Deyrolle (not for the faint of heart)

 

Deyrolle, in business since 1831, is the most unusual store I've ever encountered. Downstairs is a collection of high-end gardening supplies, gleaming brass and copper implements, linen shirts and aprons, clay and ceramic pots from "le prince jardinier." (Apparently the current owner is deposed royalty, hence the name.)

But if you look closely, you start to see some oddities here. Climb the winding stairs to the second floor (or first floor, as the French so prettily call it), and you see what this is really all about.

 

Three or four high-ceilinged rooms are packed with taxidermy. Now, before you shudder, notice how beautiful they are and how well displayed.

 

 

I just can't help myself - the place was so intriguing that I have to show it ALL to you.

 

 

 

 

The most unusual of all was this little house made of feathers. It can be yours for 9,000 euros (about $12,535.20).

 

We wondered, of course, who buys these things, and Meg told us that they did a brisk business in rentals to movie folk. I guess there are some people who actually buy and keep the animals, too. I wouldn't mind a tray of butterflies myself. And the pig would be darling sprawled out on a divan in the sitting room.

From baguette to bistro

This was the Paris food walk we took today, and it was so full of wonderful things that this entry might go on for a long time. Meg, a Paris food blogger originally from the Kansas City suburbs, was a delightful and enthusiastic leader of four women: Alison and me, Spanish Alma, a Context tour guide from Madrid, and Amy, another food blogger and expat living in Paris with her French husband. Our 2 1/2 hour tour ended up being four hours long, and we all loved it.

We met near the Musee d'Orsay in the 7th, which Meg told us was a very high-end part of Paris that could support the high-end places we'd be visiting. We started with bread and this visit to a real Parisian boulangerie (name to come when I find it).

This is one of the breads, so enticing that I wanted to take it home and use it as my pillow.

 

Here is Meg showing us the difference between the ordinary baguette that she bought at her local boulangerie, which probably reheats frozen bread each morning, and this artisanal boulangerie, which makes its slow-rise bread using a special container that makes the yeast work exactly right. (Our local boulangerie calls itself artisanal, which has a specific meaning and encouraged me to branch out from our croissants.)

 

The cheese shop was next, and this was so interesting that we spent a lot of time learning, choosing and tasting.

 

The window sported this elegy to autumn flavors.

 

There were so many to choose from.

 

Here is the selection of cheeses we tasted, framed in the autumnal window of this five-generation fromagerie.

 

Patrick, the owner, helped us choose our cheeses. He knows everything about them, surely able to name the cows or sheep or goats that produced them.

 

This was the most unusual cheese, with a crumbly texture and flavored with tarragon, pepper, paprika and parsley. Patrick recommended eating it with beer, though we also thought it would make a great sandwich with ham.

 

From here we went to a most unusual store which has nothing to do with food but was so bizarre that Meg could not resist showing it to us. More soon...

Food and art

A couple things we've eaten or at least admired. First, the crepes Grand Marnier we had for dessert at Cafe le Nemours.

 

These are photos from Angelina's, the cafe along Rue de Rivoli that's known for their hot chocolate. It is indeed divine. They also sell all kinds of patisserie, which we merely admired.

 

 

We happened by Ladure, known for their macaroons, but the shop was swarming with so many people that we immediately backed out. Here's a glimpse.

 

 

Yesterday morning we toured the Louvre, using Rick Steves as our guide. It's so overwhelming that his highlights were exactly what we wanted, and all we could endure. Ingres' "Odalisque" struck me because of the warm color of her skin, which does not show up in reproductions. David's immense painting of the coronation of Napoleon is filled with lovely details.

In the afternoon we went to the Orangerie, and the collection of impressionists in an airy space was the perfect complement to the Louvre. Monet's water lilies were the highlight of a collection that includes lots of rosy Renoirs.

 

 

A Typical Day

It begins before dawn, which only means about 7:00 because we're so far north. I start the coffee, and after a restorative cup I slip outside to fetch our croissants. The boulangerie is right next door, and Madame helps me sort out the change with a cheerful smile. There's a lot of talking for such a short transaction - Bonjour, madame, Je voudrais deux baguettes, s'il vous plait, merci, madame, au revoir, bonne journee. The croissants are flaky and still warm. We eat them with apricot jam. But being Americans, we can't live for six hours on a single croissant, so we have muesli with "half-skim" (all we could find, and it tastes like cream) and fruit.

