Paris December 2024

[liamsaunt]

I am in Paris for a little pre-holiday visit.  The main purpose of the trip is to visit the museums and Christmas markets. We didn’t make any dining reservations before coming over. We are coming back in April and will plan more tightly for that visit, this one is more improvised. We arrived Thursday on the overnight Jet Blue from Boston, and spent a few nights at the Soiftel Faubourg before moving to an apartment for a week starting on Saturday. Here’s the plane menu from Mint class. I did not eat or drink anything because we took off during a bomb cyclone and it was a tad bumpy.  Plus, I slept most of the way. 

 

 

 

Complimentary macarons and a bottle of red wine were in the room on arrival. I don’t drink alcohol, but my husband enjoyed part of it. 

 

 

After crashing for a few (ok, four) hours, we went out to the Christmas market in the Tuileries.  We were going out to dinner later, so just walked through to see some of what was on offer. We did not get through the whole thing, but will be back.

 

many dried sausages

 

 

more sausages and potatoes 

 

 

I loved this rotating windmill with the Three Wise Men inside

 

 

chocolate

 

 

“Potato tornado”

 

 

Many kinds of cheese.  They said they could vacuum wrap anything to bring home, but I am not going to risk smuggling anything back.  We did buy some to eat while here once we moved to the apartment. 

 

 

We had dinner at L’Ardoise near the hotel. It’s a three course prix fixe at forty euros. We ate here about ten years ago and not much has changed.  Menu

 

 

I had the goat cheese salad to start 

 

 

husband had chestnut soup

 

 

I had the cod dish

 

 

and husband had duck

 

 

We chose the apple fianancier and Paris Brest for desserts.  Unfortunately we had to leave most of these behind after finishing the prior two courses.

 

 

 

Holiday lights on the way back to the hotel 

 

 

 

[liamsaunt]

Friday got a bit messed up because we way overslept and did not wake up until noon.  This is why we flew in early!  We got outside and went for a long walk, which helped to get us back on schedule, I think.  Some scenic views

 

 

 

We popped back into the Christmas market for a cheesy pretzel to share. I think it was only around 3 pm but already getting dark. 

 

 

This sign on one of the festival rides cracked me up. Of course everyone was screaming on the ride.  It went upside down.

 

 

 

Then we had pre-dinner drinks at the hotel bar (which was always completely jammed for some reason). Husband had Sancerre, and I had a mocktail made from jasmine tea syrup and na sparkling wine

 

 

We went around the corner to Chez Flottes for a late dinner.  Here’s the menu

 

 

 

 

husband wanted foie gras to start

 

 

I ordered the goat cheese and spinach toast. It was much larger than I was expecting or wanting it to be. I only ate a little and the waiter thought I disliked it. It was actually quite good but I only wanted a bit of it.
 

 

Husband had the coquilles St Jacques  for his main course. 
 

 

I had the sole meuniere, which they offered to filet table side. I am actually pretty good at doing this myself, but let them have at it. 

 

 

We shared a coffee ice cream with coffee syrup and chantilly cream for dessert

 

[Smithy]

Oh, what fun!

 

I love the colors and the food photos, and I love being able to admire the food and menus.

 

Did you try any of this cheese, or do you plan to?

 

 

What does "Tomme" mean? I'd love to know whether that green pesto (basil, I assume) flavors it as intensely as it colors it.

[weinoo]

3 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

We didn’t make any dining reservations before coming over.

 

Boy, you really like to take your chances!  We'll be back in February. If you're there on Sunday, the organic market on Blvd. Raspail is awesome...https://parisjetaime.com/eng/shopping/marche-raspail-p2262

[liuzhou]

30 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

What does "Tomme" mean?

 

It doesn't really mean anything other than being the name of a cheese. It is one of the oldest cheeses in Europe, originally from the Savoie (Savoy) area but now made all over France and Switzerland, especially in the Alpine region.

 

Usually it will have the origin appended to it's name - e.g. Tomme de Savoie. It isn't usually green.

