semifreelife: I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles

Sunday, December 7, 2025

I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles

In the immortal and prescient words of Cole Porter.... "I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles"

So on Monday, overcast but no rain! We started with lunch around the corner at the Brasserie LIPP

On 27 October 1880, Léonard Lipp and his wife Pétronille opened the brasserie on the Boulevard Saint-Germain. Their speciality was a cervelat rémoulade starter, then choucroute garnie, served with the finest beers. The brasserie's atmosphere and its modest prices made it a great success. Anti-German sentiment during the First World War led to a change of name to Brasserie des Bords for several years. Of Alsatian origin, Lipp left Alsace when it became part of Germany.

In July 1920, the bougnat (Paris immigrant) Marcellin Cazes redesigned the brasserie, which had become frequented by poets such as Paul Verlaine and Guillaume Apollinaire. He decorated it with tiled murals by Léon Fargues, with painted ceilings by Charly Garrey, and purple moleskin seating. In 1955, Cazes passed the baton to his son Roger.

And today we had lunch at this historic restaurant. The food, all well executed traditional recipes, was great and the service outstanding. Fun afternoon. From there, we headed to Notre Dame for our 3:15 entry. Menu items marked. We started with escargot shared. Larry had duck confit, Phil had the deboned pork foot, and I had the beef tartare (a classic bistro dish.) All the sides were good but Larry's roasted potatoes won in the potato competition.

Then after a walk to Notre Dame. We, and our 30,000 (per day) best friends went to Notre Dame - first visit in the new cleaned up cathedral. We were quite emotional about how different it was during most of our lifetimes. Phil first visited 55 years ago, for me it was a mere 35 years. Beautiful but busy.

After Notre Dame, in the drizzle and cold, we needed a warm place to have a drink.... We chose a place for hot chocolate right near the Metro of La Cité. We each had a different chocolate chaud. Larry had one with Grand Marnier, I had the Viennoise, and Phil had the Grande Valrhona. Mine was the photo winning entry with the whipped cream rose! Then we took the Metro back to our apartment. Dinner tonight OYSTERS!!!