One of the joys of visiting in Paris for an extended time is the ability to go to the local markets to stock the apartment with food. The Paris Bastille Market comes alive with brightly colored stalls and enticing food displays. This Marché (Market) has been around for a very long time – taking over the Boulevard Richard Lenoir twice a week – Sundays and Thursdays.
Need a new purse? Maybe a backpack?Well, oysters, fresh and at least 6 different kinds!
There are three pathways through the market where vendors are engaging with shoppers and calling out their specials for the day. We spent the better part of several hours doing our shopping for the next several days but it’s hard to not be amazed with the stuff that are being sold. We arrived via the metro coming up at one end of the market – a booth of hats, gloves and lots of fresh shellfish. As we walked down the way there were booths of organic eggs, flowers, cheese, bread and piping hot ready to eat meals.
Ryan had a menu he was working on for our Christmas dinner – chicken, fresh vegetables, green apples and other ingredients to make our traditional Rice and Curry. We also picked up cheese, some marinated olives, some nuts and lots of other delicious treats.
Ryan and Janeen checking out a spot.Another big booth!Oranges, pineapples and fruit.Ryan picking out some sausages for later.
Paris, the City of Lights, and Museums! We have visited several museums during our various visits to this lovely city – The Louvre, Carnavalet Museum, Musée Rodin, Musée de Cluny and the Musée d’Orsay.
The view of the Musée d’Orsay.
All of these museums are wonderful and have a different focus or approach. Janeen particularly likes Carnavalet Museum as it represented the History of Paris through the years but unfortunately it is under renovation until 2020. A visit to the Louvre is certainly an enjoyable time but it is HUGE and crowded particularly when you want to see the Mona Lisa (I can pass on that, been there done that) and we decided a repeat visit to Musée d’Orsay would be on our list of places this trip.
The Musée d’Orsay is located on the Left Bank of the Seine and is housed in the former Gare d’Orsay – a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914 including paintings, sculptures, furniture and photography.
The overlook from the end of the museum.
The museum houses the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces in the world. Paintings by Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh provide a fantastic snapshot of this style of painting.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir- Bal du moulin de la Galette, 1876. Yes please, I’d like this on my wall.Pierre-Auguste Renoir- Bal du moulin de la Galette, 1876Édouard Manet, Olympia, 1863Claude Monet – La Rue Montogueil, Féte du 30 juin 1878. Now this could certainly be in my living room.
The original railway station, Gare d’Orsay, was constructed in time to be part of the 1900 Exposition and provided rail service throughout southwestern France until 1939. At that time, the short platforms had become unsuitable for the longer trains and the station stopped long distance service but continued with more suburban services. It has been used in several films over the years and was set to be demolished starting in 1970 but nothing happened and eventually the Directorate of the Museums of France had the idea of turning it into a museum that would bridge the gap between the Louvre and other museums of Paris. After much work and renovation the new museum was ready to receive art in 1986 where it has continued to provide a wonderful place to view art in Paris.
The interior of the building is huge with exhibits on several levels. After purchasing our tickets we entered on the main floor that overlooks the entire space. The main floor has early 19th century art: Conservative on the right, Realism on the left.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir- Bal du moulin de la Galette, 1876
Wandering among the main floor’s gallery of gleaming white statues is a joy. At the end of the first floor is a scale model of the Garnier Opéra House – this cross section lets you see the complexities of all the stage areas and gives you a good idea of the size of the place.
The front of the Opera house and cut away.The cut away of the Opera House.
Upstairs is where the impressionist and post-impressionist – well presented and amazing. I could certainly have one or more of these on the wall in my house!
Beth, Janeen and David outside the Musée d’Orsay
All in all David was in the d’Orsay about 4 hours while Janeen and Beth had previously spent a few hours it was not nearly enough time to really see everything – David missed all the furniture, photography and the special Picasso exhibits. Most likely we will back during this trip.
Paris, the City of Light is the world’s most visited capital. The city is proud of its many monuments from the iconic Eiffel Tower to the lofty Notre-Dame cathedral and the majestic Arc de Triomphe. No doubt this is Europe’s most enchanting capital!
