We are to encounter the best and the worst of Paris shopping/attitude today.
Lana in front of Laduree (famous for macarons) and other guilty pleasures. The store is 150 years old.
Famous Maille store for many flavours of French mustard, inclusive of Chablis, Walnut, Grilled Onion, Basil, Blueberry, Chili Pepper etc.
In addition to the above two shops we stopped at Chanel and Lavinia and then on to Galerie Lafayette.
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Lana's comments: Should it matter what you dress like when you go shopping??!??!!! I ask because there is no doubt in my mind that the retails clerks in both Milan and Paris have some "attitude". The service in Milan can only be described as SNOT+TEE. And the service in Paris can only be described as SNOT+TEE+ER!! Seriously. With a handful of exceptions (Paul Smith store, Brunello Cucinelli, Le Bon Marche) my shopping experience has been this: I walk into a store, a clerk greets me, looks me up and down and then sticks their nose in the air. In the Chanel store, I had a clerk stare at me disapprovingly while I was checking out a dress. When I turned and stared at her back--she acted surprised. At Laduree, the cashier completely ignored me even though I was next in line and rang thru the French woman behind me. Seriously. At this point, I decided that I wouldn't shop anymore in Paris--I've rather spend my money in Canada, the US or Germany where service is courteous, helpful, they don't care if you don't speak the language or how you are dressed.
To be fair, I don't dress up when I go shopping. I think I"m an efficient shopper--pick out what I want to try on, find the change room, in, out. That's it. I dress comfortably so I can change quickly, do a lot of walking and carry my purchases. I try to be a low-fuss as possible. I guess I'm a "stealth" shopper. In under the radar and out with my purchases with as little fanfare as possible. My friend Heidi who is a fashionista says that when you go shopping, you should "look the part". I'm thinking about her words now while in Paris. A part of me agrees with her and a part of me finds it a bit of a challenge. I don't believe anyone should be treated any differently based on how they are dressed--but maybe this is naive of me. The saying "don't judge a book by its cover" comes to mind. But maybe this doesn't apply in retail stores in Italy or Paris :)
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While Lana is shopping at the gigantic department store(s) Galerie Lafayette, I get back into the subway to return our purchases to the hotel room. The very heavy items are four bottles of wine we bought at Lavinia. Two Bordeaux, one Sancerre and a Muscadet (both whites from the Loire Valley region). Plus, the jars of mustard are not light and then there are the fragiles from Laudree. We agree to meet up under the signs at Galerie Lafayette at 1:45 pm. Inability to timing the trains, so I am about 10 minutes late. Good news that Lana has finished her Paris shopping and we are both ready for lunch.
We stop at Brasserie Le Royal near Galerie Lafayette and sit inside but right beside the front window with both seats facing the street (of course it is Paris!). Lana has French onion soup (Soupe a L'Oignon) and I have a Croustillant Chèvre (hot goat cheese, honey, apple, salad items). Both were yummy and my glass of white Burgundy wine was a good compliment although 6 Euro was a bit steep. The tips and taxes are already included in each listed price in Paris restaurants and cafes.
Lana had her opportunity to enter a Paris Starbucks and then back into the subway system to meet up with our friends in front of the Musée d'Orsay. Incredibly beautiful museum, but more beautiful on the inside. Apparently, it was an old train station. No pictures allowed inside the museum, but hey other people were doing it. How can you stop people like me who have smartphones with cameras? Check in all bags though. Entry fee 9 Euros per person.
View from the fifth floor looking back towards the entrance.
On level two looking towards the entrance and the glass ceiling.
Huge clock seen from the inside - the clock is seen easily from the outside and looks like the clock from the animated movie "Hugo".
A sculpture from level two. Always get an audio guide (English of course) in a museum (5 Euro each) as they are informative and interesting. Really explains many of the pieces.
What an incredible restaurant on the fifth floor. Check this out! The restaurant is a piece of art on its own. The picture does not do it justice.
Impressionist painters exhibit on the fifth floor that we caught just before closing time at 5:30 pm. Why so early a closing time? This is a classic Renoir.
This is a Monet painting. French impressionism. Very well known period.
Many sculptures on the 0 floor. There is a second floor and then a fifth floor you reach by elevators or by a stairwell. Given the height of the ceiling you can see that this museum is wide open and catches a lot of sunlight/natural light. Many people in the museum, but lots of opportunities to hang around art work that you enjoy and want to listen to the audio guide. We actually exited around 5:45 pm and then a walk across the Seine River, through the Tuileries park and pretty close to the Champs d'Elysees. We found a cafe La Coupe D'Or to sit at a table on the sidewalk with seats of course facing the sidewalk and have a drink, people watch and chat. A good way to cherish another great day in Paris. Once we got the check, yikes! I guess you pay for the privilege of being close to a major tourist area.
Back in the subway and into the Marais district to find a restaurant that has great reviews although we could not make reservations. We did find it, but with no reservations they could not fit us in. They did provide a restaurant to try that was a few blocks away. Ambassade d"Auvergne at 22 Rue du Grenier near the Georges Pompidou Centre and close to the Arts et Metiers and Rambuteau Metro stations. They had a table on the second floor for us. This is our last dinner in Paris and it was another fantastic experience with excellent service and tasty French food. Extras to our meal were the amuse bouche (cheese dish and ground pork in a puffed pastry), duck rillette (kind of a pate) to go with the delicious bread and then a brioche orange sugar bread prior to our desserts.
Server stirring the pot by lifting the cheesy potatoes. Before receiving your main plate, the maitre'd comes by to stir the pot and demonstrate how thick it is? The potatoes look like mashed potatoes (not as fluffy though) but are cheesy and thicker texture. Recommended for eating as they were delicious!
Three of us had Duck Magret with cheesy potatoes. The duck in Paris is superb. That was my second meal of duck and on both occasions I was blown away.
Desserts were equal to the entrees. Lana had this dish of Figs with caramel sauce and cinnamon ice cream.
In the rear is three small bowls of cream and this huge bowl is chocolate mousse. I could barely eat 1/2 the huge bowl, but I was so full with the meal. The chocolate mousse was delicious and shared with everyone. Too bad I couldn't take it home! ;-)
It is now around 10:30 pm when we left the restaurant. Now Paris is not on a grid system which means streets and lanes go in many directions. We tried to find our way to the Hotel de Ville Metro station, but went in the wrong direction. Oh well, it really was a beautiful night for a walk. We did find the correct direction and returned to the Metro station. Lana and I made it back to our room around 12 midnight.
No updating the blog. Time to turn out the lights and go to bed. Difficult to do though when the belly is still full with the delightful meal. We are going to miss Paris in so many ways ( but Lana won't miss shopping :-) ). As well, it has been more enjoyable being with our friends who were here before us and will be here for a couple of more days.
For me, Paris is such a charming city and so 'civilized' despite the incidents of rudeness and haughtiness. It is so romantic and decadent. The architecture is stunning and many opportunities for the best of culture and food/wine.
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