Slept well into Day 3 to work much of the jet lag off, and
we waited at the apartment for the third member of our group to arrive from New
York and De Gaulle airport.
He arrived safe and sound and off we went to Chez Margot,
nearby on Boulevard Henri IV, for lunch.
It was overcast but pleasant enough to sit outside.
We ordered the 14.50 “formule” or menu – an entrée and a
main. We drank 2 bottles of Perrier Blue, which I was not especially happy with
(not fizzy enough).
My companions started with a creamy, well-textured pumpkin
soup while I had a terrific poached egg on top of mushrooms doused in an
herb-inflected olive oil. The mushrooms were fresh and had good flavor.
Mains were a farfalle de funghi, which my companion said
could have used more mushrooms but came in a terrific sauce and was satisfying;
a fricassee de poulet (chicken) in a tarragon butter, simple but superb, with
good frites; and I had a wonderful piece de boucher, (rumpsteak), cooked saignant (bloody) as ordered, with the
same frites and a really really good blue-cheese sauce. The bread had a fine
crust and flavor, and the house mustard for frites/steak was very strong, just
the way I like it.
Wine was a
Cinsault rose, tart and refreshing, for my friends and a full-bodied Cotes du
Rhone for me. Good coffee came with a little Ce’Moi bar of dark chocolate and I
had an Armagnac to finish. Bill for 3, 93 euros.
Afterwards came
shopping, with visits to a wonderful butcher, Eric Kayser’s bakery and Laurent
Dubois’ cheese shop on the Left Bank where I scored some goat cheese and
Gaperon, one of my favorite cheeses. We then returned to the flat where my
newly arrived companion stayed up for a while before he went to jet-lagged sleep.
My other friend
and I walked a few minutes to the great Cathedrale Notre Dame for a concert of
16th century Spanish vocal music, with a group of 5 singers that
sang solo, as a trio, as a quartet and all together in a program of a dozen or
so selections by composers such as Victoria and Morales. Not the kind of thing I’d
have gone to at home, and music I was not very familiar with, but a truly
fascinating hour with some amazingly pure voices. I am very glad I went.
For dinner, we
then walked to the Marais to an old favorite of mine, Le Temps de Cerises (not
the one in the 13th). It was hopping at 10:15 and we were far from
the last to sit down.
We drank Vittel
water, still, as their sparkler was that Perrier Blue, eh.
We shared a plate
of escargot de Bourgogne as a first. These are snails roasted in garlic-parsley
butter that required being mopped up by the wonderful bread that came in copious
quantity. Served sizzling hot.
For mains my
friend enjoyed a chicken breast topped with marvelous langoustines, presented
perfectly with mushrooms and olives with a bit of herb (chervil?) on top. The
dish’s aroma was seductive.
I devoured “grenadin
du veau” – veal filet – cooked absolutely perfectly, fork-tender, good sear on
outside, pink inside, served over stewed eggplant and topped with a marvelous
crust of herbs – spectacular.
With both mains
came a bowl of pureed potatoes that a whole cow had donated cream and butter
to. First-rate.
Wine was a 50cl
pot of Franck Givaudin’s Irancy, a Burgundian red made from the local Cesar
grape – rich, deep, spicy, and “gouleyant”. Woof.
Absolutely superb
coffee came with a Michel & Augustin chocolate biscuit.
The bistro
offered memorable ambience; several large tables having a lot of fun, a festive
bar crowd, and one strikingly well-dressed older gentleman who drank a bottle
pf Bordeaux while enjoying onion soup and a gamba salad.
Bill for two,
92.70 euros.
As places in
Paris go, I can’t recommend Le Temps de Cerises enough
Chez Margot
25 bis Boulevard
Henri IV, 4th
Le Temps des
Cerises
31 Rue de la
Cersaie, 4th
https://www.facebook.com/le-temps-des-cerises-199407043426474/
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