Dec Week 2
Museum Day
During a brief boot shopping reprieve, I squeezed in a few free museums in the afternoon and finished it off with a tasty sip from BrewDog around the corner.
A view from our window before heading out - being able to peak in at the cavalry practicing across the way was a lot of fun.
The Southern entrance to the Place des Vogues (originally Place Royale).
An amazing patisserie, Victor Hugo’s old house (now a free museum), and a ton of store front art studios make it a lovely place to stroll.
The first stop was to Musée Cognacq-Jay - the house of the founders of La Samaritaine department stores, which was an extraordinary sight on its own. The exhibit showcases a portion of their collection of 18th century art described as, “The 18th century, as seen from the 20th”.
There was the normal amount of standard museum fare, but the number of small objects on display made this visit really fun and unique.
Items from China - the wood inlay piece was particularly incredible.
One of several small sculptures.
Ridiculous bed setup.
Makeup and accessory kits - because who wouldn’t want to carry an asparagus around?
Painting based off the popular french poem, “La Laitière et le Pot au Lait”
or, “The Milkmaid and the Pot of Milk”.
Next stop: Musée Carnavalet, a museum dedicated to the history of Paris. The place was massive and had a fun mix of exhibits showcasing the city throughout the different time periods.
Just outside the entrance, Louis flaunts his stuff:
The first several rooms feature signage from back in the day.
A number of the rooms were exhibitions on their own merit, like this room filled with ornate gold inlay.
Back at home, it didn’t take long for Miss Vivian to find her favorite spot after we started using the radiators :)
Though nothing beats a lap! Sleepy dork.
Boots!
This evening’s shopping experience is brought to you by the Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, boasting incredible decorations both inside and out.
Just as K was about to call it a night, the very last pair finally checked all the boxes.
Talk about fabulous!
The window displays were out of this world as well.
On our long trek back home, we stopped in at at one of the world’s fanciest Starbucks. Located close to the Opera and housed in a 17th century building, we sipped our chai lattes in style underneath chandeliers and elaborate ceiling murals.
Some lights along the way.
McDonalds winning the decoration war. C’mon Burger King, keep up!
A small detour found us back at BrewDog to a celebratory beer and some dinner. The out of focus salad with toasted sourdough topped with melty goat cheese was the star (though the pizza was stellar as well).
Sad, Rad, and Glad
Our Saturday started at the Deportation Martyrs Memorial, located on the eastern tip of Île de la Cité just behind Notre-Dame.
Down some stairs finds you in a small square where you can steal a peak at the Seine through an iron gate.
Turning around, the entrance immediately sets the tone of the visit. Dimly lit narrow passages give feelings of claustrophobia, which adds remarkable effect while reading the accounts on display.
200,000 lights to symbolize the deportees who died in concentration camps.
On to lighter subjects, there was an excellent invader just across the street.
Buh-nuh-nuh-nuhhhh!
And a beautiful clock a few doors down from Sainte-Chapelle.
Another secret treat from K, she surprised me with a trip to 59 Rivoli, a 6 story art gallery. Originally a bank building, it turned into an artist squat after being abandoned for 15 years. The squat was eventually legalized after all the positive press and traffic it received. It now houses 30 artists that get rotated out occasionally - the place is pure chaos in the best possible way.
A video of the stairway, made just for you.
And my favorite piece I like to call: kitty cat dreamin’ :)
The World Cup Quarterfinals were up next - France vs England was bound to be a great night out . . . and it did not disappoint!
A line had already formed when we arrived at the pub Google recommended, but we still managed to snag one of the last tables. Securing a seat required ordering a rather expensive burger and beer combo, but we needed some dinner anyway and we had a view of the TV! . . . At least until people inevitably started pouring in to fill the pub to standing room only.
Our perfect table seats turned into:
I spent most of the match squinting and on my tippy toes, but still had a wonderful time.
After France secured their spot in the semi-finals, the streets were in a state of absolute and joyous chaos. Any vehicle that got caught in the crossfire was surrounded and used as an antenna for the full focus of the crowds celebrations.
This Kia passenger was particularly enjoying his brief time in the spotlight.
Allez Les Bleus!
Messiah Singalong
On Sunday, I headed over to the American Cathedral in Paris to join the Paris Choral Society’s annual singalong of part 1 of Handel’s Messiah. My Mom has been active in her local choir for several years now and mentioned how fun these singalong events looked, so when this event popped up I decided to give it a go!
