Ray and I are celebrating our fiftieth wedding anniversary -two years late thanks to Covid.
We brought my father here the year before his death, “ I want to see Paris and die,” he quipped, and he succeeded.
We stayed in a bijou hotel “Little Regina,” near the Gare L’Este, which we could see from our fourth storey window.
Despite an elementary proficiency in, for example, ordering from a menu in French, I was struck dumb when confronted with having to do it for real. Except, as I explained to the gentleman at the next table, “Apres du vin, je parle le Francais tres bien.”
Eating out in this district is very reasonable, €30 for three courses with a carafe of wine and an aparatif. The rum baba came in at €4.30 which seemed extravagant, but it was enough for two and swimming in actual rum..
Lunch at the Eiffel Tower, with wine, champagne and three courses was €90 each, but that was to be expected. If you fancy it, be prepared to queue and go through security checkpoints twice. I spotted a heron in the mini-lake in the gardens below the tower which was exciting.
Asparagus with white hazelnuts, Steak Tartare and Lemon meringue pie. The waiter asked if I wanted the ST cooked. No, I said, because then it’s just a hamburger! It was delicious. I detected capers.
We checked out Notre Dame, took a boat trip, navigated the Metro and visited the Jardin Des Plantes, of course. Made a note to tell Darlene that the Rhodies are in bloom, or anyway, one was.
We brought my father here the year before his death, “ I want to see Paris and die,” he quipped, and he succeeded.
I’ve no intention of dying imminently, but it occurs to me that I am 72 years old, and young Parisiennes are giving up their seats for me on the Metro, and that I may not come here again. But who knows? Ray was very taken with three courses, an aparatif and a carafe of wine for €30!
