David Decides to Visit a Museum

I've been here for over three months and hadn't stepped into a single museum in Paris (Lynna went to the Rodin Museum with our friends Chris and Emmet), until this past Thursday. While Anabel watched Emmett in the afternoon, Lynna and I visited the Musée d'Orsay, a museum which houses some of the most amazing Impressionist paintings and sculptures from the 19th century.

I (David) really haven't felt the need to visit any museums since on our previous trips to Paris in 2001, 2002 and 2003, we visited many of the museums multiple times and several of them are still pretty fresh in my memory. But nevertheless, no stay in Paris is complete without a visit to the beautiful d'Orsay, housed in a former train station, so off we went.

There were a few new things in the museum since I last visited it including a current exhibiton that contained this strange contemporary art display with a wheeled fruit stand and plastic oranges and lemons along with two of Van Gogh's self portraits. Apparently, it's some sort of post-historic tryptic. Go figure.

As usual, Lynna got herself the audio tour so she could maximize her museum-going experience. I wandered around the museum and managed to snap a few pictures of some of my favorite paintings (sans flash of course).

The first one is Monet's Gare Saint-Lazare, an absolutely amazing piece of work and this picture doesn't do it justice at all. When you approach this painting up close, it's hard to believe that it's a painting of anything discernible--it's rough and the colors and shapes all seem to blend in a very haphazard fashion; but as you step back, you get a very clear impression of the Saint Lazare train station, the bustle of the people waiting for the trains and the movement of an actual train into the station. It's a truly stunning piece of work.

The second piece that I really like is one of Van Gogh's final paintings before his apparent suicide. The piece is called L'église d'Auvers-sur-Oise, vue du chevet (The Church in Auvers-sur-Oise, View from the Chevet). It's a haunting painting of a church with an ominous dark blue sky. The road in front of the church forks to the left and the right, both seeming to disappear behind the church. For me, this painting seems to represent the turbulence and confusion in Van Gogh's final months. It's eerie and beautiful at the same time.

I also managed to snap a picture of Lynna with one of Monet's famous Water Lilies paintings. One memorable picture that I took of Lynna during our honeymoon in October 2001 was of her in front of a sculpture of a white polar bear, listening to her audio tour guide. Since she got the audio tour again this time, we thought it'd be fun to take the same picture.

Here are the 2001 and 2005 versions:

La Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris

On our walk home from running errands a couple nights ago, we decided to pass by Notre Dame Cathedral. Dusk had just set in and the sky behind Notre Dame looked stunning (hard to tell with these photos...we have yet to unleash the full potential of our camera). Emmett had been sitting in the stroller for quite some time, so he was happy to be freed.

A few nights earlier, we had watched as workers on a crane decorated the giant Christmas tree in front of the cathedral, so we were interested in seeing the finished product.

We also gave Emmett a chance to crawl to the very center of France, known as 'Point Zero.' Set in the pavement a couple yards from the main door to the cathedral is a brass marker, and distances from Paris to other cities in France are measured from this point. A few people had left coins on Point Zero which Emmett mistook for playthings and subsequently scattered all over with his little covered paws. Ooops. We pushed all the coins back and took that as a sign to move on....

After hearing part of the beginning of 6:15 pm mass and signing their Book of Life*, we headed home.

*Sad news from home...For those of you who live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you have probably heard about the story of a missing San Francisco man named Jerry Tang. He is a close childhood friend of good friends of ours and someone I had the privilege of hiking with last year. Volunteer and search efforts have been tremendous and are ongoing. It's hard for us to not be able to help out from afar, but we are keeping close tabs on events. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

Paris: the City of Light indeed....

Paris is often popularly referred to as the "City of Light". Being here during the holiday season has really emphasized this aspect of being in Paris even more. Although we don't get to go out at night as much as we would like--since Emmett sleeps at around 9:00 pm or thereabouts--we have had a few chances to catch some of the city lights.

The Champs-Élysées has Christmas lights lighting the main stretch of road all the way up to the Étoile and the Arc de Triomphe. Additionally, the Tour Eiffel is lit up at night and every hour, it glitters for about 10 minutes. We were fortunate enough to catch this event one night as soon as we finished up our dinner at Au Bon Accueil, a great restaurant in the 7th arrondissement.

And as you've already seen, Notre Dame can be incredibly beautiful at night when it is all lit up as well. Keeping true to its name, Paris sure can be one pretty city long after the sun has set.

I hear that an evening bus ride is supposed to be one of the best ways to experience the city lights, but we haven't had the opportunity to do this yet. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to figure out the bus schedules and routes before we leave so that we can take our evening tour around Paris. We'll keep you posted.

