Week of November 11: Armistice, Miro @ Grand Palais, Opera Garnier
This weekend marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. Lots of ceremonies acknowledging it. Four years ago, we attended Armistice Day observances at the Arc de Triomphe, but that was just a short walk from the old apartment. This time we watched on TV -- and most certainly saw more of it. Although we'd have preferred that French television show captions identifying people so we'd know who they are.
On Saturday night, Macron held a state dinner for the heads of state who were attending -- somewhere between 60 and 80 of them. It was at the Musee d'Orsay and, from looking at Google Maps, I figure that Trump, Macron, Merkel, Putin and etc. were eating dinner 600 meters from us. We tried to be tourists and were stopped 2 blocks from the museum by police who not only didn't want us to cross their line, they wanted us to just move on. And, late in the evening when I took Emmy for a walk, we talked to the policeman who was guarding the larger perimeter where our street hit Boulevard St. Germain. I told him (in my horrible French) that our dog didn't like motorcycles or trucks so she really appreciated what he was doing, and could this become something permanent. The police officer laughed. However, I'm sure the 6 French army guys with machine guns who'd passed by a couple minutes earlier would not have...
Sunday night it was rainy and chilly so we went to an old favorite restaurant from previous years, Ambassade d'Auvergne. It's hearty food from the Auvergne region of France, especially aligot which is basically equal parts mashed potatoes and cheese.
Twelve years ago we discovered this restaurant. It was small and, while we weren't the only people speaking English, there were certainly many locals. Maxine loved the lentil salad and wrote to Bon Appetit to ask them to publish the recipe in their RSVP column of restaurant recipes. This actually worked. After many months of correspondence with Bon Appetit, they published the recipe but somehow her letter was used with another name. Either way, Maxine got the recipe and still loves it!
Fast forward to 4 years ago. We visited again with our friends Jim and Diane. It was much more touristic. Last weekend the restaurant had been recently remodeled and it was full of tourists. Tom's question -- do you think your letter published in Bon Appetit made this restaurant into a tourist destination?
This photo is of our waiter mixing the potatoes and cheese tableside:
We continue to see very very many empty storefronts and wonder what's going on. This is especially puzzling since tourism seems to be flourishing enormously.
We've seen a number of stores advertising "Black Friday" sales. Yes, an American commercialism event the day after an American holiday. The world is becoming homogenized...
A plea. Dear French people, as you become more homogenized, please stop smoking so many cigarettes...
Some pictures from our Monday visit to the Grand Palais where they were hosting a special exhibit of Joan Miro's works:
Tuesday I went to the Opera Garnier which Napoleon built in the late 1800's. Maxine went there 4 years ago and told me it was worth the trip. It's incredibly grand.
Maxine had lunch with Barbara and Rick, friends who passed through Paris. She spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with other expats at a meetup. Always fun and enlightening to hear about other expats' experiences in Paris.
On Saturday night, Macron held a state dinner for the heads of state who were attending -- somewhere between 60 and 80 of them. It was at the Musee d'Orsay and, from looking at Google Maps, I figure that Trump, Macron, Merkel, Putin and etc. were eating dinner 600 meters from us. We tried to be tourists and were stopped 2 blocks from the museum by police who not only didn't want us to cross their line, they wanted us to just move on. And, late in the evening when I took Emmy for a walk, we talked to the policeman who was guarding the larger perimeter where our street hit Boulevard St. Germain. I told him (in my horrible French) that our dog didn't like motorcycles or trucks so she really appreciated what he was doing, and could this become something permanent. The police officer laughed. However, I'm sure the 6 French army guys with machine guns who'd passed by a couple minutes earlier would not have...
Sunday night it was rainy and chilly so we went to an old favorite restaurant from previous years, Ambassade d'Auvergne. It's hearty food from the Auvergne region of France, especially aligot which is basically equal parts mashed potatoes and cheese.
Twelve years ago we discovered this restaurant. It was small and, while we weren't the only people speaking English, there were certainly many locals. Maxine loved the lentil salad and wrote to Bon Appetit to ask them to publish the recipe in their RSVP column of restaurant recipes. This actually worked. After many months of correspondence with Bon Appetit, they published the recipe but somehow her letter was used with another name. Either way, Maxine got the recipe and still loves it!
Fast forward to 4 years ago. We visited again with our friends Jim and Diane. It was much more touristic. Last weekend the restaurant had been recently remodeled and it was full of tourists. Tom's question -- do you think your letter published in Bon Appetit made this restaurant into a tourist destination?
This photo is of our waiter mixing the potatoes and cheese tableside:
We continue to see very very many empty storefronts and wonder what's going on. This is especially puzzling since tourism seems to be flourishing enormously.
We've seen a number of stores advertising "Black Friday" sales. Yes, an American commercialism event the day after an American holiday. The world is becoming homogenized...
A plea. Dear French people, as you become more homogenized, please stop smoking so many cigarettes...
Some pictures from our Monday visit to the Grand Palais where they were hosting a special exhibit of Joan Miro's works:
Tuesday I went to the Opera Garnier which Napoleon built in the late 1800's. Maxine went there 4 years ago and told me it was worth the trip. It's incredibly grand.
Maxine had lunch with Barbara and Rick, friends who passed through Paris. She spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with other expats at a meetup. Always fun and enlightening to hear about other expats' experiences in Paris.
Comments
Post a Comment