Sunday art market

I met my friend Evelyn and her husband and daughter, who live in Paris, at the weekly artists market on Blvd. Edgar Quinet, in the shadow of the Montparnasse tower.  There are rules--work must be original and signed, prints may not number more than 100.  This man paints lovely scenes on metro tickets, train tickets, etc.  Then we went for crepes.

la Grande Mosquée

It was a beautiful afternoon, sunny and warm.  I walked from the University to the Paris Mosque, a beautiful, grand structure.  It was built in the 1920s as Paris's recognition of the Algerian and Moroccans and other Muslims who fought with France in World War I.  Tourists can visit inside but not of course the prayer hall.  There are several gardens, covered hallways, and gorgeous wall-carvings and tile,

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Food miscellany

"Terra Nera," where P. and I had lunch after our visit to the law library.  

Linguine Saint-Jacques--excellent!

The foie gras lady at the Saturday market.  

Picked up some gifts for the foodies back home.

Walked by this place in the Latin Quarter, a frites stand. Notice the variety of toppings (not just ketchup but BBQ sauce, pepper sauce, etc etc.) It reminded me of street food in Taiwan. Did not stop to sample. 

The garden of the cafe at la Grande Mosquée of Paris

(see separate post)

Le these de SC Wang (1920)

Two weeks ago in New York I had lunch with my friend Patrick W., who is a professor at the University of Paris-1.  I told him that my grandfather had received his PhD from the Sorbonne, but I didn't know much about it other than that his interest was in constitutional law.  Patrick whipped out his iPad and located the thesis in the law library's online catalogue.  Now that I am in Paris, we met at the library and went to find the thesis.  This is the door to the library on Rue Cujas, across from the Pantheon.  P. said that my grandfather probably wrote his thesis in this library.

The stacks are closed to the public but P. got me in. We went down to the stacks.... et voilá. "Distribution of powers in federal constitutions," by Wang Shih-Chieh (王世杰, Wang Shijie), 1920.  His advisor was Ferdinand Larnaude, the eminent Dean of the Faculty of Law.  The cover page records the defense on Tuesday, June 15, 1920, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.  P. said it's very well written. I will make a copy.

Below is the building that was the old site of the University of Paris Faculty of Law. It's directly across from the Pantheon;  both were designed by Jacques-Germain Soufflot in the mid-18 century.  (Dome under repair so shrink wrapped). 

Marché Raspail

JGN left early this morning; I was up to see him off, then went down to the market, which fills the meridian in the Blvd Raspail (10 minute walk). It goes on for several blocks. (I didn't have my camera so these are borrowed from the web).  The seafood stalls are amazing (saw a giant lobster for 78 euros, also sea urchins and tons of oysters, huge clams, scallops in their shells, etc.) as are the meat sellers (see photo of lamb, below). I bought some goat yogurt in little glass jars and splurged on some creme fraiche to go with strawberries, which are gorgeously red, inside and out; also baby red lettuce, haricots verts, and a small beet shaped like a sweet potato.

This roti stand is run by a Chinese couple, who also sell dim sum!

"Lamb melons" -- i think you just spread the sauce over it
and stick it in the oven

"Les truffes sont arrivées"

Our best meal in Paris -- in the finest Parisian tradition.  Josephine/Chez Dumonet, founded in 1885 and still has some of the etched glass panels, tin ceilings and big radiators, to show for it (we sat by that big radiator on the left). We wandered in, without reservations, just after 9 pm, and were told it would be a 15-minute wait.  They seated us at the small zinc bar, treated us to white wine, with successive refills, and terrine de campagne (country pate) ("un petit cadeau pour vous")  and bread: a half hour later (we weren't complaining) we were seated.  The menu announced "les truffes sont arrivées" with a *dozen* truffle menu selections.  Well, who can resist?  I had a mache salad with truffles and potatoes-- very good.  We had boeuf bourgiogne and duck confit -- both totally melt in your mouth good.  We espied a table of French hipsters finishing off a very large meal, ending with a bottle of Grand Marnier and then the waiter poured from a big big bottle  (250 cl ) of Bas Armangnac.  We caught the waiter's eye and he brought us two glasses.  At one  point he left the honking bottle on the table. Not sure it was even on the bill.  Wow.  It was such a perfectly French experience; they were so gracious and didn't care if you drank a little more.   We shook hands with the chef and the waiters as we left -- who does this in America??  

(117 Rue de Cherche-Midi, near Blvd. Montparnasse, in the 6th).

Beaubourg & Henri

It's JGN's last day and we ventured across the river to the Centre Pompidou (aka Beaubourg), Paris's museum of modern and contemporary art.  There is a big show of the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson there now, with some 500 photographs (and some drawings and paintings) from the entire span of his career from the 1920s to the 1990s.  It was a pretty nice day, too, it's slowly warming up.  Below is a view of Montmartre from the top floor of the museum.

Here are some of our favorite photographs from the show.  The first three are of course among his most famous (behind the Gare St. Lazare, when he was experimenting with surrealism; the Shanghai bank run of 1948, which was published in LIFE; and the cyclist, in his geometric phase.) The last is not so well known, it was taken in the 1930s on his first trip to Africa.  He refused to photograph the "exotic" but chose instead everyday scenes--here, children playing on a beach--that are at once alive and abstract in composition.

China and France BFF ...and the Smoking Dog

China's President Xi Jiping arrived in Paris today on a state visit, part of his whirlwind European tour. JGN had gone down to Invalides and came across his arrival there, at the Cour d'Honneur (JGN was standing in the archway at top right) with much pomp (Republican guard, band playing the anthems, March of the Volunteers and La Marseillaise, etc etc), but no photos allowed (above courtesy internet).   Yesterday when we were on the Champs Elysees we noted the boulevard was decked with French and Chinese flags. The local papers are all touting "win win"diplomacy re trade and Russia, etc. 

Later we met up at our new fave local bar, Au Chien qui Fume.

... the smoking dog. In our neighborhood, cor. Blvd Montparnasse and Rue de Cherche-Midi. Not to be confused with a more famous restaurant with same name on the right bank; this one is definitely the lesser venue. But--this evening we had the eponymous house cocktail, made of champagne, raspberry juice, grapefruit juice, and armagnac.  very yummy!

Paris (Cheese and Jefferson)

Cheese in the St. German des Prés

I'm co-teaching a graduate seminar this semester with a colleague at Sciences Po in Paris, on Migration and Citizenship in the US and Europe.  We conduct the class on video conference, and as part of the plan we have switched places for two weeks, so we can meet each other's students and give some talks.  JGN is with me for one week and I'll stay on for another week.

We all know that Thomas Jefferson spent time on assignment in Paris--but did you know that he lived on the Champs Elysses?

Below the Passage du Clef, built 1835, one of several covered passages or arcades in the 2nd. This one has boutiques and art students on assignment.  We had lunch afterwards at a cafe called "Les Tetes Brulees" (burned heads--go figure).  I had eggs baked in cream with lardon (pancetta), which was, er,  interesting.