And in the event you thought I was taking some creative license with Spider-Man, here’s a pic from this AM in front of Notre Dame, which was a short walk from the Prefecture (we were 40 minutes early, just in case). We FINALLY got the kids’ Residency cards, after starting the process 8 months ago. Cards are good for 5 years for them (3 for adults), with the 13 year old being cut a little short with an expiration at age 18.
Next time, go to La Civette du Carrousel in the Carrousel du Louvre and buy your tix there. Cash only. They sell tickets for the Louvre, Versailles, the Orsay, L’Orangerie (or the combo Orsay/Orangerie ticket) and metro/bus tickets. The museum tix are good for at least a year.
Then go to the short line at security for ticket holders.
Great narrative, loving your posts! My Mona Lisa story is that the first time I went to the Louvre, sometime mid 90s, the painting was in a different place, by itself in the middle of a long narrow hallway. For whatever reason, I was the only person within sight. I stood there probably 5 minutes and took it in, without anyone around.
Louvre Pro-tip: Go on one of the evenings it’s open (Friday?). We were there two summers ago and I had to share the viewing area in front of the Mona Lisa with FIVE other people (and 3 of those people were my wife and kids).
Weds and Fri nights are late opening nights (10pm).
Visitors. Good god do we got a lot of visitors.
Always much happier when they come bearing wine and scotch, however. Was great to catch up with the Royal Canadian Mounty and his friends tonight, with the evening culminating in me paying off an NCAA tourney bet by singing “O Canada” after dinner.
In all sincerity, one of the reasons I started posting here was that it was just easier to send people to WB for notes than constantly rewriting the same 10 restaurant recs, etc.
Tonight’s dinner was at Amarante - a hole in the wall bistro near Mike Grammer’s hotel at Bastille and one of the few Paris By Mouth places open on a Sunday night. Very enjoyable, “home-cooking” food if you find yourself looking for something on a Sunday in that area.
Just realized that I didn’t note that the “Royal Canadian Mounty” is none other than Mike Grammer, who has been bumming his way across France for a few weeks, as you may have noticed from the tasting notes. I’ve known Mike for quite a while, and the bet I lost was via the NCAA basketball board here.
I’m zipping along through the Dutch countryside at the moment, taking a Thalys train from Paris Nord to Amsterdam Centraal. Comfort 1 (their version of first class) ran me 351 euros and comes with a light lunch and snack, free wifi and a lot of leg room. Very comfortable ride and you really only need to be there 30 minutes early, as security is minimal.
Some thoughts, as I haven’t posted for a while. Like quite a few other cities, there’s an expectation that you bring a bag with you when going to a store, or you’ll need to pay .15 euros a piece for one there. One thing I’ve noticed, however, is that once you start patronizing specialty shops, they treat their custom bags as a loyalty reward. I’ve got bags from several places (wine, butcher, cheese shop, etc.) and I have hemorrhaged enough cash at the butcher that they “upgraded me” to an insulated canvas bag with a zipper. #toomuchmeat Other practices are fairly common - wine shops always have a stash in back (i.e. they’ll put the entry-level bottles up front, keep the highly allocated stuff hidden) and if you ask for something specific, they’ll usually share. Ex: was at a wine shop (AU 36) in Hauterviller, ordered some tastings for the table (~60 euros), then asked if they had anything exciting to take home. She mentioned Agrapart and walked me through a couple of the bottlings, then looked surprised when I asked about the Mineral. Score, at 57 euros.
We did a day trip to Champagne last week, which was a first for me. I won’t bore you with notes, as I’ve never been a heavy champagne drinker, which means my baseline has been set at offlines via Krug, Salon and Selosse (when somebody else brings it). Takeaways I have - if you don’t mind the tariff, it is REALLY convenient to hire a tour guide / car for a day trip out of Paris. We had another couple with us and ended up spending 195 euros a head, inclusive of a 30e tasting fee at Taittinger, a 25e fixed price lunch and 2 bottles of mid-tier grower champagne at lunch. I’m sure somebody does it cheaper and more efficiently, but I’d definitely look into trying this route, especially if you have 4-6 people. We hit Reims (2 hr drive from Paris with traffic), Epernay and Hauterviller (nice church with Dom Perignon’s grave in it). We let the guide set the itinerary, but she would have booked whatever we asked for.
