Up to Paris - May 11th-24th 2011

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May 12th 2011: Le Marais


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Our Apartment and Vicinity
Look west down the street our apartment is on (Rue du Grenier Saint-Lazare). The entrance to our building is on the left just past the blue color of video rental machines and just before the awning with the text that begins with CAB...
Similarly looking west, but down the opposite side of the street. In the upper-right is a balcony so full of foliage that Di Yin got to calling it our forest.
The bigger street (Rue Beauborg) around the corner from our apartment. This pictures looks south down this one-way street. Although I didn't notice it when I took this shot, that's Notre Dame Cathedral in the distance.
A long movie walk-through with narration showing the apartment we rented. Some notes about comments I made during the movie: One, although I pointed out the TV, we didn't end up turning it on at all. Also, though I called the area the apartment looks down on as courtyard, it's actually an pedestrian alley leading to a pedestrian square and cafes. I also said the "courtyard" was quiet at night but it turns out to be slightly false: every other night we'd hear a group of drunk people wander through at the wee hours. We usually slept with the windows closed to muffle the sound.
Look west down the street our apartment is on (Rue du Grenier Saint-Lazare). The entrance to our building is on the left just past the blue color of video rental machines and just before the awning with the text that begins with CAB...
Similarly looking west, but down the opposite side of the street.
In the upper-right is a balcony so full of foliage that Di Yin got to calling it our forest.
The bigger street (Rue Beauborg) around the corner from our apartment. This pictures looks south down this one-way street.
Although I didn't notice it when I took this shot, that's Notre Dame Cathedral in the distance.
A long movie walk-through with narration showing the apartment we rented.
Some notes about comments I made during the movie: One, although I pointed out the TV, we didn't end up turning it on at all. Also, though I called the area the apartment looks down on as courtyard, it's actually an pedestrian alley leading to a pedestrian square and cafes. I also said the "courtyard" was quiet at night but it turns out to be slightly false: every other night we'd hear a group of drunk people wander through at the wee hours. We usually slept with the windows closed to muffle the sound.
From the ground level, the "courtyard"/pedestrian alley that heads past our apartment building (not seen, to the right). You can see the ground slopes down to form a passage under the Quartier de l'Horloge building.
The view up from the courtyard passage to our apartment building. Our apartment is the exact center of this image, the one with the curtain two-thirds open on the level above the planter. That's our bedroom. I took this picture on May 15th.
On the other side of the sunken pedestrian walkway is this sculpture, Le Defenseur du Temps (In Defense of Time. Incidentally, the clock works. I took this picture on May 15th.
From the ground level, the "courtyard"/pedestrian alley that heads past our apartment building (not seen, to the right). You can see the ground slopes down to form a passage under the Quartier de l'Horloge building.
The view up from the courtyard passage to our apartment building. Our apartment is the exact center of this image, the one with the curtain two-thirds open on the level above the planter. That's our bedroom.
I took this picture on May 15th.
On the other side of the sunken pedestrian walkway is this sculpture, Le Defenseur du Temps (In Defense of Time. Incidentally, the clock works.
I took this picture on May 15th.
Le Marais
A street in Le Marais. I like the wrought iron railings and the buildings' facades.
Pleasant-looking outdoor seating for a cafe.
Additional attractive railings, these more intricate than the last, along with arched windows and balconies full of plants.
A workshop. I'd guess they make scale models for architectural designs. The workshop's windows are so large that, I'm guessing, the visual splendor inside is meant to be admired.
A street in Le Marais. I like the wrought iron railings and the buildings' facades.
Pleasant-looking outdoor seating for a cafe.
Additional attractive railings, these more intricate than the last, along with arched windows and balconies full of plants.
A workshop. I'd guess they make scale models for architectural designs. The workshop's windows are so large that, I'm guessing, the visual splendor inside is meant to be admired.
Another shot of the workshop.
Yet more wrought iron balconies. They're basically everywhere. I loved the look of them in Barcelona and I love the look of them here as well.
The stunning tower at the northeast corner of the intersection of Rue Vieilli du Temple and Rue des Francs Bourgeois.
Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux church. I used photomatix to combine two separate shots of this sight into one picture.
Another shot of the workshop.
Yet more wrought iron balconies. They're basically everywhere.
I loved the look of them in Barcelona and I love the look of them here as well.
The stunning tower at the northeast corner of the intersection of Rue Vieilli du Temple and Rue des Francs Bourgeois.
Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux church.
I used photomatix to combine two separate shots of this sight into one picture.
What nicely curved buildings! With this picture I might've gotten photographing balconies like this out of my system.
What nicely curved buildings!
With this picture I might've gotten photographing balconies like this out of my system.
Dinner at Les Philosophes
Les Philosophes, where we had dinner. The bustling exterior was filled with people sipping drinks from the beginning of dinnertime onward.
Inside was pretty empty (though it was full by the time we left). With the windows open, we got nice outdoor air flow.
Looking across the inside toward the bar. The day's specials are on the chalkboard in the upper-left. Off the left side of this picture (in the corner of the room) is an old spiral staircase. It looked cool; I'm sad I inadvertently excluded it from both photos.
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Les Philosophes, where we had dinner. The bustling exterior was filled with people sipping drinks from the beginning of dinnertime onward.
Inside was pretty empty (though it was full by the time we left).
With the windows open, we got nice outdoor air flow.
Looking across the inside toward the bar. The day's specials are on the chalkboard in the upper-left. Off the left side of this picture (in the corner of the room) is an old spiral staircase. It looked cool; I'm sad I inadvertently excluded it from both photos.
The bathroom has a glassed-off bookcase in the middle, also with some bottles of wine for sale. How funky and neat!
The soup of the day: carrot. Good.
Tomato tarte tatin, the restaurant's specialty (according to my guide book). It was very tomato-y and made from fairly sweet tomatoes. I like it, but don't want to give it too much praise. Served warm.
Main course of the day: "English beef." The steak had some tendons but was otherwise good, certainly good enough that I don't want to overwhelm it with the tomato topping (which, by the way, is exactly the same stuff on the tomato tarte tatin). The steak was served the traditional French way: on the rare side of medium rare. The gratin was made with very thin potatoes (thinner cut than I've seen before) and was not too cheesy. As for the oyster mushrooms, Di Yin's a fan, saying they're better than anything she could make. (She says this partially because they're cooked in butter and she generally does not cook with butter.) I'm also a fan, but I think I could make them. Incidentally, later during our trip, she successfully made them at home in our apartment, beating me to the punch.
A simple shot of a chunk of meat to prove how pink it was.
The soup of the day: carrot. Good.
Tomato tarte tatin, the restaurant's specialty (according to my guide book). It was very tomato-y and made from fairly sweet tomatoes. I like it, but don't want to give it too much praise. Served warm.
Main course of the day: "English beef." The steak had some tendons but was otherwise good, certainly good enough that I don't want to overwhelm it with the tomato topping (which, by the way, is exactly the same stuff on the tomato tarte tatin). The steak was served the traditional French way: on the rare side of medium rare.
The gratin was made with very thin potatoes (thinner cut than I've seen before) and was not too cheesy.
As for the oyster mushrooms, Di Yin's a fan, saying they're better than anything she could make. (She says this partially because they're cooked in butter and she generally does not cook with butter.) I'm also a fan, but I think I could make them. Incidentally, later during our trip, she successfully made them at home in our apartment, beating me to the punch.
A simple shot of a chunk of meat to prove how pink it was.
No Picture Associated With These Comments
I was still slightly hungry after dinner so I bought from the grocery store a thing of French yogurt with apricots for dessert. It was good.
Fodder for Combined Picture of Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux church