Paris - Part 2

We started our third day by moving from Bois-Colombes to Porte d'Auteuil, on the South-West edge of the city. It took us about an hour to get there on bikes, following the Seine and riding through the Bois de Boulogne. After the last few days of wining and dining, this little bit of exercise actually came as a healthy change and made me realise that I do miss our long days of riding. Anyhow, we were happy to have the chance to catch up with Marie-So who generously let us use her flat while she is away this week. We had a delicious contemporary Asian fusion lunch nearby and saw her off to l'Epiniere to visit my grand-mother. We spent the next few hours lazing around the place, catching up on internet and reading before going for a short walk around the quiet neighbourhood. In the evening, we met up with some friends from my Architecture days here and had a nice little dinner in a creperie Passage-St.-Ambroise, very close to where I lived. Although I felt a bit disoriented coming out of Metro Goncourt, I quickly found my way again and enjoyed stepping into the past for a moment. We did not have time to have a proper tour of the area so we will be back soon. I was a little surprised to see how things had changed. Many bars and cafes did not exist in my time but the ecclectic atmosphere remained intact.



The next day was a moment we had been waiting for for a long time, in fact since our wedding, 7 months ago. Yes, the time had finally come to accept our final wedding gift in the form of a delicious lunch at l'Escargot. This old-school restaurant, whose canopy is topped by a giant golden snail specialises in all things French, from the deep red velvet banquettes to the tasty slimy creatures "a toutes les sauces". In the company of Jeremy and Bastien, a better lunch could not be had. As we emerged with rounded stomachs, we went for a walk in the direction of The Marais, an area known for being gai, jewish, bustling and generally funky. The rue des Rosiers, a street lined with Jewish delicatessen was unuasually quiet as its population was busy celebrating Yum Kippur outside the synagogue at the Place des Vosges. In the evening, we met Victoire, another long-time friend and her fiance for a lovely dinner at their place. Well-fed and cheerful, we got home a little past midnight.



On sunday morning, we did the next best thing after attending a never-ending mass in the Ulmer Munster, and had a fantastic french style breakfast composed of crusty baguette, pastries and cheese with coffee. It doesn't get much better than that. We took our time and then spent a while organising our upcoming social events of which there were many and without a mobile or internet, required a good dose of careful planning. Hard to imagine that's how it was done not so long ago. Eventually, we were able to get on our way and hop on our neglected bikes towards the new "Cite de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine" at Trocadero, renamed "Tricadello" by Chris. The museum successfully combines the Old and New in two separate areas. The ground floor is a succession of gallery spaces painted a deep red showing enormous fragments of stone church facades. Whether these are reconstitutions or the real thing is hard to tell but the effect is impressive. On the second floor is an exhibition of beautiful models and drawings of modern and contemporary projects by French architects all over the world. All this with a direct view of the Eiffel tower creates a great visit. From there, we followed the banks of the Seine, closed to traffic on sundays, and met my friends Rosa and Arny for a coffee near the rue Mouffetard, sitting at a lively terrace watching the world go by. We rode back to our flat just as it started getting dark and made it back for a nice light dinner and an early night.



As most Parisians began another week, we continued enjoying our litle holiday around the city. After a slow start, having another leisurely breakfast, we headed off to our appointment with my cousin Claire to meet Alice, her 10 months old daughter and my second cousin. On our way, we made a quick detour via my old neighgbourhood in Belleville, a Chinese area full of sweat shops, distinctive aromas wifting through the air and colourful activities sprawling all over the footpath. This is not the refined elegance of some other areas of Paris but it has its own charm and I always enjoyed living there. We stopped by a bakery and picked up a box-full of Muslim sweets, marking the end of Ramadan. we got back on the subway and met Claire where she showed us her studio, an old industrial shed in need of serious repairs which she shares with a dozen other artists. Alice was absolutely adorable and we spent a couple hours drinking tea, eating almond and honey sweets and wiping dirt out of her tiny little mouth. We then went back home where I made a delicious mirabelle and marzipane tart for the following night.