 

 

Edited December 16 by liuzhou (log)

[liamsaunt]

14 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

Boy, you really like to take your chances!  We'll be back in February. If you're there on Sunday, the organic market on Blvd. Raspail is awesome...https://parisjetaime.com/eng/shopping/marche-raspail-p2262

Well, as I said, food is not the top focus of this trip. We will be making reservations when we bring my niece and nephew back with us in April.  But for now, we are in a nice part of a big city with lots of dining options. I am sure we will be fine 😀

 

14 hours ago, Smithy said:

Oh, what fun!

 

I love the colors and the food photos, and I love being able to admire the food and menus.

 

Did you try any of this cheese, or do you plan to?

 

 

What does "Tomme" mean? I'd love to know whether that green pesto (basil, I assume) flavors it as intensely as it colors it.

 

I have not tried it yet, but might at some point.  If I do, I will let you know what I think! 
 

Saturday we checked out of the hotel and went to the Orangerie Museum before heading over to the apartment, which is in St. Germaine. It is a very cute building, each floor is one apartment. There are three bedrooms (2 small ), 2.5 very small bathrooms, a living room, dining area, and kitchenette.  Here is the little kitchen. It is micro but has everything you need.

 

It’s a very old building and has charming slanted floors and high plaster ceilings, but also modern conveniences like laundry in the apartment, an elevator, and fast WiFi.  Pretty perfect other than the fact that we can hear the Metro going under the building, but it’s not bothering us. The commuter train to the Boston and Acela to NYC runs close enough behind our house at home to hear, so we are used to train noise (this is a lot louder though haha).
 

Saturday evening we went to a restaurant near our apartment called Shiro, which is Japanese-French fusion. They offer an omakase menu which sounded perfect for our indecisive selves. They called right after we made the reservation to ask if we had any restrictions and my husband asked if I could swap the meat course for vegetarian or fish and they said no problem. I thought that was really nice. I was just planning on skipping it (I intensely dislike most meat and won’t eat it unless I really, really have to). 
 

This was the shared amuse bouche. I unfortunately did not write down notes later that evening, so don’t remember exactly what each was.  I can say that the center was a cheesy tasting biscuit topped with smoked salmon and truffle, upper right was a fish tartare, and the left one was a yuzu cream in a crispy shell.  That was the order they told us to eat them in, and the last one was my favorite.

 

 

Next was a salad with raw sea bass and radish.  This was really delicious

 

 

followed by a pumpkin soup. My husband’s had foie gras on top. Mine had a sea scallop. The flavors were very nice, but the soup could have been a little hotter.

 

 

Next course was lightly cooked haddock in a bouillabaisse sauce. 
 

 

Then our main courses diverged. I was given turbot with truffles, which made me very happy.

 

 

Husband’s was veal. He’s not a huge veal fan to begin with, but I also think he was jealous of my turbot.

 

 

Then dessert was a chocolate mousse with strawberry gel and brownie. I would not normally pick chocolate for dessert, but this was very good

 

 

Some festive lights in the neighborhood on the walk home

 

 

 

[liamsaunt]

Sunday we spent the day getting acquainted with our new neighborhood and taking in the sights.  We stopped by the nearby Christmas market to see what foods were on offer.  It was actually mostly crafts and similar.
 

 

 

impressive nougat display

 

 

 

we stopped in at a random cafe for coffee and eggs

 

 

 

Most of the bakeries were closed because it was Sunday, but we did eye some storefronts with tempting treats on our walk to the Eiffel Tower

 

 

 

In sight 

 

 

Tower achieved. The last time I was in Paris you could just walk right under it, but it’s all walled off now.  I guess it’s been a while since I was last here…

 

 

We went into the Christmas market at the base of the tower but it was way too crowded, and we only stayed a few moments before leaving. I did take pictures of this pretzel booth with many flavors.  We will try again another day.

 

 

 

Less crowded scenes
 

 

We noticed restaurants in barges on the Seine, but did not go down to look closely.  
 

