September 14-18
The last five days have been so much fun! As you know, John and Doug joined us on the 11th for a short visit. (You may also remember John from such incidents as the famous Salzburg "Ein Bahn" incident) They have both been to Paris numerous times, so they have already seen most of the major sites and visited many of the museums. It was time to test the theory that you can do Paris on a budget!
As with any big city, food will often make or break you. Shaun and I have the great fortune of having an apartment with an excellent kitchen. We decided early on to do breakfast most days in the apartment. We make coffee and eggs, with fruit and bread or pastry. Having a good base is important because we are probably walking at least five miles every day. We always get another coffee later in the day at a Cafe and that is our splurge.
Lunches are another great money saver. There's a million ways to get a decent, cheap lunch in Paris. First, there are the sandwiches. Ham, Chicken or Cheese on a freshly baked baguette is always a winner. Shaun and I have done sandwiches and drinks for less than 10 euro total for both of us. If we want a sit-down lunch, Japanese can't be beat. Almost every Japanese restaurant has a Lunch "formule" that consists of Miso Soup, a small salad, 6 sushi rolls, plus ravioli or brochettes and white rice for less than 10 euro per person. That will really fill you up for the afternoon. Another great option is the middle-eastern take-out places. As de Falafel is the most famous one in Paris. I prefer the falafel (seasoned fried chickpea sandwiches) but Shaun loves the Gyros made with shaved lamb. As with many things in Paris, ordering it "a emporter" (to-go) is always cheaper than sitting down inside.
Lunch at L'As de Falafel with the boys. Fun with Gyros!!
Between the markets and the great kitchen, I've had a blast cooking dinners over here. We usually start with a general idea (fish, meat, chicken) and then decide on what to make based on what we find at the market. There's always something on Promotion, as they call it. The lamb shoulder we had last week was one of those, as was the monkfish. I also love slow-cooked sauces and they are great because I can make a big batch and freeze half for another night. We've had Bolognese Sauce twice and a yummy Duck Ragu. With a salad, some crusty bread and wine, that's a lovely dinner. Sometimes we don't even need to cook. One night we bought a whole roast chicken with potatoes from a vendor on Rue de Buci. It came to less than 16 euro and fed all four of us easily. If we have dinner in, we can afford to have a drink and maybe a dessert out later.
Gratuitous food pics. This is the Pasta Bolognese, second time around
The ridiculously good roasted chicken from the guy with the red awning just off Rue de Buci. I tell you that because you need to get one of these if you ever come here.
But you can't come to Paris without having some great dinners out, so we had a fabulous splurge night this week as well. The restaurant was called Au Fil des Saisons. It was in a great little book I had brought with me called "Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris". She mentioned that it was a little off the beaten path, but we had no idea how hard it was to find. We had almost given up when Shaun ran ahead and checked down one more little alleyway. Thank goodness he found it!
The restaurant is really cute, but it was the food and the service we really enjoyed! Yep, we are in Paris and the waiter was super friendly and sweet. When we arrived at the restaurant we sat down and he brought over the blackboard. This is very common in Paris, especially at the smaller restaurants. Instead of a printed menu, there is a blackboard that lists your choices for the night. Now, my french is conversational, but as I found out last time I came to Paris, no one teaches you the words for specialty food dishes! (You don't want to guess either unless your idea of gourmet involves Veal Brains or Lamb Testicles!) You can't find these words/phrases in most normal phrase books either, so I brought along a great little food guide from Patricia Wells. It's just a list of food terms that you would find on a menu. So when the waiter asked us if we spoke French, we said "oui" and he left us with the blackboard...for about a minute. When he saw me looking up words in this little packet of papers, he asked in English what I was looking at. I told him it was like a dictionary for French food, which apparently intrigued him. Next thing I knew, he had pulled up a chair and was looking it over with me! He was impressed that the things we were looking up were in the little guide, but must have thought that was too much work, so he just went over all the items in English. The most difficult part of the evening was choosing from that menu, it all sounded so delicious!
We picked one entree to share (don't forget that means Starter in France) which was a completely decadent ravioli in a four cheese sauce, served piping hot in a little yellow pot. For meals, John and I both got the Onglet of Boeuf. It was like a flank steak, but better, much more tender. Doug got a shrimp risotto and Shaun got the 7 hour duck confit. Everything was ridiculously good, including the side dishes. We were talking about how that is a sign of a really good restaurant--when they take as much care with the sides as they do with the main courses.
