Yes, that’s the one! Where can I buy some?
Hi Mark, Astor and Some Good Wine carry it in NYC, as do a bunch of restaurants. I am going to present it to the CA market this year.
God bless my wife.
In many ways, she lives a charmed life, as the kids are in school from 9:00 to 4:30 most days and a housecleaner comes once a week to triage the big stuff. In the mean time, she’s free to wander Paris with her friends, go on chocolate/wine/literary tours via the International School and have lunch in cafes with her friends. Don’t get me wrong - before 9:00 AM and after 4:30 can be like parachuting into the set of Lord of the Flies, given 4 kids (14, 10, twin 5 year olds) living in a relatively small apartment. With the holidays over and a week of kids at home in the cold/rain, she decided that we were going to embark on an adventure.
The game plan was to take RER B all the way to its end point (St Remy les Chevreuse) and walk around the open space park that she found pictures of online at a “what to do in Paris if you’ve been everywhere else you can possibly imagine and are now relegated to randomly taking RER lines to get your kids out of the apartment” web site. Yeah, I hadn’t seen that site either. We packed everyone up, figured out the most efficient way to get to an RER B station and were off. In all fairness, I retract my comments on Page 1 re: RER. It’s pretty convenient and clean, as long as you’re not riding RER C to the airport on a “stop at every stop” route. Forty five minutes later, we arrived at station in the quaint village of St Remy les Chevreuse.
I looked at my wife and said “where to?” to which she responded, “hrmm there’s supposed to be a park here.”
I gave her a very direct “this is my last day of vacation and I’m standing in a f*cking parking lot an hour out of Paris with nowhere to go” look and we began wandering aimlessly towards the center of the town. She pulled up the open space site and I noticed that it was really a collection of still shots from around the village (back of a church, footbridge over a creek, etc.), with nary a park in sight. I’m starting to realize this web site was probably a project for a middle-school kid learning to use the net. We’re ten minutes in before I get my first “dad, I want to go home” from the twins…
I pulled out my cell and used Maps to wander around through the village and then managed to find a path behind some houses, leading through the woods. It turned out to be quite an adventure, after all - we found an abandoned chateau, trekked through 3 miles of muddy trails and almost got mauled by a Rottweiler.
I recognize this isn’t the typical “Adventures in Paris” story; there’s no Cote de Rhone at the end of the tunnel and I sure as hell didn’t find a butcher or cheese shop of note in St Remy. That said? It’s a side of living in “Paris” that you don’t often see, so I thought I’d include it.
Andrew, what a great photo! Your family looks so happy. Glad your life is going well, and very much enjoy your enthusiasm for Paris and France. Bonne année!
Just awesome Andrew, love the photos.
Love it. I’ve got a crew of similar ages at home and it looks like it turned into a fun adventure. Of course leave it to kids to suggest how to improve the adventure…the question from my boys: did you get to go inside the abandoned chateau? ![[basic-smile.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/83717c74df9b0ce202453063bc4f11baf0ee6b8a.gif "smile"){kind=small}
That’s great, so glad you managed to have fun!
Thanks! It was definitely a good lesson proving that changing your attitude can dramatically change your experience.
Quick public service announcement regarding Sacre Couer, while I’m here. Life in Paris (and other large cities) is often dictated by where a given metro stop is. I’ve always gone to Sacre Couer via the 6 to the 12 for convenience’s sake, getting off at Jules Joffrin and then walking up the back. We had friends staying at Les Dokhan (nice SPG property, if you’re looking) so we went via 2 and got off at Anvers. Wow. What a completely different experience. My humble advice, if you’re visiting via Metro - take the 2 to Anvers, visit the church (and climb the 300 stairs to see the view - entry is down a flight of steps to the left of the entrance) and then wander through the tourist areas of Montmarte (A Paris Guide: A Walk Through Montmartre), walking down the back towards Jules Joffrin. Then come back here and feel free to openly mock me for missing the entire front of Sacre Couer at least five times 
Other quick note - while wandering around Montmarte, head down a side street named Rue Norvins to see Dutilleul (The Man Who Can Walk Through Walls). This was a cool find a couple of trips back, as it’s off the beaten path. If you’re tall or can jump, it’s also a great photo op for a “high five.”
