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.
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| The Louvre |
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| oh so typical artwork |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| main room upstairs |
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| that's Pierre in the background |
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| the tasting table |
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| the Champagne part |
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| 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.
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| crossing Pont Neuf |
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| 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.
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| Cafe Lola |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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