Not a great photo but the food was so good I just had to put it on here!
Our waiter came and sat with us again before dessert. He was either very tired or found us very charming- I prefer to believe the latter! He asked where we were from and when Shaun and I said Boston, he told us that he had just returned from a year working at the Boston Harbor Hotel! Small world, once again. When it came time to order dessert, nobody wanted to miss out, so instead of ordering one or two things and sharing, everyone ordered their own. A Chocolate Profiterole for me, Individual chocolate cakes with a hot caramel center for both Shaun and Doug. You would think that would be the winner, but nope. John ordered a cheesecake with some sort of fresh raspberry and rhubarb center. It was just out of this world. We did try to save a little by ordering the house wine, but other than that it was a true splurge night and well worth every cent. There's nothing more disappointing than splurging on mediocre food. Fortunately for us there was nothing mediocre about Au Fil des Saisons.
But once again, I'm talking all about food when there has been so much more going on! Our great experiment with Paris on the cheap continued this week with what I will call "Eileen's Best Kept Secrets of Paris". (I can call it that because it's my Blog!!) As I've mentioned in earlier posts, there is no charge to walk along the Seine or to sit in the Luxembourg gardens. You can wander through the Tuileries and up to Sacre Couer all you want without paying a cent. But sometimes, with just a few Euro, you can see so much more. A perfect example is the Rodin Museum.
The Rodin Museum is one of the smaller museums in Paris, but well worth a visit. I actually prefer the smaller museums to places like the Louvre because you really get a feel for the artist. Auguste Rodin was a french sculptor in the 1800's who, like many great artists, has come to be better appreciated in the many years since his death. The museum itself has many of his works inside, including one of my favorite sculptures, called "The Kiss". If you have never seen it, it is worth the price of admission to the museum. However, if you want one of the best bargains in Paris, just buy the ticket to tour the gardens for 1 Euro!
In the gardens at the Rodin Musem
On this morning, we were joined by John and Doug's friend Darrel, a Canadian expat who has been living in Paris for a few years. John and Doug hadn't seen Darrel in a long time, so first we went to the Cafe where we had coffee and talked to Darrel about his experiences living in Paris. It was very interesting to hear his persepctive. Then five of us strolled the grounds where you can see some of Rodin's most famous works, like The Burghers of Calais, the Gates of Hell and everybody's favorite, The Thinker.
Oh yeah? I dare you to NOT take this photo when you come here. I've been three times now and I have three pics like this. Maybe someday I'll do my own retrosepctive.
The grounds are gorgeous. The sculptures are scattered throughout and the small cafe sells coffee, desserts and even hot food so you can stay all day if you like. There are fountains and beautiful gardens and if you know where to look, there are even lounge chairs for relaxing. I know this because the last time Shaun and I were in Paris we literally took a nap in the lounge chairs at the back of the gardens. I now refer to the Rodin Museum as my favorite napping spot in Paris!!
Another fabulous deal is the top of the Pompidou Center. The Pompidou is the Modern Art Museum in Paris and it is housed in a crazy building where all the pipes are on the outside. Its a bit of an eyesore in my opinion, but it houses another excellent deal. For 3 Euro, you can go to the top of the Pompidou where there are the most spectacular views of Paris. (This is new, you used to have to pay full fare to visit the top!) There is a fabulously expensive restaurant up there called Georges, which I am convinced is run by supermodels since they all have legs up to their ears and skirts that barely cover their butts. (I'm sure that's not why Shaun likes it so much though!) Even if you can't afford to eat at Georges though, it is worth the money to order a glass of wine and sit and enjoy the views for an hour, which is exactly what we did. Of course, if you like Modern Art, you can pay the full fare and enjoy the paint splashes and "Still life with Toilet Seat" (I made that up, but who knows, it may be real) and whatever other crazy new exhibits they have going on.
On the way up the escalator. Doug looks suspicious. Maybe he thinks we're going to trick him into looking at some Modern Art!!
Shaun and I at Georges at the top of the Pompidou. All we can afford is wine, but really, what else could you want?
The view from the top of the Pompidou.
Fabulous Deal number three is festivals, festivals, festivals!! There seems to always be some sort of festival going on here and when they do a festival there is no shortage of food or wine tasting! Since we have been here, Shaun and I have attended a Spanish food festival, a festival of biking and a REALLY fun festival celebrating the food and wine of South-West France, an area called the Garonne. Actually we attended this one twice it was so much fun! The first time we were with John and Doug. John and I spent a little time wandering the festival, but it was so crowded that day we ended up going across the Seine to a park behind Notre Dame to read after a little while. Shaun and Doug meanwhile, went wine tasting up and down the rows. Un Gout (a taste) is free and I have a feeling they both had enough Gouts to fill a few glasses that day. After filling up on those delicious wines, we all sat on the benches in the park to read for a while. Just lovely.
