Today (Friday) was a heavy cataloguing day for Janice and a fun rehearsing day for me. But first, I need to air a complaint I have had for the past 30 years. The cost Canadians must pay for common French cheese. My favourite Camembert (round, soft) cheese is Le Rustique. OK, so I have only common taste, the stuff is to my liking. In Monoprix, they have several kinds (not just the one we get in Vancouver).
And the cost? Yep, € 1.80, which is CAN$ 2.70 at the very worst exchange possible. Price in Vancouver? Never less than CAN$ 11.00 and sometimes $12.99. I'm eating Le Rustique like there's no tomorrow.
But back to the rehearsal. All but one of the Ars Antiqua de Paris folks were able to meet for 2.5 hours of rehearsing this morning. Since it was the first time I meet four of the singers, I was too shy to take photos, which I now regret.
After the rehearsal, I walked around to see what there was to see. Not much. Just more typical non-tourist Paris. I had used the métro stop "Rome" (opened 1902), one of the few named after an European city. It services both the 8e and 11e arrondissements.
A swath of train tracks cut right through this north-central part of Paris, going to the Gare Saint-Lazare, which deals with 275,000 passengers daily. Getting on and off the métro at any train station is challenging because of the constant traffic, even with métro cars arriving about every 3 minutes.
Since it was 1:30, it was high time to get lunch. I only wanted a sandwich and can of pop to eat on the go, but all I could see at the time were small cafés and medium-priced restaurants. La Gondole caught my eye: Italian, inexpensive menu, simple, undoubtedly quick, and there were lots of people already eating. I figure the locals know best; I am reluctant to enter an unknown empty restaurant.
Since our phones are on French SIM cards, we don't have all that much data available. Therefore, we rely on wifi as much as possible. Most French restaurants assume that you have come to eat, not do facebook, and no wifi is available to customers (who would use data anyway, their plans are different). My trusty (so far) phone still remembered all the texts from quite a few of today's articles in the Washington Post, so I looked through them leisurely until my pasta and pichet (1/4 litre) of wine arrived. Then all was well.
After lunch, I saw this window display at a Russian delicatessen, very colourful, reminding me of items our friends of Ukranian-Mennonite extraction know and (pretend to) enjoy.
Some of the more grand condos have corner rooms designed to make me dream. I like to imagine myself, perched way up there, overlooking the street from my desk, writing profound things (of course) while sipping some fine French wine. Unfortunately, I'll be lucky to even get to see the inside of such a room. And in the old days, some of these were walk-ups (no elevators).
Parisians are increasingly turning to Picard for their handy meals. Picard is a large chain of frozen food stores. From my occasional visits, I can remember them selling only frozen foods. Some are meals ready to be nuked, some of delicacies such as scallops (Saint-Jacques) offered in a lovely sauce, each serving being in its own ceramic dish (we save them). Increasingly, people are ordering their frozen food online, having it delivered. The selection of foods is amazing.
The size of the delivery truck suggests that frozen food is a serious business here. You can just about see that the rolling cart of frozen goods on the truck's tailgate is covered with a big white insulating tarp which fits perfectly.
The 'passages' in Paris are hard to ignore, and strangely, initially somewhat intimate, so I am usually a bit hesitant before entering. This is the Passage Geffroy-Didelot, which first opened in 1843, when Batignolles (the local boulevard) was still essentially a village.
The passage is lined with restaurants, the first of which caught my eye. In place of the usual placard or blackboard announcing the day's specials and prices, this establishment declares that it is both a wine store and eatery. The wine costs the same, whether you buy to take home or to enjoy with your meal. I love this type of restaurant. Typically, they do not have wine lists. Instead, you are invited to peruse the many shelves of wine and take one to your waiter. Totally civilized.
Some art shop owners do not like people to take photographs of their art work, probably from fear of ideas being copied elsewhere. This photo is nothing special, but shows several ceramic birds in flight and a T-shirt I'm sure nobody will copy soon.
I didn't want to shoot when too close to these men (one was already eyeing me), but liked seeing the chef of a restaurant select supplies from the back of a delivery van. It is Friday, a big evening for eating out, and the weekend will surely be busy as well. Getting supplies to stores on these somewhat narrow streets is a challenge.
I've likely mentioned them before, but many narrow or even just busy streets have a series of metal poles in the sidewalks. They 'remind' drivers that they are not allowed to park two wheels on the sidewalk, and remind pedestrians to stay on the sidewalk. People, however, walk wherever they wish, and most cars give them right of way, possibly with a honk as a little bonus.
The day has been gloomy, always threatening to rain, but never managing to produce anything serious. Black and white seems to capture the day's mood best for me. I like seeing a 'flatiron' building in the distance.
Now we can see the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre in the distance. It was placed to be seen from many vantage points.
Finally, the juxtaposition of the beautiful flowers and the motor scooters parked temporarily (illegally?) in front of them. To me, the clash was simply too much.
I hope to get my small camera situation remedied because it is my 'restaurant camera'. We'll see. I have a concert tomorrow evening, so there may well be no posting possible.
Evan
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