Paris (Diderot/Bobillot)

Conference all day at the main (new) campus of Paris VII-Diderot, in a new stylish neighborhood in the 13th, along the Seine, by the new Bibliotheque Francois Mitterand.  A long day of workshops but capped with a cocktail party at the Institute des Ameriques.  Photo below shows old and new buildings on the campus.

Dinner with a group from conference off the Rue Bobillot, in a new trendy former working class  area they call "Bo-Bo" (short for Bohemian Bourgeois--in the US I believe it's known as Boho Chic).  Photo below is an alley in the neighborhood.  We went to a restaurant called Bouche a Oreilles (literally mouth to ear,  means word of mouth). The walls were plastered with 33 LP record covers of American music like Sam Cook and Cyndi Lauper.  I had a salad with pate fois gras maison, raw milk cheese, and aged ham.  Chesnut ice cream for dessert.  I've learned to take an espresso after dinner.

Paris (Montparnasse; Le Marais)

 

Yesterday: A visit to Reid Hall, Columbia's program here, off the Blvd. Montparnasse.  Charming place, a 19-th century porcelain factory then residence of wife of Whitelaw Reid the NY journalist and ardent imperialist at the turn of the last century.  (left) one of the courtyards.




Later, dinner with friends at "Marty," near my hotel on Rue Gobelins in the 13th  (left).  Beautiful decor and an excellent steak frites.



Today was the beginning of the conference on migration in the Americas.  Participants from Europe, US, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil.  A trilingual meeting, with papers given in French, English, and Spanish, with summary translations.  Today's sessions held at University of Paris VII (Diderot)'s building in the Marais.  

 In addition to intellectual stimulation there was significant stimulation gastronomique! a group of us went to lunch at the famed "L'As du Falalfel" (it's even in the Paris Zagats).  And possibly the best falalfel anywhere.  It's an Israeli restaurant (kosher) and take out place (long lines), in the old Jewish section of the Marais on Rue de Rosiers. The falafel are petite by American standards; I think this is part of the secret, for the surface to mass ratio is greater and hence you get greater crunch with each bite.  The sandwich is served in a pita with julienned cucumbers and chunks of grilled eggplant, and the sauce has some tahini in it.  You cannot bite into it, you have to eat it with a fork. Awesome!

I went to dinner with old friends from NYC who are also at the meeting, at the Dome du Marais, a wonderful art deco restaurant with a domed dining room.  The building is 18th century and apparently before it was a restaurant it was a pawn shop associated with a religious group, not clear if Catholic or Protestant.  Only in Paris would a pawn shop be in such a space! The dome has something of the feel of a baptismal space.

Anyway, now it's got lots of glass and black velvet banquettes.  Had white asparagus with mousse au foie gras (!!) and then grilled dorade, one of my favorite fish that is popular here (Mediterranean) and only occasionally seen in NYC; my friends both had the John Dory, perhaps even more rarely seen in the US.  And perfect with an excellent Sancerre.

Paris (Le Marais)

Walked from Bastille and  Place de Voges (did not linger, raining) all the way to the Beaubourg this afternoon.  Some serious shopping in the Marais, along the way, and ogled the pastries but did not buy. (I'm not sure they would even taste as good as they look.)

And I did manage to find that shoe outlet on Rue de Rivoli, near Rue des Mauvais Garcons, but alas, they did not have any Arche shoes (last time I was here I bought several pairs!).  Took in a very fine Matisse show at the Beaubourg (coming to the Met in Dec. 2012). Cloudy so view of Eiffel tower is not as spectacular as it should be...

Centre George Pompidou (Beaubourg) museum of modern and contemporary art

Picasso, La Liseuse

Matisse, La Liseuse

"Restaurnant 404"

Then dinner with friends at a Moroccan place in the Marais, called Restaurant 404 (which, strangely, I had been to before).  Excellent couscous and tagine of lamb with peas and artichoke, and great atmosphere.

Paris (Chinatown)

Ooh-la-la.  Arrived today for two week stay. Will give keynote address at a conference on migration in the Americas on Wednesday at Univ. Paris VII; then a week vaca (J. arriving on Friday).  Hotel is at edge of Latin Quarter (which I had in the past thought, by way of free-association, to be something akin to the French quarter in New Orleans, but which I have since learned refers to the Latin language spoken by students at the Sorbonne during the Middle Ages).  But I am really in the 13th, aka Chinatown, which is more heavily dominated by Vietnamese; and also a heavy dose of Cambodian, Lao, Thai, in addition to Chinese.   Took a walk along Avenue de Choisy and Avenue d'Ivry--restaurants and souvenir shops much as you'd find in any Chinatown.  I picked the busiest pho restaurant to try a bowl of special beef pho.  It's all in the broth--this one was deeply flavorful and aromatic. And came with fresh lemongrass in addition to basil, bamboo shoots & peppers.  Then I parked myself at a cafe/bar and over a cafe au lait I finished reading Amitav Ghosh's amazing book, Sea of Poppies.  BTW, for those who know of my love of the rare mangosteen fruit (see Taiwan/PRC posts from last year), I saw them for sale at a Vietnamese fruit stand near the hotel. Imported from Indonesia, quite unripe and sold only by the bag, so I did not indulge.

Taiwan - Dec. 5-9, 2011 (Taipei)

Taipei. It's rainy and chilly but there's lots to do... My favorite neighborhood spot, around the corner from the house--Ban-mou Yuan (Half-Acre Cafe), tucked into the corner at Da-an and Deng Feng Rds.. Terrific soup noodles, xi-fan, and flaky sesame bread filled with steamed pork. Help-your-self side dishes -- spicy green beans; dry bean curd with little salted fish; eggplant... I have a special affection for this place because my father used to come here for lunch when he was consulting in Taiwan, in the 1980s...

Of course we made the pilgramage to Din Tai Feng, to the original shop on Xinyi Road (There are several now in town, including in the basement of Sogo, but we have to go to the mother ship). Weekday lunch hour -- no waiting on line!! We had two kinds of xiao lung bao, regular pork (below) and pork with truffles. Worth every dollar!!! Sauteed peashoots, Siu-mai topped with shrimp, and dan-dan noodles (spicy sesame sauce).

















After lunch we take a stroll down Yong Kang Street shopping for clothes, slippers. And oh, remember that guy with the street stand selling zua-bing? (a scallion pancake that's been fluffed up so the layers separate) Picked some up for next day breakfast, perfect with an egg (a "break" from the other, deadly, breakfast, xiaobing youtiao (flaky sesame bread and a deep fried cruller). In my aunt's house, where a two course breakfast is served, the other course is fresh fruit (persimmon this week) and yogurt. We are also drinking Vietnamese coffee this week, brought back from a trip by another cousin.)













Tuesday we went to the National Theater for a performance by Taiwan's renown Cloud Gate contemporary dance company. Their performances are usually very serious and monocrhomatic, but this was a new production, called "How can I live without you" ( 我沒有你) set to Taiwan pop music (love songs)--not my thing but the dance was amazing (they are surely without bones and joints), and the colors and set using light and mirrors were breathtaking.  They often tour in the US--catch them if you have the opportunity.










































Thursday night -- dinner at my aunt Chung-Ling's, downstairs. It's her birthday and somehow she's spent her birthday making a huge dinner for us, with my mother's favorite, crab--can't have too much crab! Those shrimps are huge--they are on a 6-inch plate. We brought a cheesecake from Taipei's famous bakery, "85-degrees-C." It sounds terrible for a New Yorker to say this, but it was the best cheese cake I've ever had!








































Oh, did I say I was working? I gave three talks, one at National Sun Yat Sen University in Kaohsiung, on the southwestern coast. That's the view out the window of the faculty-club/ restaurant, on the beach. Ahee was the architectural consultant when they built the university 30 years ago. It's a gorgeous campus on the mountain side by the ocean. There are hundreds of monkeys living on the mountain, that are notorious for breaking into the dorms and stealing food, even sitting in on classes. The university's official view is to strive for co-existence, recognizing that the monkeys were there first. I didn't see any, though.










Then two talks in Taipei, at National Taiwan Normal (Shida) and National Taiwan University (Taida). At Shida we had a huge dinner afterwards with the graduate students who translated my book into Chinese. They are specializing in teaching Chinese as second language. Their professor, my colleague Prof. Wang (seated right), introduced them to me as "This is Chapter 7," "This is Chapters 1-3," etc. (I did learn their real names!)

OK OK I know this doesn't look like work, so here is evidence of a talk (with Prof. Chao, the U.S. historian at Taida)

Taiwan - Dec.3-4, 2011 (Tainan)

A quick week-long trip to give three lectures in Taiwan. Came with my mom and we'll spend some time with family... There's a lot of eating to do in a short period of time.

One day of resting up then down to Tainan in southern Taiwan. High speed train from Taipei gets us there in under two hours. Lunch with cousins on the estuary, where there are acres of oyster beds (alas, not in season). The seafood is all fresh caught: One "orders" by going to the back of the place where you select from the daily catch.

Below: steamed shrimp and striped venus clams (海瓜子) sauteed with basil. Next one shows squid, blanched, never had anything so fresh. Very simple,no embellishment, just dip in salt & pepper mix. You can also get a peek of the seafood noodles ...



Next we have snails, "Wu-Gao" fish (named after Mr. Wu and Mr. Gao, who bred it in a rice paddy)--very delicate--and steamed crab (needs no explanation):



There was also an incredible fish soup, made with the belly of Tainan's most special fish, the xinmu fish. The belly is the fattiest and least bony (think tuna toro sushi). Many other dishes, too numerous to post. Left: A fter lunch: Ma with cousin Hsiao Chin and Monica. Oyster farm in background.






Next we went to a spot on the estuary where the black-faced spoonbill birds come every winter. The birds migrate from the Korean peninsula and Chinese mainland. I learned that there are spoonbills on every continent save for North America. At the viewing station, they are hard to see, rather far away (can you find them in the right photo??); the photo below is from the video monitor. I have no idea if it is a live cam or what. Also saw lots of heron and egret in the area, but these spoonbills are larger than a heron.

再見！

It's been a lovely trip but it's time to go home. This is the view from my room, the tatami penthouse in my aunt's house, looking out over her vegetable garden across to Taipei 101.