July 5 in Paris

July 5 in Paris

I’m conquering the technology issues, but now the time issue!   What to do, visit and experience things or take time to sit down and write about what we’ve seen and done?  As you might guess, we’ve been walking the city.  Here are some highlights. 

On Thursday, July 5, Perry and I attended a wine and cheese tasting class.  The sommelier was a young woman.   She spoke wonderful English and let us know that she had studied in France, New Zealand, and California.  Think about  those places for a wine education!  We tasted one champagne, two whites, and two reds.  Along with that, we lunched on cheeses and chaucaturie from across the country.   What a spectacular way to learn.  Charlotte also told me Thomas Jefferson’s favorite wine maker, D’yquem. Take a look at their website:

 http://www.yquem.fr/yquem.php?lang=uk

The story there says that Jefferson so liked the white wine that he ordered some for himself and for George Washington.  I also know that Jefferson ordered and sent wine to John Adams as he served the court of St. James in Great Britain after the war.   So much wine was shipped that Adams hastily wrote to Jefferson to STOP sending wine, or he would go broke.  There’s an insight into Francophile Jefferson and Puritanical Adams. 

The weather was a bit precarious as we left the wine shop, so we chose to visit a museum.   Although the D’Orsay was not on the “Patriot” list, it is a magnificent place.   Not only beautiful art, but an interesting building to boot.  Of course, the highlights are the Impressionists, but there is so much more.  We visited “old friends” that we knew and loved, along with meeting some new ones.  For a little break from the viewing, we stopped at the café that is behind the giant station clock.   That site and view are almost worth the admission price.  Take a look.

Finally, we picked a dinner spot that has been on my list.   The name is Au Pied de Couchon.  Use your high school French to figure that out.  Take a look…

http://www.pieddecochon.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=au%2Bpied%2Bde%2Bcochon%2Brestaurant&utm_content=Marque%2Bdéclinée%2Binversée&utm_campaign=Pied%2Bde%2BCochon%2B-%2BMarque

I read that they make the best onion soup in France.   Of course we tried it.   Wonderful!  I kept thinking of a cold dreary day in February, and how tasty it would be then.  Another highlight was a little pink meringue piggy as a sweet treat to send us off.   Great day!