Days 2 and 3: Embracing the cafe life and travel by train

  On day 2 we allowed ourselves to sleep in a bit before we attacked some of the sites.  We started off the morning with some coffee and buckwheat crepes filled with cheeses, meats and a fried egg,   which we both really enjoyed.  It's odd how simple things can be so exciting and fun.  Sitting in an open air cafe, people watching, drinking great coffee, and slowly savoring a meal is such a perfect thing.  The cafe is theater.  It sounds silly and mock poetic, but really I don't know how else to describe the cafe lifestyle here. You watch people walking by, chatting with a friend or partner, a lady riding a bike in chaotic traffic with high heals on.  The people traveling past are also looking at the cafe patrons and waitstaff.  Not sure how to do it justice, but I wish I could take a moment every day to cafe.

After our breakfast we headed towards the Louvre.  We decided to take the long way there and soak in as many little nooks and crannies while we were at it.  We stumbled upon a lot of public places with fountains, playgrounds, or gardens.  I love how this city is really made for the people.  I've noticed one modern "sky scraper" in the distance and it's really out of place.  It's really great to be able to see a park, school, or museum from any given spot, instead of a new high rise or office building.  That is what it's all about, the people make the city and those people should be able to enjoy it.    

We made it over to the Louvre and waited in line for about 5-10 minute then headed straight in, it wasn't overly crowded.  

Sorry, this is taking too long.  To be continued when I get a chance...

  Allison and I are currently sitting on a train in big plush seats facing each other, sipping café espresso and munching on Croissants.  We’re about 1 hour outside of Paris heading south to Nice, it's day 4.  Our 2’ by 5’ window view is changing pretty rapidly.  Train tracks and walls filled with graffiti, to flat green and beige fields filled with produce and cattle. I’m trying to embrace the experience while typing about our experiences thus far.  Hard to believe a few years back I would be sitting in a bar right now annoying a bartender or falling off a stool.  I’m not going to pretend that won’t happen again, and/or hasn’t happened within the past few weeks, but I’m really enjoying looking at my wife with the landscape of France in the background.  I’m not sure how life has led me here, and although I’m not religious, the only word I can think of is blessed.  Even the dude snoring a few seats over seems fitting, HA!  Some of these words come out sappy and cliché, but this is my life and although there are moments of drunken foolishness, emotional break through, jealousy, pride, and arrogance, I’m trying to get as much as I can out of it and I’m proud of what Allison and I have created for ourselves.  These adventures are 100% a part of the life we wish to lead, and we’re doing it, which seems impossible to me.   Enough of that back to Paris…

  Where were we... Yeah yeah, the previous few days were spent in cafes and seeing the sites, so I guess I’ll start with the sites.  On day two after strolling around different arrondissements for a bit we ventured over to the Louvre.  We pretty much bee-lined it to the Mona Lisa.  We both like art, but at the same time when it comes to the really early religious stuff, it’s incredibly grand and impressive, but we lose interest very quickly, which is why we decided to get the big gun out of the way.   I’m sure you have all heard the room she is in is filled to capacity, and she sits on the wall like a tiny postage stamp behind glass.  Yep, that’s pretty much the deal.  I will say to stand in front of the most famous and recognizable piece of art in the world is a little surreal.  This “lame brain” of mine doesn’t fully grasp what makes that painting special,  I just don’t see it,  It’s just as beautiful as the rest.  What I am amazed by, is that it was created so long ago in a time before modern luxuries, and 90% of the world recognizes that piece of art and knows her name and the creator…mind blowing.   After checking out the old lady, we strolled around looking at 1000’s of paintings and sculptures, until our legs couldn’t take anymore.  The Louvre is massive and we saw about a 10^th of it, including the ancient Louvre down below.  

  On day 3 we took the batobus, which is a ferry, that has 8 stops along the River Seine.  You can hop on and off all day with one ticket.  Each stop is in a specific tourist destination such as the Eiffel tower, The Louvre, Musee d’orsay…At any rate, we hopped on at Notre Dame, the closest stop to our hotel.  It was a really beautiful way to see the city.  The bridges are works of art as you can see in the pictures on my flickr account to the right of this page.  The first stop we got off at was the Louvre stop.  We wanted to check out Musee de L’Orangerie, recommended by my sister.  On our walk to the Museum, we went through the courtyards of the Louvre.  Once again, the public spaces are incredible.  I would guess it’s a mile long strip of park, filled with fountains and statues, flower gardens, great little lounge chairs and small food stands.  People played with their dogs, children, and friends.  The atmosphere is happiness and peace, no yelling or fighting, no thugs.  Picture one of those parking lot carnivals, yeah completely the opposite.  You can try to blame drugs and booze for those carnivals, but there were plenty of people drinking beer and wine, so nope, nice try.  

We arrived at the Musee de L’Orangerie and got our tickets. We visited rooms filled with paintings by Monet, Picasso, Derain, Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, and more. We already liked this museum a lot.  We passed some familiar pieces, and plenty of unfamiliar, but much more our style compared to the Louvre. The highlight of this museum was the Monet water lily rooms.  Oval shaped rooms with 100% natural light from the giant glass ceiling that had a slight transparent shade covering it.  The walls were massive rounded paintings of water lily covered ponds.  Up close they looked like giant smears of paint, but as you step back you can see the details of lily pads, lilies, clouds and light sources (Moon or Sun) reflected on the water. Each painting was a different season or time of day.  We really loved them.  I wish I could stop saying “we” but so far we have agreed upon most of the art.  And disagreement is sure to follow. 

   After the museum we walked Champs-Elysees, which is the famous street you see in movies, with all the lights that leads to the Arc de Triomphe.  This area was very busy, everyone was extremely well dressed, and on a mission to get where they were going.  There were lots of high-end fashion stores and car dealerships.  Some of the dealerships have cars in their windows like dresses in Macy’s.  Saint-Germain and the Latin Quarter, where we were staying, is more our speed.  We continued walking towards the Arc de Triomphe, but it was completely mobbed. It was very impressive to see from the outside, although we were told by Mr. Duclos to get to the top for a great view, it seemed too busy for us to wait.  We’ll be back in that area when we return to Paris at the end of the trip so maybe we’ll try again.

  Our last sight of this leg of Paris was The Eiffel Tower.  It’s massive and beautiful. Pictures and TV really don’t prepare you for its size.  When we return later on our visit we’ll head up it.  Lets talk about food, shall we?

  Dinner on day two was at La Petit Cour, recommended by The Nigro’s family friend.  It was a really interesting restaurant in the Saint Germain district, down a flight of stairs on a side street. When you head down stairs it’s a courtyard with a nice awning, flowers, tomato plants, and intimate little tables.  It reminded us of a place we ate at in Sorrento, Italy.  Per usual our Waitress was very friendly and completely up for speaking to us in English, although we tried to use as much French as we could.  People really seem to appreciate that. This was a prix fixe meal of three courses with about five choices for each course.  Allison ordered burrata, which is similar to a ball of buffalo mozzarella over mixed greens, with some pesto and balsamic. It had little olive oil caviar, which I have no idea how they make, but it was awesome.  I ordered Pigs ear, which they basically mash up into a paste with spices and other goodness, on a little piece of garlic bread with some tomato paste and peppers.  It was incredible… one of my favorite things so far.  For our second course, Allison ordered roast pork, which compared to the best grilled steak I’ve ever had.  It tasted and looked like a steak, but more tender. It came with cauliflower puree, and fried potato strings.  I took another risk with my second course, which turned out to be a big mistake.  I ordered veal Kidney, rare…ha ha, what a jerk, Oops!  That was way out of my league.  I did my best to attack it, but the flavor was just too organ meaty.  I can’t complain though because I could tell if organ meat is your bag, that stuff would knock your socks off…Luckily it came with white beets, which reminded us of artichokes, and a cabbage puree which was also great.  For dessert Allison got a chocolate cake and mango ice cream.  Her first pastry in Paris, and it didn’t disappoint.  It was a very soft fluffy piece of light chocolate cake, not comparable to anything at home.  I got a rice pudding maki.  It looked like a piece of sushi.  Amazing rice pudding wrapped in a green soft fruit roll-up type wrapper. It came with lychee ice cream.  Also crazy good.  Of course we had great wine with the meal, but that goes without saying.

  Sorry to jump around but I forgot about the first night post dinner fun, you'll see why.  After dinner we stopped at a tapas bar for a nightcap.  We each ordered a French beer, which was really great.  Then the bartender started making shots for his friends and offered us one, so we went for it.  He lined up 6 shot glasses and added an apple liquor, layered something that looked like blue curacao over it and then topped it with Cointreau and lit the things on fire.  Then lit the bar on fire, and handed us straws.  Ha ha!! I killed mine, and Allison smiled and killed hers.  We laughed, thanked the bar tender and sat back down to enjoy our beers.  Awesome! The French are obviously rude jerks right? No way!!  99% have been excellent people so far, which is a higher percentage than anywhere I have ever been. 

  Ok for our last dinner in Paris we at Au Port du Salut, another prix fixe meal. This place had lots of old celebrities on the wall.  The waitress mentioned the place had been around for ages, and was once the place to see and be seen.  The only problem we had at this place was the other guests.  A couple of old British tourists who had been there the night before were complaining about their meal, which was the same as the night before, but they had the chef completely strip it of sauces and sides. A slab of beef on a plate, that was it. And the other guests were Americans that only ordered an appetizer and ice water, also bitching about everything...What we had was excellent from start to finish.  Allison had Bellota ham to start.  This was pretty amazing.  It was an aged pig leg sitting at the front of the restaurant that they shave thin slices off as it's ordered... It was the best "cold cut" I've ever tasted, slightly sweet and really marbled. It's said to be the finest ham of Spain. Free range pigs that room oak forests feeding on acorns.  That was served with shaved tomato, olive oil, and baguette.  I started with beef cheek canneloni, which was sort of like a crepe filled with a shredded beef and a cheese sauce, also incredible, tasted a bit like an amazing bolognese. Second course, Allison had pan seared duck breast and peaches, perfectly cooked duck! I had what the British travellers order, except, as the chef intended. Beef over haricot vert puree and a shaved mushroom.  It was incredible.  I would have to really strain to find a complaint for that dish.  For dessert I had creme brulee, I'm not sure what they serve in the U.S. but it's not that. That's not bashing the U.S. I've had some of my greatest meals in the mighty states, but they don't make creme brulee.  Allison had a layered almond chocolate cake.  I don't think I need to explain how good a chocolate almond cake in Paris is.. I'll just say they don't mess around with Hershey, or even Ghiradelli for that matter..  Awesome meal, awesome services, shitty tourists, oh yeah and another free shot... ; )