Paris Day 4: Septime, etc.

 

Wednesday

4/24

Saint-Ambroise Church (8am-730pm) 11am Atelier des Lumieres (buy tickets in advance) 1pm Septime (me) “Hidden” Passages in the 11e   -Getting a reservation at Septime involved waking up at 3am Central time 3 weeks before the day we wanted to dine. But I was successful! And today was the day. -Septime is 1 Michelin star and consistently on the 50 Best Restaurants in the World list. It gets mixed reviews. The food is vegetable forward. It’s a very casual place but most people were dressed nicely (looking at you, young couple with your baseball caps, c’mon, man!). We could overhear the excited Asian gentleman who was there with his family talking about how it was hard to get a reservation. Cute. -The maître and sommelier was from California so of course his English was good. There was a lot of English. We got the menu of the day 85E and a wine pairing 60E. Plus of course the champagne to start. They were considerate of my pickiness. -We started with a broth and brioche waffle with compte cheese (delicious). Next was an asparagus with spinach, sorrel, egg yolk, like a salad; artichoke in onion sauce with meyer lemon on top; flash steamed lettuces with 2 mushrooms. Mains were St. John with morel and a garlic bud thing (that was too strong for me), husband's had lardo; tuna with sour cream sauce and charred broccoli and flowers—excellent, although could have been cooked like 3-6 more seconds for me. Husband got the cheese plate (18E) with 2 goat and 1 sheep cheese. Dessert was hazelnut ice cream and cardamon cream. Very good meal. Was funny that the maître/sommelier had just been to CDMX on direct 12 hour flight from CDG and loved it there. -We were walking distance to Atelier des Lumieres so I convinced husband to go, after all it was about Egypt. No issues with getting in without pre-booking, place was not really too crowded, although a French Karen objected to husband standing in one spot as she reclined on the floor to watch the show (they are everywhere!). It was well done, like all of these have been, but I didn’t like it as much as the impressionists or Klimt. -We headed to St. Ambroise church but I had forgotten to bring the information I printed up about it. At any rate, it’s pretty. It’s newer (like 127 years old) and obviously a parish church. -I wanted to check out a particular purse, by Faure Le Page, so put in their flagship store’s address in the google and there we headed. It was a metro ride but when we got off, I realized we were close to Printemps so in there we went. There was no Faure Le Page but there was a Goyard. We looked at the bags through the cases, none of the clerks seemed very inclined to help us. -Printemps is a pretty store. I knew they had a terrace so up and up and up we went. Ended up on the 7th floor where there were very high end “second-hand” designer items for sale. We saw our first Hermes Birkin bags. They were older models ranging from 9,000E upwards of 20,000E. Beautiful and way too extravagant! -The view was very pretty from the terrace, as it was from the bathroom. Took elevators down to the street and walked around a little in the cute streets. My feet were killing me! -Routed ourselves to Galleries LaFayette and one Metro stop later, we were getting out right in front of it. Very pretty store, although it’s not as special as at Christmas. -Found Faure Le Page and very nice clerk showed us the bag. I like it but don’t think I love it. And not sure I want the one with the zip after all. Would have to allow time at airport for VAT refund, and with our early flight, didn’t want to risk it. Will reconsider next time. -We grabbed the Metro to La Muette and had drinks at the Tabac, which closed at 830. They were kinda wrapping things up but still served a few latecomers. We considered getting fries but decided to try a different place. -Le Bois was busy. Le Rally Passy smelled bad and the servers ignored us. We went down to the Aero, which is a hotel with a bar/restaurant, and they couldn’t have been nicer. Had a drink and my fries and all was well with the world. -Back to the apartment in time for the 10pm sparkle show.

Paris