In the neighbourhood - Rue de Montpensier
October 25th 2007 19:21
Tucked in between Rue de Richelieu and le Jardin du Palais Royal, in the Premier Arrondissement of Paris, Rue de Montpensier is short and narrow, little more than a lane, not big enough even to feature on the standard hotel publicity map.
But for the Theatre du Palais Royal at one end and La Comedie Francaise at the other, it is unremarkable, unprepossessing, a quaint little slice of history that might well go unnoticed. In the daytime it is thrown into shadow by the tall buildings on either side; little traffic passes on the one-way thoroughfare, just slow cars cruising for a park or cutting into and out of the surrounding main roads; few shoppers pass through the back entrances to the Antiquaires and the chic boutiques which face the colonnades of the Palais Royal on one side and only a few more browse in the basement Art Gallery or the workshop of Couturier, Louise Piquant on the other. The restaurants and bars, if they’re open, do a quiet day-time trade. A steel-shuttered shop-front, some faded signs, dates and inscriptions on buildings hint at the street’s past lives.
Yet, there is a strong sense that Rue de Montpensier is not dead, or dying but simply resting or waiting - that nine to five are just not this street’s finest hours.
For his is the heartland of Paris theatre, with a great monument to “le spectacle” at each end of the street, the Bouffe des Parisiens a short walk away and the Paris Opera just a block further and when the theatres come to life, so does Rue de Montpensier. In the late afternoon doors and shutters open on bars and restaurants, waiters in waistcoats and long aprons arrange tables and chairs on the pavements, signs light up and boards come out displaying "menus avant et après spectacle." At about six people begin to trickle into the street, squeezing their cars into improbable spaces, chaining their bikes to unlikely places or clicking sharply on impossible heels over the worn cobble-stones. As the light begins to fade, doormen in evening dress drift onto the pavemnet for a last smoke outside Le Theatre du Palais Royal. Neon letters flicks on, spelling out the play of the season - Puzzle by Woody Allen. A neurotic Jewish New York story in French – What on earth would that be like? I have yet to find out!
Across the road, wedged into the corner next to the arched stone passage through to Rue de Richelieu, the tiny Bar de l'Entracte, or Half Time, serves aperitifs “avant spectacle” with snacks of bread and goats cheese. Here, thespians can sit at a table on the pavement, surrounded by potted geraniums until the theatre bell calls them to their seats.
Just around the corner the restaurant Les Reflets de Scene, or Stage Lights, offers deliciously traditional French dishes like Salade Lyonnaise, Canard a l’orange, Coquilles St Jacques, Crème Brule and mysterious tartes at 20 euros for two courses and 25 for three - avant et après spectacle, bien sur! The friendly, funny and helpful waiter Tom will cheerfully guide confused ditherers to a choice of both food and wine.
For an après spectacle or even for après diner cocktail, Au Caveau Montpensier, or at the Montpensier Cellar, is the place to go. This cellar bar rambles through three vaulted stone chambers with windows at street level and funished with low tables and soft leather stools. Owned by an American from Miami with large and sage Dalmatian, it is friendly, homely and has a clientele ranging from the bourgeois, the bourgeois-boheme, the potty old expatriot, the chic, the cool, the tourist, the Rugby fan and their dogs. Its cocktails are fabulous – martinis of every imaginable flavour, strawberry chilli daquiris, ginger mojitos and many more, which one too many has blotted, for the moment, from memory. They are ten euros each and guaranteed to give a rosy glow to the end of the evening.
Rue de Montpensier is just one Paris back street, with a life, a time and a style of its own. There are thousands of others, all offering something unique, all waiting to be explored and savoured.
Immeubles, Rue de Montpensier
But for the Theatre du Palais Royal at one end and La Comedie Francaise at the other, it is unremarkable, unprepossessing, a quaint little slice of history that might well go unnoticed. In the daytime it is thrown into shadow by the tall buildings on either side; little traffic passes on the one-way thoroughfare, just slow cars cruising for a park or cutting into and out of the surrounding main roads; few shoppers pass through the back entrances to the Antiquaires and the chic boutiques which face the colonnades of the Palais Royal on one side and only a few more browse in the basement Art Gallery or the workshop of Couturier, Louise Piquant on the other. The restaurants and bars, if they’re open, do a quiet day-time trade. A steel-shuttered shop-front, some faded signs, dates and inscriptions on buildings hint at the street’s past lives.
Fadeded shop signs, Rue de Montpensier
Yet, there is a strong sense that Rue de Montpensier is not dead, or dying but simply resting or waiting - that nine to five are just not this street’s finest hours.
Theatre du palais Royal, Rue de Montpensier
For his is the heartland of Paris theatre, with a great monument to “le spectacle” at each end of the street, the Bouffe des Parisiens a short walk away and the Paris Opera just a block further and when the theatres come to life, so does Rue de Montpensier. In the late afternoon doors and shutters open on bars and restaurants, waiters in waistcoats and long aprons arrange tables and chairs on the pavements, signs light up and boards come out displaying "menus avant et après spectacle." At about six people begin to trickle into the street, squeezing their cars into improbable spaces, chaining their bikes to unlikely places or clicking sharply on impossible heels over the worn cobble-stones. As the light begins to fade, doormen in evening dress drift onto the pavemnet for a last smoke outside Le Theatre du Palais Royal. Neon letters flicks on, spelling out the play of the season - Puzzle by Woody Allen. A neurotic Jewish New York story in French – What on earth would that be like? I have yet to find out!
L'Entr'acte, Rue de Montpensier
Across the road, wedged into the corner next to the arched stone passage through to Rue de Richelieu, the tiny Bar de l'Entracte, or Half Time, serves aperitifs “avant spectacle” with snacks of bread and goats cheese. Here, thespians can sit at a table on the pavement, surrounded by potted geraniums until the theatre bell calls them to their seats.
Les Reflets de la Scene, Rue de Montpensier
Just around the corner the restaurant Les Reflets de Scene, or Stage Lights, offers deliciously traditional French dishes like Salade Lyonnaise, Canard a l’orange, Coquilles St Jacques, Crème Brule and mysterious tartes at 20 euros for two courses and 25 for three - avant et après spectacle, bien sur! The friendly, funny and helpful waiter Tom will cheerfully guide confused ditherers to a choice of both food and wine.
Au Caveau Montpensier
For an après spectacle or even for après diner cocktail, Au Caveau Montpensier, or at the Montpensier Cellar, is the place to go. This cellar bar rambles through three vaulted stone chambers with windows at street level and funished with low tables and soft leather stools. Owned by an American from Miami with large and sage Dalmatian, it is friendly, homely and has a clientele ranging from the bourgeois, the bourgeois-boheme, the potty old expatriot, the chic, the cool, the tourist, the Rugby fan and their dogs. Its cocktails are fabulous – martinis of every imaginable flavour, strawberry chilli daquiris, ginger mojitos and many more, which one too many has blotted, for the moment, from memory. They are ten euros each and guaranteed to give a rosy glow to the end of the evening.
Rue de Montpensier is just one Paris back street, with a life, a time and a style of its own. There are thousands of others, all offering something unique, all waiting to be explored and savoured.
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