As our time in Paris comes to an end, I find myself feeling a little wistful about leaving, and I have an urge to to revisit all our favourite places, and do all our favourite things............... just one more time before we go. But it's not possible and the reality is that I've already been and done most things more than once, our favourites anyway.
But if I could................. then these are the places I'd go back to for just one more..............
Our favourite pâtisserie on Rue Saint Antoine - for just one more macaron, one more Bastille ganache, one more yummy something....... anything :-)
The islands - Île Saint-Louis and Île de la Cité - just to wander and explore one more time.
The Latin Quarter - again, just to wander, soak up the atmosphere and the history.
Our local Amorino, for just one more thick, silky Chocolat Chaud............. mmmm!
The Jardin du Luxembourg and the Jardin des Plantes - for one more stroll, to watch the trees becoming greener and the flowers bursting into bloom.
Our local boulangerie, for just one more Baguette Tradition - crusty and chewy and satiny in the middle - divine!!
Just one more view of la Tour Eiffel, one more ride on a Velib, one more cruise down the Seine.
Just one more photograph from a bridge, of the other bridges, one more visit to the markets, one more glimpse of Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, the pyramids of the Musée du Louvre.
Today we visit our local markets on Boulevard Richard Lenoir, one more time. We buy souvlaki wraps for lunch and sit in the middle as the market stall-holders begin to pack up for the day. Then because the sun is shining again (still!!!), we walk down Boulevard Henri IV to the Seine and wander along the rive droite (right bank). This is the panorama that greets us, and my clever husband captures it beautifully with the panorama feature on our little camera - isn't it magnificent? No wonder we've enjoyed this view so much. We think of it as "our view" now :-)
We wander back home by the riverside book sellers, one more time.
Our apartment host pops in later in the afternoon to say farewell. She asks us about our time in Paris, and then suggests a couple more things if we have time to fit them in. Since we've planned to eat dinner out tonight, we ask her for a recommendation in our local area, she used to live here after all. So we take note of her suggestions, one of which is, if we feel like a walk after dinner, to try the Promenade Plantée. Now I've seen this green strip on the map, just a block away, but when we walked in that direction I could never see a park or indeed anything that could be considered "green". But that's because I didn't know what I was looking for.
The Promenade Plantée is not what or where I expected it to be. It's actually a disused railway track ABOVE the street. We've walked under it several times and never really taken notice of what's above. It's a tree-lined walkway that follows the old Vincennes railway line, beginning just east of the Opéra Bastille. At this point it's called the Viaduc des Arts, 10 metres above the line of shops, and follows a 4.7km path eastward. The shops are located in the arches of the former elevated railway viaduct, with the parkway supported above the viaduct. The renovation was started in 1984, and is the first green space constructed on an elevated viaduct.
It's truly beautiful and unique, as we discover when we get up there, and very well patronised by local Parisians who walk (themselves and their dogs), jog and run, use the spaces for Tai Chi, or simply sit to take in the sunshine and the view from above the city.
It also, apparently, appears in a couple of films. I don't know if you're the same, but I love to watch a movie that has places featured in it that I've actually been to (I'm very annoying, I keep saying "I've been there, I stood there, I walked there"), so I'll be looking for this one on DVD when we return to Australia.
We walk about 1.5km, as far as the Jardin du Reuilly, which opens out into a beautiful park and playground area at ground level. This is where I'd come if I lived locally and still had small children. We're glad we decided to do this walk before dinner, in the early evening when the light is so lovely. We could keep walking right to the Bois de Vincennes, but that's another 3km so perhaps not! There's a wooden footbridge over the top of the park, and we take this to head back the way we came.
For our wedding a couple of months ago, a group of lovely friends gave us a gift that would allow us to do something special and memorable together in Paris. So tonight, our second last in Paris, we decide to have a celebratory wedding dinner at a lovely restaurant called Le Square Trousseau, a short walk from our apartment, on Rue Antoine Vollon. The restaurant, one recommended by our apartment host, is out of the main traffic area, in the corner of a square overlooking a pretty park.
The waiters wear white shirts and black bow ties and the decor is typical Parisian brasserie with a touch of class. The waitress recommends the Sainte-Foy Bordeaux aoc Château Les Hauts de Martet, so we happily go with her recommendation, and it turns out to be a lovely vin rouge.
For entree, my wonderful husband of 2 months thinks about the dozen Escargots de Bourgogne, but having never had them before he hesitates and starts to lean towards the more familiar Calamar Frits. I encourage him to try the escargots, in my experience usually delicious when properly cooked. In the end we decide to get both and share. We're married, after all ;-)
The escargots are absolutely wonderful, tender and in a delicious buttery and garlicky parsley sauce. My dextrous husband masters the snail tongs and little fork with aplomb, but just for fun I remind him of the scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts sends a snail flying across the 5 star restaurant - "slippery little suckers" :-) The calamari is tender and delicious too, but not nearly as interesting to eat ;-)
My carnivorous husband is always partial to anything that looks like it could be steak on a menu, so he chooses the Onglet a l'échalote "Black Angus" for his main course, and I decide on Toujours l'Escalope de Veau à la Crème et aux Champignons. Both are really tasty, but we've been a little disappointed with meat in France the whole time - it just doesn't seem as tender as fillet steak in Australia. The vegetables are perfectly cooked and lovely.
One of the things that has surprised us both is that desserts in France don't seem to be filling as they are in Australia - normally there's no way I can eat three courses, and here I've surprised myself a number of times by being able to put away entree, main course and dessert. And all my clothes still fit :-)
Normally making a beeline for anything chocolate, my dessert loving husband surprises me by choosing the Pavlova aux Fruits Rouges, while I select Des Fraises et Framboises, which are served simply with sugar and cream. Both desserts are delicious, the nicest selection of strawberries and raspberries I've had, and the pavlova speaks for itself.
The restaurant uses brown paper tablecloths and provides a glass of chalk sticks, so during dinner I doodle hearts and love notes on the table. My wonderful husband reiterates his amused comment from a few days before, that I'm just like a teenager. Well, isn't he lucky!!! ;-)
Thanks to our lovely friends for your generous gift, we had a wonderful, memorable Parisian evening! xoxo
Thanks to our lovely friends for your generous gift, we had a wonderful, memorable Parisian evening! xoxo
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