Tuesday was another sociable day with both lunch and evening events. We began by meeting my very old friend Morgane for lunch at her place. By old, I don't mean that I spend much time in nursing homes. Rather, Morgane and I have been friends since the age of 3 when we were inseparable. As life has it, we have not been in touch the whole time, only seeing each other once in a blue moon. Through coincidental common friends, we have been reunited during my last visit, almost 3 years ago and seeing her this time was a pleasure, as always. We dropped by her studio on rue de Vaugirard with a box-full of pastries as delicious as they were beautiful. One chocolate, one cherry and pistacchio crumble and one almond and rasberry tart, sounds yummy? Rosa also joined us with some more lunch focused items. We sat on the ground, had coffee and a jolly good time. Sometime in the middle of the afternoon, we went back home to organise the dinner we were hosting for my 5 architecture friends. Chris made spaghetty bolognese to go with a simple salad, we had bread and cheese and of course the scrumptious tart I had made the night before. It was a fine night and we thoroughly enjoyed being so domestic again.



Wednesday morning was a bit slow as we were expecting the visit of a water meter dude who never came. Enventually, feeling bored of waiting, Chris showed us some plumbers crack and checked the meter himself. Around lunchtime, we were finally free to go out. With the afternoon ahead of us and beautiful weather, we headed to Montmartre where the beautiful white Sacred heart church dominates a hill overlooking the roofs of Paris. It was beautiful despite the hoards of tourists and unavoidable buskers everywhere. We had a long coffee sitting at one of the usual gilded bistro tables on the footpath. We then took the Rue Lepic all the way to Pigalle and stopped in front of the Moulin Rouge. We kept going towards the Galeries Lafayette and the large Opera Garnier. We sat on the steps for a while, facing the hustle and bustle of the big boulevards on background of Haussmannian facades. In the evening, we were invited to have dinner at Bastien and Sandrine's place in the suburbs. We had a lovely dinner on their terrace and caught a glimpse of Lena, almost 3 years old, looking much bigger than when I saw her last as a 2 month old baby who could fit in the fold of my arm.



On thursday, we experienced something that had barely happened over the last 7 months : separation. Indeed,we have been joined at the hip since the start of this trip so it was with some concern that I received the news that Chris wanted to explore the city on his own while I partook in more social activities. Having planned another lunch meeting with Morgane, Chris decided that we would have more fun if we were free to speak French without worrying about his isolation and he had a few more things to see. As i went to Morgane's, Chris got on his bike and rode to La Defense, a new(ish) CBD area on the outskirts of the city dominated by the monumental "arche de la Defense" designed by Jean "news" Nouvel in a perfect axis with the older but no less impressive "Arc de Triomphe". We met a few hours later at home, only to get straight back into the metro for a dinner party with my dad and Sophie as well as Antoine and Isabelle, my uncle and aunt responsible for the best night of our trip at a ryokan in Japan. It was great fun and only went too fast.



Getting a taste of independance, Chris decided to go off on his own again while I met up with Rosa & Vivien (Architecture buddies) for a great lunch near their office. Chris had ambitious plans which were unfortunately foiled by a series of unforseeable events. He wanted to visit the Palais de Tokyo (the contemporary art museum) but it was closed due to the installation of a new exhibition. He then attempted to visit the Sainte Chapelle but the length of the line made him turn around. We met a bit later at St-Michel in the rain and kept busy until our very last Paris rendez-vous with Victoire and PH aka. Fffff. We met them at our old haunt, the O'Sullivans for a couple beers followed by dinner.



As our time in Paris came to an end, we both felt pretty lucky to feel so welcome in such an awesome city. With the best weather it got all year, great friends to catch up with, the best bread in the world and a jaw-dropingly beautiful background, our story with Paris was one of requited love. Paris, I love you and I love the way you love me : intensely but when the time comes, you always let me go.