Saturday

Wandered through the Marais heading toward Marche des Enfants Rouge in cloudy, drizzly weather. Stopped in several shops along the way,  the Picasso museum boutique which is across the street from the museum, Repetto and a few others. Arrived at the Marche and got in line for a sandwich at Chez Alain Miam Miam.  He is quite a character - chats, snacks & spends about 15 minutes on every order as he slices the ham & cheese foe each sandwich and has to keep his wok of grilled onions going.  The basic sandwich is french bread, olive oil, lettuce, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, tomato, cheese (comte or cantal - he gives you a sample of each so you can choose), ham ( or smoked salmon, chicken or beef) either raw or cooked. The sandwich is then closed up and put o a grill until the cheese starts to melt.  Leas & I shared one and he scolded us for that & also pulled out his phone to show us his grand daughter on her first day of school. Quite an experience and a very good sandwich,  which we ate in the Square du Temple, a nice sized park- he has no table space. We then visited the Church of Notre Dame des Blancs Manteaux & Eglise Saint Elizabeth. Stopped in at Tumbleweed on the way back home to pick up a few things and say hello.

Dinner at Champeaux on Saturday

Went to Champeaux on Saturday night. It's Alain Ducasse's newest restaurant under the canopy in Les Halles and the reviews have been very good.  It's a fairly large space with lots of glass, done in the industrial style (pipes showing) in grey & silver.  It fills up very quickly and is a mix of everybody - elderly foursomes, families with young children, couples and everything in between, probably due to the fact that it's in a huge shopping mall.  The menu is posted on a train board which turns over every 20 minutes in addition to the usual printed one. We both had the lobster souffle for a starter and it was rich and delicious. Then we shared the beef tartare which was perfectly seasoned & made with a really good beef.  For dessert, I had the apricot souffle with almond ice cream and Leas had the chocolate souffle with chocolate ice cream - both of which were perfectly executed.  They definitely know how to do a souffle.  The price is very reasonable for the quality and the service was attentive without being over bearing. Highly recommended.  Then back to the apartment & to bed.

Friday, September 8th

Started the day at Parc de Villette at the Grande Hall to see the immersive exhibit "Imagine Van Gogh" which was spectacular. The walls are used in addition to lots of huge canvasses hanging from the ceiling and his paintings are projected onto them, accompanied by music. Really amazing concept  beautifully done. Walked over to the Bassin de la Villette to have lunch at Paname Brewing Company.  We shared a charcuterie platter & Leas had a Oeil de Biche (pale ale) and I had a Casque d'Or (saison). Cute spot & very good food. Walked from there to Parc des Butte Chamont, the highest park in Paris.  Very pretty - it was originally a quarry and the rock face that is still there is very interesting looming up from a small lake with lots of ducks and swans. Home by Metro to rest before dinner. Weather has been very overcast with some sprinkles today.  Went to Fish Club for dinner in a pouring rain - waitress even gave me an extra napkin to try & dry my hair.  Had one of their special cocktails which was invented to accompany oysters ( which I also had, of course) and had a salty finish. I started with 6 oysters, 3 each of 2 different types, one of which was so huge you almost needed to make it two bites. Leas had smoked salmon & shared a John Dory for our main course. It was accompanied by a delicious sauce of olive oil, fresh tomatoes and olives (delicious) and a green bean, squash mix, mashed potatoes and green salad. I had a glass of Chateau Massereau Cuve Bordeaux 2006 and Leas had a Gaudry Vieilles Vignes 2014 Sancerre. A very nice restaurant; pretty, friendly and they definitely know how to treat seafood. Back home in the same poring rain as before dinner.  Hoping for a little sun tomorrow but the forcast is not good.

September 6

Walked through Les Halles to AG Les Halles for lunch & missed a street name change so went much farther north than necessary & had to backtrack but made our reservation with two minutes to spare. Saw lots of places on our lists but will shop later.  Lunch was very good & the restaurant is very pretty. Has a true bistro look but with soft colors and comfortable  armchairs. Started with brioche served with olive oil & spices for dipping, followed by two amuse bouches - tapioca chips wit dollops of pureed fish roe, tomaoe & peanut & a watermelon puree with a feta mousse on top. My entre was a perfect egg in a carrot soup with mushrooms & Leas had veal cheek pate with anchovy puree in rolled zuchinni. Mains were pork belly with pureed parsnip & figs & Leas had whitefish on black rice, spinach & lemon butter sauce. Chef Geaams wife was there so the waitress gave her the picture I took of Chef with us in 2011 at Auberge Nicholas Flamel. She thanked me & we had a short conversation & then she sent over two glasses of champagne. A very good lunch.  Then headed home wandering through the Marais, shopping, through the Passage Grand Cerf & Bourge l' Abbe.  Had a small ice cream at Grom & then rested at home until time for dinner on the Calife-a dinner cruise on the Seine.  Very nice & the food wasn't bad - salad, guine hen & creme brulee with a sparkler in it as we were watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle.  (Leas used the birthday celebration a lot when making reservations). Took the Metro back home at 11:30. Feet are feeling it but back is doing OK. I'll try & get some pictures on here later but for the moment it's not letting me get to them.

