Just One of Those Things

Here's a little Maurice Chevalier to get you in the mood for Paris:

Now, how many people do you know who get caught by the Google Street View camera car drinking wine at a sidewalk cafe in Paris? Check out my little family at the Bruschet Caffe when we visited last year. We saw the Google car go by and Ben even managed a little wave. 

Thanks to my boy Ben, who kept an eye on Google to see when we surfaced, and for grabbing this frame off the street view.

You can see the whole street scene and some other wine imbibers by going to Google Maps, searching for 20 Place Dauphine, Paris; and then clicking on "street view." It truly was just one of those things. 

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation

You'll have to pardon my excitement, but this was our first trip to Europe, so you'll be hearing a bit more about it. I thought it might help if I told you all the places we went.

First, we headed to New York from El Paso, so that we could meet up with our son, who was traveling onward with us. Because we are such country mice and were quickly exhausted by wandering around crowded Manhattan on foot, we made our way to this peaceful sanctuary of a cemetery just across from the World Trade Center site.

St. Paul's Churchyard

The next day, we left New York and headed for Iceland, where we had a very brief layover--just long enough for a beautiful open-faced smoked salmon sandwich. Yep, it's always about the food with us. 

Can you tell that I'm excited about becoming a world traveler?

After our late-night "lunch" in Iceland, we headed off in the summer twilight (it doesn't really get dark this time of year in Iceland) and on to Paris. Pausing just long enough to figure out the controls on the rental car and to program the navigator, we headed south through the Loire Valley to the beautiful blue-shuttered house, Les Volets Bleus, that we had rented for the week. The link below the photo will take you to many more views of the lovely interior. It was a dreamy place to stay, and it was all ours--for the week, anyway.

Les Volets Bleus

After an all-too-short week in the countryside, visiting chateaux and abbeys, street markets and gardens, beautiful villages and the sea, we drove back up to Paris and turned in the rental car. From that point on, we explored Paris as the Parisians do--on foot, by metro (subway), by boat, and by le taxi. But not by bike or Vespa--I drew the line there!

An amazing piece of interactive street art. Look closely (click to enlarge)
and you will see that the sidewalk appears to have heaved upward. The little boy
was using it for a slide. I can still hear his laughter. This is located off of the Boulevard Saint Germain, on the south side, at the intersection of Rue de Rennes and Rue Bonaparte. It's in the Place du Quebec and the sculpture is Charles Daudelin's, l’Embâcle http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_du_Qu%C3%A9bec

In Paris, we visited museums, strolled through parks and gardens, ate at sidewalk cafes, became philosophers for an afternoon, indulged ourselves at the Angelina Tea Room, and took an evening boat ride on the Seine.

Sunset over the Seine

Then we flew back to Iceland, swam in the geothermal waters of the Blue Lagoon, and continued on to Boston. In Boston, we did a bit of shopping and a bit of eating (you're not surprised by now, I'm sure), then drove up to New Hampshire for two days of visiting, partying, and reuniting with old friends. And then we flew once more, back to El Paso.

Phew. It's no wonder that some mornings I wake up wondering which hotel I'm in, and which language I'm expected to understand for the day!

Angelina: "A Genuine Romantic Poem," and Quite the Tea Room!

Here is a quote for you from the Angelina website:

...the Angelina tearoom has established itself as a high point of Parisian gourmet pleasures, Angelina became a must-not-miss venue for the Parisian aristocracy. There, Proust, Coco Chanel and the greatest French fashion designers were to be found… The decor designed by the famous Belle Epoque architect, Edouard-Jean Niermans, combines elegance, charm and refinement. Angelina is a genuine romantic poem, a quiet and voluptuous venue, between serenity and gourmet pleasure.

And here is the recipe for a lovely day: Stroll through the Tuileries Garden in the first arrondissement of Paris. Have a leisurely luncheon at a sidewalk cafe. Work off just a few of those calories in a stroll down the street, then join the line at Angelina. Don't worry, the wait will be worth it. 

Because of the line, I was not able to photograph the elegant entrance, but you may see it here. Once we got up to the doorway, the delicious anticipation began with our first glimpse of the teas, chocolates, jams, and of course, the lovely macarons that were offered for sale. 

As the line inched its way forward, we could see into the seating area upstairs:

We were soothed, we chers clients, with this gracious sign asking for our patience. By this point in our vacation, I have to tell you that after our total immersion in the language out in the countryside, we simply read the words en français, and ignored the English translation:  

One more tantalizing glimpse of the glories ahead, of the glittering room dripping with crystal and gold and mirrors, and then we were escorted to our table.

A sandwich at Angelina will run you 21€ (about $26 US), but we were there for the signature chocolat chaud à l’ancienne dit “l’Africain--Old Fashioned Hot Chocolate L'Africain--with a little sampling of mini-macarons in framboise, pistache,  caramel beurre salé , and mont-blanc. 

The macarons were ambrosial. The chocolate was delicious, fragrant, and impossibly thick. Served in little pitchers, with mounds of cream on the side, it was beyond elegant. And for 7.9 € per cup, we bought ourselves the whole lovely experience.* 

And we were worth it.

*I don't mean to be crass with all this discussion of money, but I would want to know these details if you were writing about your once-in-a-lifetime trip to Paris! You can peruse the entire menu here.

A Philosopher in Paris

Our Beez is a lover of all things philosophical. Here he is in Paris at the famous Les Deux Magots cafe in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood near our tiny little hotel. Les Deux Magots, now a tourist destination, was once the hangout for such intellectual and artistic luminaries as Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, Pablo Picasso, Albert Camus, and Ernest Hemingway. 


Beez was doing a little philosophizing and pontificating himself over some lovely wine and an assiette de fromages. In the background you can see my second-favorite Parisian waiter, and the two Chinese figures that give the place its name.