Sight-reading after such a long musical hiatus was daunting, but, worst case I could just drop out ‘till I got my bearings again. And, besides, getting to experience the acoustics and ambience of a Parisian Cathedral first hand made it well worth it.
As an added bonus, they brought in professionals for the solos which made for a fun mix of high level enjoyment and casual singalong action.
Tattoos and Socializing
The time for our Paris tattoos is nigh! K was planning on a simple heart on her outer left wrist to provide symmetry for an existing piece on her other wrist. She was nice enough to let me piggyback on the idea - matching tattoos in Paris, how romantic!!!
The studio was a short jaunt across the river, run by an interesting fellow with no tattoos and no interest in living in Paris. His last spot was a smaller town out in the country, where he could walk around in peace with his dog (who was also present in the studio - a big ol’ cutie). A video editor by trade, he was apparently approached by a big time artist based out of Korea who had a love for Paris to the point of funding the studio as a means of having a homebase anytime they visited. This meant they also hosted tattooists from all over the world - we lucked out with a super cute married couple from Korea that just added that little extra “je ne sais quoi” to the experience.
Next stop was the tiny Notre Dame Market, relocated across the river due to the ongoing construction. Just a handful of tents in a quaint little square, we dallied around with vin chaud in hand. One vendor of note was an origami crane extraordinaire - she sat in the corner, folding away; the space was otherwise filled with cranes made from all sorts of old books and other materials. There were also a number of pictures of installations she’d put on previously, like filling a tree with thousands of cranes for a festival.
Another tree and church on our wandering way.
Next up was Les Deux Magots, a famous café/restaurant frequented by the likes of Hemingway, James Joyce, Picasso, James Baldwin, and Julia Child, to name a few . . . though now it’s primarily a tourist destination. Upon arrival, however, the queue for a table led us around the corner to Le Bonaparte for a sip of wine while we plotted our next move.
We ended up being squeezed in next to a couple from Arizona in town with their daughter, who had abandoned them to do cool young people things. They were approaching the end of their stay and were obviously starving for some social interaction, just like us. So despite some drastically differing world views, we ended up enjoying each others’ company for a good few carafes of wine and snacks. When they finally left to find some dinner, we scooted over to chat up a friendly older gentleman who had arrived just a few minutes prior. He had just flown in from San Francisco, hungry and tired but still plenty happy to talk with us over his dinner.
After thoroughly plying ourselves with wine, it was late and the line for Les Deux Magots had disappeared. Through our wine-tinted glasses, we decided to channel our inner intellectual elite and opted for a now overpriced, very touristy meal out.
I had a tasty scallop dish,
and K got her (barely cooked) steak fix.
Le Foodist
On Wednesday we took on a cooking class, an early Christmas present from my fam. The group met a few hours early at Marché Alimentaire Saint-Germain for an optional visit to the market to grab our ingredients for the night and to sample some tasty triple cream brie.
Our instructor was young, friendly, and full of the cutting wit you often find in kitchens. All of the classes presumably use the same market, so it was fun watching the vendor interactions given that already established rapport. At the seafood stall, for example, the owner was providing introductions to his son who was soon to take over the operation.
At the cheese counter, we munched on a nice big wedge of brie while receiving a crash course in all things cheese.
A short metro ride took us to the Le Foodist kitchen where we discussed the menu and got to work!
My job (along with a friendly fellow from Houston) was to make the crust for the tart, while K peeled and cored a big bowl of pears.
Tart part deux:
Our starter was a cauliflower dauphinoise. K isn’t a fan of cauliflower (calls them fart foods 😅), so I got seconds!
And a finished Tarte Bourdaloue - not the most beautiful but it sure was tasty. The pears provided just the right amount of sweetness.
I missed capturing on camera the main event of duck breast and bearnaise sauce, but it was tasty as well! My only complaint was that each dish component was split between the whole group, so besides searing the duck breast and helping with our sauce, I only got hands-on experience with making the tart. It was still a wonderful experience though - food and culture with a dash of much needed socializing.
France won their next world cup match right as we finished at Le Foodist, which made for a wild walk home.
France moves on to the Finals! Can they win the whole shebang???
Jump to:
- 12-08 Thu - Museum Day
- 12-09 Fri - Boots!
- 12-10 Sat - Sad, Rad, and Glad
- 12-11 Sun - Messiah Singalong
- 12-12 Mon - Tattoos and Socializing
- 12-14 Wed - Le Foodist
Posted 2023-08-08