So, as a super die-hard, probably born in the wrong time period FAN of Julia Child, I was just ravie to have #1 on my "To Do in Pah-ree" list "Visit Julia Child's 81 Rue de Loo Apartment Building".
Well, because my hours are usually between 9am to 6pm Mon-Thurs, and Bri isn't free until 7pm on Fridays; that leaves us the weekends to run errands, visit, enjoy a bit and discover Pah-ree.
Thus the reason we found ourselves at a little Café in the 8ème plotting our mission to see the infamous 81 rue de Loo.
First off, Pah-ree is amazing. I keep finding these incredible little pockets of America and cultures popping up all over different areas of the city. I have discovered that the 8th Arrondissement is sort of evolving into an American sub-culture.
Take for example the whole onset of Cupcakes in Paris; I remember cupcakes were big when I left the States- all the big fund raising events would have the classy Cupcake Jones; and now Paris has caught the drift. A search for these American delights leads us to many American cafés located, none other than, the 8ème.
Which is how we found ourselves in the Sugar Plum Café, located at 68 rue Cardinal Lemoine.. yup... 8ème.
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| My horribly shot photo of the barista at Sugar Plum Café |
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| Cake 4€, bottomless crap coffee 2€ |
After I was all fattened up and American-ed out, I decided it was time to go see Mrs. Child. A quick métro ride later we found ourselves in the Métro leading up to Julia's street.. I imagined her taking the métro everywhere.. she had walked where I was walking. Her and Paul had strolled where WE were strolling.
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| Métro Roo de Loo |
I was almost beside myself with excitement!
As we climbed up onto the street I started feeling like I did when I visited her exhibit in the Smithsonian, excitement... sadness (wishing she was still around and that she'd wanna meet me. She'd like me, I'm no Julie Powell!)
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| On the corner, why was it TAGGED? |
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| 81 Rue de Loo |
It was amazing.
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I must confess i've never heard of Julia Child…
ReplyDeleteI remember your posts from last year when you visited Paris and you were saying you found it so touristy and you would never want to live there. I left a comment saying something about how there was so much more to this city than that, but you didn't seem to believe me then. So I'm really glad you're discovering it now (and this is coming from someone else who never used to be a fan of this city and also didn't believe it until she saw it for herself). :)
ReplyDeleteWelcome to gay Paree :) - I didn't like it either until I lived here. So, two books, Paris Pas Cher (you can probably check it out from the library) and A Paris Walking Guide (from Auchaun in french or english). PPC has restos, stores, clothing shops and house stores. And the walking guide I liked because looking at the pictures reminds me of the walks, but there are plenty of free walking podcasts out there too.
ReplyDeleteFor homesickness, I recommend How to Be Parisian in one hour. It's in english. We found tickets for ten bucks, but normally they are sixteen? I'm picky about comedy because my brother is a stand up comedian and I had to "support" him and go to his shows for years. So I've sat through lots of suck. This guy is funny. And it's kind of comforting laughing about Parisian's in english. It's not a taco but it's close.
Bonne Chance!