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Blog #33- Paris in February
I’m currently in Paris and February is a lovely time to visit. I highly recommend it!
Airfares are lower, hotels and apartments are cheaper, and you’ll spend very little time waiting in lines. Cafes and restaurants have open seats, & you’ll enjoy hearing French spoken everywhere as there are few tourists. Museums have space for you to take your time to explore, and even better, you’re most used accessory will be warm but beautiful scarves to wear with your wool coat.
I love this time of year. With no holidays other than Saint Valentine’s Day, everyone is relaxed and calm.
This year, I was blessed to welcome in the Chinese year of the rabbit! Let’s all hope for the lucky rabbit to shine down on us this year.
One of my favorite brasseries in my neighborhood is Brasserie Lipp on Saint Germain. If you are wondering how brasseries are different from cafés, it’s really all about the food. The name brasserie originally meant they were a brewery with their own beer brewed on site. That’s why that mug of beer is a part of Brasserie Lipp’s signage from long ago!
The food is very traditional French. On my last visit, I almost ordered tête de veau ravigote. It is one of the standard Friday specials at Brasserie Lipp. The dish on the table next to me looked delicious and I was sure it was the veau or veal with lots of savory gravy. It might have been the purée de pommes de terre I was truly yearning for, but I gave my waiter my order. He looked a little shocked, and thankfully, took pity on me and explained tête meant head. Of course it does! The head of veal? Frightening. Organs, and various parts of animals rolled into sausages are very French but still beyond me, so I ordered the safe poulet fermier rôti, just a nice roasted chicken and of course those mashed potatoes. It was incredibly delicious.
I savored every single bite. Then dessert, and closed with an espresso that came with a piece of chocolate. A very traditional French le déjeuner. I highly recommend it.
What’s the difference between a brasserie and a café? The food. Cafés were meant to be all about the drinks and food secondary although I know of several cafes with excellent food. Brasseries in contrast, are about good traditional French food. Café Varenne on rue du Bac though, is one café that has excellent food. It has been recommended by both Ina Garten and Patricia Wells, two gals who live in my neighborhood or maybe I should say I live in their neighborhood. Most cafés though have salads and sandwiches and overall, lighter, less traditional fare than a brasserie.
I couldn’t take interior photos. It was too close and traditional and way too many men. I will get braver with time and will try to post on IG. The inside of the brasserie felt rather like an old men’s club to me. It might have been because the entire restaurant was filled with men…old men, middle-aged men, youngish men, all dressed well. To say I felt self-conscious would be an understatement. Leather banquettes, mirrors everywhere (I’m told that was so people could see who was there and who was not), white tablecloths, an incredibly large white cloth napkin and the waiter delivers your meal in separate serving dishes almost as though you were at home for your lunch. Truly an experience I recommend.
I recently visited Rodin Museum with a friend from Boston who was in Paris for her work. The house is gorgeous, and the gardens filled with beautiful sculptures even though the gardens were bare at this time of the year. I’ve attached a video of the exterior of the house, known as the Hôtel Biron before Rodin moved in.
I leave you with a photo of the beautiful mimosas at a flower shop down the street. They certainly brighten up every home at this time of the year.
I hope you enjoy!!
Let me know if you’d like to see more of my Paris life!!
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