Off to dinner at Café de Klepel, which is far and away my favorite place in AMS - thanks Blake!!! Only two of us tonight, so won’t be able to punish the wine cellar like we did last time 
Has been a while since I’ve updated, but work has been busy for all the wrong reasons. On the bright side, I’m still standing…
Re: RER - I’ve taken quite a few more RER trips, including out to Disneyland Paris. I stand by my disdain for taking it from the airport, but the rest of the trips have been fine. I continue to go to the ticket counter when I need to go multi-zone, as I can usually French/English/point my way through things and the cashier has saved me money a couple of times with discounted fares. For Disneyland, it’s a straight shot out there on RER A, which dumps you right outside the park; just watch the split at the end. Only other note here is to keep in mind that you’re going to be smoked going home… and then jumping on a Metro line to connect to wherever your hotel is. If you take the Metro to Chatelet or another stop, remember that you need to purchase a separate RER ticket… or you’re not going to be able to get out at the end.
We have been drowning in a sea of visitors. It’s so good to see friends, but the love of all that’s holy, it may be your vacation, but I have to work 
Was blessed to have a couple of buddies that are somms over (one a master somm, another an advanced that won an internship with Becky Wasserman via a Ruinart challenge) so I finally enjoyed just sitting back and letting somebody else drive the wine list. Highlights included:
o 2007 L’humuer du temps Chablis – wouldn’t have guess this was a 10 year old wine to save my life
o 1988 Lenoir Chinon Clos Des Roches – master somm said this was firing better that his last several Clos Rougeards, and a steal at 100 euros
o 2009 Domaine du Collier La Charpentrie
o 2007 Gonon Saint Jospeh Les Oliviers
o 2010 Agrapart Mineral - this makes me want to drink a lot more champagne
It’s really funny to see the small things I miss from the US - fresh roasted coffee beans and IPAs, both of which are the immediate response to “what can we bring over for you?” Fortunately, I’ve got enough Stumptown to get me through to a US visit at the end of the month. I’ll trade off cheese trays and charcuterie for coffee and IPA any day of the week
Number one question I get is “what restaurants should we hit?” To be honest, WB is great to read for what’s hot now, but I usually go up and down Paris-by-mouth’s bistro list. We’ve hit Juveniles, Philou, L’Assiette and Amarante, all of which have been good. Les Fines Gueules is another one they should add to the list, which is where we had the above wines (minus the Agrapart). Now that we’re officially out of “vacation” mode, we’re enjoying some of the cheaper local spots, including a Lebanese place downstairs from the apartment that knows us as the “MORRRRGON!!!” family. A couple of boys from the neighborhood met my 13 year old at the mall… and stand outside our apartment yelling “MORRRRRGONNNN!!!” in hopes she’ll come to the window. The restaurant owner thinks it’s funny and stood outside with some friends (and random restaurant people) and started yelling for her to come out. This is why I drink.
Speaking of drinking, I’m currently enjoying a producer named Stephan Ogier. Again, I knew zero about French wine before the trip and I’ve found that I could pretty much die happy if all I had to drink for the rest of my life was Rhone wine. Crozes Hermitage, Gigondas and Vacqueyras are my bargain shelf wines, Cote Rotie or Cornas are my Saturday night specials and I’ll hit Hermitage and CdP on special occasions. OMG @ Chave Hermitage, which has been a consistent mind-blowing experience.
My happy place here? Sitting outside of a small wine-bar or bistro and drinking a great bottle of wine with a charcuterie plate or great appetizer. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to hit L’Astrance, which is next door to Morgan’s school… but I’m a baller on a budget and that just doesn’t work on a Saturday night. I continue to travel in Europe for work, spending quite a bit of time in Amsterdam (Café de Klepel, Gebr Hartering) and Milan. Headed to Portugal for some much need R&R after two weeks in Vegas/Bay Area… and then the grind starts again. 12 countries in 2 months is a bruiser
Thanks for the update! BTW, if you end up in Seattle at the end of the month you should be able to find our beer, unless it’s already sold out. We’re taking a delivery van’s worth up on the 21st.
