On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
On the Road: Week of January 11 (5 am)
Albatrossity – Big Bend National Park #2
Elma – Waterfalls
?BillinGlendaleCA – Snow Day
way2blue – Vis, Croatia
SkyBluePink – Skies of Blues & PinksOn the Road: After Dark: Week of January 11 (10 pm)
We are still in Paris, with 5 more Paris posts from Steve from Mendocino.
? And now, back to Steve from Mendocino, Paris part 5.
Steve from Mendocino – Paris
“Opera, Concorde and Madeleine”
The Eglise de la Madeleine (famous church) is situated between Place de la Concorde (one of the major public squares) and the Palais Garnier Opera house, in Haussmannian Paris.
We usually just see the river from street level, and, while it’s wonderful, down at water level one gets a more intimate private experience. I wish I’d remembered to spend more time soaking up the sounds and smells and slowness of the banks.
My first trip to Paris centered on the 1st arrondisement. Anne-Marie had an aunt and uncle with a bar restaurant off the Av. de l’Opera, down the little street immediately to the left here. We stayed with them for several days in their apartment above the restaurant, and what an introduction to the culture! They worked 6 days a week until 11:00 at night and got up at 5:30 in the morning. The bar opened at about 6:30 in the morning and served both coffee and alcoholic beverages to the blue collar workers in the area. At lunch, they packed in two full covers on weekday lunches – about 60 dinners, and then another 30 at supper time. Cuisine was southern burgundy and very high quality. The uncle and chef apprenticed with the father of Alain Chapelle, and, clearly, a feeling for cuisine ran in the Chappelle family. (A horrifying anecdote, Alain Chapelle dropped dead at the stove of his 3 star restaurant while his wife was in the full dining room. Can you imagine the next hours???)
Staff at Anne-Marie’s aunt and uncle’s restaurant included one waitress and a part time dishwasher. All other jobs were done by the aunt and uncle. Sundays were devoted to cleaning. They retired after 25 years or so with generous savings, then the uncle had a stroke, mostly recovered from the stroke, then got pancreatic cancer and tied. The aunt went on to live for another 35 years. Sad story. Similar to Robuchon.
I did my MBA thesis as a business plan for a restaurant, but the more I thought about my observations of their Paris restaurant, the more I realized that I wanted no part of the hospitality business. 25 years later, I bought a restaurant.
Palais Garnier opera house. I saw l’Elisir d’Amore and Elektra here. Beautiful, small, good acoustics, and excellent productions. I personally do not think much of the Met. Performers there seem to be either full of themselves or just punching the clock. Operas in Paris, in my experience, are more enthusiastic and sincere.
Place de la Concorde, where a monarchy was exchanged for revolutionary fascism. Plu ca change…
Fountain in Place de la Concorde
Another shot of that fountain with the Madeleine highlighted in the background.
The Madeleine is surrounded by food establishments – restaurants, chocolatiers, super high end groceries, dining accessories, etc.
Another shot of the Madeleine.
WaterGirl
By the end of next week, we will be at 325 On The Road posts since I picked this up in April.
That’s 325 amazing sets of photos from all of you, and I want to thank each person who has submitted photos.
After the 10 for the coming week, there are no more submissions in the queue. I would be surprised if we are out of memories to share, so maybe we are all holding our breath or are feeling overwhelmed by everything that is going on around us?
If you have an idea for a photo series, like this set from Steve from Mendocino or the Scotland set from Albatrossity, send me an email with your idea. If you have photos to submit for the early morning OTR, send in your pics.
Otherwise, we’ll be taking a break from On The Road.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Paris looks more like Paris with those old cars, I guess cause they were more common on my first trip in ’83. You see a Deux-Chevaux nowadays, it’s probably part of a tour company
Lapassionara
@WaterGirl: oh no! A break from On the road?
I could send photos, but mine are not great photography, and they do not highlight the most impressive sights. I tend to want to figure out what regular people do everyday in another culture. I love to see other people’s photos.
thanks to Steve from Mendocino. And thanks to you, WaterGirl!
Mary G
Are those funky looking cars Peugeots or Renaults? That really took me back – foreign cars looking foreign went away with globalization.
Love the composition of all your photos, Steve, but the one of the bridges from water level is extra extra. Thank you so much for sending these.
JanieM
I would never have picked out the Madeleine as a church.
Love the pictures — am otherwise out of words after the last few days. Thanks as always.
WaterGirl
@Lapassionara:
Funny, I don’t see anything in there about having to take great photos! :-)
I have loved everything you have ever submitted. I hope you’ll send some in again.
Steve from Mendocino
@Mary G: Depends on the shot. The one in front of the Madeleine includes a red VW, a green Renault, and a blue truck of some kind. At one time I would have been able to tell you the mark of the truck, but that was a long time ago. The picture of Concorde, has too many cars to run through them.
Mary G
@Steve from Mendocino: I was just remembering seeing those weird cars back when, I didn’t know their names, just that they didn’t look like Fords and Chevys.
susanna
Again enjoyed your pictures of Paris. I liked the fountain shot, from below looking upward. They’ve all revived the feeling when in Paris, and that’s always a welcome, warm memory, of being there, of being there when young and exploring.
I’m jealous of all the great food you have eaten over the years! And a Deux-Chevaux some friends and I rented for a trip to Versailles, laughed the entire ride with that auto.
Lapassionara
@WaterGirl: thank you.
Kayla Rudbek
@WaterGirl: That reminds me that I have to get my Paris pictures together for y’all…
WaterGirl
@Kayla Rudbek: Please do!
randy khan
I’d second the comment about walking at river level. Definitely a different feel and a different view. If you’re feeling lazy (or tired from walking around), you get something similar if you take one of the boats that do a circle route from the far end of the Cité to the Eiffel Tower and back.
And I love the first fountain photo a lot.
There go two miscreants
A very interesting observation! Trucks seem to still have more national character, though not as much as formerly.
Enjoying the Paris pictures — they are from long before my first visit there.
ThresherK
How many “An American in Paris” places does everyone see in these pics? I count at least two.
rlc
Steve, did you ever get to spend any time in les Halles market? I have seen historical pictures but a picture doesn’t really convey the atmospherics.
Steve from Mendocino
@rlc: I did once or twice. Anne-Marie’s uncle, as chef and restaurant owner, took me with him on a couple of his shopping trips, and, at least once, that included Les Halles.
Origuy
I’ve really been enjoying the Paris pictures, since I’ve never been there. I can do more from Moscow; I was thinking about a collection of the incredible Metro stations, which are works of art on their own. I have some from Scotland and northern England. Going through my old pictures helps with the yearning to travel.