Back to Paris

Tomorrow I'll be going to Paris again. I have an appointment on Thursday to have a document notarized at the U.S. Embassy. And I'd like to be able to take advantage of the possibility of going up to the top of the Tour Saint-Jacques to take some pictures while I'm in the city.

The Tour Saint-Jacques with the Pompidou Center in the background

The Tour Saint-Jacques is a Gothic-style bell tower that was constructed in the early 1500s. The church that stood next to it was demolished in 1793, during the French Revolution. The tower remains. It is 52 meters — 170 feet — tall, and it stands in the very center of Paris. For comparison, the towers of the nearby Notre-Dame cathedral are 69 meters tall — 226 feet.

Sixteen stories to climb

Weather in Paris might turn into a problem. It's supposed to start raining Friday morning. With any luck, I'll be able to schedule a tour early in the day and the rain will hold off. The Tour Saint-Jacques is open to the public this summer for the first time in its history, and accompanied tours one hour long are being given only on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

There's a weather station at the top of the Tour Saint-Jacques.

Detail shot of the top of the tower taken from the same spot as the one just above

There's a two-hour window of opportunity on Thursday mornings to make a reservation by telephone for one of the weekend tours. I'll be staying with CHM in Paris, so I'll make the call from his place, before I go to the embassy for my afternoon appointment. Wish me luck — with the weather, of course, but also with the 16 flights of steps I'll have to climb.

In the church at Selles-sur-Cher

We walked around in the huge church at Selles-sur-Cher last week when we were on our way to lunch in Bracieux. It was kind of a visual apéritif, whetting our appetite for the beautiful lunch we were to have.

These are three separate windows that I have combined into a single image using photo editing software. The glass is not all that old, but the colors are gorgeous. As usual, you can click or tap on the picture (depending on your viewing device) to see it at a larger size.

Rowing a boat at Chenonceau

Last Sunday afternoon we drove over to Chenonceau to walk along the river up to the château.

As you'll see from my photos, the water level in the Cher River is very low right now,
despite all the rain we had over the first six months of the year.

Still, that didn't stop people from renting rowboats and paddling their way up and down the river.

The water was flowing quite rapidly, and people were having a hard time rowing back upstream.
I guess it was good exercise for them.

For us over-60s, the river walk provided plenty of exercise, with no crowds at all.
It was a pleasant afternoon, and seeing the Renaissance-era Château de Chenonceau is always a treat.

Along with the Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame de Paris, this château is one of the most distinctive
and widely recognized buildings in France.

Going to Chenonceau was a pretty nice way to spend a sunny Bastille Day afternoon.

Au Relais d'Artémis, second installment

It was one week ago today — already. Qu'est-ce que le temps passe vite ! Another week of summer down the drain. Speaking of which, we had a few hours of steady rain yesterday morning. I had planned to go to Vouvray with some friends who want to buy wine over there, but we postponed the trip until today when we saw the weather reports.

Fact is, the rain ended about noontime and we had a pleasant afternoon. It wasn't as nice yesterday as it was last Saturday, however, because it was hotter and kind of muggy. Today, more of the same.

To wash down our meal, we ordered a chilled bottle of local Cheverny rosé wine made with Gamay and Pinot Noir grapes.

So at the Relais d'Artémis in Bracieux, near the Château de Chambord, Walt and I had different dishes from the ones that H. and T. ordered. Walt started with seafood — crevettes, or shrimp (you might call them prawns, depending on which variety of English you speak).

 Grosses crevettes marinées, céleri et pomme en rémoulade au thym citron

At the restaurant, the chef put one large, whole prawn on the plate, head and all. Then he added a few headed and peeled shrimp, served on a wooden skewer. There was a salad of grated celery root and apple, in a creamy mayonnaise dressing, on the side, and a splash of spicy pepper sauce.

Foie gras de canard au torchon, chutney de figues

I started with foie gras de canard. That's duck liver served as a kind of pâté. If you look at the photo, you'll notice that there's a little pile of coarse salt for you to season the liver with, along with a little spoonful of chutney or confiture of dried fig, some baby lettuce leaves, and a dribble of balsamic vinegar. The plate was not surchargée, as you can see. A torchon is a kitchen towel, and the foie gras is rolled up in one and cooked in a slow oven.

Carré d'agneau rôti, crème d'ail

Finally, Walt and I both ordered lamb for lunch. It was saddle or carré of lamb served in a puddle of garlic cream sauce, with steamed new potatoes and summer vegetables. The lamb was cooked just to the point of being rosé in the middle.

Dôme au chocolat, parfait glacé à la banane

Our dessert was a big scoop of chocolate ganache, shaped into a dome. It was solid chocolate and very rich. There was a wedge of frozen banana parfait on the side.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the lunch. We enjoyed eating it. Our thanks to Harriett and Tom.