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JAMBON BEURRE
On the 2018 BBC series, Remarkable Places to Eat, they feature a Sandwich Shop in Paris
It features Jambon Beurre, a classic simple French sandwich of Ham with Butter on a Baguette, perhaps with cornichons.
The show reveals how they obtain the best ham, the best baguette, the best butter – how the proprietors come from upscale business careers to focus on this simple, but outstanding shop.
So yesterday in Chicago, I ordered “The Parisian,” a Jambon Beurre at La Boulangerie, next to Lycée Français de Chicago (a private French international school) so it must be good. When I ordered sandwiches for a Cubs game last year, my baseball buddy (a very picky sandwich eater) said “too much bread.” I forgot how slow they are at putting the order together.
This is not going to be a good review. I sat on the curb to eat my Jambon Beurre, lots of bread in relation to the ham. The baguette looked like a baguette, but was soft and chewy. The square of ham was shiny and not very generous, very unremarkable.
Several weeks before, I bought some sandwiches at Marianos, choosing the marked-down items approaching expiration. I ordered four sandwiches, and didn’t remember the contents of my fourth sandwich until I ate it. It was ham and it was delicious. And it was Great Ham, not a shiny thin square, but hand sliced pieces of ham which was so memorable.
I Ham Sandwich can be great. Paris has an abundance of Ham (maybe Ham & Cheese, and mustard) baguettes and next time that I am in Paris, I will have a Jambon Beurre
The Louvre (James Gardner)
The Many Lives of the World’s Most Famous Museum
I bought the Kindle and Audible Book
SHOULD’A Purchased the Hard Cover Paper Book
So that I could reference specific passages (you really can’t do that on the kindle
Interesting Revelations
Napoleon III Suite was never lived in by Napoleon III
How certain pieces of art were acquired
What the Louvre was only a short time ago
The evolution of the Couer Napoleon
The Louvre as a Studio
The Louvre as a Hotel
Fontaine Saint-Michel
11 Place Saint-Michel
6th arrondissement
Pantheon (5e)
The Story Behind The Saint Michel Fountain Paris By Foot
Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel
St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
Passy Cemetery
Lefuel
Fernandel
Claude Debussy
Jacques Ibert
Édouard Manet
Berthe Morisot (Eugène Manet)
Marcel Renault
Pearl White
Statue List (Paris)
Le marchand de masques (Luxenborg Gardens)
Thomas Jefferson
King on Pont Neuf
King in Louvre Court Yard
Churchill
Charle de Gaulle
La Defense
St. Dennis
Saint Louis
The Sun King
Eau de Paris
Watched Zack Efron’s Down to Earth (Netflix Travel Show)
Didn’t know about the high quality of water out of the Public Fountains in Paris
http://www.eaudeparis.fr/
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.eaudeparis.fr/&prev=search&pto=aue (translation)
It is free (although empty bottles can be purchased out of vending machines)
A Sparkling Water Version is even available at several locations
Very informative segment about how the City of Paris provides all water and the process of treating the water through filtration, oxygen and lights
Download the app to find the nearest public fountain https://apps.apple.com/us/app/les-fontaines-de-paris/id1434185242
Down to Earth with Zac Efron: Netflix travel show trailer
https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/1307993/down-to-earth-with-zac-efron-netflix-holidays-france-iceland-sardinia-travel
Top 5 Hotels
We often stay in the same places, year after year
so we experience the ebb and flow of hotels
which are either getting better, or getting worse
ONE: Primo (The Best)
Hôtel Le Louis, Versailles Château – McGallery By Sofitel
Even though this hotel requires a train ride through the France country-side
This is a mythic location, just down the road from the Palace
Provides the opportunity for one of our favorite mornings in Paris:
Entering the Gates of Versaillles when it opens at 8:00 and run through this vacant albiet epic space
The Best Breakfast Buffet
The Best Desk Service
The most luxurious rooms (at a reasonable price)
TWO
Le Pullman Paris Centre
Another Remote Venue in Bercy
Although very accessible to Paris along the Seine by Velib or Running Path
Spectacular Suite (and wonderful facility)
Impressive Desk Staff (although it is all show and no go)
Very posh and professional, until you have a substantial problem
Great Breakfast Buffet
So Popular that it is a Crowd Scene (Greed and Gluttony on Full Display)
(this is one of our venues which is so good that it is almost bad)
THREE
Sofitel Paris La Defense Puteaux
We really appreciate the quality of Sofitel
La Defense, is another remote venue, worth the travel
this facility has ebbed and flowed, but is on the rise
We stayed in a remodeled room and love the Sofitel Breakfast Buffet
There are also great running opportunities
FOUR
Mercure Paris Montmartre Sacre Coeur, Paris
Our Favorite Neighborhood of Paris
And this is the most solid, respectable and consistent hotel in this arrondisemont
This is the best hotel that we have found in Montmartre
We could tell you 25 reasons that we love 18e (the eighteenth arrondisement)
FIVE
Novotel Paris Est, Bagnolet
This is five, because it is “not-as-good-as-last-year” (which happens with every hotel)
I like this place, it is cheap, but good and fun
I liked the very affordable single rooms
When we stayed in a suite, we flipped out
(spaciousness and bathtub big-enough-for-a-whale)
But then the bad experience last year
(worn-out and basic furnishings, separate dingy bedroom, with small television)
Disappointed by the “ordinary” Breakfast Buffet
I suspect that most Breakfast Buffets are this way, but we don’t go to Paris for an “ordinary” breakfast buffet
septième
Seventh (7th)
We now stay 10 nights in Paris
usually split-up between 5 hotels
But in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, airfares are unpredictable
And instead of a reasonable Mid-Day return flight, we depart much earlier
Perhaps, staying near the airport one night
So maybe we stay at 7 different hotels
What will be the septième Hôtel?
We like the Sofitel:
Latin Quarter:
One Nighter, Saturday Run, Last Day in Paris
Montparnasse:
Niepce Paris Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton
