Angelina's - Pierre Herme - Galerie Vivienne - Tir Bouchon

Today was a strolling and eating day. What a better way to spend the day in Paris?

Angelina's on rue du Rivoli

Angelina's on rue du Rivoli

We started the day by heading to rue du Rivoli.  It is the street that runs next to the Louvre and is filled with shops, hotels and restaurants.  We checked out all of the fun stuff, scarves, aprons, hats, French gloves, comparing prices and deciding what to buy.  

French Onion Soup

My target spot was Angelina's so that we could have the hot chocolate. I have a video with the hot chocolate in a seperate blog.  Angelina's is very fancy on the ground floor, with floor to ceiling mirrors and fancy dressed people.  The tourists were sent to the 1st level.  We had a great seat around a balcony so I could watch all of the patrons.  I started with the French Onion Soup (Gratinee 12,50€). It had a lighter, almost chicken base, not the usual dark beef base.  I need to check out recipes on the internet to see if I can find it.  Anyway, it was very savory and tasty. Karl had a Croque Monsieur 13,50€ and a glass of wine 4€.  After the soup, the hot chocolate 6,90€ each was delivered.  Be sure to check out the video (in another blog) to see the thick chocolaty drink.

We were seated in the balcony.

The view was of the front door

It was a beautiful area.

Beautiful pastries at Angelina's

Pierre Hermes

After lunch, we continued the walk and decided to turn right to go in the general direction of the apartment. To my surprise, we walked right past a Pierre Herme

Inside Pierre Hermes.
Very sophisticated!

 store.  It is a good practice to study the names of the best chocolate and treat shops in Paris, because you never know when you will come across one of them.  Here is was, fancy in all of it's colorful dress.  I bought some chocolates to take home, and a macaron for now.  It was an almond and green matcha small one.  Of course, it was yummy.

Macarons at Pierre Herme

Nina's Tea Store

We
 continued through Place Vendome, with the Paris Ritz and all of the high end jewelry shops.  Nothing on my budget here. It was decorated for the holidays and looked beautiful.  As we turned right on rue de St Honore, I saw a red tea shop!  I stopped in and it smelled wonderful.  Had to buy a little treat in there also.

Eric Keyser has a bread and pastry shop near the apartment also. 

Beautiful pastries. Would it be ok to eat all of this in one sitting?

Place Vendome - home of the Paris Ritz Carlton.  Very nicely decorated.  Exclusive jewelry shops and dress designers line the plaza.

Sparkling branches lit the plaza.

The huge tree was in the center of the plaza

The Paris Ritz Carlton!

The storefront windows were filled with marvelous and beautiful things.  Click on the photos to see a bigger picture.

We walked through Galerie Vivienne.  Galeries and Passages are a network covered shopping arcades in Paris.  Sometimes it is easy to walk right past them if you are not aware of what is inside. 

Galerie Vivienne entrance

Inside Galerie Viviene - windows were all decorated with lights

The floor is mosaic.

A pure red Christmas tree

The ceiling is decorative, protects from the elements,
and allows in nice light.

We walked past the back entrance to the Palais Royal.  I will need to make sure to go into this building on the next trip!

We walked through a few passages (covered shopping streets) and returned to the apartment.  I took a nap, and then we went to dinner fashionably at 7:30 PM. 

We went to Tir Bouchon, which is close. I had warmed camerbert cheese with a frizzy green salad for an appetizer and salmon for the main course. 

Appetizer at Tir Bouchon

The "menu" also included desert and I had a warm chocolate cake.  ("menu" is a multi-course selection for a set price, which was 30 euros).  Karl slid in an expensive bottle of wine for 35€ and we had a great meal with attentive service.  Great day filled with walking from eating establishment to eating establishment.

Main Course

Menu is hand written daily, a sure sign
of a good restaurant.

Le Tir Bouchon Restaurant

22 rue de Tiquetonne, Paris 2

Tel: 01.42.21.95.51

Music at Piazza Navona -Video

The piazza was buzzing with activity and shoppers, clowns on stilts and musicians. Hasn't changed in hundreds of years.

Rome, Italy - Rome by the Glass - Video

A little wine info from Etorre.

We sampled five bottles of wine.  The first two were whites, the third and fourth were red, and the last bottle was a sweet desert wine. They are in that order.  I've pulled some information from the internet to help with the descriptions, so if you are interested, a little research will help you.  My results may be a little off if I can't find the exact bottle.

Our first stop was in a little place near Mimi & Coco's (I think. I'll check with the others.)  It was very crowded, wonderfully crowded, and small.  The bar had several types of snacks.

Schiopetto Collio Blanc des Rosis
Country: ITALY
Region: FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA
Sub-Region: VENEZIA GIULIA
Grape Varietal: NON-VARIETAL WHITE BLEND
Type: Still wine
http://www.winechateau.com/ Reg. 32.99 On Sale $24.49

Passopisciaro Guardiola 2009
Category White Wine
Varietal Chardonnay
Region Italy : Sicily
Producer Passopisciaro
http://www.amantivino.com/ $39.99, in mixed case $35.99

Passopisciaro Guardiola 2009

On to the second place.  Vino Olio.  The sign also says "Enoteca" (wine bar) and "Il Goccetto".  From my internet research, I see that the name is actually Il Goccetto, even though it is about the smallest thing on the sign.

Il Goccetto
Via dei Banchi Vecchi 14, Rome
From Frommers: Review of Il Goccetto
Set near Campo de' Fiori, Il Goccetto specializes in French and Italian wines by the glass at prices that range from 4€ ($6.40) for a simple chianti to as much as 17€ ($27) for a glass of French champagne. Cold platters of food, including an extensive list of Italian cheeses and processed meats, especially salami and pâtés, as well as an occasional salad, are available. Overall, this place provides an excellent site for the degustazione of a wide assortment of unusual Italian wines, many of them from less well-known small producers. It's open Monday to Saturday from 11:30am to 2pm and from 6pm to midnight

On to the wine!

2009 Cantina Produttori Bolzano Lagrein Perl

Alto Adige Lagrein "Perl" DOC Classic red fermentation, maturing in one year in oak barrels.

Price: $ 10.13
VAT included + transport costs
Category: Red Wine
Source: Alto Adige - Italy
Manufacturer: Cantina Bolzano
Varietal: 100% Lagrein
Vintage: 2009
Content: 0.75 lt.
Color: dark red garnet
Aroma: vanilla and cocoa, humus, red fruits of the forest
Taste: full, soft, elegant and persistent harmonic
Alcohol content: 13.5 Vol%
Residual sugar: 3 g / l
Serving temperature: 18 ° C
Storage: until 2013
Food: Ideal with meat and cheese.

Source: http://www.wein-online.it/ip___Alto+Adige+Lagrein+Perl+DOC_11001

2009 Cantina Produttori Bolzano Lagrein Perl

http://www.spiritshoppe.com/  (Note: I'm not sure if this is the same producer. This review says that we should wait another two years to drink the wine. Who can do that???)
Masciarelli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Marina Cvetic 2006
Category Red Wine
Varietal Montepulciano
Region Italy : Abruzzo : Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Producer Masciarelli
$29.99 On Sale $19.99
Wine Advocate: The 2006 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo San Martino Rosso Marina Cvetic emerges from the glass with vibrant dark cherries, spices, flowers and minerals. Today the wine is rather closed and unexpressive, but it should develop nicely in bottle. The purity of fruit, length and overall balance are all clearly first-rate. The San Martino is the more classic of the estate’s two 2006s. The firm tannic spine should support many years of very fine drinking. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2021.
Score: 90. —Antonio Galloni, July 2010

Masciarelli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Marina Cvetic 2006

Masciarelli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Marina Cvetic 2006

Ludum 2009
Marco Carpineti (Italy)
(Latium)
Grapes: Bellone
Sweet Wine
Ludum shows a brilliant amber yellow color and nuances of amber yellow, transparent. The nose denotes intense, clean, pleasing and refined aromas that start with hints of apricot jam and dried fig followed by aromas of peach jam, date, candied fruit, vanilla, nail polish, quince, honey and almond. The mouth has good correspondence to the nose, a sweet and round attack, however balanced by alcohol, good body, intense flavors, pleasing crispness. The finish is persistent with flavors of apricot jam, dried fig and date. Ludum ages for 12 months in cask.
Alcohol: 14.5%
Food match: Fruit jam tarts
Suggested serving temperature: 14° C (57° F)

Etorre - working his magic

Made it to Paris

The trip to Paris was smooth and uneventful.  The Swiss Air flights were nice (I took a picture in Zurich so that I could claim that as a "stop".  Hey, we were outside and I could feel the cold and smell the air...so it counts.)  Purchasing the RER Train ticket to Paris was smooth, finding the train easy (huge RER signs...how did we miss those before?) and I remembered to keep my ticket available to get out of the train section of our metro stop, Chatelet-Les Halles.  Remembered that we needed to head towards the Rambutau exit, and off we went.  When I got to the surface street, the street cleaners were working to clean the trash from the Sunday morning farmers market.  It all was very familiar and felt like coming 'home', which is quite an interesting feeling when you are in a foreign city.  The two weeks spent here last year must have made brain imprints!  We are chilling at the apartment and plan to go to dinner (at 8) at Tiberon. 

I saw the end of rue Montorguiel and it looks like it is decorated for Christmas. Yea!!  It is raining slightly, there is a little of snow on the ground by the airport but nothing here. Hopefully it will snow during the week so that we have a pretty dusting of snow to photograph.  Not sure of touring plans for the beginning of the week. The LeWeb Conference is Thursday and Friday.

Added note: We were hungry and decided to go to the restaurant that is next door to the apartment.
Etienne Marcel
34 Rue Etienne Marcel, Paris 2
We had a glass of wine Verre Bordeaux 6,00€ each.
I had a hamburger and fries (Loveburger - because the bun is shaped like a heart) 17€
Karl had a club sandwich and fries for 15€

Zurich Airport

We had a smooth departure from Rome this morning. Up early for a 7am pickup. I'm glad that we arranged for a driver! It was much easier than public transportation on a Sunday morning. The flight to Paris has a plane change in Zurich so I am logging in a Switzerland stop on the traveler log. Clean airport. Used stairs to deplane, then took a bus shuttle to the airport. Quick walk, through security again, and then to the waiting area. There are very few seats by the gate but there is a larger area where you can wait.

Rome, Italy - Video - Interior of Gesu Church

This shows a lot. Be patient as it loads.  You may be able to enlarge the video to fit in the entire screen, pause to look at each section.  Enjoy. It was a beautiful place.

Rome, Italy - at Mimi & Coco's

Sooo yummy.

Mimi and Coco
Gli Antichi vinai SRL
via Del Governo vecchio 72
Tel: 0668210845 Roma

Pane (bread) 2€
Brie Pachin 9€
Ravioli Formagio 10€
Tortellini Pancheta 9€
Focaccia Bruschetta 8€
Lasagna Ragu 9€
Vellutata Spin 8€
Strac Rucola 12€
Bottiglia Vino 22€
Espresso 2,50 €

Dessert
Tortino Ciocco 5€
Brownie 5€
Torta Ricotta 5€

Rome, Italy - Sculpture inside Gesu Church (Chiesa del Gesu di Roma)

Religion overthrowing Heresy

Yet another incredible sculpture.  You can click on the picture do get a full screen version.  "This statue shows the Church as an angry nun hauling back with a whip and just spanking a bunch of miserable Protestants. The serpent (Luther) is being stepped upon while the angry cherub rips pages out of a heretical book.  Not too subtle."  [Rick Steves]

This is found inside of the Gesu Church (Chiesa del Gesu di Roma).
Click here for the website.
I took a video of the inside of the Church so that you could see how incredible it was. You can see it on another post. The outside was very plain.  But when you realize that this was a first: "The center of the Jesuit order and the best symbol of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, the Gesu (jay-zoo) is packed with overblown art and underappreciated history." [Rick Steves]  The Church is the model for other churches to follow. 

From the tourist perspective, there were no signs, no lines, no arrow saying "enter here".  We looked at a grey building. Kalen wanted to go in because he had read about it.  (He attended Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, which is Jesuit.) We entered a small door and were immediately overpowered by an extremely vibrant and beautiful baroque (lots of gold) interior.

Be patient with the video. It may take some extra time to load but is well worth the wait.

Rome, Italy - Video Description of Rome Walk

This was taken from the top of Vittorio Emmanuel monument. Enjoy the view!

Rome, Italy - Rome Day and Night Walk

(Note: Several people have sent emails saying that they are trying to "reply" to these email copies of the blog.  It won't work. If you want to make a comment via email, use FORWARD and send them directly to me.  Otherwise, you can log in to the blog and post them there.  Thanks for your comments!)

Good morning, Rome!! To start the day off, Kalen went to the local store to buy something for breakfast. He returned with a wonderful panetonne, “Bauli, Il Pandoro di Verona”. Following the instructions (pictures on the side of the box…glad that they considered the illiterate when designing the packaging), we put it by the radiator to warm, then put the powdered sugar in the bag and dusted it. It is a sweet bread, soft and light, no fruit inside, and is yummy with the butter and hot espresso.

 


The tour plans for the day: Stroll across the city to the Borghese Gallery and see several noted landmarks along the way…in the daylight. Then return when it is dark to see the sites when they are lit at night. We all agreed to make it a nice and easy pace, to enjoy any shops and views along the way.

Off we went! My legs felt stronger…gradual improvement every day. We decided to meet at Piazza Navona by the fountain, so Sara and Karl took off at a strong pace, shopped, while Kalen and I walked a little slower pace. In Piazza Navona, we sat by the fountain and played with the camera settings to refresh our thoughts on how we needed to work the settings to get the fountain water to flow, or freeze.

We set off on a carefully determined route towards the Pantheon. A little comment on these Roman “Streets”. To me, it looks like there are a couple of main roads, and then “alleyways” in between. Yes, there are cars and those little scooters all jammed in to parking places, but these roads are basically cobblestoned and winding passages. They look like alleys to me. Cute little shops a long the way. I stopped in a bookstore to get an “Inglese” (English) dictionary. I have a collection of English dictionaries in various languages. Basically the same as an English “Italian” dictionary, but it looks more fun on the shelf.

We stopped at the Trevi Fountain...wow

Trevi Fountain

We had lunch at a little restaurant on a side street near the Trevi Fountain.  Golden Bar is in the Piazza Dei Crociferi. We sat outside under the tented area and enjoyed Antipasto Italiana 12€ (little plate of meats and cheeses), Pizza Funghi 10€, Pizza Proscuito with Funghi 11€, Pasta e Fagioli 9€ (pasta and bean soup), Risotto Asparagi 11€ (risotto with asparagus)...and wine 14€!  Service was added to the bill for 7€ (you need to be careful about this. Sometimes it is included, sometimes not, sometimes an extra line item.)

Pasta e Fagioli

After lunch, we continued our trek across the city.  Our next stop was the Spanish Steps.  I decided to try some roasted chestnuts that smelled good. I like the smell, but when I tried them decades ago in New York...didn't like them.  When in Rome...

Spanish Steps

Chestnuts roasted on an open fire

After allowing a half hour to get badgered by street vendors trying to trick us into buying roses and misc. junk, we headed through the metro and to the Bourghese Museum.  The metro route was the quickest, and with escalators and moving sidewalks....and NO COBBLESTONES.  Oh, sorry, did I yell?  I was thrilled with it until I realized that I had to climb two flights of stairs.  Kalen had found an elevator (but it was Non Functionado or something), so I had to climb the stairs.  As I neared the last three stops, Kalen started singing the tune to Rocky...and I doubled over in laughter and struggled to make those last three steps.

We walked through the park area to the museum and it was so nice.  The exhibits were incredible, one right after another.  I had to play nice and put all of my cameras in storage before entering the museum.  I have left a link here so that you can look at the website if you want to see all that was on display.  Sara had introduced us to Michelangelo Merisi called Caravaggio so we were drooling over all of his works. Of course, Gian Lorenzo Bernini  sculpture was incredible.
Click here to see all about the museum.

We retraced our route and saw "Rome at Night". It was beautiful.  The fountains and monuments were lit and took on a whole new character.  We returned to our first Italian restaurant and enjoyed a great meal with TWO bottles of wine.  It had been a long and active day.  And for dessert...


Chocolate Souffle with strawberries

We made our way home and went quickly to bed. It was an exhausting and fun day. We saw a lot of the "named" places, and had an opportunity to enjoy the streets and shops of Rome.  Oh, I almost forgot.  I had gelatto on the return trip.  I tried tiramisu and it was so wonderful, soft and creamy.