A Winelover's Wanderings

This my favorite photo of my folks - it was taken in front of the fireplace in my home many years ago.

Both Vi and Earl Gillians died on August 5th - Vi in 2005 and Earl in 2006. I miss them both every day and always will.

What I didn't realize until just recently was that August 5th was also the day that Marilyn Monroe died, and today is the 50th anniversary of her death. We were all so shocked when we heard of her passing - such a waste of beauty and talent.

Here are a couple of stories which reminisce about Marilyn and her death:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/marilyn-monroe-50-years-death-142629748.html

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-marilyn-monroe-pictures-20120727,0,1930274.story

Well, we got the right restaurant this time! There appear to be several restaurants with similar names. Cafe des Musees at 49 Rue de Turenne (3rd) had been recommended by both David Lebovitz and Paris by Mouth AND our new Paris friend Nancy, so I made a reservation.

All I can say is that it definitely lived up to the hype. We arrived at 7 pm, when they first started serving dinner, but by the time we left, the place was bustling.

We shared (yes, you guessed it) a Foie Gras plate with ginger and Parisian Mushrooms stuffed with Snails. Yum!

Then Bil had the Fish Special, which was seabass in a lemon sauce, and I had Pork Loin and Smoked Garlic, with a side of the most delicious Au Gratin Potatoes. We were stuffed - but in a good way!

We had decided to get the two-day pass for those red double-decker buses, and today was our first day. The closest stop was Notre Dame, so we headed over there after breakfast.

Les Cars Rouges stops at nine different monuments, and you can hop-on hop-off at any time to sightsee. We just rode the whole route (2 ¼ hrs) and got off back at Notre Dame.

It was pretty chilly up on that top deck, but the views were priceless. Here are some of the photos I took.

Continue reading "Les Cars Rouges" »

On our way to meet up with the Giverny bus, we stopped for lunch at Cafe du Musee on Rue du Louvre. A restaurant with a similar name had been recommended to us, but we soon realized that this was not the right place.

But, we were there and we were hungry. I had a huge crepe with ham, cheese, mushrooms etc etc. It doesn't look very pretty, but it tasted good. Bill had a huge tuna salad.

Then after our bus tour we were hungry AGAIN (kind of a constant feeling here in Paris). We walked past Spring restaurant - I was dying to go there but no reservations and we weren't dressed properly. Down the street at Spring Wine Bar, the fellow working suggested we go across the street to a wine bar that served food. What a coincidence - it tuned out to be Le Garde Robe, one of the recommendations on the Slow Travel messageboard. We found two seats at the bar (actually there was only one seat but a very nice French guy gave up his seat for Bill). It was fun watching the bartender/cook Axelle fix the appetizer plates. Here she is.

We had a foie gras plate and a smoked salmon plate with lentil salad - both delicious. Two nice glasses of red wine recommended by Axelle - a perfect end to the day.

David Lebovitz wrote about Le Garde Robe here.

So, if you see this sign around the corner from Spring, be sure and stop by - you won't be disappointed.

First of all, I want to thank Freda Cameron for her wonderful posts and photos of gardens in Paris, especially Monet's gardens at Giverny. Check them out on her blog, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel.

I had my heart set on seeing Monet's gardens at Giverny, so after what I thought was a diligent search, I picked a tour company to take us there. Actually, tour is probably the wrong word because it was not a guided tour but transportation there and back and access into Giverny thru the group entrance without waiting in line.

So, Fcom France was the "tour" I picked. They offered both a full day and an afternoon at Giverny. For the full-day, we would have to meet the bus close to their office by the Louvre at 8:30 am, and I just didn't think we could get there that early. So, I booked the afternoon tour. It left at 1:30 and returned at 6:00, so I figured we would have 2-3 hours to tour Monet's house and see the flower gardens. Wrong!

After we were on the bus, we were told that first the bus was going to Versailles to pick up other people and then when we got to Giverny we would have ONE HOUR to see everything. I was more than a little upset with that news, and I wasn't the only one. None of the people on our bus had time to go thru Monet's house in one hour (it was quite busy that day). And to top things off, when we came back to the bus, we sat in the parking lot for 45 minutes waiting for the bus mirror to be repaired. I have already sent an email to the company citing the lack of disclosure in their online ad, but no response so far.

OK, enough venting! We did get to see the beautiful gardens, and I was happy for that. And the tulips were still in bloom - guess it has been so cold and rainy that they lasted much longer than they usually do.

Here are some of the photos I took.

Continue reading "Off to Giverny!" »

It was raining when we woke up, so we took our time getting ready to go out and decided to have lunch before heading over to the Pompidou.

The owner of our apartment had a list of local restaurants to try, and this one was right at the top of his list. Only half a block away, Le Barometre at 17 Rue Charlot (3rd) is definitely a locals place.

I had the daily special, Moisc de Saint-Jacques, and it was delicious. I was familiar with Coquilles Saint-Jacques featuring scallops, but this dish had an additional part attached to the scallop. It was quite tender and delicious. Perhaps someone could enlighten me about it.

Bill had Gratin d'andouillette a la Dijonnaise. We thought it would be sausage gratin, and it tasted kind of like sausage, but we learned later that andouillette is tripe. Bill likes menudo, so maybe that made it OK.

The food at this locals restaurant was great, but the service was not - at least for us. We were the first ones to arrive at noon, and we were the last to leave because all of the locals got served before we did. Guess they don't like Americans!

Off to the Pompidou! For those of you who haven't been to this museum, the exterior looks like it has been turned inside out.

We went up to the 5th floor, and these sculptures were out on the terrace.

The Pompidou is a modern art museum, and it has some pretty wild stuff. I like modern art, but some of it was way too modern for me.

Here are a few that I did like:

Continue reading "Pompidou, Pompidou . . ." »

Bill wanted to go to Versailles today, but I did not. Just too big and too many tourists - it makes me uncomfortable to be in big crowds like that.

So, he got on the train to Versailles, and I stayed "home" to catch up on my blog and rest my feet.

And, by the way, Bill said that I probably made a good decision. He went thru the palace and said that once you enter, you are stuck - you have to go thru the entire house to get out again. And there were mobs of people.

But, back at the apartment, I decided to go to lunch at a nearby restaurant that I had read about and wanted to try. Glou is located in the 3rd Arr at 101 Rue Vielle du Temple. I had read several reviews of Glou, including this one on Paris by Mouth.

It's a really cute place, with several regular tables for 2 or 4 and a couple of tall communal tables with high stools. I sat at one of those and was joined by several other diners. They have menus in several different languages.

I had my very first glass of French champagne and then Chilled Pea Soup with Mint and Prawn Ceviche. For dessert a chilled Melon Soup. All very unique and tasty. I highly recommend this restaurant.

Once again, I forgot my camera, so no photos.

On the way home I stopped at a rotisserie chicken place close to our apartment to get a chicken for dinner. Kind of expensive, I thought - more than 15 Euro. But, it WAS good!