St. Nizier

I just spent a wonderful weekend with friends that I've known for over thirty years. Odette and I took the train to Grenoble to spend the weekend with her son Jean Marc and his family. Jean Marc and Florence (Flo) have four children between the ages of 12 and 17. They have a house in Grenoble and another house in the mountains above Grenoble in a town called St. Nizier. Here is a picture of their house in St. Nizier:


It is quite a large house and can easily sleep 20 people. It has a bathroom with mosaic tiles that date from the 1930s.


To get to St. Nizier you pass by a rock formation called the 3 Pucelles. Just below this rock formation is the site of the ski jump for the 1968 winter Olympic games which were held in Grenoble:


Here are Jean Marc, Odette, Flo, the twins Yvan and Simon, Sarah, and Merlin at dinner on Sunday night. Simon is practicing his driving so that he can get his driver's license when he turns 18 later this year. I held my breath a few times when Simon took the wheel of the 9 passenger van with stick shift to take us up and down the steep curvy road to St. Nizier. He did a good job though, and the eight of us returned safely to Grenoble on Sunday night.


On Monday afternoon I'll leave Grenoble and head south towards the Côte d'Azur (French Rivera). I'll check in as soon as I arrive somewhere with an internet connection.

Haircut

My hair is getting long. I usually get it cut every four weeks and now it's been five weeks since my last cut and I'm getting antsy. I miss Neil! She is my hairdresser in Boulder and I've been a regular client for about 20 years. Before I left, Neil assured me that French hairdressers have much better training than hairdressers in the U.S.; but I'm quite nervous about trying out someone new. There is certainly no lack of salons in Paris, but where to go?

Sometimes I even cut my own hair. This is the do-it-yourself method with the tools on hand in the Paris apartment:


I finally asked my friend Nathalie for a recommendation. She raved about her hair dresser whose salon is nearby. I went there this morning. Here I am waiting for Steeve to finish with a previous client (yes, that's how they spelled "Steeve")



I was very pleased with the final result:

Markets

I love open air markets. Almost every neighborhood in Paris has traveling markets offering a large variety of fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, cheeses, flowers, etc. I especially enjoy watching the vendors who prepare each item on demand - meaning that they will fillet your fish, or prepare your quails, or slice your meat to your exact specifications.

Yesterday on my way to lunch I wandered through a nearby market and was surprised by the variety of items for sale. No need to cook; you can find lots of prepared foods. Want paella for dinner? Or steaming choucroute garni (sauerkraut and sausages)? You'll find it here.


There were lots of non-food items too. How about a new hat for spring?


Or an authentic Panama hat?


Maybe a carpet?


Or African art?


I thought of Carol Fier who has one of these gadgets for slicing vegetables!

More oysters

Did I mention that the apartment in the Passage d'Enfer is within walking distance of the oyster place that I discovered? I went there for lunch for the third time today. Yummmmmm. Even better, the place is so small (16 seats fully occupied) that I now feel like a regular. When I went there last week, it wasn't too busy so I learned a lot more about the place and its regular customers, including one 96-year- old gentleman who comes in regularly. This week, the owner, Francis, welcomed me back with a handshake as soon as I arrived. There is no menu and no wine list, so as soon as you are seated they bring over a bottle of white wine and start opening oysters. Of course, they know the habits of the regulars, with some immediately starting with red wine as an aperitif. Here is the inside of the restaurant:


Here is Francis, the owner, and Ségolène. At first I thought Ségolène might be a family member, but no, "I'm just the server" she insisted:


This week, after my 14 oysters and two (small) glasses of white wine, I had a smoked magret de canard (duck breast) with red wine instead of the foie gras. It was delicious! Here's what it looked like: (oops, I took a couple of bites before I remembered to take a picture!)


p.s. To all my oyster loving friends - I'm sorry you aren't here to enjoy them with me!

Normandy

I spent the long Easter weekend in Normandy with my friend Odette and her cousin Simone. Both women are well read, well traveled, and well informed. Discussions were lively and wide ranging - especially since they are quite far apart politically; Odette votes with the Socialists and Simone votes with the conservatives. Their political debates were very insightful and they gently agree to disagree. It was also good practice for my French - both language and way of life. Every meal except breakfast started with an aperitif, then first course, then main course, then salad, cheese, and fresh fruit for dessert. We used linen tablecloths with linen napkins - and it was just a casual weekend in the country for the three of us!

Here is Odette's house in the country:


Simone travels a lot to visit her four children who live in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Paris. Oh, did I mention that Simone is 80 years old and Odette is 78? That is not necessarily important although interesting to learn that Simone will be traveling alone to Taiwan to meet up with three of her children next week. It may also partially explain why I was so nervous with Odette at the wheel of a tiny French car driving 70 miles an hour on narrow roads without her glasses - despite rain, traffic conditions, or large trucks 20 times larger than us. Anyway, I made it back to Paris in one piece, and my white knuckles are gradually returning to normal.

Here is a picture of Simone (in grey jacket and skirt) and Odette (in white jacket) shopping for lunch in the nearby small town.


We visited a couple of minor castles nearby. This is a small one with a couple of different styles stuck together:


This is the chateau Beaumesnil. They call it the "Versailles of Normandy"

Montmartre

My stay at the Passage d'Enfer will be a temporary one. I'll be traveling a lot in April so this is just a place to leave some things while I'm gone. I'll leave this afternoon to spend a long Easter weekend at Odette's country house in Normandy. I will most likely not have internet access there, so I'll be offline for a few days. Check back on Tuesday - I should have lots of new photos from the Normandy countryside.

In the meantime, yesterday I hopped on a bus and went exploring in a touristy part of Paris that I had not yet revisited: Montmartre. This site is located in the north of Paris and sits high on a hill overlooking the city. There are several ways to get here. You can walk up the Rue Lepic where you'll pass the Moulin de la Gallette:


Or you can take the funicular:


Or climb the steps next to the funicular:


The most recognizable attraction of Montmartre is the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, a fairly recent church built between 1875 and 1919:


The nearby Place du Tertre is always packed with tourists, even on a cold Thursday morning. Nevertheless, it is a great place to have your portrait or caricature drawn by one of the many artists in the square:

Passage d'Enfer

On Wednesday morning I moved out of the apartment in the Latin Quarter. It was large and comfortable and located near the rue Mouffetard. I was sorry to leave it, but it was time to move on.

Wednesday afternoon I moved into a new place in the Passage d'Enfer near Montparnasse. Those of you who speak French will understand that "Enfer" means "Hell". No, I have not descended into some dark passage along with Dante, I am merely staying in a smaller apartment; a "pied-à-terre" owned by the Lefebvre family, friends of mine since the 1970s. The apartment is in a "cité ouvrière" which is housing built in the mid 19th century to house the workers of a local factory. When my friends first bought two apartments here in the 1970s, each had only a sink. Toilets were located in the stairwell. Now, of course, there is a proper bathroom with indoor toilet and shower. Here is what the Passage d'Enfer looks like:



By the way, you'll find yourself climbing lots of stairs when you come to Paris, so be sure and pack light!


Not too much greenery here, but I thought this was an interesting approach to grow a vegetable garden on the cobblestone street:


I went exploring in my new neighborhood. Right around the corner are artist studios occupied in the 1920s and 1930s by artists such as Man Ray, and Marcel Duchamp who were part of the surrealist movement: