There’s something special about Paris. We’ve been here a bunch of times, and so far at least, we’ve never tired of returning. But in the past year or two, it seems that all the news about Paris has been bad. Riots. Poverty. And of course, the disastrous fire at Notre Dame. Will it be the same Paris today that we used to know? This is our first visit to Paris after the fire. We shall see.
An “Interesting” Ride into the City
The taxi ride from Charles De Gaulle airport into the city was something of an eye-opener. We went through a rough-looking part of town that I don’t remember passing through before. Graffiti was everywhere, and there were a lot of creepy dudes walking around.
At the same time, though, normal-looking people were walking around in this area, too. No one seemed to be causing any problems one way or another. In my sheltered existence, I’m not used to mingling with what I’d consider creepy-looking dudes. Maybe they aren’t so scary after all. That may be so, but I won’t be coming back to this part of town after dark to find out.
Every big city has its rough neighborhoods. And thinking about it now, the area we had just gone through doesn’t seem so bad. I’ve been more nervous in downtown Los Angeles. Anyway, it wasn’t long before we emerged into what looked like the Paris I remember.
When we used to come to Paris, we’d stay in a different neighborhood each time, so we could get to know different parts of the city. But these days, we’ve settled on the area around Rue Montorgueil, in the second arrondissement. There aren’t any hotels there, so the only way to stay in Montorgueil is to rent an apartment, which is fine with us.
Montorgueil
I won’t go on and on about Montorgueil. I’m already guilty of doing that in posts from a previous trip. I’ll just say that after getting settled and taking a short snooze, we were ready to get out and park ourselves at a café on Rue Montorgueil.
Rue Montorgueil is a pedestrian-only street, so while we loosen up after the long trip, a parade of Parisians pass by in front of us to keep us entertained. What could be more interesting than observing Parisians in their natural habitat?
We had dinner in one of our “go-to” restaurants in the neighborhood: Aux Crus de Bourgogne. It’s on a side street just off Rue Montorgueil. Aux Crus de Bourgogne is a little classier than our usual haunts, but hey, we’re in Paris. It’s time for us to step up our game! (But not too much).
I have to mention that years ago in Aux Crus de Bourgogne, we a dinner that we’ll never forget. We sat next to two young ladies who were tourists from China. They asked us how to pronounce a few things on the menu, and the next thing you know, I was trying to teach them french. Hey, they were desperate. I was trying to help. Eventually our waiter got involved, too. There were lots of laughs at dinner that night. And of course, the food was fantastic.
Hey, Wake Up! We’re in Paris!
I started the next day off with an early-morning outing. One thing about the French – if you’re a repeat customer, and if you make an effort, (no matter how weak), to speak french – they’ll treat you like you’re family.
It only takes a couple of visits. On the first visit, it’s business as usual. But on your second visit, things will have already changed. It’s like… “OK. We’re friends now!” Maybe there’ll be a bit of conversation, some in french and some in english. By the third visit, you’ve just about been adopted as the newest family member. I wish more travelers to France got to know this endearing quality of the French.
So on my first early-morning outing, I tried to choose places for my pain aux raisins, coffee, and fruit that I’d want to go back to for the next couple of days. In case I forget to mention it later, my favorite morning stop was at Maison Collet. People in there – the owner in particular, (I think), were The Best. And the pain aux raisins? Oh, Maman!
The plan for the day was to check out the neighborhood, since we haven’t been here in a while, then find our way to Montmartre for lunch. Having lunch in Montmartre is another one of our favorite things to do here. (You could say we’re in a rut, but if it’s a really great rut, is that such a bad thing?)
Montmartre pour le Déjeuner
The restaurants in Place du Tertre, the little square at the top of Montmartre, are as touristy as they can be. But we’re in France, now. I don’t think there’s such a thing as a bad restaurant here, at least by Western standards.
Our favorite in Montmartre is Au Cadet de Gascogne. We like to sit outside, under the red umbrellas. On the way there, I had already decided that I was going to order moules-frites – mussels and french fries. But when we were shown to our table, we were led past several people having the most amazing-looking linguini bolognese. So much for the French classics. I’m havin’ Bolognese!
Montmartre is a huge tourist destination, so I’m always surprised by the number of Parisians having lunch around us. Parisians are pretty easy to spot. It’s not just that they’re speaking French. They have that certain “je ne said quoi,” eh? Oh yeah. You can tell.
After lunch, the plan is to take a big walk and go see Notre Dame. That should be interesting, although sad, for sure.
To be continued…
