The Road Goes Ever On

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Procope

We saved Procope (founded 1686) for last, in part because we thought it might serve for our 55th wedding anniversary dinner. As it happened, we were already in Nancy on June 8th, and decided to have another wedding anniversary dinner there, at Excelsior. Another story, another blogpost. The luncheon repas at Procope was fine. They seated us (eventually) by the street window, and after eating, I took the opportunity to explore the place. For weekday luncheon, they open only the ground floor dining room, but upstairs are at least six more dining rooms. My appraisal: if you don't have time for the Carnavalet, have week-day lunch at Procope and wander the upper floors...there's plenty of Paris history there too. Reservations, even for lunch, a must.

In the Latin Quarter, not pretentious looking at all; our table was
just to the right of the two ladies...

Famous place. Another plaque inside says: "Café Procope. Here
founded Procopio dei Coltelli in 1686 the oldest coffeehouse of the
world and the most famous center of the literary and philosophic
life of the 18th and 19th centuries. It was frequented by La Fontaine,
Voltaire and the Encyclopedistes; Benjamin Franklin, Danton, Marat,
Robespierre, Napoleon Bonaparte, Balzac, Victor Hugo, Gambetta,
Verlaine and Anatole France." Thank you, Wikipedia; which goes on
to observe that the "oldest" bit is not exactly entirely totally accurately
true....

My snails

My coq au vin; once in a lifetime...

Her steak frites; no, it's not BBQ sauce

Her profiteroles; quite good

My espresso, served with a little almond biscuit
on top

At the entry to the dining room, a list of former
patrons of note

Ditto; pretty much a who's who of 18th and 19th
century France; oh, that's my empty chair by the
window: be impressed

Entry and bar

Now venturing into the upstairs dining rooms (some of them)

In the Salon Benjamin Franklin

Not sure who this guy was, but the open collar definitely
suggests a revolutionary

Definitely Voltaire, who said the ice cream was so good it
should be illegal; seriously

Yeah, he really liked the place

Another room

And another

Something to, from, or about Colbert

The abundant paintings were mostly portraits, but occasionally

depicted historic events

The founder, a Sicilian, who wisely Francophied
his name to Francois Procope; otherwise it might
have become known as "Godfather's Gelatos" and
become a chain...

They say he loved the little mille feuille cream cakes...
story goes he left his hat here in lieu of payment...

She also liked the cakes and wanted everyone to have some

A very late (1793) something from Louis XVI

The great Encyclopedist; not a friend of the King nor of any king

So Revolutionary...

Every wall filled with such ephemera

Downstairs dining room

Historic Restaurants: Polidor And Le Petit Bouillon Pharamond

Among our restaurant choices during this year's Paris campaign were three "historical" restaurants: Polidor (1845), Le Petit Bouillon Pharamond (1832), and Procope (1686). The interest in historical restaurants stems in part from our ongoing interest in art nouveau restaurants. It is not so much about the food as being in a place that had stood the test of time and was of interest architecturally, artistically, historically, or from literature. The clear winner in all categories this year would have to be Procope, to which I'll devote a full post. We also ate at Le Grand Colbert, and, although Colbert once owned the site, the building is not that old and, as a restaurant, it is not old at all. Maybe in the out-takes.

Polidor was just a few blocks from our apartment; as seen in Midnight
in Paris

Famous regulars included Gide, Valery, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Ionesco, Joyce,
and Hemingway

My salmon rillette

Vicki's pasta something starter

My salt cod brabade...well, it sounded interesting, but proved to
be just mashed potatoes with a chemical trace of salt cod...I should
have known not to order a Spanish dish in Paris

Her boeuf bourgignon, a far wiser choice

Tarte tatin?

Dessert of the moment

Gil Pender was brought here by the Fitzgeralds and met Hemingway
here the first time; in Midnight in Paris

Now at Pharamond, over by Les Halles, my cuke
salade

We both had the steak frites

The street dining area was much larger than the restaurant

Old interior; convincingly old

The food was passable at Pharamond; and incredibly inexpensive;
five courses and wine set us back just over €40

My ile flottante

Her creme brulee

Sunday, June 11, 2023

Orangerie, 2023

Our last Paris museum visit for this campaign was at the Orangerie, a place we've visited several times over the years (the water lily place)(e.g., https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2009/08/orangerie.html; and https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2021/10/orangerie.html). In view of the more recent post, and our sense that little had changed in two years, I think I'll skip the interior of the Orangerie and just post a few pix from our travel to and from the site.

We took the bus to the National Assembly

Memorial for Aristide Briand, famous 20th century diplomat

Fence-eating vine

Statue outside the National Assembly of Colbert
(we ate at his restaurant a few days back); famed
economist and long-time advisor to Louis XIV;
theorist of mercantilism, a nationalistic economic
policy; so if you're ever on a French TV quiz show
and they ask you to name the four great statues
outside the National Assembly, they are: Colbert,
D'Aguesseau, L'Hopital, and Sully; not Stephen
Colbert