 

This one was a combo art gallery and restaurant

 

 

Wild rose ringed parakeet hanging out in a tree on the river. Another one for the Merlin bird ID life list (like so many others, I became a bird watcher during COVID times haha)
 

Our walk somehow brought us back to the Plaza de la Concorde

 

 

And the holiday market for a cafe creme

 

 

Dinner was at  Brasserie Lutetia.  Here’s the menu

 

 

 

 

 

 

The inside of the restaurant was very bright and loud, so we asked to be seated in the outside area, which was heated and enclosed, and so pretty with lights. There were a few other parties out there too, but I snapped a photo of this empty corner to show the ambiance.

 

 

Drinks.  I had a mocktail with clementine and mint, and husband had some sort of champagne drink

 

 

Oyster sampler for husband 
 

 

I opted for the sea bass tartare.  The tartare was outstanding, I had to share because it was too good to keep to myself,

 

Husband chose the flambéed lobster. It came with frites.

 

 

I had the sole grenobloise style, and forgot to take a picture! It was so good.

 

For dessert we just shared some berries with chantilly cream

 

 

 

[liamsaunt]

Yesterday we slept a little later than normal, but that’s ok, we had no set plans. We ended up going to a cafe around the corner that was recommended in the apartment guidebook. 
 

 

There was a line of people waiting to be seated, but the host took us right away, so the other groups must have been larger parties. We just wanted coffee and sandwiches

 

 

 Vegetarian croque monsieur (spinach and mushrooms swapped in for ham)

 

 

and standard croque monsieur for husband

 

 

I looked up the cafe when we got home to see why it seemed so popular, and apparently it was featured in the show Emily in Paris. Who knew? Not me. 

I thought this was interesting. It is a huge receptacle for recycling glass bottles. They are all over.  The apartment building has paper, metal, and plastic recycling bins, but if you have glass you need to bring it to one of these. 

 

Scene on the way to our destination

 

 

The Cathedral of Notre Dame, recently reopened 

 

 

The line to get in was long but moving quickly so we jumped in it since we had never bothered to go inside before. It only took ten minutes of waiting before we were inside.  It’s stunning. Once you are in you can stay as long as you like.

 

 

 

Entrance to the cathedral is free, but we paid 10 euro each to go into the sacristy and see the treasures. They have some really fascinating stuff in there.  These are the robes that Napoleon and Josephine wore when they were crowned Emperor and Empress

 

 

We ended up spending much more time in the cathedral than we thought we would, so scrapped plans to go over to the Orsay. I wanted to go to Shakespeare and Company but there was a long line to get in, so instead we checked out the Christmas market near the cathedral

 

 

It was small but charming and not too crowded

 

hot chestnuts

 

 

lots of cheese

 

Kintoa pork

 

 

Sweet pretzels

 

 

Glaceed fruits

 

 

By this point, husband was feeling a little tired and it was getting late, so we headed back to our apartment to rest for a bit, then went to another cafe recommended in the apartment guide for a quick, late dinner

 

 

Husband’s Negroni and olives

 

 

We both had a bowl of vegetable soup 

 

 

I just had a big bowl of mixed mushrooms

 

 

and husband had John Dory with truffled risotto

 

 

It was after ten when we finished eating so no dessert for us! 

[liuzhou]

Wow! I know exactly where you are/were. My family had an apartment just round the corner from Les Deux Magots forty years ago.

 

Do you know the history of Les Magots? A hangout of Hemingway, James Joyce, Picasso and Julia Child among many others. 

[Shelby]

Loving this.  I can feel how Christmas-y it must be.  I'm not much of a shopper but I think you'd have to drag me out of some of those markets.

[liamsaunt]

On 12/17/2024 at 10:01 PM, liuzhou said:

Wow! I know exactly where you are/were. My family had an apartment just round the corner from Les Deux Magots forty years ago.

 

Do you know the history of Les Magots? A hangout of Hemingway, James Joyce, Picasso and Julia Child among many others. 

That’s very cool that you know the location! We are here until Saturday.  I was aware of some of the history, though I did not know Julia Child hung out there. I knew about Hemingway and Joyce though. 

 

Yesterday we headed out to the Orsay Museum. We stopped at a little cafe on the way over called Au Sauvignon. Cafe creme

 

 

I had a plate of smoked salmon with Poilane bread

 

 

Husband had a toast with ham and truffle cheese

 

 

I love the interior of the Orsay museum. 
 