Dinner at Bistrot Paul Bert

For my parents' last evening in Paris a couple weeks ago, David and I took them to Bistrot Paul Bert, a short metro ride from our apartment. Neither of us had been here, so we were a bit nervous about bringing my parents and Emmett, not knowing how close together the tables were situated.

We have been in some tiny restaurants where Emmett's portable booster chair is pushed up *right* next to another table making us nervous that he'll reach over and grab something or someone. We needn't have worried because we were greeted warmly and seated at a roomy table where Emmett sat comfortably at the head.

The daily-changing menu was brought to us on a chalkboard, propped up on a chair.

Here's what we had:

• Carpaccio de veau et rognons aux girolles confites (veal and veal kidney carpaccio with chanterelle mushrooms which David thoroughly enjoyed)
  
• Salade de cresson et son oeuf poché à la creme de lardons (watercress salad with a poached egg in a creamy bacon dressing that was a refreshing change from the usual frisee salad with bacon. The cress added a spiciness and different kind of crunch which I loved.)
  
• Feuilleté de ris de veau à la crème de cepes (Veal sweetbread in a puff pastry with porcini mushroom cream -- very decadent, but my mother ate every bite. She loved this preparation.)
  
• Tartare de cabillaud à la citronelle (Hearty chunks of cod and perfectly diced little vegetables in a fruity citrus-olive oil dressing)
  
• Lievre à la royale et sa purée maison (Wild hare with foie gras and celery puree)
  
• Tournedos d'agneau à la huile de poivre et sa polenta (Bacon-wrapped lamb seared in olive oil with a crunch polenta cake)
  
• Entrecote de bouef à la moelle et ses frites maison (David and I both ordered this rib-eye steak that was perfectly charred on the outside and sprinkled with sauteed shallot and topped with chunks of bone marrow. The fries were the only disappointment as they were very thickly cut and not fried long enough in my opinion.)
  

Dessert:

• Croustillant aux pommes et son caramel au beurre salé (slivers of apple baked in a filo dough 'purse') with a sauce of caramel of salted butter
  
• Fondant au chocolat (chocolate cake in a luscious pool of vanilla bean creme anglaise)
  
• Fontainbleau au coulis de fraise (soft sweetened cheese enriched with whipped cream in a strawberry sauce)
  
• Nougat glacé maison et ses coings confit aux epices (Nougat ice cream with spiced quince confit)
  

My parents exclaimed several times during the meal how much they loved the food and the restaurant. My dad, who is usually rather reticent, told our servers twice that the food was excellent. My mom who can be a tough critic to please, asked me, "How did you ever find this place?" Emmett even shared his appreciation by clapping for one of the servers which made her laugh out loud and run to bring the other server over to have him come see.

The service we received was very warm, the two servers doted on Emmett throughout the night, and the terrific menu had a little of everything: standard Parisian and contemporary French fare. Every dish was executed perfectly, and to us, it perfectly represented what typical Paris bistros are serving these days: one or two very fresh ingredients highlighted simply and creatively with not too much fuss or muss.

We will definitely return.

Bistrot Paul Bert
18, rue Paul Bert (11th arr.)

Another Great Picture of Paris

Last week we went to the Montmartre district of Paris to check out a few linen stores nearby and it was just a beautiful day. As we approached the Basilique du Sacré Cœur the sun was low in the sky and the reflection off of the clouds to the west created this brilliant pink-colored light, which shone off of the white church building. Since it was a weekday, Montmartre wasn't overrun with people either, so it made for a perfect picture opportunity. Here's the picture I took from the bottom of the hill.

Quirky Things About our Apartment #2: Houseplants

(Sorry we've fallen behind on this "Apartment Quirk" series. There are too many to list, but we'll try to share a few more before we leave.)

We are the reluctant caretakers of 100* houseplants...




Our apartment has 5 large, almost floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside of each of these windows is a narrow ledge on which the owner of this apartment has crowded with a myriad of potted plants, including rose bushes, geraniums, a grapevine, a willow tree, herbs, ivys, fruit trees, and ferns.


Yes, they add beauty and charm to the outside of our apartment, but I spend way too much time watering and fertilizing these plants. This was not part of the description of the apartment, but I'm terrified of killing them** lest I incur the wrath of the professor, so I fret and worry about keeping them alive.

To make this task even more formidable is the fact that she only has two small watering cans. Thus, each window full of plants requires that I fill two cans, carefully walk to the chosen window so as not to spill a drop of water on the hardwood, water the plants, go back to refill both watering cans, and water the remaining plants again. Multiply this by 5 windows and multiple this again by 3 times a week (at her request) and you can understand some of my frustration. On top of this, the instructions from Professor X state that I must fertilize these plants with two different kinds of fertilizer (one for the fruit trees, the other for flowering plants) every fourth or fifth time I water these plants.


