We're on our own now and free as birds again. So we got up late and walked to our 'ground zero' Cafe Dupleix for our croissants et cafes cremes. It's market day outside on Boulevard de Grenelle and we can't resist, so we stroll through all the stalls, watching the locals, and end up buying our usual for a quiet lunch chez nous...cheese, bread, tomatoes on the vine, roast chicken, fresh carrots, oranges, and we can't resist a little tarte au citron (lemon tart), one of our favorites, and of course some good Haut Medoc wine. We dine in and relax, polish up yesterday's blog and then our plan is to see some "made-in-France" arts and crafts...les Meilleurs Ouvriers de France types.
Quails, and stuffed calf's head...
Spit-roasted fetal pig...
Ray...
Female necessities and niceties...
Our fabulous lunch for dining chez nous...
Today Jill had read about Les Viaduc des Arts, a smart restoration project completed in 1998 on the street level of an abandoned railroad viaduct near the Bastille in the 12th. It's raining but we never let that stop us, so off to the Metro we go. All along Avenue Daumesnil there are big signs and banners announcing the Metiers d'Art. For nearly a kilometer there are over fifty arched spaces housing a variety of shops and artisan ateliers devoted to decorative arts and home design, as well as the making and repairing of copper pots, flutes, stringed instruments, jewelry, restoration of old paintings, manuscripts and affiches (advertisements), and more.
At first it's a little intimidating, because you think these establishments are just for the trade, but they are open to the public as well. Once we get the hang of it, we start going into each store or atelier establishment looking around...each one is unique and interesting, and the artisanship is extremely high quality and professional...a real find! Among the shops we visited were makers of fine flutes, a string instrument repair shop, original poster restoration, copper cooking pot fabrication and more. The artisans were working at their work benches or desks so you could appreciate what they do. These are all experts in their fields and something you don't get to see every day.
It's now 6pm and lights are starting to go off in the shops, so home we go to get ready for dinner. Tonight it's Racines in the 2nd arrondissement. We find the little alley off rue Montmartre and notice that it's full of adorable and inviting tiny restaurants. We locate Racines, a very small restaurant in the middle of the Passage. We had researched and read about it and learned that the new chef had a pretty good résumé so we had high hopes. We were not disappointed. The menu was limited but the food was excellently prepared in the open kitchen in back and we had wonderful fish and roasted lamb with quite a few spices. With the appropriate wine suggestions the dinner was remarkable as was the desert of chocolate mousse with wild black cherries and sauce. As we dine the tiny restaurant begins to fill up and people without reservations are turned away or offered tables outside. Remember, this alley is covered but open air and it is not warm but some diners accept the challenge. This was a find and turned out to be one of the better meals of the trip so far. Small wonders in small places!
As we depart we notice hordes of people crowded inside and outside all the cafes and restaurants. There is a soccer game on TV with a local Paris team playing Barcelona, one of the best professional soccer teams in the world and where Messi, arguably the best player in the world, plays. We learn later that it was a draw. Bummer!
And as we get on the Metro platform, some inevitable lovers are spotted, besides us, of course... Paris is for lovers...
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