Nous avons chaud

The weather turned hot--not warm--hot, upper 90s, which in Paris is ugly, since there is little air conditioning. So Vicki and I--after getting P and her parents off to the Gare du Nord and the train to the UK of GB--decided it might be good to spend the day visiting some of the (hopefully) air-conditioned newer department stores.

Interior of the Gare du Nord, one of the older stations still
standing

Surfing from AC shop to AC shop, we made
our way to the old Samaritaine, now defunct
and awaiting either destruction or resurrection,
one of Paris' great old department stores,
another Art Nouveau treasure

Humongous...one of the game-changers in retail

Thus

And thus

And then made our way back up-river on
the Rue Rivoli past the St. Jacques Tower

Appreciating Pascal's scientific researches

And past the Hotel de Ville

And finally to the BHV, where we spent the
afternoon, looking mostly at the cook-ware
(an entire floor: the French are serious about
a lot of things, but nothing more than cooking)

In the book department at BHV; "Le Faulkner de Louisiana"

Department store philosophy; at least the AC
was working

All over Paris we have been looking for a plastic
picnic table cover for use in the States,
something that said "Paris" or "France" or
somesuch; we have seen "welcome to England"
and "welcome to New York" and all kinds of
such things, but never Paris

Until searching an humble housewares shoppe on Diderot
Boulevard; I am not sure how it's going to look on a
National Forest Service campground picnic table; but Vicki
likes it

Septime

For a few years now, Septime has been on everyone's "must" list for Paris eating. "Must" if you're in the food fashion industry, or an international foodie, etc. I suppose it's partly the chef, another young food star, partly the contrarian nature of the place, partly the usual emphasis on freshness, season, innovation, etc. Reservations are impossible for dinner, even for lunch, until well into the fall, but if you get there early for lunch and ask politely, you can often score a table via cancellations. Jeremy and I, two of the five members of the extended family not suffering from selective eating disorder (look it up), indeed scored a lunch table Thursday (until 1:30). The wait-person (what do you call this in a contrarian French restaurant?) informed us we would have time enough only for the three course menu--just enough, actually), so that is what we did.

Septime is the blue thing; it's on Rue Charonne, a few blocks
from where we live; it's not nearly in the fashionable Bastille
area; these are working-stiff neighborhoods; the restaurant
is totally unadorned on the outside

Interior (off the web), from about where we sat; the kitchen
is completely open to view; the staff we saw were all under
30 (or so they looked), but good; very good; the two rooms
seat perhaps 50; there is no ornamentation on the walls;
actually, there is pealing paint all over the walls; it's like
they just rented a space and moved in the furniture and
cooking stuff, proclaiming, "this is about cuisine and nothing
else"

The menu; ditto...this is about cuisine and
nothing else; for the three course, you pick
three of the nine things listed; for the five
course...five; the wines are pretty much all
"natural," which is of course what you'd
expect, looking around; I had a natural beer

Well, I forgot to document the entree, which,
for both of us was the leeks (looked more like
scallions, but, whatever) and the aged/seasoned/
very thin-sliced beef, with snippets and traces
of other things (check the menu, preceding, if
you're really interested); above is my main
course, a grilled pork sliver, with onions and
other miniature accompaniments

Jeremy had the tuna with the assorted green
stuff

My dessert: apricots and other stuff with
vanilla ice cream

Jeremy had the cheese course (traditionally,
it's three items, but don't expect anything
traditional at this kind of restaurant; not
even a pastis); verdict, mine, solely: at least
it's not over-priced, at 28 euros for the
three-course, including tax and tip; you could
probably get this quality of food--freshness,
preparation, inventiveness, seasonal-
orientation, etc., at scores of restaurants in
California, maybe even just Middle California,
and not have to watch the paint pealing in
sweltering heat; and in English too; but, OK,
not in Paris, and probably not at a place quite
so notable nor memorable 

Encore plus out-takes de Paris

Historian Rachel noted that our apartment was
only a few blocks from the site of the infamous
Roquette prisons (his 'n hers; now replaced by
a park and an apartment block) and its even more
infamous guillotine

The five foundation stones of which have been left in the
street to mark the spot...

