It’s Friday and we are off to the Champs Élysée. It is a gorgeous day! We start our walk at Place Concord. The pedestrian walkway lights are not working so we’re risking our lives as we cross the busy traffic circle. Where’s a nun when you need one?? That has been our secret to safe Paris street crossings in the past. On our walk we pass an intersection with gardens and identical fountains on each of the four corners. The last time we were at this exact place, we had the two poodles and there were Christmas trees decorating the corners.
As we approach the first shops on the boulevard, the sidewalks begin to get more crowded. It’s noon and we are thirsty from that rather long walk so we decide it’s lunch time. Pizza sounds really good and we sit down at a sidewalk cafe, Cafe di Roma. The pizza was just OK. Add this restaurant to the list of disappointing meals in Paris.
There are some interesting beggars and scam artists on the boulevard. A woman tries the “gold ring” scam on us. (An innocent-looking person picks up a ring on the ground in front of you and asks if you dropped it. When you say no, the person examines the ring more closely, then shows you a mark “proving” that it’s pure gold. He offers to sell it to you for a good price — which is several times more than he paid for it before dropping it on the sidewalk. And they don’t give up!) We see a man with a horrible (rather unique) disability struggling to walk with crutches begging for money. Almost immediately we see a different man with exactly the same disability! And a young Muslim woman stops in front of us to say something to the two young men sitting next to us on a bench. She literally skips off a few steps from us and plants herself almost prostrate on the sidewalk with a begging cup in front of her.
We buy a few gifts and then walk to the Arc de Triumph. There is an underground pedestrian walkway to get to the monument’s location in the middle of a super busy roundabout. Unfortunately it is closed apparently due to a dedication or memorial service for fire fighters, we think. It is too bad that Gail can’t get a close up photo of the four sculptures on the Arc—they’re pretty incredible. Here’s one: https://images.app.goo.gl/7KUptkZgoz7fgCX66
At this point we are tired of walking and have been coughing the entire day so it’s time to head home. Happily the metro station is within a few short steps. BUT that doesn’t mean our train platform is a few short steps away! Once you’re underground you ascend and descend what seems like thousands of steps to get to your train. It can be torturous if you’ve stupidly waited until you can’t walk another step to then head to the metro. And then once off the train you need to choose the exit that is closest to home. For our stop there are six exits and it took us awhile to figure out which exit was best. Not long after we arrived we exited the metro near midnight from one exit and we were completely disoriented! It took ten minutes or so to finally figure out where we were and what was the correct path home.
After relaxing at home for a bit, Howard and I take a walk so I can show him all the great places on the north end of our street. We buy more delicious cheese and wine. Then we are on the hunt for Amer Picon, a bittersweet French apéritif that is not available in the US. We have a couple of books on the cocktails of the 1920s and Amer Picon is a frequent ingredient. Unfortunately we have no luck in our search. We stop at an épicerie and buy a couple of baguettes that look promising. (They are not. Drat!)
Howard says he’d really like a traditional French meal before we go. We decide tomorrow is the day to visit the area around St. Sulpice church. We have stayed in this area of town at least two or three times (most recently in 2014) and there are several restaurants here that we love. The four of us look at the menus of three of our favorite places and decide on a Greek restaurant that is especially delicious, Evi Evane. Several years ago our poodles were treated like royalty when we stopped there for dinner.
Alas, when we get there there is a huge gathering of rowdy sports fans in the street screaming and yelling. That was NOT my idea of an atmosphere conducive to a wonderful French luncheon. So we head off to our nearby very favorite restaurant, Le Bon Saint Pourcain. We’ve been here 4-5 times on past Paris visits and it’s always been the perfect place for the quintessential French meal. We had intended to bring Gail and Larry here for their 51st anniversary but we were all under the weather and getting on the metro that night did not sound appealing.
The little restaurant (https://www.bonsaintpourcain.com) has maybe 10 tables for two that are frequently put together for a table for four so it’s a pretty small place. There are three tables outside for smokers. Fortunately they are able to accommodate us even though we don’t have reservations.
We begin our leisurely meal with coupes (as they say in France) of delicious Drappier champagne. I gotta find that champagne at home! For our first course Gail has delicious (she says) gazpacho. The secret ingredient is anchovies! Larry orders a semi-cooked filet of tuna with eggplant in vinaigrette. Howard and I enjoy white asparagus (the tips plus thin shavings from the stems) with a soft cooked egg. We all agree that this is an excellent start.
For our main dishes Howard has cod on a bed of cauliflower puree, Israeli couscous, and very tiny pieces of chorizo. Gail, Larry and I have the most delicious slices of roast chicken breast and thigh with perfectly cooked skin accompanied by crusty potatoes roasted in butter and stock, and chard with mushrooms. We had a very nice Corsican white wine (appellation Figari).
For dessert Gail and I have a chocolate tart with pear sorbet; Howard has Babas au Rhum; and Larry has a dessert of strawberry sorbet, fresh strawberries and soft meringue/foam. Howard and I had espresso.
The total cost is $422—expensive but well worth it. We all agree that we had experienced the quintessential delicious French meal and it felt really special. Gail has a perfect suggestion to not fight the metro and get a taxi back. Larry had another great suggestion: call Uber. And so we did!