Busy Last Days in Paris

Dear Friends and Family, We have been on the go and, thus, the blogging suffers. It is the same in Paris as it is at home, as the last days dwindle down, the calendar fills up. We met our dear friends, Genévieve and Christian for lunch on Wednesday. We met them at the base of the rue de Mouffetard, the famous market street. We had to meet them, of course, in front of Genévieve’s church of the same name: Saint-Genévueve

From there, we drifted up the street and looked over all the stalls, stopping here and there. Christian is a master at chatting up the local vendors. He is absolutely delightful. We then had a lovely lunch at a little out-of-the-way restaurant, simply called Le RESTO. Christian and Genévieve know more fascinating places to eat. That is the joy of being with the locals. It was a lovely meal, perfectly served and hosted by such pleasant people. We continued up the rue de Mouffetard a bit longer and then jumped in the car and enjoyed a bit of Genévieve’s famous racecar style driving through the streets of Paris and returned to her apartment for a brief rest. Then it was on to an art opening of a friend of hers, Alain Roll. He apparently is quite famous and as his pieces were priced at about 10,000 euros, he must have some sort of reputation. We, however, were less than impressed. I may not know art, but I know what I like. It was a long day as Genévieve dropped us off in our hood for a short walk to our apartment. Thursday it was more of the same. Polley and I started off with a really “Grande Crème before meeting them.

Then is was on to the Marais district of Paris. We met them at the Carnavalet Museum around 3 pm.

This museum is about the history of Paris through art and furnishings. We wandered through it for far too long. As Genévive admitted, by the time we were done, we had “overdosed.” I did managed to capture Christian as he dreamt of being Napolean

And as we wandered the streets, caught Polley and Genévive in front a very fashionable Perfumery

We also stopped for some wine and had the most delightful waiter. When I ordered a beer, I emphasiszed the fact that I wanted just a “petite Biere.” That is what he brought me

This little café was just across the street from the house of Victor Hugo

It was a most attractive and very pricey part of Paris. However, the day was still not over. We went back to Genévive’s apartment for another break and then on to dinner. We went to a place called Chez Trassoudaine. It was marvelous. It is run by two brothers, one on the left is the chef and the other, the host.

Great guys with good English and a real love of America. The one had just gotten back from Utah, Colorado, etc. Has heard many good things about Portland and has put it on his list for next time. The food was wonderful. They import meat from Argentina and it is something very special. However, mostly it was just the personalities of the two fellows. Great guys and a great evening. However, between the museum, the beers, the dinner, including Cassis, wine and Calvados, we were done in. Genévieve poured us into a Metro stop and we fell into bed about 1 am. Exhausted! Yesterday was a break. We wandered a bit in the Montmartre area, but never strayed too far from home. We had a nice meal at a Thai restaurant just around the corner. We have just about had it on French traditional meals. A change was called for and it was most welcomed. At this point, I think I have one more brief blog in me. I keep promising pictures of the apartment. I will get those done and send them on. Besides that, I think I am signing off as we will be home on Tuesday. We see Karl Wetzel and his wife for lunch on Monday. They are in Paris and we are getting together at Le Resto for lunch. Then it will be packing and catching a cab at 7:45 am on Tuesday, 16 Octobre. We are ready for some time in Portland!