Month: December 2018

We slept a bit later than usual on our first morning in Paris. This was good since we’d be doing a bit of walking on this day. We quickly got ready and before heading off to our first stop grabbed some croissants at Boulangerie Nelly Julian which was right around the corner from our apartment.

We were kind of excited about this since Douceurs et Traditions de Nelly Julien had place in the top in the Concours du Meilleur Croissant au Beurre AOC Charentes-Poitou; basically the best butter-croissant competition in Paris over the years.

So of course it was the Croissant au Buerre we had. It was nice and buttery, great balance with salt, but we didn’t enjoy the hard and not flakey exterior and the interior was on the slightly greasy and doughy side. It might have been the wrong day.

The place is indeed popular; there’s always line as we noticed when passing during our stay.

**** This location is now Boulangerie La Parisienne

Nelly Julien Douceurs et Traditions
85 rue Saint-Dominique
75007 Paris, France

It was a quite a nice and clear day as we crossed Pont Alexandre III and walked along the Seine.

We walked past Place de la Concorde and over to Musée de l’Orangerie. I had been wanting to visit this museum for a while. A whole lifetime ago; I had to take an art appreciation class. There’s not much I recall about that class; well, at my age, there’s not much I recall about any class…..however, I remember our instructor loved Monet’s series of painting named the Water Lilies. He liken Claude Monet’s situation at the time of creating this work to Beethoven writing his 9th Symphony while completely deaf. You see; by the time work was being started on this work; Monet was suffering from cataracts and going blind.

The Museum itself is small, it was created to shelter the Orange Trees of Jardin de Tuileries.

Monet’s Water Lilies are displayed in two rooms on the first floor, the rooms have renovated to display this work to the specifications designed by Monet himself.

Monet takes us to his garden in Giverny during different times of the day; the light and reflections play off the natural light in the room. From the peaceful morning to the splashes of bright yellow at Sunset.

The second room features the other foliage around his pond.

You really get the amazing play of natural light when you view the works from different angles; which I found, especially with “Sunset” when returning to the first room from the second.

There’s also the Walter-Guillaume Collection wich features works by Cezanne, Renior, and Picasso.

And some other quite interesting work as well; from classic, to very Modern.

We also saw school tours being done almost everywhere we went; some with children quite young in age. It was fun to watch and listen…..

From the museum; we headed across the Jardin de Tuileries over to Rue de Rivoli.

So, here’s a hint about personal property security when in France. We’ve been here several times and have seen these folks in action. A group of girls; clipboard in hand will approach you to sign some sort of petition. You’ll quickly notice that they will surround you and while you’re distracted, pick your pockets, or the like. So, whenever these groups approach, I simply say, “no…thank you….” and scurry away. Our next stop was in the 3rd Arrondissement, so we walked on over to Rue Étienne Marcel, then to where it became Rue aux Ours to pick up our pocket wifi (or as the French say “weefee”) device. It works real well when you have more than 3 wifi devices.

After this…well….we needed a break. We were fairly close to Rue Montorgueil, so we decided to walk over and grab some espresso….and people watch. We saw a “good dog” doing a wonderful job walking without a leash; until it came across what must be the little fellows favorite market, it was time for a sudden detour as he ran inside.

We also saw these fellows…..

A few years back after having coffee at Les Deux Magots we came across Firefighters selling “hunky” calendars for charity and bought one for a friend of the Missus. So, here we were back in Paris; it was that time of the year I guess. It was a hoot watching the firefighters flirt with all the girls and especially the older women…..most of whom ended up buying a signed calendar!

While having our caffeine fix; the Missus and I discussed lunch. I mentioned a bunch of places in the area and others a mile and change away. I had a nice list from that area since we’d be staying in the 2nd on our return trip to Paris.

I mentioned this new “chain” from Lille had just opened a shop in Paris; right on Rue des Petit Champs, named Canard Street. This is basically what they call a “Street Food” concept…think fast casual; but it ain’t your typical “fast casual”. The Missus sounded quite excited; even though I told Her we’d be basically staying right around the corner from the place….She just wanted it “now”.

I know; it looks like any other fast casual restaurant on the street…..

But, think about the name….Canard Street….then think about the items on the menu; Foie Gras Sandwiches, Duck Confit “Burgers”, Magret Tartare……

And what we got; for the nice price of 18 Euros; the simply named “Planche Canard Street”…..basically a charcuterie board.

Yikes…..man, this was like I died and went to duck heaven. Actually, the items were all decent; and the foie gras terrine and the saucisson de magret were excellent. The duck rillete and Saint-Nectaire (cheese) were really good. The baguette was passable and this was a load of food.

The Missus even had a glass of wine….I got a Coke Zero.

Man, this was quite a lunch…….and you definitely got your money’s worth.

Canard Street Paris
16 rue des Petits Champs
75002 Paris, France

It was time to head back to the apartment and sleep off all that duck……

Thanks for stopping by!