Which reminds me that a few days later we took P and parents
to La Defense and saw the above Guillotine a Saucisson at a
cooking specialty store

Jeremy and P pose before Cesar's Thumb

Unusual rear view of the Thumb with the
Grand Arch in the background

P loved to drive the #1 Metro line to La Defense and back

And make scones with Grandma

Interesting sign in the nearby park we often took her to

In the historic districts there are more plaques and markers
than one can read...here, Thomas Paine, "English by birth,"
"American by adoption," "French by decree" 

His next door neighbor, a century+ later

Ducks in a row at Buttes-Chaumont

Snipping herbs for a repas

P portrait by Grandma after doing her hair; next to her chart
showing when Maman and Papa would return from
Barcelona

After the long cruise and 9 weeks in Paris, Grandpa has
added a few pounds

Three generation R&R after a brutal day of shopping in Paris

Jardin d'Acclimatation

Tuesday we took Penelope to the Bois de Boulogne, and specifically, its Jardin d'Acclimatation. The Bois de Boulogne is a long story--it is Paris' 2nd largest public park (Vincennes is larger), and thus one of the world's great urban parks--we thought we might take a lot of it in on a days's visit, but concluded rather quickly it would take more like a week. Next time. The Jardin d'Acclimatation started as a zoo, and even included a human zoo (imagine...), but, in the last century, it has been primarily a children's pleasure park. It is immense, larger than any I have seen that are strictly for children, and includes features and attractions too numerous to mention. We spent the better part of a day and barely scratched the surface.

The Bois de Boulogne is nestled between western Paris and
La Defense, just to the north; Camping Paris Ouest is located
in the the Bois de Boulogne, and we have camped there many,
many times, from 1979 to 2009; but never spent any time
looking at the park itself; another visit...

A huge, diverse, children's place

Just inside, the misting from the ground gets
P's attention; later it would be a major struggle
getting her out of them and drying her off

It's not Disneyworld, but then you're never very far from you
know where

There are many, many, many rides, all for
children, but mostly for children over one
meter in height, or more; and pricey, too

We explored the place for an hour or so--mostly the rides--
then had another picnic lunch; and then P again burst  into
song...

A rhinoceros ride settled her down

It was to be another day of a very late nap

Feral, but kid-savvy peacocks roam the place

In the Franco-Prussian War, after the
Emperor was captured and surrendered at the
Battle of Sedan, Paris held out and underwent
a brutal siege; for months pigeons from this
tower were its only means of communication
with the outside world (there was the
occasional, very risky, hot-air balloon, too);
after the city's surrender, Prussian troops
quartered in the Bois de Boulogne

Soon to open, the Louis Vitton Foundation at the Bois de
Boulogne; at first, I thought it was a parody of Frank Ghery's
magnificent Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao; no, it's no
parody; designed by Gehry himself; will be magnificent, too

Everything literally under the shadow of La Defense

Among the newer rides

Penelope's favorite, undoubtedly, was the huge misting/
spraying field--a soft compound floor with jets spraying mist
and sprinkling all over, a basketball court and a half; nice
for a warm day

But she was also pretty captivated by the Guignol puppet
theater next door; the Guignol puppet tradition goes back
to the 18th century; the place was packed

Enthralled; despite (presumably) not understanding a word
of it; it relies heavily on audience participation, and she could
thus get into the spirit of the thing via the responses of the
other children...or maybe she has just learned a lot of French
already

Thus; traditional Guignol has a working-class and moralistic
orientation...fairness, etc.

More characters appear

The villain, who explains his nefarious intentions in detail to
the audience...eliciting boos and other disapprovals

Smack! The villain gets his due

After morality plays, a good trampoline session is always in
order

We eschewed the camel rides

Opting instead for a couple of the kiddie rides for which P
was tall enough...here, of course, the train

And here, wisely, the taxi (an Uber?), as a passenger...
"faster, Rudolfo, faster!"...although she and the driver did
get into a disagreement about who could blow the horn;
all-in-all, it was a pretty great day, although exhausting
for both child and grand-parents