* Okay, maybe it's not 100, as David's mom pointed out to me, but a cursory count indicated there were at least 70.
** I started this entry in September. As of today, I think I've already killed at least 4 of her plants :( And I don't think the leaves are turning brown, drying up, and falling off because it's fall. Sorry, Professor X!

Le Salon Saveurs

The first Sunday of each month is free museum day in Paris. We've been meaning to take advantage of this opportunity since we arrived and our plan was to go to the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris's museum of modern art.

However, on our way home from running errands on Saturday night, I spotted a billboard in the metro station for a salon taking place over the weekend. Impulsively, we decided to postpone our trip to the Pompidou and go to the salon instead.

One of our favorite things about living in Paris is the myriad of salons that take place seemingly every weekend. A salon can best be described as an indoor exposition or show, and they're usually held at a convention center or exhibition hall. We've only attended two salons, the Salon du Chocolat and the one I'm about to describe below, but we've seen billboards in the metro stations and around the city advertising others that usually take place over a weekend. These include salons devoted to tea; cheese; weddings; certified organic products (known here as Agriculture Biologique or AB); farmers' and artisanal products; swimming and aquasports; women's health; sports and fitness; and a salon devoted entirely to celebrating Christmas!

On Sunday, we attended the Salon Saveurs des Plaisirs Gourmands, a food show focusing on (mostly) French artisanal products. Here, purveyors and producers set up elaborate tables and displays and come to talk about and sell their products, most of them offering samples.

This twice-yearly food show held at the Espace Champerret in the 17th arrondissement was a food lover's fantasy come true! Over the course of a little over 3 hours, the three of us tasted our way through stalls upon stalls of delicious products, met friendly food artisans from all over France, and filled up on some tasty goodies to bring home. The December edition apparently has a special focus on Christmas delicacies in France -- foie gras, oysters, truffles, glazed chesnuts, chocolate, champagne -- and there was a section this year with specialties from Italy.

We made an effort to arrive on the early side, and it's a good thing we did because by the time we left, the exhibition hall was rather crowded, being a Sunday and all. The show was set up in two huge halls, with a myriad of small stands at which you could taste and buy a great variety of products. The moment we walked in, we were immediately offered samples of cheese, charcuterie, fresh and canned seafood, condiments, foie gras, olive oil, cookies, fresh fruit juices, honey, jam, chocolate, dried fruit, bread, cakes, pastries, candy, cooking equipment, wine, beer... and a host of other foods too many to remember. The food producers were very friendly and helpful, not to mention generous with their samples.

All that sampling tired us out after a bit, so we decided to sit down and relax with a cleverly designed plate of a dozen raw oysters, complete with a lemon wedge and a built-in cup holder for a bit of white wine! We were also given some butter for the slices of wheat toast that were neatly placed in baskets on all of the tables.

David noticed a cluster of people gathered around eating something creamy, gooey, thick out of bowls. We watched the servers stirring a vat of what looked like mashed potatoes with an oar and decided we had to have some. Indeed we found that it is the best thing to have happened to mashed potatoes.

Aligot (pronounced "ah-lee-go") is a specialty from the Auvergne region of France and is a mixture of mashed potatoes, tomme cheese, cream, butter, and garlic. The result? An elastic-y, out-of-this-world version of mashed potatoes that's warm, filling, fun to eat, and soooo delicious!

Emmett enjoyed a few bites, too. Not only have we found a restaurant that serves it in Paris, but we found a recipe, too, so we'll definitely make it for you once we perfect this elastic-y version of mashed potatoes. We've been dreaming about aligot ever since we got home (and kicking ourselves for not ordering another bowl...).

After sampling more tasty treats, we shared a bowl of the most delicious little raviolis ever, simply bathed in just a few swirls of olive oil. The little pillows were warm and tender and filled with the perfect ratio of cheese to pasta. Naturally, we had to sample the ice cream so we backtracked through the hall until we located the one vendor selling ice cream, Monsieur Fabien Foenix, a.k.a. Mister Ice. I had a scoop each of the chocolat mendiant (chocolate with bits of almonds and dried fruit) and the caramel au beurre salé (caramel of salted butter) while David had a scoop each of the cassis (red currant) and pomme verte (green apple) sorbets. He also sampled some wines and a delicious cognac he's still talking about today.

Best of all, because the subject matter was delicious food, everyone was in a festive mood! A woman accidentally brushed against me and apologized profusely; another woman picked up Emmett's little container of food that rolled away from me; a man backed into me and said "pardonnez-moi" twice; lots of people "tres mignon"-ed Emmett; and a woman tasting wine next to us struck up a friendly conversation. Artisans and purveyors were welcoming and took their time answering our questions. It almost felt like one big cocktail party with everyone standing aroung munching, drinking, and chatting happiy about the food. We saw many people pulling caddies and small dollies, filled to the brim with their favorite treats, perhaps to give away as gifts.

