June 18, 2007 - Paris & Normandy

June 18, 2007

A week in and out of Paris

On Tuesday, I spent the entire day at La Défense where Tim works. I was helping with the election for the board of the cultural association that we belong to. Well, there was a little lunch and coffee drinking thrown in there too. I also paid a surprise visit to Tim.

The same day Tim had a late night with his wine-tasting club in Levallois. It was a beautiful summer night so I decided to cross the street to Edouard's for a glass of wine. Many of our local friends were there and I had a nice evening chatting and sipping champagne.

On Wednesday, we were in Levallois (two metro stops from home) at La Fermerie, a wine and cheese shop owned by a good friend. He was having a soirée Corse. All products came from Corsica. We tasted a donkey sausage (saucisson d’âne) and it was good. Âne translates as “ass” but…

We thought we would stay home on Thursday and planned a light supper and early night, but stopped for a glass at Caves Saint Vincent (aka Edouard's). A winery owner from the Côtes du Rhône stopped by with his wife, on their way to a light, early dinner in the neighbourhood; we know him but have never really talked much with her. Then Chloé, Edouard's wife arrived; she and Edouard had planned to have dinner somewhere together that night after the store closed. Chloé had never met either Jerome or his wife Josiane. This seemed to be an ideal opportunity for everyone to get to know one another and furthermore, Tim and I were hardly going to eat at home if everyone else in the neighbourhood was going out. Off we went to Chez Ly, the best local Asian restaurant for what turned out to be a pretty late night. It got even later when Jerome was called into another local restaurant by the effervescent owner Alexandre who insisted on opening a superb little white burgundy for us. Chloe and I had actually walked ahead and were nearing home when she received a call on her mobile to return to Balthazar. Very late indeed, but fairly typical of so many nights in the 17th. “

Friday – Edouard catered a déjeuner d’agneau au bitume (lamb cooked in tar- it is wrapped in tinfoil first). An event reserved for those who work on road construction and I'm not sorry! A glass at Edouard’s and then we really did have a quiet supper at Parigi Val di taro. Our friend Jackie joined us.

Saturday - another trip to Normandy. We had planned it as a beach day and one hiking day but the weather has not been very cooperative lately. While we have had some warm and even stickier-than-usual weather, summer has yet to arrive. We explored Houlgate and its bizarre houses in light rain. They are huge villas that look like they were designed by many different architects. You will find, brick, stucco, carved wood, colourful ceramic tiles forming all kinds of designs and more on each house. More often than not, there is a ceramic cat on the porch roof. When it started to pour we ran for cover in the first restaurant that looked suitable. We have yet to have a decent lunch in Normandy. The service was polite but slow and the Normands are simply not able to cook fish or molluscs. More exploring by car in the rain in the afternoon. Arrived in Honfleur in late afternoon; despite the rain, we, and thousands of other tourists, walked the quaint village streets. The history, shops and especially galleries were all impressive. A largely decent dinner of some modern French food that night and a walk up the steep street to our chambres d'hôtes finished the day.

We decided to cut out our planned, long hike on Sunday to opt for a tour of Honfleur in the promised sunshine. It is one of my favourite French towns, directly across from Le Havre at the mouth of the Seine. The very impressive modern Normandy Bridge has a span of 2,141 metres across the Seine. A good view of it is from the Côte de Grâce, a hill that has the Notre Dame de Grâce Chapelle tucked away on its summit. This chapel has one transept dedicated to the French who left for Canada from Honfleur. We searched for a Parent among the names, but found none.

Heading back to Paris, we meandered along country roads noting places to return to. Beuvron-en-Auge is listed as one of the prettiest villages in France and it truly is, with more flowers in bloom than you can imagine. Pont Audemer is another beautiful town. We headed back to Paris in the rain and in very heavy traffic but arrived in time to watch the results of the general election.

Just a note on elections

France votes twice for the election of its President and it seems that everyone is truly interested in this, since there is an over 85% turn-out.

A few weeks later, there is a vote for the members of Parliament or députés de l’Assemblée Nationale. If there is no clear winner in a constituency in the first round, there is another vote two weeks later. By this time, I think that people are tired of voting and the turn-out is around 60%. It is all over for another five years.