Striking Out (and About)

Well, I'm writing this on Nov 26th with all of the buses and trains back in operation now that the union and the government are talking, but last week, as many of you may have read, much of France was hammered by a transit strike. Although Silicon Valley work-around-the-clock folks may not relate, the French unions enjoy a 35-hour workweek, a month or more of vacation, and they get to retire with full pensions at 50. France's new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, wants to make changes to those policies to reduce the heavy economic burden of such an early retirement.

To protest this, the union went on strike for just over a week. During that time, some of my fellow students missed classes since they couldn't easily get into the core of Paris and traffic jams caused commutes to triple or quadruple in length. Some of the Metro lines were operating on a reduced schedule - it wasn't 100% shut down, but out of about 15 lines, only 3 or 4 were really running...and those were packed solid. Usually I don't appreciate it, but I have to say that the wandering musicians who got on the trains and played their accordions and horns kept the mood light at a very difficult time, so I was really grateful.

Since I walk so much, the strike didn't affect me much, but it did change the kind of decisions we all made about which neighborhoods (arrondissements) we were willing to go to and which were just a tad too far.

Using one of the working Metro lines, I went to lunch last Wednesday with my classmate Kimon out to the 11th to a restaurant I found on Chowhound, Le Temps au Temps. A clearly-knowledgeable Chowhounder had loved this little bistro and rated it right up there with one of my favorite Paris destinations, Chez l'Ami Jean. Interestingly, before I was even able to go there, in a bizarre coincidence, Katy's sister Anne came to Paris while I was out of town and was taken there by an old friend of hers...and loved it. My experience was right there.

This cozy little restaurant is owned by a young couple and has but 4 2-tops and 4 4-tops. You enter to a warm welcome and it stays warm from there. Diners around us were happy to point out what they were eating as we perused the menu and told us what was particularly good. We got into conversations with people from various tables and with the wife of the couple who owns it...and who works the front of the house. The menu, basque-oriented and creative, supplied me with one of the best pork experiences (yes!) in Paris to-date. I started with a mousse of Jerusalem artichoke, topped with a granite of cornichons (small pickles) and sitting on a bed of diced betteraves (beets).

For the main, I was wise enough to order the Cote de cochon "IBAIONA" lacquee - a pan cooked gi-normous pork chop which seemed so moist that it might have been brined before it was sautéed. As with most meat dishes in Paris, it seems, it was accompanied by pureed pommes de terre (potatoes).

Kimon had the pheasant which, while delicious, did have the distinction of still having some feather remnants in it...well, at least it was pretty darned fresh! His purees of chestnut and squash were perfect accompaniments. This was just the right kind of hole-in-the-wall find that we all wish for in a city we visit - welcoming, affordable, unusual, and delicious.

Josh Bob says "check it out" (sorry - old Denver Post reference there)...