Couple of pics below.
Pretty similar, we take the 4 to Barbes-Rochechouart and work our way to the steps. At least we did the first couple of times. Now we take the funicular which is free if you keep your metro ticket. That climb is an effort to an old fat bastard like me.
We usually go on Sunday morning so get on the line for the mass if it’s scheduled. Much quicker and the mass is very cool even for non-Catholics. (Same goes for Notre Dame.) Then hit Hardware Societe on Rue Lamarck for brunch if you can get there when there’s no lines.
Apologies for the flurry of posts, but I wanted to post this NOW, so you all get a chance to run out on Saturday and pick up a Galette des Rois to celebrate. I’ll edit later with a pic of whatever we buy, but I guarantee you that it will not be the penis-shaped pastry in the link below. That said, it’s a GREAT history of why Patisseries continue to print money into January, so I’m including it. The article is suitable for work, of course.
Jumping on trampolines on the top of a skyscraper (210 meters, 2nd highest in France, 14th in the EU) - what could go wrong?
For the L’Assiette fans out there, this might be a fun pre or post-dinner activity. Tour Montparnasse (Montparnasse Tower Panoramic Observation Deck) is right next to Gare Montparnasse (and ~10 blocks north of L’Assiette), so easy to reach destination. Standard “take the elevator to the top and then ooh and ahh at the view” experience, but one of their bigger draws is that they market physical activities on the top of the tower. We found out about the trampolines (included in the 17 euro adult price) and took a field trip with the kids there this past weekend. We bought tickets online, which cut down wait time to about five minutes. Elevator to the top and I spent the next 90 minutes cycling the kids in and out of line to jump, while enjoying the view. My wife had visited previously so the kids could rollerblade around the top in a makeshift track. I love the concept and they monetize the hell out of it.
There was a champagne stand on the roof, as well, but it wasn’t open at noon. I’m assuming it’s open at night and, sadly, I can’t remember who they were featuring. I’m not sure I’d go out of the way for the experience, but it’s definitely a fun way to spend 90 minutes before/after dinner (i.e. the view, not the trampolines) and if you’re travelling with kids, it’s worth checking the website to see what activity is running. As always, couple of pics below.
Three hours earlier, somebody was thinking, “man, I got a GREAT spot right next to the Seine river cruise dock!!!”
(and you’ll be happy to know that was taken on a bus!)
UPDATE: 24 hrs later, that lot is still dry, but you can no longer walk the Seine under the bridge at the Eiffel Tower, as it is entirely underwater.
For anyone that was following the butter thread, this is fantastic. Mind of a Chef has some great segments and the one on Bordier is no exception. I will miss quite a few things about Paris when we go back… but Bordier will be at the top of the list. I eat it daily (including right now, with the bottle below) and never cease to be amazed at how something so simple as butter can make me feel like I’m… home.
“The butter thread?”
With dinner winding down, there was a small break in the rain, so I leaned out the window and took a shot of the all-seeing-eye of Sauron. Three or four more days of this nonsense in the forecast, followed by a quick trip to Copenhagen for me at the end of the week.
thx
Nearly a week later, the Seine continues to rise. It’s still raining, so will probably Uber to work, but if not, will snap a few pics. On the off chance you’re headed to Paris this weekend, be aware the Louvre and Orsay are closing parts, if not all of their buildings and starting to move art (this has happened before).
Headed out to Copenhagen tonight, back Friday. Will definitely post pics then, as we live two streets off the river. No real concern, as the river would have to go up 8-10 meters to spill over on to Ave de Versailles.
River view this AM from the Paris/Issy border. The fence on the left is one of the main thoroughfares along the Seine (less so now that the mayor cut out a lane for bicyclists) :0
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Wow. Haven’t heard anything about flooding there. Looks pretty bad. Stay dry!