May 22 was our last day in France before returning home. My morning jog along the Seine took me across the Pont Alexandre III to see more of the Rive Droite, the Right Bank. As I crossed the bridge, familiar landmarks abounded. We both returned later on our tourist stroll.
After the jog, we walked to the end of our street to the boulangerie where Mary selected this delicate lemon pastry. She said it was delicious but the boulangerie experience in Paris is very “big city,” busy and rushed, much like a New York City deli, in contrast to the relaxed, friendlier, small town experiences of Villers-la-Faye and Le Puy Notre Dame.
We walked one block to Rue de l’Universitè and started our search for Julia’s apartment and a lunch spot. There are lots of brasseries, cafés, pubs, and restaurants in our area. On the basis of a carté with choices we both like and reasonable prices, we chose Crêperie Evangelista. In the photo, you can see the awning, a couple of sidewalk tables, and a walk-up window. That is the total width of the place. The inside is about 15 feet deep with two rows of those tiny tables and a sliver of a kitchen, everybody jammed in together. As cramped as it was, I liked it. It seemed very … Paris.
We were greeted quickly with “Bonjour, monsieur ‘dame. Que vous désirez?” We’ve learned this translates essentially to “What would you like?” or “What can I get for you?” Mary had the house salad, the Salade Evangelista, which turned out to be a symphony of shrimp, hard boiled eggs, olives, artichokes, cheese, and salad vegetables with a creamy dressing. I had the Salade Niçoise with tuna and anchovies. We shared a small carafe of vin de Provence rosé, which seemingly everyone enjoys with lunch.
A macaron shop was open just a few doors down the street. A real French treat, especially in Paris, these are not the toasted coconut confections that I remember. They are little meringue cookies with a ganache filling. I don’t partake, but Mary assures me they are wonderful.
I bought a raspberry and a chocolate macaron for her. For our Bay Area readers, Miette in the Ferry Building Marketplace makes the authentic version of these, so says Mary.
Julia and Paul Child lived at 81 Rue de l’Universitè, which Julia called the Roo de Loo or simply 81, on the second and third floors, from 1948-1953. It was in the kitchen of the Roo de Loo that she found her passion for cooking and launched her cooking school, L’Ecole des Gourmettes, with her colleagues and later co-authors, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle.
After we left Julia’s apartment, we walked the route I jogged earlier. At the Pont Alexandre III, with its grand columns and gilded figures, the Eiffel Tower came into full view.
On the other side of the Seine is the Grand Palais. To once again indicate the historical bonds between France and the U.S., the address of the Grand Palais is 1 Avenue Géneral Eisenhower.
Just beyond, intersecting with Avenue Eisenhower, is the famed Champs-Élysées, and the Arc de Triomphe. Mary, and a small cluster of several tourists with the same idea, stopped smack in the middle of the Champs to take this photo while the traffic light was red. I went on to the other side of the avenue.
Then the light changed to green while she was still out there! She had to wait, so there was nothing to do but keep taking pictures with traffic whizzing by. They basically lined up behind the signal light pole to stay out of the way of traffic.
We moseyed back to the apartment via the Right Bank. Here’s my cute wife on the Seine.
Before dinner we walked back to Les Pont des Arts a few blocks from us, nowadays a pedestrian bridge over the Seine, where couples attach padlocks to symbolically seal their love. Mary had a little luggage lock which we used for the occasion.
In this photo you can barely see our little lock between us and the Louvre beyond us on the Rive Droite.
We chose A La Petite Chaise from our list of recommended restaurants for dinner because it is just a short walk. The building has been a restaurant since 1680 and is designated as a historic monument.
The first order of business was an apéritif of Bollinger Champagne rosé.
I started with an entrée, which in France means an appetizer, of oeufs pochés et poitrine fumée, poached eggs with smoked bacon on a bed of leeks in a wine reduction sauce. The dish was spectacular, unforgettable! The flavors of the egg yolk oozing into the leeks, the texture and flavor of the bacon, tender and not crisp, and the richness and tanginess of the sauce combined for a dish like I’ve never had. I had oeufs en meurette in Chablis, which was delicious, but this was amazing. This is another example of classic cuisine taken to a level that shows an understanding of how flavors, textures, food, and wine interact to produce something greater than the sum of its parts.
Mary’s plat, the main course, was a seafood choucroute, choucroute de la mer, in a lemon butter sauce. We’ve had the typical Alsace-style choucroute of sauerkraut, sausage, and potatoes many times, but had never heard of a seafood version. Baked salmon and Atlantic cod rested on a bed of sauerkraut in the beurre blanc.
I had duck breast with roasted apple, magret de canard et pomme rôtie, in a red wine and ginger reduction. It was delicious. The acidity of the apple made the whole dish livelier. The sauce was rich and smooth, great for swirling bites of the duck. I admit I was still thinking about the oeufs pochés, though.
Mary had a vanilla pudding with dark chocolate topping for dessert.
I had a cheese course of Camembert, Montbriac, and Reblochon. By the time we finished dessert, it was nearly 10:00 p.m., a dinner of two and a half hours. Tomorrow is a travel day, so we declined coffee.
About the wine, I wanted something that would work well with both of our main courses, plus the appetizer. Riesling might have been the ideal pairing for the seafood choucroute, but a Pinot Noir would do fine and would be perfect for my dinner. I chose a 2006 Chorey-lès-Beaune by Domaine Michel Gay. I’m familiar with this producer from a Beaune Grèves Premier Cru we’ve had at home and have been impressed with the quality of the wines, but I had not tried this particular wine from Domaine Gay. It was an excellent choice, full, seductive, aromatic, had great structure, balance, and flavor.
We sniffed it, sipped it, and tried to make it last through a long, delicious, lingering dinner at A La Petite Chaise, sitting next to the open window, gazing out onto Rue de Grenelle, on our last evening in Paris, our last evening in France … for this trip. Here are my notes on the wine.
Domaine Michel Gay et Fils Chorey-lés-Beaune 2006. This was another absolutely delicious Pinot Noir from Burgundy, round and full in the mouth with great aromas of earth, cherry, and plum. It had an unmistakable Pinot aroma profile, especially the earthy notes. The palate showed a lovely medium to full-bodied velvety smooth texture, coating the mouth with what I’ve heard others call the "glory of Pinot Noir." I think the textural elements of Pinot Noir are actually more important to the sensuousness, the seductiveness of the wine than the flavor elements. Earth notes and rich fruit, cherries, berries, and plums highlighted the flavor profile. The acidity was medium and balanced the fruit nicely. The wine was moderately complex with a nice, long finish, a delicious wine on our last night in Paris. 13.0% alcohol. That’s our post for today, our last before returning home tomorrow. We hope you enjoyed it and think it is interesting. We’ll post another article of reflections soon after we get home, so keep checking back at Cépage et Cuisine. Until then,
Cheers!
Mary♥Brian
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