Here is our list of the top 10 Things to Do and Must-Sees in Paris
Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Take a riverboat cruise on the Seine
Enjoy a Hop-On Hop-Off bus ride around Paris
Paris by Night: Spend an exceptional evening at the Moulin Rouge.
Visit the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris.
Take a stroll around Montmartre and visit the Sacré Coeur Basilica.
Visit the Louve Museum
Enjoy a romantic dinner on the Seine River
Take a stroll in the heart of Paris
Visit the Garnier Opera House.
Yes, there are lots of historic neighborhoods to explore; bistros to sit and have a coffee and all those monuments are spectacular. However, there is another side of Paris that tourists don’t normally visit and they include outdoor markets (literally hundreds held every week) and a Flea Market that goes back over two centuries!
The most famous flea market in Paris is the one at Porte de Clignancourt, officially called Les Puces de Saint-Ouen, but known to everyone as Les Puces (The Fleas). It covers seven hectares and is the largest antique market in the world, receiving between 120,000 to 180,000 visitors each weekend. This market is about a 10-minute walk from our apartment.
One of the walkways of the Flea Market (not my picture wrong season of course) but typical view.
The history of the flea market dates back over two centuries, when rag and bone men scoured through the garbage of Paris at night to find valuable junk to sell on. They were called ‘crocheteurs’ or pickers. The romantic term was ‘pêcheurs de lune’ or ‘fishermen for the moon’. Many set up their temporary stalls within the Paris walls in sleazy neighborhoods, but because these districts were full of pickpockets and thieves, they were chased out of the city walls to Clignancourt, Montreuil, Vanves, etc. The largest of these flea markets is the one at Clignancourt, but the other two continue to this day.
Only if the decision was easy could you make up your mind on what to buy.
The rag and bone men gathered outside the walls of Paris at the Porte de Clignancourt and set up temporary stalls where they hawked their wares. Eventually, they formed groups of stalls to attract more customers. The more enterprising traders began to ‘trade up’ in terms of goods and eventually it became popular for Parisian collectors and antique dealers to shop there for bargains.
A bathtub of Bangles.
Today, when we arrived, it was almost overwhelming to take it all in. Up one walkway, turn down another and round and round we went. Sometime hitting the same spot before realizing we were walking in a circle. If we had been trying to furnish or decorate an apartment it would have been a snap!
Stacks of books, racks of cloths and toys spread around.Which one to buy!
There were stalls with rugs, lamps, furniture, nautical items, clocks, lamps and lots of decorative items. Other shops had stacks of books,
Plates, books, stuff everywhere you look.Little boxes – lot of little boxesJust a typical table sitting around with stuff on it.Tennis anyone?
piles and piles of them others with stuff you would have considered trash and tossed out to the garbage but here it was ready for someone to see a need and pick something up from the pile.
This reminded me of my neighbors garage – he NEVER throw anything away.
We left without buying anything but had enjoyable walkabout and will most likely wander back later during our visit. After all, if we bought something, where would we put it and gosh we don’t even have a home to put anything anyway. We might be back, who knows, and pick up the cow sofa.
Former President Jimmy Carter may have a somewhat mixed record, with a Nobel Peace Prize on the one hand and a lost 1980 reelection bid on the other. However, it is thanks to Jimmy Carter that there is craft brewing – and more importantly home brewing! In 1978 Carter signed into law the ability for home brewers making less then 50 gallons for personal use to make beer legally and without the need to pay any taxes! Prior to that time home brewing was hidden behind closed doors and illegal.
Since that time, craft brewers have exploded resulting in hundreds if not thousands of small producers starting in their garage and turning it into a real business (yes, at that point they have to start paying taxes). Jason, our eldest son, has been home brewing for several years and we have tasted the results often. (He has no intention of turning this into a business.)
While we were visiting recently Jason decided to make a batch of what he calls G’Nu Castle Brown Ale, a “clone” of New Castle Brown Ale.
Following the spirit of the original New Castle, this brew requires two separate fermentation tanks (buckets). One batch is prepared to an Original Gravity (O.G.) of 1.050, while the second is prepared to 1.035 OG.
Here’s the gear to make beer
Gravity is a measurement of the wert’s density, and in home brewing is a measure how much malt (sugar) is dissolved into the water.
