A trip to the suburbs!

Monday evening, 13 September 2010

Bonjour!

Wow! What a great day out and about in the environs of Paris! Up around 7, and R down for croissants. Mom feeling possibly she’d like something else, but has to wait until tomorrow morning, as she needs to go with him to pick out something else. (Although honestly, what, other than pain au chocolate, could be better than croissants in the morning in Paris?!)

Finally gathered ourselves around 8:45 a.m. and out for the adventure of traversing Paris to go to St. Germain-en-Laye and the National Museum of Archeology. It is a slog, but next to the Louvre, this Museum is R’s absolute favorite! First the 85 bus to Chatelet, where we headed to Metro line 1 and the l-o-n-g ride out to La Defense. There we changed from the metro line to the bus station and a 285 to St. Germain was just heading out! Now there is another long drive, but the scenery once you leave the bus station – especially as the road follows along the Seine, is superb! Arrived about 10:30 at the museum, which is a re-purposed castle/chateau. Had the place pretty much to ourselves, which is a really refreshing change from the Carousel du Louvre yesterday, that’s for sure! Got some new ideas of places to investigate for more painted caves – (you can never have too many of those!) had a good look around, then out for lunch about 12:30.

We went right across the street from the museum, to the Restaurant du Theatre; very up-scale place; not sure we fit in, especially me in my Tour-de-France t-shirt and shorts and tennies! Oh well!! Lovely place, excellent food, even though we all ordered salads – along with a half-bottle of a lovely Sancerre! Mom had a salad of haricots verts with parmesan cheese; R had a tomato and mozzarella salad with basil (although the tomatoes had been parboiled and peeled, and rather than sliced, were halved on top of the mozzarella for a lovely presentation!) My salad was frisee lettuce covered with lardons (strips of wonderful bacon) and a poached egg on top! While the egg may sound odd, it actually was truly delicious served that way! All three clean plates, that’s for sure!

From the restaurant we walked back to the museum and through the park. The grounds are beautifully landscaped, and are quite large, ending with a wonderful scenic overview from the bluff looking down on Paris! Just beautiful! From there back to the bus and the long trek back to La Defense. (To be honest, we could have taken the RER straight back to Paris, but we never really considered that – much prefer the scenery that buses provide!)

At La Defense we went outside so that Mom could see the Grande Arc– we much prefer the Arc de Triomphe, but the Grande Arc should be seen at least once! Then back to the metro, and back to Paris. This time we got off at Charles de Gaulle/Etoile, where the Arc de Triomphe lives. Wanted to take Mom at least a few steps down the Champs-Elysees, although every time we go there, R and I both tell ourselves “never again.” The crush of people actually wasn’t too bad, so we walked from Etoile to the next metro stop – George V, then reboarded the metro to get to Chatelet. At Chatelet we found a 21 bus which, of course, deposited us right next to our apartment building! How nice! It was now almost 4 p.m. and Mom was feeling in definite need of a nap…so, up we went for a little “hanging out” time.

R was to make dinner tonight, but it seems that the chicken we bought on Friday was more than a little suspect…do NOT want to ruin a vacation with food poisoning of all things! (Broken bones are another matter…) (We were supposed to have it last night, but after such a large lunch, decided on bresaola salads…hmmm…) So, down we went to the local butcher down the street and around the corner, who just happens to roast chickens all day! Fortunately he was still open, so we now have a wonderful French chicken waiting for the potatoes and haricots verts for dinner tonight!

The weather has been absolutely superb today – lots of fluffy white clouds floating past, nice breeze to make it fresh but not unpleasant, and I’ve been (terrible confessions here…) wearing shorts with my jacket all day, and am just fine! Tomorrow may be a bit brisker, but R says the weather men here are as little to be believed as they are in Southern California or Tucson! Who knew?!

Lots of love,
m
x

ps - Just found out that our main credit card has been compromised, so it is now canceled. Fortunately we are traveling with two others, but it is a hassle none the less! Grrrrr....