Today we're setting off for a walk entitled "From baguette to bistro" which promises to take us to some wonderful cheese, chocolate and butcher shops. We'll have lunch afterwards, maybe purchased from our last stop, and then wander over to the Cluny Museum, stopping at some point for a cup of something at Cafe Deux Magots.

Dinner is planned at l'Absinthe on the Left Bank, but we could just as easily walk around the corner to one of the places we've been to the last few nights. Ahhh...

Gardens

I am not expecting to see inspiring gardens on this trip, since formal French gardens do not move me, and that's what we'll encounter. Nevertheless, here are a few pictures from the Tuileries Gardens. I was surprised to see irises blooming in late October. Otherwise, these borders, surrounding perfectly placed and clipped lavender bushes, were filled with cosmos, enormous marigolds, salvias, and dahlias in shades of pink and purple.

Part of the gardens are filled with these trees in perfect lines. No grass or anything else dares to grow between them. They rise straight up out of the dry soil like soldiers.

 

Some of the dahlias that were in full and delicious bloom.

 

I suspected and confirmed with French Google that this is a castor bean plant. But I don't remember these incredible seedheads.

 

Here's a better view of the whole plant.

 

A view of one of the beds, filled with salvia, cosmos, etc. You can see the pleached (?) row of trees in the background, forming a hedge around the Tuileries. I wonder what it looks like after the leaves have fallen.

 

This was a beautiful afternoon, coolish but with a low sun that warmed us up. We strolled through here after a nice lunch at Angelina's, full of omelette and chocolate. It was perfect for sitting and watching the people, or perhaps closing one's eyes behind the sunglasses.

 

First day

Our first real day in Paris was filled with iconic tourist spots. The weather was brisk but sunny, and I had to buy a hat and gloves on the Ile de la Cite. Sadly, the hat makes me look exactly like Miss Marple, but no one knows me here but Alison, so I decided it's okay.

We walked through the Louvre on the way to Notre Dame. It was about 9:00, but the sun rises late enough that we felt we were there early. Henri is looking quite dashing on this statue in the courtyard. Whoops, no, it's Louis Quatorze, the Sun King.

 

A view up the Seine as we walked to l'Ile de la Cite.

 

This seems to be the thing to do along the Pont Neuf (or des Arts?) - locks, often with names inscribed.

 

This wonderful statue of Henri II (Vert, he was apparently a ladies' man) stands at the end of the Ile.

 

We walked along the quai until we turned into the street for Notre Dame. I was there in 1966 but have very few memories of it. I loved the ironwork on the doors.

 

Of course, the windows are gorgeous, even if the details are a bit vague.

 

Along the outside of the choir are painted statues that tell the illiterate (and the ill-educated) the story of Jesus. I thought this picture of Mary after the birth of Christ was a bit odd - doesn't she look simply outdone with Joseph and the animals? I'm sure that I'm misinterpreting...

 

My other favorite was on the central portal, showing St. Michael and the devil divvying up the souls at Judgment Day. Just below it is a picture of the dead lifting up the lids of their coffins and hopping out.

 

Two views of Notre Dame, one from the side and the other from across the Seine.

 

 

Of course, you really want to know what we ate: muesli and half-skim from the supermarket for breakfast, lunch at a little place on the Ile St. Louis, which I loved. I had salad with walnuts, a galette with cheese, onions and egg, and apple compote with whipped cream. Tonight we are off to Cafe le Nemours near the Louvre for dinner. I very bravely called the restaurant and had a confusing but ultimately satisfying conversation with the nice person. We have booked for 7:00, so I'm sure we'll be the only ones there. We'll see if it works...

We're here

The flight and shuttle worked beautifully. Apart from Alison's getting locked in a pitch-black restaurant bathroom, and the apartment being lovely but without a single hook or shelf, all is well. And the wifi works! More later.