We had reservations for dinner at a Michelin starred restaurant last evening, but it turned out that my husband accidentally made it for this date but next month! They were of course completely full, so we were out of luck.  He was starting to feel under the weather, so it was just as well.  We walked home and checked out the side streets near our apartment. 
 

 

 

 

 

We ended up just sharing a plate of some of the food I had purchased at a nearby market earlier and calling it a night

 

 

Today was a wash for food too, because husband woke up feeling like he had a cold. We luckily have n95 masks with us as part of our post-covid packing protocol, so we’re still able to get out, but decided not to dine out in case he is contagious. Luckily we had no set dining plans, so nothing to cancel. 
 

We spent the day relaxing at the apartment to see if that would help him feel a little better. This is the living room. Note the blankets on the sofas. The apartment is a bit chilly at times so we sit under the blankets at night. 

 

 

And the view

 

 

In the afternoon we went over to the Louvre. No photos from inside, but here’s a few scenic shots from when we were leaving and our walk home

 

 

 

 

Hopefully husband will wake up feeling a bit better tomorrow and food plans will be back on track. 

[KennethT]

Sorry to hear about your husband getting sick.  I know how that goes all too well!  Just once, I'd like a vacation when I don't get sick!  Hopefully he feels better soon and that you don't catch it!

[liamsaunt]

On 12/18/2024 at 11:22 PM, KennethT said:

Sorry to hear about your husband getting sick.  I know how that goes all too well!  Just once, I'd like a vacation when I don't get sick!  Hopefully he feels better soon and that you don't catch it!

Thanks! We get sick a lot on vacations too. I don’t know why. I did end up getting sick too, but it’s just a cold, and could be a worse one.  

 

We spent the day walking around and trying to shop, but I didn’t really see anything I wanted to buy. I brought a completely empty suitcase with me, and it looks like it might be going home almost empty too! We did make it to Shakespeare and Company though, where I bought a few books.

 

 

There are signs everywhere saying not to take photos, but my husband snapped one anyway. He says he did not see the signs, and he thought this area was staged for photo ops. Since he took it, I made him send it to me to include in this report.  It is definitely possible that he did not see the signs. It’s happened before. 

 

 

We decided we felt well enough to eat out, so went to the reservation I made at Le Soufflé earlier in the vacation.

 

 

We opted for a salad and two soufflés instead of the suggested three courses of soufflés on the menu. Salad

 

 

Cheese soufflé for me

 

 

spinach soufflé for husband

 

 

Grand Mariner soufflé for dessert. They leave the bottle on the table so you can add as much or as little as you want. 

 

 

Coffee crème for me, brandy for husband

 

 

Followed by another walk through the Christmas market

 

 

 

 

Last full day tomorrow. We have much walking planned.

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

 

Excellent reports and brilliant experiences albeit without reservations during this busy holiday season.    We are intimately familiar with the areas you describe.    5, 6 and 7e were"home to us" for some 25 years.     Lots of historical as well as constantly updated restaurants and cafes.    Well done! 

[Smithy]

I really must try cooking souffles! They're on my cooking "bucket list" and I think that's a rather low bar. Even though I haven't cooked them.

 

Thanks for all those photos. I'm glad you both began to feel well enough to wander and eat out.

[Tropicalsenior]

On 12/18/2024 at 3:48 PM, liamsaunt said:

Husband woke up feeling like he had a cold

My husband always got sick when we went on trips. Everything from dehydration, food poisoning to Montezuma's Revenge. Most people would look up and make a list of all the attractions they wanted to see. I always had to know where the closest doctors and Clinics were.

[liamsaunt]

Well we certainly got our steps in yesterday. We walked all over St. Germaine and then all the way up to the Arc du Triomphe. Shopping on the Champs d Elysees was not for me. It’s mostly chain stores and mostly featuring three things I do not not like: perfume, fashion, and jewelry. I did go briefly into the Galleries de Lafayette because they had a Wicked exhibit and I wanted to take pictures for my niece. The perfume smell quickly drove us back out

 

 

This is one of the costumes Ariana Grande wore. I cannot tell you how excited I was to find out by walking up to it that she is shorter than me.  Everyone is taller than me! OK, I only have half an inch on her but it’s something 😂

 

 

I took this photo of a Ferrari you can rent for my nephew. No I will not be allowing him to rent it when we come in April, but he can dream haha

 

 

 

Neither of us wanted a full dinner so we just went to a cafe. I had a slice of spinach quiche

 

 

And husband had a slice of pate en croute 

 

 

We somehow found room for dessert and split a coffee sundae.

 

 

 

And that’s it for this visit. We are on the plane waiting to fly home, so I best wrap this up.  Thanks for following along, and if anyone has tips for my April trip, I am all ears! 
 

[KennethT]

Thanks for this - I enjoyed.  But who'd want to drive a Ferrari just to sit in traffic?

[Shelby]

LOVED this.  Helped me get a little more into the Christmas spirit.  Safe travels home!

[Margaret Pilgrim]

On 12/19/2024 at 7:45 PM, Smithy said:

I really must try cooking souffles! They're on my cooking "bucket list" and I think that's a rather low bar. Even though I haven't cooked them.

 

Thanks for all those photos. I'm glad you both began to feel well enough to wander and eat out.

Soufffles have a bad rap.   They are actually incredibly easy and close to foolproof.   They just don't "hold" well if not served soon after removing from oven.   Once you get the drift of the process, the flavor ingredient (cheese or veg or...) list is endless.    Have fun!

[liamsaunt]

6 hours ago, KennethT said:

Thanks for this - I enjoyed.  But who'd want to drive a Ferrari just to sit in traffic?

 
One hour to go on the flight and the WiFi is actually working so…honestly the traffic in Paris is really bad, but the traffic where we live is just as bad, if not worse. It does not matter how far you are going, it always seems to take a minimum of an hour to get there. This is true in the city itself or in the surrounding towns.  When I was still working, my job was in Boston right by Fenway Park and I actually stopped transferring to the subway from the commuter rail to get to my office because the subway was so slow I could just walk there in the same amount of time. And the commuter rail took just as long and cost almost as much as driving in would have, but at least you could read the paper or a book while you rode in on the train, assuming the WiFi worked and you could get a seat (both debatable).

 

One interesting thing about cars in Paris is that the mayor recently closed many of the inner roads to cars. Only taxis and busses can use them now. She wants more people to bike and walk. It was really pleasant for us pedestrians! 

[liuzhou]

Thanks for this. It triggered many memories and good to see familiar sights after far too long.

 

 

[KennethT]

48 minutes ago, liamsaunt said:

 
One hour to go on the flight and the WiFi is actually working so…honestly the traffic in Paris is really bad, but the traffic where we live is just as bad, if not worse. It does not matter how far you are going, it always seems to take a minimum of an hour to get there. This is true in the city itself or in the surrounding towns.  When I was still working, my job was in Boston right by Fenway Park and I actually stopped transferring to the subway from the commuter rail to get to my office because the subway was so slow I could just walk there in the same amount of time. And the commuter rail took just as long and cost almost as much as driving in would have, but at least you could read the paper or a book while you rode in on the train, assuming the WiFi worked and you could get a seat (both debatable).

 

One interesting thing about cars in Paris is that the mayor recently closed many of the inner roads to cars. Only taxis and busses can use them now. She wants more people to bike and walk. It was really pleasant for us pedestrians! 

We haven't been back to Paris in about 10-15 years but there was bad traffic (or equivalent to NYC traffic which is pretty bad) back then!

[weinoo]

18 hours ago, KennethT said:

We haven't been back to Paris in about 10-15 years but there was bad traffic (or equivalent to NYC traffic which is pretty bad) back then!

 

And the changes being made in Paris, just like here in NYC, aren't all hunky-dory. To whit:

 

Death of Cyclist in Paris Lays Bare Divide in Mayor’s War Against Cars

[weinoo]

On 12/21/2024 at 7:25 AM, liamsaunt said:

 

 

Your picture above reminds me of a picture I took quite a few years ago. It was right around the same time of year, but from a different vantage point: