The Monthly Joie Review: February 2024 Recap
Discoveries during the last full winter month.
My February started off with the most embarrassing cultural mix-up/reminder to beware of faux amis, false friends, in the French language. I hesitate to share but when you live abroad these things are bound to happen so better to have a laugh about it while cringing.
We were headed to a friend’s dinner party on Saturday in Colombes, a suburb of Paris, and about a good hour commute from our apartment. But we also had plans to spend Sunday afternoon with friends in Le Vésinet, which is also a 45 minute commute. However the two burbs are only 15 minutes by car from one another. So our little group decided to get a hotel in between the two and make a fun little weekend out of it. I left the hotel search up to my dear friend Sonja, an American, who was tasked with finding something slightly kid-friendly around Rueil-Malmaison. She sent me a hotel with a rather ugly website and what I immediately balked at as a creepy looking spot with an ugly name: L’Auberge du Fruit Défendu. I translated this in my head as defended fruit, which didn’t sound very cute/chic/French. She agreed it was a dumb name and neither of us bothered to google translate it before we booked it on booking.com. There weren’t many other options and it had tennis courts, which was perfect for us. We asked the third French family joining us for the weekend parties if they also wanted to stay in the hotel instead of driving back. They immediately responded a giant NO! Suite yourself I thought.
When we arrived at our French friend’s house in Colombes and told them we were staying at the Auberge du Fruit Défendu, they all screamed and laughed. We were immediately informed that fruit défendu means forbidden fruit and this hotel sounded like it might be a swingers hotel or something seedy. It was the source of endless jokes throughout the evening and we had no idea what kind of hotel we were returning to after the party. However we had already dropped our bags off around 8pm quickly before heading out and we didn’t really have alternative sleeping plans.
The next morning I got up early to snoop around and all I found were a lot of different kind of nature lovers. The kind playing tennis (there were over 8 courts), jogging along the Seine and park in front of the hotel, and kids swinging in the playground on the property or rolling in the grass with the resident dogs. It all looked pretty wonderful and G-rated to me!! The main salon of the hotel was a tented room with striped fabric, red curtains, gold details, and empire style couches. Tented rooms became fashionable during Napoléon I’s reign because of his army’s successful military campaigns. The Emperor had luxuriously decorated tents erected on the battlefield that were then broken down into special case and moved to the next battle spot. It’s not surprising they took Napoléon’s style as decor inspiration considering Empress Joséphine’s Chateau Malmaison, is not too far from the hotel. I didn’t make it this trip but plan to visit sometime this Spring. Malmaison was Empress Joséphine’s residence off and on until her death and Napoléon’s last residence before he was exiled to Saint Helena. A lot of culture and history in that museum and can’t wait to visit.
Since everything checked out, I sat down on a couch next to the large inviting fireplace, ordered a tea, and enjoyed my tartine with salted butter. Once everyone woke up, they all went to play tennis and we hung around well past check out. We considered having lunch at the semi-gastronomique restaurant, part of which was on a guingette on the river, but opted to head to Le Vésinet, as planned.
Since we hung around as if we lived there and got pretty chatty with the manager, he told us that in the summer, the place is packed with tennis players and families out on the terrace for long lunchs, or in loungers on the grass. He said reservations are a must because it gets packed. I will never understand the name of this Auberge but I will absolutely return to this place along the Seine when the sun comes out and I will absolutely remember my French class lessons about faux amis. I am even thinking about a weekend stay with a group in the 6 rooms with a lil friendly tennis tournament, and then throwing a dinner party there on the guingette boat for friends. However I doubt my French friends will come for fear of thinking I am luring them to something X-rated. Ha!
My friend
, who just launched her newsletter On Becoming on Substack, took me for a late birthday lunch at L’Ebauchoir, which I had never heard of but was delighted to discover another great bistro with a lunch prix fixe menu. Entrée + plat or plat + dessert is 17 euros and entrée + plat + dessert is 22 euros. Zeva decided on the lunch menu and had a lovely paté followed by a lieu noir (colin d’Alaska fish) with squid ink sauce and rice. I went off piste and decided to choose other items from the menu when I spotted a labneh with beets and pickled vegetables and a lamb with a butternut puree. When you choose wine, they bring you the whole bottle and you only pay for what you drink. I am not sure how they measure that, but we settled on a dry natural white called Matin Fou, which basically means crazy morning, and since it was Friday…well we finished the bottle .
Another lunch prix-fixe I return to often is at The Hood, where I took one of my past assistants, Sara, who was visiting. The entrée + plat or plat + dessert with a drink is 20e. There are a nice selection of dishes to choose from and next month they will add a plat du jour as well. I went for the chou fleur masala (cauliflower in a masala curry) and the chicken rice. You can add supplements from the menu if you are craving friend chicken but I was in deep desire of some Singaporean chicken rice.
