La Maison de la Truffe……

Thursday, 7 June 2012

Bonjour!

A couple of photos out our window!





All I can say is, occasionally a truly outstanding meal comes ones’ way – and it certainly came our way today!

But first…I could get NO response from my weary hubby about going out last night – he’s tired…so, Louvre or no Louvre, we stayed in for the evening. As we had had such a nice lunch, no one was in the mood for dinner, so, as they say, we skipped it! (Still have the cannelloni in the fridge, though!)

Up this morning about 7, showered and down those lousy steps to the boulangerie … it was my turn to go for breakfast…We didn’t really have a big plan for the day, but I did want to check out the chocolate shop – Denise Acabo - Jay had recommended, and we also wanted to get to the Madeleine to see about concert tickets for tonight.

Believe it or not, because of poor bus connections in our neighborhood, we took the nearest bus – the 82, back to the Luxembourg (where we like to stay!) to catch the 84 straight to the Madeleine; arrived a little after 10 a.m. to find that whoever was supposed to be selling concert tickets hadn’t show up yet; we were advised to return an hour before the concert tonight…so…

(Photo from the steps of the Madeleine looking down to the Place de la Concord.)



From the Madeleine, we took buses up to Pigalle in Montmartre to look for Rue Fontaine, where the chocolate shop is. Found it with no problem, just as it was starting to rain – a really cute and tiny place, and met Denise, the owner – SO cute in braids and pleated skirt; very friendly and ever-ready to talk to people about her store and chocolates. Jay had said that the caramels with sea salt were wonderful, so we got those and then went through Denise’s individual chocolate case to pick things out. She really does have quite a selection!

From there we walked up to Place Pigalle and caught the Montmartrebus for the tour around the arrondissement – past one of the few remaining windmills in Paris, as well as the grapevines that are still producing wine each year! We had planned on stopping at Place de la Tertre, where there are painters of all kinds and ages gathered around the square doing what they do best – paint! We have several oil paintings from there, and it’s always fun to look and see what’s new. However, as the rain was really beginning to fall, we doubted that anyone would be out painting, so decided to reserve that for another day – although with rain predicted through most of the week, we may have to table that until next trip!

So…headed back to the Madeleine for lunch at my very favorite French restaurant – Maison de la Truffe – House of Truffles (and NOT the chocolate kind; the earthy kind instead, which are by far my VERY favorite food on the planet!) – and by the time we got to the door, the heavens had really opened up in a downpour!

Nice table against the wall; next to a party of seven, but in the traditional French way, they were quiet and well behaved. We started with glasses of Bollinger Champagne each; truly wonderful, and went very well with the wonderful bread and black truffle oil on the tables. For starters, we both ordered the rocket salad (arugula) with parmesan shavings, with summer truffles for R, and black truffles for me. Fabulous! Then came the main courses – R had the duck with potatoes and summer truffles. I had the beef filet presented on a thin bread crouton, with a slice of fois gras topped by black truffles in a mild brown sauce (sorry, I forgot the name!) that came with wonderful fried potatoes. Absolute heaven!! Dessert for R was the three sorbets – vanilla, red fruit and lime -- and I had the Catalan crème with black truffles and red fruit. (This turned out to be a light flan with small pieces of truffle served with strawberries and currents…GREAT!) This was all washed down by a bottle of 2008 St. Emillion Bordeaux, specially selected to go with truffles, so we were sure we picked the right one!















Lunch took us over 2½ hours – and through some very dicey weather, as well – at one point, the rain became nothing less than torrential, but by the time we got outside again, the sun was shining and a stiff breeze was blowing!

Back to the flat for much needed naps – went via metro, only one change – and I can tell you, that going up those steps on a full stomach is AWFUL…we’re thinking of tying a rope to the window sash and going up and down that way…

However – there is going to be a huge antique and art show on the Rue Breteuil, taking place right below our windows! They have been setting it up for days – working on it when we got here on Monday. R always afraid that it will be a rock concert, but this fair is going to be something to see! First wooden floors went down, on both sides of the street (there is a green space down the center). Then the white tents were set up. Those were finished yesterday. Starting today, people are starting to move in to them – and wow, the stuff they’re putting out is amazing – one booth we passed today had nothing but silver – everywhere; whew! The official start is tomorrow, and it will continue I think through next week. Can’t wait to see what’s there, which is just what R is afraid of!







