Aunty Betty in Paris: 1 June 2013 An Afternoon with Jean-François

Saturday 1 June 2013
Today Jean-François invited us to go to an auction house -
Hôtel Drouot.
It is an auction house - Hôtel des Ventes Drouot.

We met Jean-François at Métro Richelieu-Drouot.
This memorial is inside the station.
Dedicated to the agents of the Metropolitan Railway of Paris who died for France. Inaugurated in 1931.

Hôtel des Ventes Drouot.

Jean-François

Jean-François came here to look at this item for sale.

Le Passage Jouffroy - one of the exits /entrances to
le Musée Grévin.
Inaugurated in 1887.
Features at least 300 historical and contemporary figures.

Le Passage Jouffroy - one of the exits /entrances to
le Musée Grévin.

Main entrance to le Musée Grévin.
Boulevarde Montmartre next to Passage Jouffroy.

Afternoon tea at A Priori Thé.
Galerie Vivienne.

Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires
in Place des Petits-Pères.

Place des Victoires - bank building Leopold Louis-Dreyfus
occupied by the General Commissariat and the Institute for the Jewish Affairs
under the Vichy Regime.

Place des Victoires
(Place des Victoires-Nationaux - National Victories Square).
A circular place straddling the border between the 1er and 2ème.
Equestrian monument of King Louis XIV.

This building was once the tallest skyscraper in Paris.

Secret Paris

Boeuf à la mode

8 rue de Valois 1ème.

These are the doors to the used to be restaurant.
Boeuf à la mode
8 rue de Valois 1er arrondissemont.
One of the first Parisian restaurants
and one of the many shops of the Palais-Royal.
The restaurant was found in 1792 by 2 brothers from Marseilles.
The restaurant closed in 1936.

An ox dressed à la mode (in the latest fashion). In a bonnet and a shawl.

Boeuf à la mode ("beef in the style") is a French version of pot roast. It is a way to prepare a tougher cut of beef . Brown the beef in oil, lard, or bacon fat. Some recipes include a preliminary marinating step where the beef is marinated in a combination of wine and brandy before browning.

The browned beef is then braised in a liquid of red wine with garlic root vegetables (celery, carrots and onions) and herbs such as thyme, bay, or celery seed. Many recipes add tomatoes or canned tomato sauce, while others add beef broth and/or brandy or other distilled spirits. In some older recipes the addition of a calf's foot or soup bones would add gelatin to the braising liquid, which serves to thicken the sauce.

To finish the dish, the braised beef is removed and set aside to rest. Meanwhile, the braising liquid is strained and reduced to a sauce. The beef is then sliced and served with the sauce made from the braising liquid.

Métro Station Palais Royal - Musée du Louvre.
Located in the historical centre of Paris.
Work of Art -
Le Kiosque des Noctambules (Kiosk for Night Owls).
It is a subway entrance of aluminium spheres and Murano glass by the
French artist Jean-Michel Othniel.