Arrival Day

Not too much to report thus far - a pretty uneventful trip arriving an hour early.  Driver was there to pick us up & not too much traffic getting to the apartment. Unpacked & then wandered around the Marais for a couple of hours.  Leas has had a bad cold & was worse today so we picked up some chicken soup and a baguette to have dinner in the apartment & get to bed early.  Stopped at a pharmacy to see what they might have to help her get better & the pharmacist recomended a naturalcapsule that appears to be oregeno..  Weather went from cloudy to light rain to sunny & hot & back to cloudy. rur St Antoine has changed a lot  two years - lots of new shops have opened & the sidewalks are a mess with construction going on.  Picked up some madeleines at Mamy Therese, a new & highly recomended shop.  Went into St Paul to see the writing on the wall that they keep removing but it always reappears.. It says "French Republic or Death" & was written during the revolution. I need to go back & take a picture of it as i forgot today.  Was really sorry to see the restaurant around the corner "Gorille Blanc" is closed as it was very cute & good food.

Three more days

Hard to believe Leas & I will be on our way in 3 more days.  We're staying in the same apartment as in 2015 & looking forward to three weeks of great food & lots of fun adventures. I'll try & post as often as possible with lots of pictures to take you along on our trip.

Pere Lachaise

We started off this morning by taking the Metro to chatelet and then walking across the river to tour the Conciergerie.  It was originally the site of the royal residence of Clovis, the first French king, in the 6th C and then, in the 14th C, it became the seat of Parliament.  During the Revolution it became a prison, Marie Antoinette was held here until her beheading, and it was listed as a historical monument in 1914.  In 2011, it was covered with scaffolding as they were cleaning the outside so it looks really nice now.  I last toured it in 1998 and it seems to have changed, There didn't seem to be as much to see, but my memory isn't always the best.  We went back across the river and had a cafe creme while waiting for the bus which would take us to meet Babeth (the relationship is way too difficult to explain here but she and her son visited the US many years ago and Leas met her at that time).  She had been made aware of our trip to Paris and insisted we come to lunch at her flat before our visit to Pere Lachaise.  I had never taken a bus in Paris before so we were both a little nervous about the experience but we needn't have been as it's as easy as the Metro (with no stairs to climb up or down).  Babeth was at the bus stop with a sign welcoming us and we walked about a block to her flat.  She served us a fish loaf and ratatouille with a nice Sauvignon Blanc and cheese cake for dessert.  It was all delicious and so nice of her to do for us.  We were joined by her friend Sylvaine for dessert and he became our cemetary tour guide.  He was fantastic as he's lived in the area all his life and has spent numerous hours in the cemetary learning where all the important graves are located.  We got a great history lesson during the tour as he was able to explain the importance of all the people whose graves he was taking us to.  He speaks very little English so Babeth was our translator.  We spent about three hours walking around and saw the tombstones of Heloise and Abelard, Balzac, Sarah Bernhardt, Edith Piaf, Chopin, Molier, Jim Morrison and Gertrude Stein among many others.  We also saw the memorials to the victims of the Nazi death camps, each camp has it's own memorial and they are very stark and graphic.  After saying goodbye to Babeth and Sylvaine, we boarded the bus back home to get ready for our dinner at Auberge Nicholas Flamel, one of my favorite restaurants located in the oldest house in Paris.  We got a taxi at the stand a block from us as we dressed up a little for this dinner.  We had the chef' 5 course tasting menu with wine and it was delicious, even though the chef, Alan Geaam, wasn't on site.  He's opened a new restaurant on the left bank behind Saint Sulpice church - have to get to that one next time.  Dinner started with an amuse bouche (make the mouth happy) of foie gras, chestnut soup with chantilly, a mousse of cheese and basil and a haddock and potato croquette.  Next course was foie gras, something jellied and crayfish with toast and a beet square served with a white early harvest from the base of the Pyranees that tasted like a riesling.  This was followed by smoked salmon, fresh cheese and a cold cream of pea soup with Saint-Bris, a white burgundy from Savignon.  The fish course was dorade (sea bream) with a chantilly of beet and yuzu on black rice  and a shizo leaf with a Bourges pinot noir.  The main course was veal with sweet potato mousse, asparagus, noodles, sauce and potatoe chips with A Chateau Ferran 2011 Bordeaux.  Dessert was chocolate souffle with hot caramel  and a chocolate cookie with black sesame ice cream.served with a sweet bordeaux.  A really delicious dinner in a charming setting with great service.