This Paris fashion week, I managed to escape too many late nights out with friends for drinks so when my friend Tara, who lives in London, was visiting at the end of month and wanted to round up a group of friends for drinks, I was ready. We ended up at Le 1905, a fairly new-to-me cocktail bar in the Marais, which I discovered is in the same family as Hotel du Nord (remember my jazz night out) and Vin de Pyrenees. I am really loving what this group is doing to make nights out a bit more entertaining with jazzy 1920s vibes.
This was the first year that we stayed in Paris for the February “ski holidays.” Thomas had some shoots and we weren’t organized enough to have planned a ski camp for the kids. Also they already went skiing five weeks prior and it all so insanely expensive. I put the kids in a day sports camp, which was fine but we all started to get bored with the endless grey days and rain. At the last minute we decided to hop on a train to Aix-en-Provence to see a dear friend for a few days and take in some sun. If you have been following me for some time, then you know I visit Aix a lot and even did a family sabbatical two years ago there. I will save Aix for a dedicated post, but I will quickly share one discovery from our trip.
My friend Monique, who we were visiting, wanted to check out the famous Les Oursinades festival, an oursin festival in Carry-le-Rouet. We packed the kids and one of her dogs into a car and drove 35 minutes further south to this little town on the Côte Bleue where Nina Simone spent the last 30 years of her life. The festival was pretty crowded and not our vibe, but we did find a lovely restaurants along the water called La Cale to sit and eat fried fish with rosé and Aperol Spritz.
I find it challenging to know the right restaurant in some of these little seaside towns. Often the cluster of restaurants in the center can lean a bit touristy for me and the internet was very unhelpful in sharing any info on the late Madame Simone’s adopted home. I was happy to find La Cale finally, which was about a five minute drive from the center. It didn’t disappoint. It seemed like a joint for locals, so I highly recommend making a reservation and arriving early because parking wasn’t easy.
My month ended with me realizing that I did a lot of socializing and not as much cultural consumption as I usually like, so I went to went to see Le Paris de la modernité exhibit at the Petit Palais. It’s open until April 14th so if you live here or are visiting, I highly recommend a visit. (You can also buy the catalogue online if you can’t make it.) The exhibition starts with the 1905 Salon d’Automne and goes through the 1925 L’Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. It examines how technology, the rapidly changing social culture and war affected fine art, fashion, interiors, architecture, cinema, the automobile industry, and design. It’s always a popular subject so the exhibition was quite crowded. But afterwards I got to enjoy walking around to see the permanent exhibitions in the Petit Palais which include the gigantic famous Les Halles painting by Léon Lhermitte. Sadly the cafe, restaurant and garden was closed for renovation but good excuse to go back this Spring or Summer.
For such a short month, I feel like so much went on and March is already full of so much to share with you in the next review as well as more content for paid subscribers.
Bisous xx,
Ajiri
Next up for paid subscribers, I am sharing a great podcast that rocked my thoughts about friendship and how we live, finally sharing our family sabbatical, and a trip to Arles.
the notes
L’Auberge du Fruit Défendu
6 room hotel and tennis club next to a grand park along the Seine with a semi-gastronomical restaurant.
80 Boulevard Bellerive
92500 Rueil-Malmaison
Check out their website here.
L’Ebauchoir
Brasserie with lunch prix-fixe for 17-22 euros.
43-45 Rue de Cîteaux
75012 Paris
Check out their website here and Instagram here.
The Hood
Singaporean bistro in the 11th with lunch prix fixe for
Jean-Pierre Timbaud
80 Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud
75011 Paris
Check out their website here and Instagram here.
Le 1905
Fun cocktail bar with 1920s speakeasy vibes. They often have live jazz music and cabaret nights with dancers and singers. Follow them on Instagram or Facebook to stay up-to-date on their special events. Also they don’t take reservations, so plan to arrive early to get a good table.
25 Rue Beautreillis
75004 Paris
Le Paris de la modernité at the Petit Palais
This exhibition is up until April 14, 2024 and sadly the beautiful cafe and restaurant is closed until April 26th.
Avenue Winston Churchill
75008 Paris
Website
Glad we like the same restaurants! And yes, I hear you on tracking down good places to eat out and about in France. I refer to the Le Fooding app/website, which has been very reliable about listing places where the food is truly "fait maison" and it's rarely failed me. (Although a lot of the place are popular since they are in cities or towns where there aren't a lot of solid choices, so you usually need to reserve.)
I only think of Le Fooding when I am in Paris but you are right that I should try it also when traveling!! Good idea!!! I have struck out so many times when traveling. Downloading the app immediately.