Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Paris in sight...

We've got a little bit of everything going on here at the Dukedom at the moment.

First up, the oldest little lady turns 7 tomorrow. I've spent the last week trying to come to terms with the fact that a) I have a 7 yr old, and b) this means it is birthday party time again. What I wouldn't do to have a roller-skating rink in my neighborhood at this time of year.

Just to make sure the house is even messier than usual for the party, we have officially gone back into the fray of house renovations. This time around, painting the stairwell and upstairs hallway and all 7 doors upstairs, removing the paint from the beautiful stone stairs (the person who applied that first coat of paint all those years ago should have been guillotined!), and repainting all 12 sets of wooden shutters. Those of you who know how expensive paint is in France will understand why we have been recently considering selling our firstborn.

All these renovations have been spurred on by the fact that we will be having visitors soon. My dad and my uncle are coming for a 3-week stay over Christmas. My dad has been out several times, but this will be a first for my uncle, and it will be the first Christmas in over 15 years that I will get to spend Christmas with my side of the family.

I'm going to meet them in Paris when they arrive and we'll spend three nights in the city before taking the train down south. I've rented an apartment in the 6th, booked the train tickets, and am now employing Master's level research skills in finding some good restaurants for us to try. I'm arriving two days before them to give myself a little 'me' time and hope to fit in some book shopping and lots of café sitting before the grand tour starts.

For those of you living in Paris, would love to hear some recommendations for restaurants and bars, and particularly bars where we can listen to some music, as per request from my dad (so probably not rock or punk, maybe jazz or chanson français, or something like that!). Thanks!

6 comments:

Magic27 said...

Hi there, Duchess!

Well, now, I was desperately poor when I lived in Paris (and it was a frighteningly long time ago) so I only have two addresses to pass on, though both are still there and have good reviews (I checked on St Google):
"Au petit fer à cheval", a really nice little restaurant rue Vieille du Temple (in the Marais). My flatmates and I went every Friday for the 3 months we were in Paris... and one of them asked for a "steack tartare bien cuit"! Oh, good memories!
For music, the obvious jazz choice is the Caveau de la Huchette near St Michel...
Not very original, but I had many good times in both.
Hope this helps, and that you have a fun time in Paris - I envy you, I haven't been in 6 years!

The Duchess said...

Hi Magic! Thanks for the suggestions, I'll have to check them out, and I thought about la Huchette as well. Too funny about the steack tartare well done, I'm sure I made loads of mistakes like that when I first arrived as a student!

Riana Lagarde said...

oh! i lived in paris for two years. i'll email you a list of restaurants that i love and still crave often. also a good website is called slowtrav and they have some really good threads about where to eat and where to listen to music. you'll find everything there.

The Duchess said...

Thanks Riana! If you could email a list, would be much appreciated. We lived in Paris for a year, but poor as church mice and never able to eat out!
I'll look up Slow travel as well. I'm sure I've used that site for Italy before...

Unknown said...

What fun! I am just back from Paris, and am in the middle of writing about it. That is, I justed posted an entry, and will write a couple more, as time allows.

Have you consulted any decent foodie/restaurant blogs, such as
http://lefooding.com/?

I mention them because they are in turn mentioned in an IHT article about Paris/Fall 2009, which you should be able to find online. More about trends and such, but it's nice to feel up to speed...

There are still so many terrific bistros off the beaten path.

Also, check Timeout Paris online for music listings.

The Duchess said...

Thanks Tammy! I'll come over and read all about your Paris trip. Thanks for the tips; I'll check out le fooding, haven't come across that one yet!