All good things must come to an end, but our Paris visit definitely did so too soon. Nonetheless, we enjoyed le petit dejuner at Le Weekend (by the way, cafe crème is cafe au lait, and like London, all coffee is expensive). Walked to the St. Placide metro to the Austerlitz Gare, where we had quite a wait for our train. It’s not a great station, very low ceilings and not many amenities, but it was easy to find our train.
We reached Orleans in just over an hour, traveling through flat, agricultural countryside. Our long time family friend K met us at the station, and we made the brisk, 15 minute walk to her house, which is near the center of town. Her home was built around 1911, and has a huge yard, dominated by an ancient linden tree, and is filled with interesting items ranging from her days as a glass blower to antique furniture from her family to souvenirs of her days in Nepal, Senegal, and India.
Orleans is charming and quite lively. Very uniform, cream colored buildings line the straight boulevard that starts at the Cathedral, but other areas are filled with half timbered medieval structures, recently restored. The outdoor market was incredible – cheese, sausage, vegetables, seafood. K bought four different sorts of oysters for the next day.
We walked down to the Loire, but by then it was pouring (hence, a shortage of photos….). K cooked mussels in white wine for dinner, accompanied by a salad of mache and mushrooms.
The next day we awoke to a message from our house sitter that our cat, Kira, had passed away. While it wasn’t a total surprise, it was sad and K popped open a champagne bottle in her honor at breakfast (well, it was more like brunch time).
We took another walk to explore more parts of Orleans, and after the weather turned cold, we feasted on oysters (sizes 2, 3, and 4 from Brittany, Normandy, and Cler [?]), accompanied by radishes dipped in salt and bread and butter. Watching K shuck them was poetry in motion. (Besides being an artist, K is also a gourmet chef.)
After recovering from eating three dozen oysters between three people, we walked back into town. It was a Saturday night and a lively scene despite the rain. We eventually stopped at a Brittany creperie for galettes – crepes made from buckwheat. They are thicker than what we think of as a crepe in America, and folded at the corners to create a square. A Galette Complet includes a fried egg, jambon (ham), and Swiss cheese.
There’s nothing like a visit with friends in France.
FromSwamptoSummit 