Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Rue Ravignan
La rue Ravignan in Montmartre was something of a landmark, since at number 13 was the famous building nicknamed “Le Bâteau-Lavoir,” which housed the studios of artists as Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, and Kees van Dongen. Although Utrillo, a close friend of Amedeo Modigliani, was not part of the group centered around Picasso, the Rue Ravignan was for him, as it was for them, the hub of artistic life. The street, situated on the southwestern slope of Montmartre, offered Utrillo a plethora of motifs, focused primarily on buildings rather than landscape.
Translation:
Wife: Another heat wave!
Husband: Do you think we can also exercise our right of withdrawing from teleworking?
Every morning started with le petit déjeuner. Thank you Moulins Bourgeois.
In 1895, Léon Bourgeois and his brothers bought a mill on the banks of the Petit Morin and their descendants have continued the adventure ever since.
It didn’t get more welcoming than Jules Jo, the neighbourhood bistro and new HQ of le 18ème arrondissement which was a 10-minute walk from my hotel, and across from la Mairie (town hall) at la place Jules-Joffrin.
After le petit déjeuner that consisted of a café crème, freshly pressed orange, and a pain au chocolat, I was off to visit l’Atelier Sax Machine (Sax Machine Workshop) where I talked to a very nice lady who ran this business where saxophone specialists, craftsmen/repair techs who are available by appointment for any adjustment, repair,
overhaul and renovation work on your saxophones. We talked about Adolphe Sax, and the House of Mr. Sax, the magical place in Belgium dedicated to him. She also told me where I would find the building where in 1841 Sax opened his musical instrument factory at 50, rue Neuve-St Georges, now rue Saint-Georges.
I believe it was last night at the hotel that I saw the word canicule on television where they were talking how the weather in Paris was going to be in the mid 30s and then hit 40 degrees on Friday, I believe. Now, if I would have heard vague de chaleur, I would have immediately knew that France was going to be in a heat wave. I had never heard of this word (canicule) as it has never been part of my vocabulary. I have learned a new french word.
Being up so early and hitting the streets between 5h30 – 6h00, I would return to my hotel in the afternoon, have a cold shower, and out again, a changed man. I was on my way back to the hotel this Wednesday afternoon when I stopped at À la Place Saint Georges for a café crème and a croissant ou pain au chocolat.
The Monument à Gavarni by French Sculptor Denys Puech (1854-1942) in the centre of Place Saint-Georges in le 9ème Arrondissement was erected in 1911 in memory of the satirical cartoonist Paul Gavarni (1804-1866), a caricaturist who lived in the neighborhood, and was famous for his portraits of Parisian daily life characters in the 19th century.
Le Moulin Rouge
The Moulin Rouge at the foot of Montmartre opened at the height of Belle Epoque Paris in 1889, quickly associated with the wild cancan dance and immortalized in the paintings of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
It has lived many lives, rebuilt after the fire, surviving through World War II, its boards graced by legends from Edith Piaf to Charles Aznavour, and then getting another global boost with the release of the 2001 eponymous film starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.
Elvis Presley himself never came to Paris without spending a little time at the Moulin Rouge. It is said that he had a crush on a French Cancan dancer.
There was no shortage of great brasseries or bistros to eat and drink in Paris, one of the gastronomic capitals of the world. I remember researching restaurants in and around Montmartre prior to travelling to France. I had a list of three or four restaurants but in the end, I completely forgot about them. I tried as much to stay away from places near tourist attractions, but that was not always possible when it was getting late. I also made sure that menu boards and/or signage were only in French. I walked a bit further away and would find places that were not too crowded, with outdoor seating. One such place was Le Chinon on Rue des Abbesses, where I stopped for lunch where I had a beer and a margherita pizza while reading Le Parisien. Once back in North Vancouver, I looked up these restaurants on Tripadvisor to read the negative reviews for a laugh. Not surprising that the majority were from North America. I just shook my head and laughed at these reviews. There’s no understanding of the French culture. The French are rude? I don’t think so.
The only negative review I have would be from Autour du Moulin on Rue Lepic, not too far from Sacré-Coeur, where I had a tarte tatin au pommes chaudes glace vanille. A tarte tatin is an upside-down apple tart — the apples are cooked on the stove top in caramelized sugar for a bit, then topped with pastry dough and baked. It is then inverted onto a serving dish when it comes out of the oven. The apples or the pastry had a bit of a freezer burn taste, and so it’s possible that this dessert was made ahead and kept in the freezer.
I did have a great view from Autour du Moulin at the top of Rue Lepic and looking down on Rue Tholozé (Studio 28 on left side) while having dessert and a café crème. I believe the owner served me and he was very nice. There was a retired couple that must have been in their seventies sitting a the table ahead of me enjoying wine and charcuterie.
Le Moulin de la Galette
One dining experience that was on my list but not realized was Le Moulin de la Galette, immortalized by none other than the great painter Renoir. I never did sit in the shadow of this grand windmill and enjoy a delicious meal at this Paris legend.
Originally there were 13 windmills dating back to the 17th century at the top of the hilly district of Montmartre; it was a place where grain was ground. By the 19th century the mills were disappearing and the area was becoming less agricultural as the poor of the inner districts of Paris moved out to make room for building projects. By the late 1800s, the Moulin de la Galette, so called for the owners who made a brown bread called galette, became a place of entertainment, a guinguette, a neighbourhood café where you go to drink, eat, and dance during holidays.
Le Moulin de la Galette found huge popularity with the new locals including Toulouse l’Autrec and Picasso as well as Renoir who painted it in his 1876 masterpiece Bal du Moulin de la Galette.
The restaurant which reopened after a makeover in 2016 is a chic brasserie with a great ambiance and a terrific menu. The décor is perfectly elegant, and very clever. Above the bar is a big round glass window through which you can see into the top of the mill building so its protected for future generations but we can still all admire it. And, on sunny days the garden is like being in the countryside in the middle of the city.
On the corner of rue de la Mire and rue Ravignan sits a beautiful apartment building.
Le Bateau-Lavoir
“Nous retournerons tous au Bateau-Lavoir, nous n’aurons vraiment été heureux que là…” (“We’ll all return to the Bateau-Lavoir, the only place where we were truly happy…”)
Until his death, Picasso (1881-1973) remained nostalgic for the rural Montmartre of his youth with its farms, orchards, and colourful cabarets. Arriving on the Butte at 19 years old, he took up a studio here in 1904 where he painted the last works of his “Blue Period”. His “Rose Period” gave us “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” which was inspired by his relationship with Fernande Olivier.
In 1965 the building was bought by the City of Paris and the state with the intention of having it restored; in 1969 it was classified as a historical monument. Dilapidated with its wooden frames, le Bateau-Lavoir was destroyed by fire on May 12, 1970. In 1978 a set of twenty-five artists’ studios was rebuilt there. The site is still used as artists’ studios but cannot be visited.
Maxime Maufra, a French landscape and marine painter, was the first artist to settle here in 1893, in what was still called “la maison du Trappeur”. The name of Bateau-Lavoir came from Max Jacob, a French poet, who baptized it when he saw laundry drying outside .
Liberty – Equality – Fraternity
The national motto of France is inscribed on the pediments of town halls and schools.
Studio 28
Contrary to what one might think, Studio 28 does not owe its name to its address (the room is located at 10 rue Tholozé) but to its opening in 1928.
Considered the first avant-garde cinema, Studio 28 quickly became a favorite meeting place for the likes of Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel, Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dalì, French Film Director Abel Gance and French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker Jean Cocteau.
L’Age d’Or (directed by Buñuel, screenplay by Buñuel and Dalí) had its premiere presentation at le Studio 28 on 29 November 1930. Later, on 3 December 1930, riots broke out, led by an unholy alliance of outraged rightwing Catholics, patriots and anti-Semites. The screen was showered with ink and the foyer exhibition of Surrealist art was destroyed. L’Age d’Or itself was immediately banned as incendiary, and remained virtually unshown until the early Seventies.
Today, le Studio 28 welcomes more than 50,000 spectators a year, with four screenings a day. The air conditioned room with 172 seats is equipped with a SONY 4K projector, 5.1 and 7.1 sound and a large screen 10 meters wide. There’s also a bar, and a garden area.
It couldn’t have been more perfect. I got to see Les passagers de la nuit (The Passengers of the Night) on this Wednesday night. The film stars Charlotte Gainsbourg. I’m a fan of her and the music of her late father, Serge Gainsbourg. On Saturday night I decided to go see Canadian maestro David Cronenberg’s new film Crimes of the Future which prompted both walkouts and a six-minute standing ovation after the credits rolled at its Cannes Film Festival premiere.
Note: 35 years after Loulou, Gérard Depardieu and Isabelle Huppert, two giants of French Cinéma, are reunited for Valley of Love, which was an Official Selection at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
In 1997, the corner of rue de l’Abreuvoir and rue Girardon was given the name ‘Place Dalida’ in honour of the star. A life-size bust in bronze of the singer was sculpted by Alain Aslan. The polished part of metal on the breasts is apparently due to a superstition. Touching them would bring good you good luck.
Dalida (1933-1987) sold no less than 170 million albums. She recorded songs in 10 languages from French to Italian and Arabic and German. Her success was so great that she is considered today among the six most popular singers in the world. Dalida was awarded more than 70 gold records and was the first singer to receive a diamond disc.
The performer lived in Montmartre (Rue d’Orchampt) for 25 years, from 1962 until his suicide on May 3, 1987.
Monument a Theophile Steinlen
Théophile Steinlen (1859-1923) was a French-Swiss artist best known for his Art Nouveau poster designs and paintings.
Steilen often depicted animals, specifically cats, as well as the bohemian cabaret culture of turn-of-the-century Paris. Cats appealed to Steinlen for their charm, movement, and character, as well as for their symbolic properties. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Steinlen studied design at the University of Lausanne, before moving to Paris. Amidst the artistic avant-garde in Montmartre, it was at the notorious Le Chat Noir club, that Steinlen met artists like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Louis Anquetin, Adolphe Willette, and Félix Vallotton. He produced advertisements for the Le Chat Noir, and found artistic recognition through frequent exhibitions at the Salon des Indépendants. The artist died on December 13, 1923 in Paris.
It was a late dinner on this night (22h30) at Jules Jo. The bavette (flank steak) and maroilles cream was delicious. The comparison I can think of for maroilles cream would be of pairing horseradish sauce with richer cuts of beef.
I asked the server if their branded swingtop bottles they used for water could be purchased. One of these bottles is now in my kitchen.
Bavette
Crème de Maroilles, frites maison, salade
(Angus flank steak, maroilles cream, home fries, salad)
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