Saturday. We
really understand that the time is ticking down. Yet, we've got 3 full days in Paris -- as
much or more time than our first visit.
Early in this trip we visited the St. Ouen/Marche aux
Puces flea market. We saw some things
that looked like possible additions for our house, posters and antique kitchen
stuff. Back then we took the bus over,
thinking it would give us a different view, and of a different area of Paris,
than the Metro would. It did -- a much
more crowded, less quaint, lower income section of the city. The odd thing about the flea market is that,
while the touristic communications of Paris tout it, it's a bit difficult to
get to. First, since it's at the edge of
the city, beyond the Peripherique (the border), it's a minimum 45 minutes commute. Second, both the bus and Metro let you off 5+
minutes walk from the "actual" flea market and in the center of the
edgier part. It's the part where they're
selling stolen iPhones, fake Rolexes, knock off clothing, used shoes; basically
it’s an area you walk through quickly and keep telling yourself that Paris is
very safe.
We didn't have as much success with the flea market as
we'd hoped. The things we thought were
cute 2 months ago didn't seem that appealing.
And the posters were reprints.
So, after a wander through, we left.
Maxine to do some last shopping and me to go home to Emmy.
Dinner was great!
We decided that our last Parisian restaurant meal would be back at
Juveniles. The history of our interest
in Juveniles is this. We've long been
fans of a restaurant called Willi's Wine Bar.
The two partners who owned it were Mark Williamson and Tim Johnson. At some point they opened Juveniles around
the block from Willi's. At some later
point the partners split up and Tim Johnson got Juveniles. This trip we made our first visits to
Juvenile and loved it! Tim Johnson's
daughter Margaux and her boyfriend have taken over. Good value and GREAT food. This was our 3rd meal there in roughly a
month. If we lived in Paris, we would
definitely be regulars there. Some
highlights from our meals – excellent terrine, duck breast with truffles, a
wonderful potato salad also with truffles, beef bourguignon, potatoes
dauphinoise, mushroom soup with parmesan, the list goes on and on.
Our first meal at Juveniles was a lunch where we talked
to Margaux about her dog (who was in the restaurant) and about raising dogs in
Paris. Then later a great dinner. And now another great dinner, after which Margaux
came over and we talked dogs, Paris, 2nd generation restaurants, and the like
for 20 minutes. We felt part of this
tiny place (no more than 30 seats) and extremely welcome. And, of course, sad that we were
leaving. Margaux told us that next time
we come (she knew we were heading back to LA) we should call ahead and she'd
let us know if Emmy could come too. What
seemed sad is that we know this nascent feeling of belonging will evaporate,
that it will be years before we would next be at Juveniles... The choices we make.
Sunday. The
Rally. There's not much point in
recanting public history here, only our intersection with it. This past week was a horrible one for Paris,
and for France. Seventeen people died at
the hands of terrorists. The French 9/11
event had occurred and, having killed the terrorists, the city and country were
trying to get back on its feet. Numerous
marches were held across the country with a final one in Paris on this
day. Starting at Place Republique and
ending at Place Nation. Crowds expected
to be so large that there were to be 3 march routes, "a" and
"b" (the text announcing the number of routes didn't match the fact that
only 2 were mapped out). On Thursday
we'd gone to the Place Republique site, so we decided to go to Place Nation
today. It was tricky to get there. It seemed like most of Paris was going, at
least based on the crowds on the Metro trains.
But, eventually we made it. We're
glad we did. Throughout this trip, as
well as in our planning for it, we had the intention to feel part of this
city. We were here long enough -- we
wanted to experience the city as residents did.
And being surrounded by crowds of thousands, who occasionally broke into
song (Marseillaise) or applause, was inspiring.
We knew we were only very slightly peripherally part of all of this, but
yet we felt a solidarity with the anguish the residents felt and were glad to
join them in making a statement against terrorism and intolerance. "Je suis Charlie"...
From Maxine -- During
our trip, I was reluctant to embrace France given the evidence of resurgent
anti-Semitism and attacks on Jewish institutions (both rhetorical and
actual). After seeing the sentiments of
the French people at the march including the many signs referencing Hyper
Cacher and “Je suis Juif” (I am Jewish) and the statements of government
officials, especially Prime Minister Manuel Valls, I was very relieved.
Sunday night was one last "salon", at Jim
Haynes'. Someone we met the week before,
a chef who was simply another guest, had offered to cook. As always, it was fun to randomly talk to the
people you meet at one of Jim's parties.
Monday was a day of packing and last moments to savor the
city. We spent the morning packing and
organizing and didn't get out till 1pm.
And we had to travel with one-use Metro tickets since our passes were no
longer valid. We took the neighborhood
bus over to the Eiffel Tower and from there walked along the Seine. And ran into the chef (from Jim's, the night
before) and his wife who were also walking this city. Lunch at a cafe on Boulevard St.
Germain. Some macarons from Pierre Herme
for Maxine, and some last wistful views of the Louvre and other aspects of the
city that we'll miss. Then home to
finish packing, for Maxine to make dinner from the last of what was in our
refrigerator, and one last drink. Yes,
Emmy got her last Paris experience, one last trip to the neighborhood cafe that
she visited 3-4 times already. A last
look at both the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, then we were done. We'd said our goodbyes to this city that we'd
lived in for 3 months. And we were ready
for the arduous day back to Los Angeles.
Tuesday was sort of a bad day for Emmy... Air France had a "reputation" for
taking very good care of pets, but they did not live up to it this time. We were able to watch how she was treated
from inside the plane! First, the guy
who brought her, in her crate, out to the plane did so swinging it back and
forth. We can only guess how it felt to
her inside the crate! Second, they left
her on the runway for over a half hour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Third, they dropped 3 different other pieces
of luggage on her, knowingly. And, all
of this with winds outside strong enough that we saw a suitcase roll 20 feet
pushed by the wind. We tried to get help
and spoke to 4 flight attendants, one of whom supposedly spoke to the
pilot. But, despite the assurances, it
wasn't handled well. And as I write this
days later, I'm still pissed at Air France.
Or actually furious. Yes, Emmy
survived with no sign that she even remembers being badly treated. But, it shouldn't have happened.
And fourteen hours later, we're in Los Angeles. All of our luggage arrives. We wait 20 more minutes for Emmy and finally
an unattended elevator door opens and she (in her crate) had simply been put
into the elevator. We have no idea how
long she was in the elevator waiting for us...
OK, enough of that.
We got home. The house was
intact. I'd forgotten our alarm system
security code and Maxine had to remind me!
We missed the elections, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New
Years. We were reminded of all of those
missed holidays as we went through the mail we'd accumulated.
Here in LA the weather is in the mid-70's without a cloud
in the sky. Our home is our home and
we're back in it. We're currently waking
up very early and eating lunch at 11am as our bodies gradually readjust to
living in this time zone. But, we are
home.
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