The festival was right along the river
John and Doug reading in the park
And what could be more exciting than a picture of people reading in a park? TWO pictures of people reading in a park!!
Our second visit to that Festival came on Sunday for Shaun and I. It was one of my favorite days here because everything we did was so completely different. We started that day with the intention of rollerblading. Paris has two huge rollerblading events every week in the good weather months. The first is Pari Roller, which takes place on Friday nights. This is one I will probably never attempt. It starts at 10PM (around my bedtime) it goes for 3 hours (way exceeding my exercise limit) and it is FAST. I'm quite sure I would make it about 2 minutes before getting rolled into one of those pancakes like you see in the cartoons. The other event is Rollers and Coquillages which takes place on Sunday at a more leisurely rate. This one is for less advanced rollerbladers. We weren't sure whether we wanted to do the group ride, but we knew we wanted to go roller blading so we headed out to the rental place at Bastille to decide.
On the advice of John and Doug, we arrived just when they opened at noon. We rented our skates and walked down toward the Seine. (We needed to pick up lunch and felt that the cafe owners wouldn't appreciate the skates!) We grabbed two sandwiches and waters and walked down to the Pont Marie (Marie Bridge). I would have been content had we just eaten that picnic lunch by the river, but there was blading to do so off we went!! Every Sunday the city shuts down long stretches of road by the river for the bikers, runners, walkers and rollerbladers to enjoy. After some initial problems with my skates (rentals are never great quality) we were off!! I won't bore you with all the details but let me just say, rollerblading in and out of the tunnels was totally cool!! We both had a great time, but after an hour or so we decided we didn't really want to follow that up with the 3 hour city ride. Maybe next week.
Lunch along the Seine, nothing but crappy scenery around here...
That blur is Shaun blading through the tunnel at warp speed. Lets just say I'm not as fast.
See, no blinding flash as I rollerblade. Oh well, we will definitely do this again. It was loads of fun.
After that we headed back to the festival. We sampled wine and bought a little cheese plate and a fabulous dessert made with pears, dark chocolate and light as air phyllo. All I can tell you is that my fingers were soaked in butter from that dessert. Mmm...butter.
I think Shaun may actually have been saying Mmmmm....Butter
We picked up a few bottles of wine (a bargain at 6 euro) and headed back to the house to put them away. For dinner that night I made a chicken piccata with pasta and steamed broccoli which we ate pretty early because it was movie night! All over Paris there are little movie theaters. Many of them show American films in what they call VO (Version Originale which means the movie is shown in English and there are French subtitles for the locals. Shaun thought it would be interesting to watch Midnight in Paris while we were in Paris, and it was. It was totally surreal to watch a movie about a guy who loves walking in the rain in Paris and then come out and walk in the rain in Paris!! The other great thing about these little theaters is that the movies are usually second run, so the price is right!
After that, we walked around the city for a little while, but we had a destination in mind. It was Sunday night and the Patriots were the 4:00 game (EDT) so at 10PM we arrived at "the Great Canadian", a pub right down the street from us that shows all the NFL games on Sunday. Maybe it isn't a very Parisian thing to do but we had a great time watching the game with the 50 or so other NFL fans who had converged on the Great Canadian that evening.
So that is Paris on a budget! John and Doug were the perfect people to experiment with. They had done most of the touristy stuff, so they really enjoyed doing the markets and festivals and dinners at home. We really enjoyed their company as well! It was fun to add someone else's perspective to the planning and wandering. And as much as Shaun and I love each other's company, it is always fun to have "special guest stars"!
And speaking of special guest stars, our friends Ted and Gina will arrive on Thursday for a quick three day visit. (You may remember Gina from such events as "Best Woman at my Wedding"). We need to start resting up! These are two of my favorite people in the world and Ted has never been to Paris. Gina has been, but only on business so we want to really show them the city. There will be lots on the agenda and lots of wine I'm sure so Au Revoir for now! I'll be back in touch later this week!
Farewell from one of the Burghers of Calais!! He happened to be on a death march, but he was later saved so don't feel TOO bad!
More pictures of people reading please.
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