Monday we stayed home.
Entirely. We’d felt like we’d
been running too much over the past few days and wanted to catch up. “Life maintenance”. We went to the grocery store. Cleaned the apartment. Paid bills online. Tried to get this computer to run
faster! Did laundry. Swept and mopped up. A truly simple day. We could have been anywhere…
One Emmy note. She’s
always been mischievous. Climbing out of
things. Digging under them. And bored easily. Including the food she eats. We brought some of her usual food with us
from LA, but that started to run out so we bought a different dog food here in
Paris. And, she dove into it. But, a few weeks in, she was eating less and
less each day of her “new” Paris food, so we bought yet another different
flavor/brand. And, now she likes this
and ignores what had been her “new” Paris food for the “newer” Paris food. My theory about her is that, more than any
other dog we've had, she simply gets bored and wants something different.
Tuesday we had friends arrive from Los Angeles. They were real troupers! Wanted to go out and fight against the jet
lag, which had to be really rough for them since their flight schedule had them
taking two red-eyes. First LA to
Philadelphia, most of the day at PHL airport, then overnight to Paris. We were impressed at their stamina.
It was good to greet old friends. After they settled in,
we ultimately went out for dinner to Le Relais de l”Entrecote. It’s a small chain and makes eating
simple. There’s no choice, other than how
you want your steak cooked, what wine you want, and what dessert. Shortly after you arrive, they bring
salad. Then steak and fries. Then, seconds of the steak and fries (quite
unusual for a French restaurant, or any restaurant for that matter, to bring
you seconds!). During our evening out,
we also did some walking. To St.
Sulpice, the 2nd largest church in Paris, and in our old
neighborhood in the 6th arrondissement. And to Shakespeare and Co. (More about this store in a separate
blog!). Past Notre Dame, lit up for the
evening. Finally home.
Wednesday we did separate things from our friends. They’d signed up for the HopOn HopOff bus and toured the city. Maxine and I went to the 8th
arrondissement to look at the high end food shops. Hediard and Fouchon for groceries (they’ve
both gone glam and displayed products aimed at tourists). The House of Honey. The House of Truffles. The House of Mustard. We thought about lunch at the Restaurant of
Truffles, but went for Italian fast food instead (there was a line of locals
out the door) It was a real bargain,
tasty, and besides the next day there was a Groupon for the Restaurant of
Truffles, so we’ll get there anyway.
We also did a lot of window shopping at the designer
stores along rue St. Honore (the French word for window shopping translates to “window
licking”). Ended up crossing the Champs
Elysee to the location of the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais. They’re both used for exhibit spaces and
museums now. We planned to go to the
Hokusai (Japanese brush paintings) exhibit at the Grand Palais because I (Tom)
REALLY like brush paintings, but there was a 2 hour wait to get in, so we went
across the street to the Petit Palais and their Baccarat exhibit, which was
also on our list. We put a ton of
pictures from it up in another blog entry.
I (Tom) spent the evening at a philosophy debate group
meeting and Maxine took it easy at home.
What I’m finding interesting about this debate group are: a) it attracts
all kinds of people, from tourists to professional philosophers (professors)
which is great; b) the pro’s seem to all
practice what I've heard called “Continental Philosophy”, which involves
quoting philosophers, versus what’s typically taught in America, and possibly
elsewhere, “Analytic Philosophy”, where it’s all about the ideas; c) All
languages are welcome! The organizer was able to translate people’s phrases
from both German and French into English, the common language of the
meetings; d) the organizer picks topics
that don’t lend themselves to being narrowed down, thus encouraging wide
ranging debate.
It was fun (for me). But, I am going to do one thing at the next
meeting to have some fun. I don’t
particularly like the Continental Philosophy style and some people abuse it,
quoting their version of a philosopher to “prove” their point and make it something
you can’t object to (“If only you knew Heidegger, you would agree”, etc.) I've come up with a technique to combat this,
inventing quotes from fake philosophers. So, at next
month’s meeting, don’t be surprised if I report winning a point by quoting “Ringo
Starr” (not really, everyone knows him), but, you get my point…
Thurday we took our friends to the Marais district. Saw the Place des Vosges, wandered the old
streets with their historic buildings, galleries and shops, had falafel (again
for Tom) at L’As Du Falafel so they could see what that was like. I (Tom) got to taste my first Made In Israel beer, Maccabbee. Then we had a nice dinner at Willi’s Wine Bar
(photo from it on another blog post).
Friday, our friends spent the day at the Louvre. I warned them that it would be a TOUGH
day. Every time I go there my feet hurt
by the end of the visit. There’s just so
much ground to cover. There’s a booklet,
something like “The 39 Most Important Things to See at the Louvre” and just
covering those is a long and painful day.
They should be home in an hour – we’ll see how they did…
Since it’s going to be in the 40’s tonight, we’re going out
for comfort food, sausages, lentil salad with bacon, and a dish called aligot (mashed
potatoes & cheese -- delicious). It’s
a restaurant called L’Ambassade d’Auvergne.
We went last time we were in Paris, on a rainy night, and it’s great on
a cold night. Maxine enjoyed it so much
last time that she wrote a letter to Bon Appetit Magazine which in turn
published the recipe for the lentil salad.
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