So, the day has turned from grey and overcast to rainy and now to stunning sunshine and quite a wind blowing (if you’re watching the French Open, you’ll see what I mean!) – hopeful of getting R out tonight again, but I think he is still in the recovering stage from the past 7 weeks…oh well!

More later!
m
xxx
PS – And just in case you’re wondering, there will be NO dinner tonight!!
m

The most wonderful jardin!!

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Bonjour!

Oh -- view from the apartment windows!





I don’t think that I mentioned before how we’re handling breakfast…under normal circumstances, and in the 5th arr. there was both a working elevator AND a boulangerie across the street making breakfast preparation very simple. However, be that as it may, we have decided to take turns going out for the morning croissants – yesterday it was me, and today was R’s turn. There is an adequate boulangerie down the block; a 2 or 3 minute walk. However, it all makes we miss the 5th arr. even more!

So…back to yesterday early evening. My best friend Jay, who spent a week in Paris in December, sent me what her brother had sent her for their trip – a terrific list of gourmet shops and restaurants to visit in Paris. And, as I’ve passed all these wonderful chocolate shops for years without ever going in (what WAS I thinking??) I decided to remedy this last night. So…there is a chocolate shop by Michel Chaudon in the 7th arr., which is where we are located – figured it would be a good place to start. R was not interested in the least, (and was counting the additional stairs, I’m sure!) so I set off alone – minus umbrella, as no rain forecast…duh…I should have looked out the window; it started to sprinkle as soon as I got outside, but no WAY was I doing those stairs again…Lovely walk – about 15 minutes each way, but I was able to find an entirely new section of the 7th which was very nice – restaurants, florists, antique stores – a Pizza Hut! – and the chocolate shop. Wow…I should have brought the camera! Where do I begin? There were dark and white chocolate Eiffel towers; there were animals and tennis racquets – and of course there were the shelves and shelves of individual chocolates. I ended by taking a small box of assorted chocolates, and believe it or not, I haven’t really made too much of a dent in it! Wonderful chocolate, though…

Dinner was incredible – why does the chicken in France always taste so much better than anywhere else?? We had our roast chicken with roast potatoes and haricots vertes – wonderful!





Up this morning around 7 – can’t believe we’re sleeping so late, but it could have something to do with those stairs. R’s turn to go for croissants, while I set the coffee table and got out the grapefruit juice and raspberry jam. They do make some wonderful bread here, that’s for sure! Of course after croissants in the flat, we also have to run the vacuum cleaner, as no way you can eat those without making a mess!

Sculpture on the way to the museum -



Our plan for today was to take the bus out to the Port du St. Cloud and find the Albert Kahn Museum and Gardens. Paris is full of many small places that very few people have ever heard about and that turn out to be just wonderful – and this museum was certainly one of them! As it turns out, we got there about 10:30 a.m. but it didn’t open until 11. Very problematic day weather-wise – sunshine, blue sky, black clouds – just wait a few minutes and the weather will change! This time, we went out without either jackets or umbrellas…and it was certainly brisk walking! We had to take two buses – one across the Seine to Palais de la Decouverte, picking up a 72 that was heading out to St. Cloud which is on the edge of town next to the Blois de Bologne. As we had some time to wait for opening, we stopped in a little boulangerie and R had espresso (even though he had requested Café Americain) and I had hot chocolate with muffins. Back to the museum, (just down the block) and voila, they were open!

FABULOUS museum! Albert Kahn was a banker in the early 1900’s who was interested in color photography and the making of early movies. He would commission artists, photographers and film makers to go out every year to explore different places on the planet and record what they saw. The 1929 stock market crash decimated his fortune, but by that time his collection had really developed. The country got his collection, and the city his house and garden, and I’m pleased to report that he was allowed to stay in his house until he died in 1940. Now, the museum does exhibitions based on the images that they have, and they also commission photographers and film makers to go back to some of the places originally visited.

