Day 6 in Paris

Saturday September 27, 2025. Chilly again this morning and overcast but rumor has it we might see the sun today.

Once again we eased into our morning; routine here has little meaning aside from pretty much doing what we want when we want. The way a trip to Paris should be, at least for us.

Eventually of course we had to leave the apartment -- mainly since we had a 12:15 appointment at Ô Chateaux for a wine and cheese tasting. We walked to Ledru-Rollin and took the 8 to Bastille, connecting to line 1. It was a short ride to the Louvre Rivoli stop. We strolled up rue du Louvre past a typical sight in Paris: a building that had been turned into a work of art, this one using mirrors; we then passed the Bourse and made our way to the Dehillerin kitchen store for Susie to browse since we were a bit early for our tasting. 

The Louvre

oh so typical artwork

the Bourse

Dehillerin had been pretty well known long before Julia Child started coming here but her visits didn't hurt, especially with American culinary travelers.

Ô Chateaux

Anyway, after a few minutes wandering the aisles all jumbled with everything cooking imaginable, we made our way just up the street (rue Jacques Rousseau) to Ô Chateaux.

We arrived a bit early and waited for the group to assemble in the main room of the wine bar. As is so often the case with us we were the first to arrive but by the time our sommelier Pierre led us downstairs to the tasting room, the bar was packed. 

main room upstairs

that's Pierre in the background

the tasting table

the Champagne part

the menu with wines noted at the bottom and cheeses outlined on the map directly

Our group consisted of 12 people: four Puerto Rican women, one couple consisting of a Belgian guy and Greek gal, one couple from Norway, a mother and daughter from England, and the two of us.

We tasted 5 wines matched with five cheeses, each from roughly the same area as the wines they accompanied. It was a great time and an informative two hours, particularly hearing Pierre's review of the entire Champagne making process, reminding us how time consuming it is. We learned from the two Brits about the growing sparkling wine movement in England with one producer, Nyetimber, recently beating out a French sparkler! 

From Ô Chateaux we made our way back to the Louvre, passing the Duluc Detective Agency (which has no importance for our story but just thought it cool that there is an actual detective agency right near the Louvre.).

Passing the Samaritaine complex of very expensive shops and it's hotel the Cheval Blanc (not cheap either) we noticed many black Mercedes vans parked along the side street as well as in front of the hotel. Hmmm . . . wonder who was staying there? 

From there we followed what we like to think of as a nostalgia walk through many familiar areas that were part of our lives back in 2006-2007 while Susan was in pastry school. While the narrative may not mean much to many of you, we love to reminisce about those days.

We crossed the Seine on the Pont Neuf taking the opportunity to watch the river traffic. After saying adieu to Hank no. 4 we crossed to the left bank of Paris and the world of tourists - not only the French but those from many corners of the planet, all mixed up and doing their best to enjoy life.

crossing Pont Neuf

Henry IV

From the Pont Neuf we walked straight up rue Dauphine past the Hotel Daubisson, a lovely spot where we had stayed during our very first visit to Paris in 1999.

From the rue Dauphine we took rue de Buci, again wandering amidst the crowds of tourists and locals, in search of a place to sit and have a cup of coffee. We soon spied Cafe Lola where we snagged an outside table and spent the next half hour watching people.

Cafe Lola

on rue de Buci

Leaving the cafe we popped into the nearby Taschen book store -- always a good place to see some funky artwork -- before making our way to rue de Seine via boulevard Saint-Germain. 

Here's just one reason why Paris should be walked as much as possible - you never know what you might find. Not far beyond a lovely little florist shop, one of probably a thousand in the city, was the place where American Revolutionary War hero John Paul Jones ended his days. Susan spied the plaque first. 

Rue de Seine eventually dead-ended in the Luxembourg Palace where we took a slight detour to the Liszt Institute so Susie could pay her respects to the "woman in the hat." 

Leaving the woman to forever ponder her life we walked over and into the Luxembourg gardens through the rue Vaugirard entrance. This very spot was where we first discovered the sheer magnitude of what Paris had to offer when we came here in the spring of 2006 to check out Le Cordon Bleu. We strolled over to the tennis court and spent a few minutes watching one couple whacking a ball back and forth, unsure whether they were any good and not trying to show it or pretty lousy. But it was fun. 

We continued strolling past green spaces; the occasional statue dedicated to a French immortal; scores of folks sitting in the green chairs, reading, chatting, occasional smooching and probably arguing. Eventually we came to the petanque courts. Similar to the Italian version bocce, we first tried our hand at petanque through the calm tutelage of Magali B. back in Providence, RI, days.

very serious about this game

From the petanque strategists we made our way across the grand open space cherished by so many seeking to find a moment's peace in an otherwise hectic life. 

We left the gardens and dropped down into the city's bowels to the RER line B to Chatelet, a change to the 1 to Bastille, then the 8 to Ledru-Rollin and home. In case you haven't noticed, it's always an interesting process to determine our routes on the metro.

Just short of our apartment we stopped in one of the small wine shops in our neighborhood to pick up a couple of bottles. We asked about a specific wine but the owner of the shop pointed out to us that she specialized in wines only from southern France. We had a lovely conversation with her and walked out with a white wine from Limoux and a red from the Languedoc.

the shop Chai Sophie, behind the white car

Once we got home we shared a glass of the white wine -- delicious -- before heading out for supper at Le Berbére, an Algerian restaurant just a five-minute walk from our apartment.

We arrived right at 7:00 pm and of course were the first ones there. The staff -- all men - were very friendly and, while we butchered their language, they took it all in stride and helped us along with the occasional English.

Susie and I shared something called a "brick" which was a packet of tuna, potatoes and cheese wrapped in a phyllo dough (?) and then deep fried. It was, in a word, delicious! While Susie got chicken and I ordered a mix of beef and lamb, which came in a slice, a meatball, and of course my favorite Merguez sausage, we both shared an enormous plate of couscous accompanied by a large bowl of broth with veggies to go along with our various meats. All washed down with a delicious red wine from Algeria.

the brick

Although we were the first to arrive, by the time we paid and left the place was packed. One thing we noted is that most of the clientele were in our age group, with some exceptions, of course. But still.

We skipped dessert and opted instead for a glass of port once we got home. 

Tomorrow is a free day with nothing planned. Maybe a trip to Le Jardin des Plantes, to rue Monge, a stroll on the Promenade Plantée. We'll see.

Everyday chores and the Oslo Pass

18 May 2022.

This morning dawned with overcast skies and the promise of rain later in the afternoon, a promise that would be kept by Mother Nature.

After coffee and a light breakfast we headed out about 10:00 to run a few errands. First I dropped Susie off at Cutters, a hair salon right up the street, for an over due haircut. 

I then walked to a nearby optical shop Synams, to have them repair my glasses (the nose pad of one side broke off). I found them online as one of the retailers in Oslo that dealt in my particular frame company.  

Once we rejoined each other it was off for the short walk to the train station to buy a couple bottles of wine. While grocery stores can sell beer they cannot sell wine or spirits - for that you need to visit a Vinmonopolet (Wine Monopoly) store. The nearest one for us is the central station which also has an indoor mall among its many other facilities. Quite handy. Much like the state run liquor stores in some parts of the USA, Vinmonopelet stores are operated by the national government.

Wine in hand we returned to the apartment. Once back home we sat down and downloaded the Oslo Pass to our phones. We opted for the 72-hour pass which gives us unlimited public transport and admission to most major attractions in the city right up until we leave for Bergen Saturday morning. 

We packed up and headed out to break in our new passes.

Joe and the Juice shop in our block

We hopped on the no. 13 tram to Dronnigens Gate where we switched to the no. 12, taking us to the Vigeland Sculpture Park. The park contains some 200 sculptures by local artist Gustave Vigeland. There is also a museum in the park that was once his studio.   

Gustave Vigeland

The park is impressive. The grand entrance opens onto a sweeping vista to the horizon and a series of steps leading to an obelisk at the very top. But before you get there you cross a magnificent bridge each side of which is lined with a series of sculptures of individuals of all ages in different poses and in various states of activity.

The bridge gives way onto a plaza with an enormous fountain ringed by a number of human sculptures each intertwined with trees. At the base are bronze reliefs, again showing various stages of life and death. 

around the fountain

looking back toward the entrance from the position of the obelisk

facing the entrance

more sculptures in the other direction

yet more sculptures ringing the obelisk platform

As we strolled the park we commented to each other how the sculpture collection was impressive only in its scale and the sheer number of sculptures. Otherwise, the sculptures themselves were uncomfortably uniform and rather boring, as if the same subject had been used over and over again, just in different poses. 

Leaving the sculpture park we made our way through the larger Frogner Park in the direction of the Oslo City Museum where we stopped for fika, coffee and a sweet and saw some lovely paintings of Oslo in the 18th to early 20 centuries.

The museum WCs did have the most interesting icons on the doors. . . 

Back to the tram stop we took the no. 12 back into town and switched to bus no. 30 at one of the key transfer points. This bus would take us to the Norsk Folkemuseet and then on to a cluster of museums in the area know as Bydøy.

"If you are delayed. . ."

Once aboard the no. 30 we rode it through a lovely residential area that rather recalled Paris, or at least parts of it. It was a quick ride to the folk museum where we showed our passes and in we went. Like Skansen in Stockholm, this is also an open-air museum with buildings from various parts of Norway spanning the past several centuries. 

After walking for about 15 minutes the sky that had threatened rain for most of the morning followed through on its threat. We eventually made our way back to the bus stop and waited for the no. 30.

our bus leaves us at the museum

the entrance

grocery store from the early 20th century

part of the Telemark village collection of buildings

we loved how so many of their farm buildings were built up off the ground

Once aboard the no. 30 we thought to ride it to the end of the line and get on the ferry back into town. Not paying close attention, however, we ended up staying on the bus all the way back to our transfer point. But no matter it was raining, more or less, and it was fun being driven around parts of Oslo we would probably never see otherwise.

Back at the transfer point we switched to tram no. 13 which dropped us off just three blocks from our apartment.

Susie and I concluded that this had been a curious day but somehow quite pleasant.