Will be Vegas for a week and then the Bay Area. Uncertain when the next PNW trip is 
“French bread is simply a delivery vehicle for French butter.” Cool video, in the event you’re interested. And yes, I eat a lot of Bordier 
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For coffee beans, I’d suggest Coutume Cafe in the 7th, I’ve had some killer stuff from them when I’m in Paris.
I agree with Michel. Coutume coffee is very good. Located behind Le Bon Marche.
Also agree Coutume VG but much preferred KB CafeShop in the 9th. The Aussies really know coffee shops.
Will check out. We found an o.k. bean shop over near Passy, but medium-roast drip just isn’t a big thing over here. Starbucks sells their beans for ~5.50 euros a bag and still doesn’t move off the shelves. If I could drink burnt coffee every morning, I’d save a fortune 
Found KB on Paris by Mouth. They have numerous recommendations
There’s also Brulerie de Belleville, but I haven’t had their coffee yet. KB is excellent too.
After two weeks in the US, it was nice to wake up in Paris this morning, start off the day with some Four Barrel Brass Tacks coffee (from SF) and then head off to Marche Bastille (see above). Couple of highlights that I thought were worth sharing:
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Vacation season is finally here! Every year, this weekend turns into a mass exodus from Paris, with locals fleeing en masse to the south of France or their homes in the countryside… leaving only the expats and tourists behind. In all seriousness, the last Saturday in July is known as “Black Saturday” (no, really → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_(France) and a friend said it took 12 hours to get to Brittany one year! You might think it’s counterintuitive for merchants to leave Paris just as the Mongolian Horde of tourists are arriving, but quite a few of our bakeries and specialty shops are closed for the next two to three weeks as the owners go to spend time with their families.
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The markets are at 75% capacity now, which means 10 AM at Bastille is no longer a death march down the produce aisle. I decided to try something new this week - canned poultry products. Everybody has had tinned sardines… but “pate de canard” in a can? Just sounds strange. So, I finally stopped at Helene Mudry’s stand (I’ve passed by a couple of times before) and stocked up on grattons, pate and rilletes de canard along with her signature product “Foie Gras de Canard Entier Mi Cuit,” which runs 30 euros for a medium-sized jar. I’m eating the pate de canard as I type (while drinking a 2015 Chaves Crozes Hermitage) and I have to admit that I’m having trouble getting past the dog-food similarities. Don’t get me wrong; it tastes delicious… but it has the consistency of high-end cat food. I’m eating it with Poilane bread, so I guess there’s some upside here?
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Cheese adventure for the week is a Langres hockey puck. With a bright orange, annatto-washed rind, it’s a strong-flavored, creamy cow’s milk cheese that has a dip on the top because it isn’t flipped during the 2-3 months it spends aging. The guy at the counter told me I should pour champagne into the dip and eat it like a local… but a) I’m drinking the Crozes Hermitage and b) I’m not wasting champagne. It’s delicious stuff, reasonably priced (5.80 euros for the puck) and my kids love it. Win for the day.
As always, happy to answer PMs if you have them. I’m still a rookie here, but definitely enjoying the foodie/wine-o side of the city.
For fresh, not canned/jarred, duck foie gras mi cuit (the foie gras in your photo is goose), you might want to check-out L’Avant Comptoir. They sell it to go. Made by Yves Camdeborde’s cousin, Pascal. Or you can eat a slice or two there.
Quick note - immigration lines at CDG were different when I went through on Sat. Sky Priority/Premiim was running down the middle, splitting the EU (right) and all others (left). No more cheating into the EU line when it runs low
PSA: if you’re in Paris between now and Aug 25th, make sure to call in advance if you’re planning on visiting any smaller shops… 4 of my 5 closest boulangeries are closed for the summer, as are 3 of 4 butchers. The last one had 1/3 of their counter full. If I wasn’t going to Portugal for a couple of weeks, I’d be wildly irritated
God I love that place, you’re killing me. I’d go just for the huge bricks of Bordier butter they leave on the counter for you to pick at. Can’t wait to be back in February.