Everything has to be cleaned – this is the brew kettle.The first step, fill the brew kettle with purified water – 10 gallons
Distilled water has a Specific Gravity (S.G.) of 1.000. The first batch, which is denser and has a higher Gravity, will end up with a higher Alcohol by Volume (abv). The second batch will have a lower abv because it has less malt to convert to alcohol.
The fence is keep little people away from the burner – adding grains to the wort steeperSteeping – Pouring the boiled water onto the grains for conversion.Mixing it all upChecking the temp – need to be at 154 degrees for an hour.
The unique qualities of these two batches help give this New Castle clone it’s distinctive taste. The higher Gravity means the yeast converts the malt faster (more food to eat, so it eats faster) and the product has a “fruitier” flavor to its alcohol. The lower Gravity batch converts slower and will end up with a more “malty” flavor. These two batches are combined after fermentation into a single batch, and mixed thoroughly.
Pre-crushed 2-row pale malted grain – the first (and biggest) ingredientHop Pellets – Added at intervals for flavor (30 minutes before end of boiling) and for bittering (15 min before end of boil)
After about two weeks, the two batches are each transferred to a new (sanitized) fermentation tank. This accomplishes two objectives; first the “debris” that has settled on the bottom of the primary fermentation tank (which is called “trub”) is unwanted and gives poor flavor and clarity to final beer, the second is the transfer re-originates the beer and reinvigorates the yeast to convert more malt to alcohol. During this transfer an additional Gravity reading is taken.
Sparging – taking the first few gallons and pouring it over the grains to wash the malt and maximize malt conversion from the grains.
At this point the Gravity was approximately 1.035 for the first batch and 1.018, which is about half of the fermentation that is expected. The yeast will continue to convert malt to alcohol for the next few weeks.
Grains ready for more steeping – Steeping container isn’t large enough for the batch we made, so we had to steep in two rounds.Adding more water to the grain – a second run through.Preparing Wert for boil – After collecting the wert from steeping, it is returned to the brew kettle to boil for one hour.Wert at boilSteeping – Second round of wert is steeping
Once no further malt conversion is occurring, which can be judged by taking several Gravity readings over several days until there is no change in the reading (or just letting it sit for a long time and then arbitrarily deciding “it’s done!”), it’s time to prep for bottling.
Final gravity readings are taken (1.021 for batch 1, and 1.008 for batch 2) it’s time to combine the batches and add bottling sugar. The bottling sugar is a relatively small amount of sugar that re-vitalizes the yeast and causes them to convert just a little more alcohol. The by-product of this is carbonation; which gives the beer that nice mouth feel. Because the beer has been sealed behind a bottle-cap, the CO2 has no place to escape to and becomes “dissolved” in the beer until the bottle is opened.
Irish Moss – A single table spoon of Irish Moss is added 15 minutes before the end of boil. This works as a “magnet” to bulk the unwanted organic material together for easier filtering.Terminating boil – After boiling for an hour, the wert is removed from the brew kettle for cooling to aprox. 65 degrees.Cooling – A copper coil with cool water running though it, is submerged into the wert to quickly chill.Used grain – Perfect for brewers bread (lethal for dogs)Fermentation begins – After pitching the yeast, an airlock is attached to the lid to allow off-gasses to escape but keep unwanted bacteria out of the bucket. From this moment on, the wert is now beer.
Using a special bottling wand, which only allows the beer to flow from the bottling bucket when it’s depressed inside the each bottle (which have all been very well cleaned and sanitized), the beer is transferred from a bucket where everything has been re-mixed into the bottles.
Mixing batches – Mixing the two batches together then adding bottling sugarsHere’s the brew on it’s way to the bottling line.Filling the bottles – gravity sycphon attached to a bottling wand, ensure each bottle is full with a small gap to keep the bottle from exploding during bottle fermentationSealing the bottles – Placing caps on the newly filled bottles and “folding” down the edge to seal it in place.
After bottling, the beer is left to sit for two to three weeks, during which time the yeast converts the small amount of sugar into both alcohol and carbonation.
This batch turned out very well, with an estimated final abv of 4.5%, and a flavor that is very much like New Castle. We used a little too much sugar for bottling, so it’s a little over-carbonated, which is why we had one bottle explode during bottle fermentation.
Because this is a home brew, the yeast remains “alive” because there’s no pasteurization process to kill off the yeast. So, as the beer continues to rest the flavor may change subtly over the ensuing weeks and months.
Farnum St. Brewing – G’Nu Castle Brown AleThe first pours of the new batchJason with the finished product!
This adds a new element to home brewing as you could have something that’s pretty terrible after the first two weeks, but is actually really great after two months!
After the New Year, we relaxed and just enjoyed being together. On Tuesday, the 2nd, Claudia left to return to Morro Bay and we continued to enjoy the apartment. While there are LOTS of things left to do in Paris, we took in only a few more sites during our last week.
Pantheon – rather large building for sure.
One morning, we decided to take in The Pantheon.
Here we are getting ready to go inside the Pantheon.
This is located in the Latin Quarter and was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve (patron saint of Paris) but later became a tribute to the secular as well as religious leaders of Paris after the Revolution.
Inside the Pantheon looking at one of the side areas.A view of the center part of the Pantheon.Voltaire’s crypt and statueLa Convention Nationale Memorial inside the Pantheon.
In the Crypt are the remains of Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, Louis Braille and a number of other significant people. It is a very large marble building and COLD inside. No heat to the place (big surprise) and it retained the cold long after it started to warm up outside. A lot of interesting French history depicted in murals on the walls and in the various displays throughout the building. French schoolchildren encounter these murals in their history books.
Arènes de Lutèce – A roman amphitheater which originally held 15,000 spectators.
After the Pantheon, we headed out to visit the Arènes de Lutèce. This is the most important ruin from the Gallo-Roman era in Paris. Lying in what is now the Latin Quarter, this amphitheater originally could seat 15,000 people and was used to present gladiatorial combats. Constructed in the 1st century AD, much of the original structure has been destroyed with the exception of some of the terraces, cubbyholes situated beneath the lower terraces and some other structures remain.
After visiting the Pantheon and other sites we made our way to a nice fondue spot for lunch.
For lunch Ryan took us to a Fondue spot not far away where we enjoyed a lovely lunch. I don’t recall when I have had fondue and it was a neat way to enjoy some mushrooms with cheese and a trio of meats (chicken, beef and duck we cooked in the boiling oil).
Lunch on a wet afternoon after visiting where Chris will be going to school.Chris in front of his school.I am certain there was a group just like this on this corner when we visited 10 years ago! Nice tunes.I could live in the apartments above this row of shops!A very inviting shop for sure.Cheese – just a small portion of what they had available.There were so many to choose from it was difficult to decided what to pick up!There were samples, thankfully, so you could get some idea of what was available.
During last couple of days, we ventured out to the cheese shop of Laurent Dubois – considered to be one of the best chesemongers in Paris. He holds the highest designation for a cheesemonger and affineur in France. The shop had a strong selection of aged cheeses and small producers from around the country. Below the shop, in caves, he ages a few cheeses well beyond what others might but seems to have the ability to know when to release them. We picked up a few nice selections including a Mont D’ Or. This is only produced during the months between October and February and I have learned to bake it with garlic and wine ; delicious on a fresh baguette. When I said I was taking it with me on my flight the next day the vacuum sealed it! Wish I had done that with several other cheeses to bring back.
Owner, Madame Saadia Abhari was very helpful – she was closing early to visit with friends but opened just for us.Ryan and Janeen are surrounded by various music boxes and toys.Janeen checking out some of the interesting items.
We also visited the music box store (again) – Avanti la Musica is a small shop jammed to the rafters and beyond with music boxes, interesting toys and fine gifts.
On our last evening we stopped at Berthillon for some hot chocolate and ice cream. This is a MUST stop for anyone coming to Paris.
Champagne prior to take off on our flight back to the US was a delight.
On Monday we four trekked out to Charles de Gaulle airports and Janeen and I boarded our flight back to the US of A .
We landed safely in Virginia and are now settled in with our son, Jason, daughter-in-law, Terri and grand daughter for a while. Not sure when the next post will happen so check back every so often to find out as we have a LOT more travelling to do before we settle down.
Wandering among the main floor’s gallery of gleaming white statues is a joy. At the end of the first floor is a scale model of the Garnier Opéra House – this cross section lets you see the complexities of all the stage areas and gives you a good idea of the size of the place.