The three of us all went home exhausted but happy, with Emmett's backpack full of goodies (move over, diapers!). Here's what we brought home:

• A jar of marron glace confiture (candied chestnut jam) that I was told would be good on my morning baguette with butter, on a crepe, or with yogurt or fromage blanc.
  
• A little sack of chocolate-covered Sauternes grapes. David took one sample and had to buy some to take home.
  
• A bag of pruneaux d'agen, the best prunes we've ever tasted. They are moist, tender, and sweet with a hint of chocolate. I made a lamb tagine last week that called for prunes and David loved it, wondering why we've never cooked with prunes before. This trip has opened my eyes to the possibilities of prunes!
  
• Two kinds of dry-cured pork sausages (the green one is covered in herbs). This was our first purchase because it was one of the first things we sampled.
  
• A little jar of pavés de raisin (pâte de fruits). Little cubes of fruit jellies that taste just like eating Muscat grapes.
  
• A pot of creme de marron or chestnut creme. I've been eating and buying all the chestnut products I can while I'm here because it's such a French food and much more expensive in the U.S.
  
• A small bag of a dried herb mix for rubbing on lamb. Our friend Jim loves lamb, so we picked this up for him.
  
• A block of demi-sel beurre or slightly salted butter from Monsieur Jean-Yves Bordier. His butter -- le Beurre Bordier -- is a beurre de baratte which is butter that's taken at a certain temperature/texture, then beaten/worked/relaxed with two small wooden paddles. It was fun to watch the gentleman shave a hunk off of a huge block of butter and pat it into a perfect rectangle with his paddles. We came home and immediately spread this on some fresh campagne bread...so simple and so decadent. David keeps asking, "How does pure butter get so yellow?"
  
• A bottle of muscat wine from the Alsace region that David sampled and loved.
  

Here's a picture of our loot!


I hope we can come back for another show in the near future. This was definitely not to be missed....

A Virtual Trip to Jouy-en-Josas

Now that I only have two weeks of school left, I thought that I'd finally post some pictures of my campus and the long trek that I have to make there to go to class. This past Wednesday, I took pictures of my commute and thought I'd take you on a "virtual trip" to HEC in Jouy-en-Josas. So, here we go!

11:46 am: I first board metro line 9 at Oberkampf, which is about a three minute walk from our apartment building. I take this metro line two stops to the Strasbourg-Saint Denis stop and then transfer to metro line 4 towards Porte d'Orleans.

12:07 pm: I arrive at the Montparnasse-Bienvenue metro stop and have a long walk through the underground metro tunnels until I arrive at Gare Montparnasse (train station), which services the suburban commuter trains, but also the high-speed TGV trains bound for south-western France.

12:15 pm: I catch the SNCF "ter Centre" train bound for Chartres, which makes its first stop at the Versailles-Chantiers train station. This train arrives at Versailles-Chantiers remarkably quickly and I have my good friend Michael R. who was on exchange at HEC last fall to thank for the tip on this secret "fast train".

12:28 pm: I arrive at the Versailles-Chantiers train station and make my way down to platform J to catch the "VICK" RER C train which will take me to Jouy-en-Josas.

12:38 pm: The RER C "VICK" train departs from Versailles-Chantiers and after a brief stop at Petit Jouy Les Loges, arrives at Jouy-en-Josas at 12:46 pm.

12:48 pm: I catch the Z bus from the train station at Jouy-en-Josas, which will take me directly to the HEC campus, where I arrive a few minutes before my 1:00 pm class.

The HEC campus is relatively small, but it's situated in a very beautiful location. All of my classes take place in the MBA building, a round building that has about six large classrooms on the ground floor, another six to eight smaller classrooms upstairs and administrative offices on the third floor (the second floor in France, since the ground floor here is considered floor zero). Here are a couple of other pictures of the campus.




These last couple of pictures show the route I have to take if I need to walk back to the train station from campus, which is pretty much every day that I go to class. The first picture is of the back-road short-cut which is a very dimly lit path with occasional stairs that leads down to one of the main roads, rue de la Libération (second picture). Note: this path can be pretty trecherous when it's dark and raining out -- luckily I haven't faced those conditions very many times.

Getting back home to our apartment in Paris from Jouy-en-Josas is another whole ordeal which I won't bother with since this is already probably more information than you'd like to know about my trek to HEC. Overall, it's not a bad commute and I definitely like the convenience of living in Paris as opposed to Jouy-en-Josas, which is pretty much a one street town with one bakery, a pharmacy, a couple of banks, a grocery store and fewer restaurants than I have fingers on my right hand.