2022: Pezenas and Paris

Sunday, May 22

Today we had our favorite bruch reserved for 2pm at Le Salon des Manufacturers Alain Ducasse, on rue des Petits Champs. So we started with a walk about Passy then the Metro to Concorde for our tour of Hotel de la Marine. It had not been open to the public for a couple of hundred years until now.

It was pretty busy but everyone was given an iPad sort of audio guide that was supposed to automatically sync when you entered a room. Mine didn't work very well and unfortunately the room guards?staff? had no more English than I did French so I struggled a bit.

The place is spectacular! Wiki: The Hôtel de la Marine (built between 1757 and 1774) was originally the home of the royal Garde-Meuble, the office managing the furnishing of all royal properties. Following the French Revolution it became the Ministry of the Navy, which occupied it until 2015 (as part of the Ministry of Defence). The building was entirely renovated between 2015 and 2021, for it to now display the restored 18th century apartments of Marc-Antoine Thierry de Ville-d'Avray, the King's Intendant of the Garde-Meuble, as well the salons and chambers later used by the French Navy.

We went through each room and were amazed. It really looked, in places, like Versailles or other grand palaces. Just spectacular! And the terrace had that amazing view over the Place de la Concorde, the obelisk, and the Eiffel Tower. I'm so glad we got to see it!

We were done about an hour before our reservation so made our way through the pretty streets of the 1st, taking our time.

Brunch at Le Salon: What a treat! We started with champagne and continued with champagne! The room was full with mostly French speakers, it seemed. Very festive athmosphere. The tableware was so cool--old pieces that weren't matching but worked well together. There was tooo much food, all of it delicious. The server was very professional but engaging. One of our favorite treats, for sure. We were there 2 hours.

We walked around the area a bit after brunch (we had been right there the day before at Le Grand Vefour, funnily enough). We passed through Place des Victories. We paused at Place du Lieutenant Henri Karcher who was an important figure in the Liberation of Paris.

As we had an early flight, we headed back to Passy via Metro.

Packing didn't take as long as expected so we took to the streets for a nice long wander. Stopped at the ever popular Avenue de Camoens and got our picture taken by a random woman who was an actual working photographer. Did a spot of grocery shopping. Admired cars. It was a lovely end to our trip.

The next morning, Monday, 5/23, we were at the departure gate by 8am and home that night.

Cannot wait until next time!

This is our third time staying in Passy, in the 16th arrondisement. And staying with the theme of this trip--great lunches and visits to less-popular attractions, today we spent the morning a few blocks from our apartment before lunch. Our reservation at Le Grand Vefour, formerly a 3 Michelin Star restaurant now re-imagined as a brasserie, and the oldest restaurant in Paris (Le Grand Vefour), was at 1pm.

We walked the few blocks to Musee de Balzac on Rue Raynoaurd, which, to me, has some of the most beautiful Haussmann buildings in Paris.

Musee de Balzac consists of a bookstore, a cafe and garden that are all free. It cost E8 to tour the house.

The view of the Eiffel Tower from outside the bookstore is lovely.

Honore de Balzac lived in this house from 1840 to 1847 to avoid his creditors since it was, then, way in the boonies. His girlfriend hated it but staying there served its purpose because he was able to write. It was cool to see the desk at which he wrote, some of the art that he looked at, his tiny kitchen.

I liked the special exhibit about ---- by ---- which was downstairs in the basement.

I also loved the exhibit of all the characters in La Comedie Humaine. There are thousands! (wiki, 2472 named and 566 unnamed!)

Back outside, we took a turn around the gardens, which were a bit wild and unkempt, enjoying the fantastic views. It was a quick and interesting visit. And, if you're not interested in touring the house, just stop by for the garden and views would be worthwhile.

We walked through pretty Passy to our next stop, Cimitiere de Passy. It's a stone's throw from the Trocadero.

Passy is hilly.

The Cimitiere de Passy is similar to the much more famous and extensive Pere Lachaise in the 20th. It has fewer famous persons interred and we didn't have a lot of time. We located the tomb of Eugene Manet and his sister-in-law Berthe Morisot whose work I really enjoy. We couldn't track down Debuissy. Another charming thing about this cemetary is its views of the Eiffel Tower! :)

We took the Metro from Trocadero to Palais Royale for our lunch.

The interior is sumptuous, and what one might imagine a restaurant in Paris should look like. We chose to sit inside for the historic dining room but they have outside seating under the Palais Royale.

The lunch menu was not exciting, especially for this non-meat eater.

This table was several generations of French folks celebrating a birthday. And there was a wheelchair user at another table. The servers graciously accommodated us all.

After lunch, which was nice but expensive for a brasserie, we walked into the garden at the Palais Royal. So pretty!

Then we wandered the streets over to the Louvre.

It was crowded! We didn't plan to go in anyway but these crowds would have dissuaded us.

We wanted to see the Joan of Arc statue that the riders in the Tour de France whiz by. Even though we've been to Paris many times, we couldn't picture her exact location. But she is located outside a tunnel, kind of next door to the Hotel Regina (we peeped in there, looks nice), and across from the Decorative Arts museum.

Et voila! Joan of Arc and cool cars.

We kept wandering the area. Popped into Eglise Saint-Roch. The Blue Guide had a few words about this church but mass was going on so we didn't linger.