Is it Sea Bream or Dorada

Dorada, Sea Bream, Monkfish?

Biggest Wine List Ever

Our Paris Home Pavillon De La Reina

Sleeping Pods on AirFrance

We made it to Paris. It is amazing to realize that the first time Cathy and I visited Paris was 42 years ago. Almost half a century. That certainly makes you stop and think.

We were lucky enough to fly on a brand-new Air France 777. The seats were enclosed in individual pods with sliding doors for privacy. We had ordered a wheelchair for Cathy, which turned out to be a very smart decision. Both LAX and Charles de Gaulle seem to require enormous walks to get anywhere. Thank God for wheelchair pushers.

The weather in Paris today was perfect—blue skies and mild temperatures. It seemed as if all of Paris was outdoors enjoying it. I am always amazed by how the sidewalks here are filled with people of every age, from mothers pushing young babies to the elderly walking to wherever they are going. It certainly isn’t the car culture of Los Angeles.

We arrived at the Pavillon de la Reine around noon. Our room wasn’t ready, so we spent some time sitting in the courtyard, reading and relaxing. Not a bad way to wait for a hotel room.

The Pavillon de la Reine is named after Anne of Austria, Queen of France, who lived in a pavilion here in the 17th century. The hotel is in the Marais on the Place des Vosges, the oldest planned square in Paris.

As I attempted to plug in my multitude of devices, I began to wonder if they had updated the electrical outlets since Her Highness lived here. Then I remembered they didn’t have electricity back then, so I really can’t blame that particular royal. The staff arrived with a multitude of adapters, and soon all my many batteries were happy.

For dinner we went to Le Bon Georges, a wonderful restaurant known for its extensive wine collection. The wine list was bigger than a telephone directory. Note to self: no one under 30 will have any idea what a telephone directory was. I am showing my age again.

We also quickly noticed a little French chauvinism—or perhaps simply very efficient restaurant management. Everyone seated in our room seemed to be speaking English, while the French-speaking diners were seated in another area. It didn’t bother us, but I thought it was interesting. It may simply have been a way of separating the restaurant’s regulars from the tourists.

No matter. The food and service were excellent.

When we planned this trip, one of the things we particularly wanted to eat was porcini mushrooms, which appear on menus here in the fall. Just like clockwork, the very first restaurant we went to had porcini as a special. They were excellent, especially when we used real crusty French bread to soak up all the garlic and olive oil left on the plate. I also ordered French fries. In France. The real deal—and they were great.

I learned something else at dinner: dorade and sea bream are essentially the same fish, at least when you are looking at a European menu. “Dorade” is the French name commonly used for sea bream. Just don’t confuse it with “dorado” in the Americas, where the name often refers to mahi-mahi, an entirely different fish.

At any rate, we had sea bream and monkfish for dinner, and both were excellent.

Not a bad first day in Paris.