Pay attention! The French are not rude!
In June 2007 Ms. Winer and I retired.
When one reaches a milestone, rewards equal to the achievement should be given. So, on September 9, 2007, Mrs. Winer and I arrived in Paris, France. For the next 24 days we had more fun than the law should allow. We chose this time of year mainly because it is the end of the tourist season, but before the unpleasant winter weather. Instead of getting accommodation in the center of Paris, we chose a small and comfortable hotel in Maison-Laffitte (ML). The city is about 20 minutes on the red REI line A train north of Paris.
While it was a little inconvenient at times as we spent most of our waking hours in Paris, it gave us what we wanted: a quiet refuge from the hectic life of Paris. We also love the interaction that comes from repeat visits to a restaurant. Lady. Winer and I are addicted to food. I am the journalist and I have a record of all the food we ate, where we ate it and the wines we drank.
After arriving at ML and locating myself, I left Ms. Winer resting and went on a reconnaissance mission. The goal was to find a small restaurant that would reflect the cuisine of this area of France. I found it. The Olivier on Avenue de Saint Germain. Talk about hitting the jackpot. Olivier, the owner, was the waiter, the maittredi, the sweeper and the sommelier. The restaurant was very cozy with tables for about 20 diners. (I’ll tell you about a couple of wonderful experiences we had at Olivier’s later.) Suffice to say, we loved the restaurant. In fact, we ate their entire menu during our stay at ML.
The next day, September 10, was Mrs. Winer’s “39th” birthday. I really can’t remember what anniversary that auspicious day was. It is better to forget. She wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower. Since the Old Winer hadn’t figured out the metro system, we disembarked from the REI train at the Arc de Triumph and meandered through central Paris in the general direction of the Eiffel Tower. My navigation skills are pretty suspect, but since the tower is the tallest item on the horizon, we managed to find it. (I’m something of a world traveler). I’ve seen the Space Needle in Seattle, the arches at the Los Angeles airport, the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona, and the Grand Canyon, so I’m not that. easily impressed.
Being under the Eiffel Tower was awesome. Standing on top was VERY impressive. Mrs. Winer had her birthday lunch at the small cafe-restaurant located on the second level overlooking the Seine River with its boat traffic and bridges. We then chose (a very strange choice) to go downstairs. Lady. Winer had heard that some famous people had done this and she thought it would be a good idea. When we reached the ground, it was obvious that they were a bit younger than us. Having climbed a mountain or two in my day, one has learned that going down is actually harder than going up. But we did it. That night for our dinner we went to the supermarket, bought wonderful French goat cheese, ham, French bread (what else), an apple, a bottle of Chateau du Calvaire St Emilion Grand Cru 2005 wine for $6 and a bottle of 2005 wine Domaine St. Antoine Sablet Cotes du Rhone Village for $5 and chocolate for dessert. We took our purchases to our hotel room and treated ourselves.
Happy birthday Mrs. Wine!
Later I will tell you about our wonderful 10 days trip from Lyon to Paris through Boujourlais, the Burgundy wine region. We hit hard at the most pernicious mistake perpetrated by disgruntled travelers: “The French are rude to Americans, especially if they can’t speak French.” The French are not rude! I can vomit my full build up of the French language in about 45 seconds. My Spanish is quite good. My English, as you know, somewhat suspect. We ate in small elegant cafes and restaurants in the center of Paris; in tiny places in the wine country mountain where English was elementary school at best; we talk to viticulturists, to people on the street, etc. and I can say that we did not have a single incident where we felt mistreated by a Frenchman. We will be back? … you can bet. Right after our trip to Tuscany and Spain.
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