The current exhibition is on Mongolia, both Inner and Outer, and the years 1912 and 1913. The photographs were incredible – I can tell you right now that I NEVER want to live in a yurt!! There was also film footage taken in Ulan Bator which showed townspeople (or yurt people?) on horseback and camel as well as llamas and their serfs. There was some truly remarkable film footage of an expedition taking place around the same time frame, originally proposed by Andre Citroen (maker of the automobile) whereby an automobile would make the trek from Beirut to Peking – across the Himalayas! UNREAL! The expedition took three years to put together, and there was a big supporting cast – including diplomats to go ahead of the car team to negotiate safe passage for everybody – there were bandits in those hills in them days! The car was actually fitted with tank-like tracks in addition to the four wheels, which were definitely needed in the mountains. At one point there is footage of this vehicle literally sliding off a hillside, and in another going across a wooden and rope bridge that creaked and bounced at every foot. And, when they got to the high peaks of the Himalayas they actually had to disassemble the automobile, carry the parts over the mountain through the snow, and put it all back together on the other side! Zowie! They did, however, eventually make it to Peking!

After a good long look at the photographs and films, we went out into the gardens, which we had heard were very good. That’s actually incorrect – they were SENSATIONAL! R says he thinks this was better than Butchert Gardens in Victoria or the Huntington in Pasadena, and I might be agreeing with him!

The grounds (comprising 8 acres in the middle of a busy neighborhood!) started out as a Japanese garden – lovely, rushing stream; small temple-like buildings everywhere, along with very Asian-like plantings. From here we wandered into a beautiful meadow planted with grass and flowers and huge conifers. There was a formal English rose garden, with magnificent roses over trellis’ as well as an amazing apple hedge – staked down very close to the ground, in well-trained lengths; early apples already growing; roses smelled wonderfully! Finally, when we thought we had seen everything, we mounted a path over a hill and we were suddenly transported back to Japan! Absolutely STUNNING ponds filled with huge coy and several red curved bridges across the water. Additionally, someone there really knows how to do bonsai, as there were some of the most beautiful plants we’ve ever seen displayed on stands at various places in the pond. There were pink azaleas; on one, even the leaves of the plant were pink! Cannot describe how absolutely gorgeous this garden is! We also found an interesting family – mom and three children, one of which was very young – all sitting quietly and sketching one of the bonsai in the pond! (Which will hopefully be excuse enough for all the photos of it I’m going to post…)

Okay...here they come!!!



















































By this time, we had spent the better part of almost 4 hours in the museum and gardens, so decided it was probably as good a time as any to stop for lunch. Right across the street from the museum was the Brasserie Jean-Baptiste, which looked good from the outside; even better inside! Fortunately, we had missed most of the lunch crowd, so we didn’t have to worry about too much noise from other diners. I ordered their tomato/mozzarella/parmesan salad with pesto dressing; R had their “special” croque monsieur (grilled ham and cheese sandwich) on Poilane bread. Both were wonderful! For dessert, R had their homemade sorbet – fruits rouges and citron (red fruit and lemon) – fabulous! I had their mille feuilles pastry with strawberries and pistachio cream; beyond fabulous! All washed down with some glasses of Sancerre (dry white wine)…the kind of meal you get on a regular basis in France!









By this time, neither of us wanted to take the bus back, as we were requiring naps after the wine…so we ducked into the subway stop which was five feet from the restaurant door, and with only one change of line, we were back in the 7th! (Stopped at the local Franprix to pick up some water and a few other things, but the store was AWFUL, I’m sorry to report, so looks like it’ll be back to the Carrefour for us..) Then up those wretched flights of steps once again for a total and complete collapse – naps are good! (Note from Robert: The elevator guys appear to be making progress but not fast enough.)

We were thinking about heading over to the Louvre tonight, as the crowds are usually very light then (everyone having their own naps!) but I’m not sure that we’re going to get out of the building! Fortunately, we do have supplies in-house for tonight – if we ever again get hungry!

