that was an adventure on its own, so I will save it for the next entry: Lost in Luxembourg, for next time.!
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