Here There and Everywhere

On A Mission: Target Eifel Tower

In preparation for this trip, we had several family meetings to put together activities and priorities. Each one of us came up with one “Must” (mine was wandering in the Marais – Mission Accomplished!) so that we had some focus. My granddaughter, N, wanted to go to the top of the Eifel Tower.

We started working on access to the tower months before we departed Pensacola. Tickets were not available. Ticket scalpers had begun scooping up access tickets early in the game and selling them for exaggerated prices. This made life uncomfortable for tours and guides and independent tourists. N’s mother and I would check the official website often, with no luck.

N’s mother is a determined woman – and she lived in a Paris suburb where she taught English for a year, how is that for bold? She determined that accessing the tower would be the number one goal on Day One. Once the family had rested, showered and dressed, they took off to find out what access possibilities looked like on the ground.

They learned it is all luck, but that there are some times when access is likelier than other times. Meanwhile, they had a wonderful adventure and found a Kebab restaurant they all loved.

AdventureMan and I also found a restaurant we loved, Chez Barbara, just a short walk from our hotel. We loved it so much we ate there twice. As an aside, usually I take great notes to help me write up these trips, but when I went to look at my notes, the only notes I had were the Menu from Chez Barbara!

Chez Barbara

47 Rue Washington

75008 Paris France

Menu at Chez Barbara

ENTRÉES

Escargots – 6 pièces 10.00€

Croustillant de chèvre sur salade 8.00€

Carpaccio de bœuf fromage dur et câpres 10.00€

Melon et Jambon Serrano 10.00€

Burrata sauce pesto tomates 10.00€

PLATS

Croque Mr frites ou salades 13.00€

Croque Mme frites ou salades 14.00€

Burger ‘Chez Barbara’ frites 17.00€

Salade italienne 16.00€

Salade, tomates, artichauts, burrata, jambon sec

Salade de croustillant de chèvre chaud 16.00€

Fish & chips 19.00€

Mi-cuit de thon au sésame et purée 19.00€

Bœuf bourguignon (Black Angus) purée de pommes de terre 19.00€

Cuisse de canard confit purée de pdt 19.00€

Tartare de bœuf frites & salade 19.00€

Entrecôte grillée sauce au poivre frites 22.00€

DESSERTS

Crème brulée 8.00€

Tarte tatin, crème fraîche ou glace vanille 8.00€

Fondant au chocolat crème anglaise 7.00€

Baba au rhum 9.00€

SNACK

Tapenade des olives 6.00€

Grissini et Jambon Serrano 7.00€

Assiette de frites 5.00€

Assiette de charcuteries 12.00€

Assiette de fromage 9.00€

Croque Mr frites 13.00€l

I share this with you so you can see the prices, which we found quite reasonable. Wines, beer, and liquors also seemed reasonable – this is downtown Paris, a block from the Champs Elysees’.

What drew us to Chez Barbara was the menu – very down to earth French foods – and then the atmosphere. This was not a snooty restaurant. It was a local restaurant. In the outside seating area, a local sports team was meeting (heavy on beer and french fries) and a girl met up with a man who looked like her father, and they had a plate of french fries and a plate of cold cuts, which they shared, and several glasses of wine. A friendly Australian who worked as a day laborer offered to translate but we told him we were OK, and thanked him for his offer. There was a television and a small bar.

It was also another very hot evening, and we were jet-lagging. We split an Italian salad and a Beouf Bourguignon, and we drank a red Bordeaux. It was a great evening.

Police presence was heavy. As we ate (again, the windows to the street collapsed to the side, we were entirely part of the outdoors) several police cars came by nee-ner, nee-ner, and on the way back to the hotel we saw a person being ticketed for stopping. It was a chauffeur, waiting for a family dining at Cafe’ de Paris.

True confession: AdventureMan was very angry with me for photographing the police in action. He was right. I was probably not supposed to do that. Sometimes I take unnecessary risks. Don’t do what I do!

We linked up with our family who were eager to get to bed, get a good night’s sleep, and AdventureMan made plans for the next day to hike up to the top of the Arch with the grands while Mom and Dad sought to get those elusive tickets to climb the tower.

August 13, 2024 - Posted by intlxpatr | Adventure, Blogging, Community, Cultural, Customer Service, Eating Out, Family Issues, Food, France, Law and Order, Living Conditions, Paris, Quality of Life Issues, Restaurant, Travel | Boeuf Bourguignon, Chez Barbara, Eifel Tower