Finishing Up In Paris

    After leaving Bordeaux on Monday morning we took the TGV to Paris to finish up our trip there and head home on Wednesday.  Although we did a lot of walking in Paris, it was cloudy and rainy most of the time, so we took very few photos.  And while we did take a walk along the Seine, we crossed the nearby Canal Saint Martin far more times than we crossed the Seine.

CANAL ST. MARTIN

 

 

 

 

     On Thursday we decided to go to one of the outdoor markets, even though we couldn’t buy anything for meals.  However, it was worth it just to see all the interesting French food vendors one more time, including one that had a whole pig’s head on display.  And we did buy a bunch of beautiful looking goat cheeses from one vendor, some of which we planned to have as part of our lunch along with the bottle of Bordeaux given to us by the proprietor of the Hotel des Voyageurs in Bordeaux, and some of which we planned to bring home.

       We didn’t do a whole lot in Paris besides walk and eat, partly because when we got to one of the museums we had planned to visit (the Musee d’Orsay), there was a massive line that would put anything at Disneyland to shame.  So we skipped that and later went to the Carnavalet Museum, a great museum of Parisian history.  We also missed out on going to our longtime favorite Paris wine bar, Jacques Melac Bistro a Vin, because after taking a long walk to get there, we discovered that it was closed for a couple of weeks. C’est la vie!
 
      We did eat well in Paris, which is not always a foregone conclusion.  Besides the great cheeses and bread we had bought for lunch, we had two very good dinners.  The first night we ate at Pain, Vins, Fromages, a restaurant that specializes in all things cheese: cheese platters, plus cheese dishes like fondue and raclette.  The second night we went to the Auberge Pyrenees-Cevennes, which features rustic French regional cuisine.  I had a terrific lentil salad and one of the best cassoulets I’ve ever eaten, and Ann had a foie gras salad followed by a perfectly cooked steak with peppercorn sauce.  And the tarte tartin for dessert was outstanding, surpassed in my opinion only by Madame Lantin’s croustade that we had in the Gers.

    The next morning we awoke early for the long trek home.  And it was a long day: we walked to the Gare de Nord, took a train to Charles de Gaulle Airport, flew to Dublin, followed by a Dublin-Boston flight, then a bus from Boston to Portland.  And now we’re home, having brought back a lot of photos, some goat cheeses and wines, a few Provencal tablecloths, and other assorted things to remember the trip by.

Platter of Goat Cheeses Chez Nous