Oct 8, 2005 - Friday
What's the perfect ending to any great meal, besides a nap? Coffee! After we said our good byes to the cooking class at Le Cuisine Paris, we went scouting for a cafe. Without a destination, we wandered onto the busy and noisy rue de Rivoli. To to get away from the congested boulevard and the dust, we turned onto a small nondescript side street, rue des Blancs Manteaux to discover Terres De Cafe.
The aroma of roasting coffee permeated the entire street. As the saying goes, "all good things come in small packages." The tiny cafe's walls are lined with golden canisters with spouts to dispense beans from all over the world and the remaining wall space is dedicated to every coffee and tea making accessories you would ever need. As luck would have it, we happened upon the cafe during a lull in the day and the barrista was just finishing up a "take away" order. We chatted with the stoic barrista, she seem to warm up to the three of us, how can you resist? As she set about making our cafe cremes, a man lugging a hand cart came in, it turned out to be the owner of the cafe and he was on cloud nine, he kissed the barrista on the forehead, like a father's kiss, apparently, Terres De Cafe was featured in a "serious" Parisian food magazine, which he had clipped and taped to the cafe's glass door. Just before he walked in, we were conferring with the barrista on the type of beans we should take home. She deferred the question to the owner, hmmm... which one to choose... he recommend a Melange Parfait Expresso (yes with an "x") to be french pressed at home, the combination of terriors including India, Sumatra, Brazil, and Ethiopia, he described this particular blend as... "attacks the front with a mellow finish." I took a bag of it, I'll let you know what a "coffee attack" tastes like. He sources, combines and roasts the beans himself. His enthusiasm for coffee is contagious. I truly admire artisans that are passionate about their products. For me, it's places like this little cafe that make Paris so unique, we slid off the stools and made our way to Le Orangerie through the colorful neighborhoods of Le Marais and Les Halles through the Louve, down to the Tuileries Garden.
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| Tree lined streets make Paris neighborly in an urban setting |
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| A typical window scape |
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| What in the world? |
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| Contemporary Art Museum - Pompidou |
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| A bar lined street is common in Les Halles |
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| Pedestrian friendly streets full of restaurants and bars |
Le Orangerie is located on the far left corner of the Tuileries Garden before the Place de Concorde. The small museum has a unique white walled space just before you enter the Monet exhibit, they want you to leave behind the chaotic busy life to prepare you for the calm and tranquil exhibit. The large oval room showcases eight large panels of Claude Monet's Nymphéas (Water Lilies). Monet created some 250 different pieces based on this theme. You are allowed to take non-flash photos and if you are not familiar with that function on your camera, ask the guard, he is well versed in all different types of camera, he's had a lot of practice.
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"Suddenly I had the revelation of how magical my pond is. I took up my palette.
Since that time I have scarcely had any other model." Claude Monet (1840-1926). |
The lower level of Le Orangerie houses works from other famous artist such as Cezanne, Derain, Maillol, Matisse, Picasso, Renoir, and Soutine, and others but for me, it's the Monet exhibit that makes this museum a must-see. Contemplating Monet's famous renditions of his Giverny pond, water lilies and willows, he gives us not only paintings but the opportunity to sit and ponder as though we were guests at his home garden, was that his intent? If you haven't been, visit Le Orangerie, you'll get a sense of peace that hopefully carries with you long after you leave the museum.
Our last planned stop of the day is rue Cler, a little market neighborhood under the Eiffel Tower. We left the Le Orangerie and walked along the right bank of the Seine River with the Eiffel Tower as our compass.
We crossed over the Seine River at the beautiful Pont Alexander III, a bridge noted for it's Art Nouveau statues; cherubs, winged horses, and water nymphs, as well as decorative lamps. The bridge connects the right bank at the Grand and Petit Palais of the Champs Elysees area to the Les Invalides on the left bank. The bridge was built for the 1900 Exposition and took three years to build. It was named after the Russian Tsar, Alexander III, signifying the friendship between France and Russia.
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One of the four gilded statues on top of
a 57 ft granite pillar |
We continued our walk toward rue Cler, we cut across on Boulevard La Tour Malbourg, and came to an interesting shop, Petrossian, a unique Russian Vodka and Caviar store, you never know when you will need vodka and caviar, so note this one, tell the bearded man that Nicole sent you. I'm sure he will remember me.
Rue Cler is an upscale neighborhood in the 7th Arrondisment. It boasts wide pedestrian street full of every kind of foodstuff you need, fresh and prepared, as well as flowers, linens, pharmacy, hardware, etc. Oh, to be one of the lucky residents living in this neighborhood. We strolled slowly down the street admiring all the fresh produce, fish, flowers, meats and of course, the cheese.
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| Le Maison du Jamon - hams, wines, and prepared foods. |
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| We could use one of these in our neighborhood. |
After oogling at all the glorious edibles, we decided to sit down for a snack. We were seated at an outdoor table on the corner of rue Cler and rue du Champs de Mars at the crowded Cafe du Marche, giving us a prime spot for people watching. Just as we were pondering our drink order, our waitress brought us a plate of salami, did she read my mind? We ordered a couple of Stella beers and a carafe of their house red wine and discussed our enchanting surroundings as the building on either side of the cafe cast their shadows on rue Cler. As we sipped our beverages and enjoyed our salami, we watched a man carry bags of produce from store to restaurant back and forth multiple times, seemed inefficient, but that's how passionate these guys are about fresh produce? One particular table full of children with their parents piqued our interest, just as we were missing our own kiddos. We watched the kids run back and forth across the street to various shops then return to the table for a nibble or sip, while the parents chatted and enjoyed their wine with maybe neighbors, friends or family, this went on for awhile. This laissez faire parenting attitude was fascinating as well as frightening.
Not one child was hit by a car or motorist, or bit by a dog, or kidnapped on our watch. Whatever the differences between French parents and us about parenting, we agree on one thing, we all enjoy wine and beer with friends at an outdoor cafe, especially on rue Cler.