More later!
m
xxx

An amazing city!

Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Bonjour!

Wanted to start with a couple pictures of our flat -











Our second day in Paris dawned cloudy but bright, and now at 4 in the afternoon, it’s quite beautiful and sunny outside! So…up about 6 and into our fancy shower stall – one of those with multiple spigots or sprayers or whatever you call them spraying water everywhere, plus the overhead shower straight down. Lovely water pressure; a bit complicated working the various handles and knobs, but managed in the end. Also gave R a haircut, as he was looking fair to partly shaggy! Then, out and heading for the bus stop towards the Madeleine. As seems to be standard hereabouts, it took us a bus change on Les Champs Elysees to get to the Madelaine, but we got there eventually. We were looking for the Pinacotheque as they were having a special exhibition of Mayan Jade masks that we wanted to see.

Not much of a line for tickets, so we were able to get in right away. Of course “no pictures” – but some of these pieces were lovely! The exhibition traced some of the customs and celebrations of the Mayans from about 800 B.C. to somewhere in the 800’s A.D. Archeologists had, over the years, excavated many Mayan sites (currently in Mexico and Guatemala) and one of the most interesting discoveries were the death masks made for a series of Mayan kings. These masks were made out of beautiful green jade, in many cases intricately pieced together like mosaics. In some cases, everything that a particular ruler had been buried with was there – plates, containers, bracelets, rings, necklaces – plus mask. They were stunning. Additional pieces of Mayan sculpture helped to round out the exhibit, and in many cases, this was the first time that some of the pieces had been displayed outside of Mexico. It was a really great exhibit, but, sigh – and I don’t know why I get so surprised over this – there was nothing in any language but French, so we’re unclear on some of the details!

Seeing as we were right at the Madelaine, R decided that coffee would be a good idea – especially with Fauchon, the gourmet food store, right there! How convenient! R got coffee and I had sparkling water – then we got some fun pastries to share – a madeleine with a honey center; a madeleine with a chocolate center, a small pound cake with framboise (raspberries); a small pound cake with lemon, and last and certainly least for me, something called a canele – looked like a particularly good chocolate cake, but was, instead definitely alcoholic – UGH! I let R finish my portion; he said it tasted like cognac.





From here, we browsed the local stores – Fauchon, Hediard and my personal favorite, La Maison du Truffe (house of truffles!!) While Robert has promised to take me to lunch there one day, today, after those pastries, was definitely not the time! Tomorrow maybe…

Stopped into the Madeleine, as the last time we were here, it was undergoing renovation. They’ve done a really nice job; we got information on a Vivaldi concert there later in the week…we’ll see!





It was now well after noon, and we decided to take the bus to Rue Mouffetard, our favorite market street in Paris (although I have to admit that the Marche du Bastille on Sunday mornings is pretty terrific!) Caught the 27 bus at the Opera (which also looks wonderful after its renovation!) and took it back to our old neighborhood in the 5th. Visited our favorite Italian deli, and of course got carried away – dried tomatoes, grilled eggplant, marinated artichokes, sharp provolone, a good Milano salami as well as some wonderful looking cannelloni with red sauce…picked up a roasting chicken for dinner tonight, along with some roasted potatoes. Bought some haricot vertes (thin green beans) to round out the meal…YUM! Then back via bus 27 to Cluny, and down into the metro with one change to get back to the flat. Cannot believe how inaccessible to buses this area is – and it is really residential, but no matter!









Decided to have a late picnic lunch – great bread from the boulangerie down the street – the provolone is wonderful! Now full; probably a late chicken dinner tonight! While we are at the flat, the idea of naps sounded really good, so we’ve opened the windows and turned off the lights – Oh! And I’ve put in a load of laundry into the world’s most complicated washing machine! It is a combination washer and dryer – have managed to get one load done (did it on gentle cycle, which was 39 minutes, as opposed to the “normal” cycle that was 94 minutes – whatever can clothes do in the washer that long??)

Not sure what else today will bring, but will say more later at this point!

m
xxx