The Good, The Bad and the Seriously Crabby

Drama on rue de Nevers

I have to say it has been a very stressful last 12 hours. Fashion week is still going on and things are still super crowded, the city is apparently infested with bedbugs that you can accidentally pick up anywhere—even from the seats on the Metro, and my neighbor screamed at me and threatened to call the police. This is not the Paris I love.

It all started innocently enough. Some friends are in town and after a delicious lunch at Pizza Chic, we wandered over to the opening of the new Van Gogh exhibit at the Musee d’Orsay. The paintings included in the exhibit were all painted in the last few months of his life in Auvers-sur-Oise. It was pretty fantastic and really well curated with paintings I had not seen before. The showstopper was his last self-portrait. All swirling blues and greens. Hard not to want to just sit and stare at it for a long while. The colors and painting techniques really brought home the scope of his incredible talent. I will be visiting it again and highly recommend if you find yourself in Paris between now and March.

A special painting- Le Jardin de Daubigny and one of my favorites showcasing Van Gogh’s double square idea.

After our trip to the Musee D’Orsay we returned to the apartment and ran into the owner of the Highlander and, now, my new friend -Axel. He was just hanging out in the doorway, and my friends-who are eager to get “Highlandered” after hearing of the many adventures there, walked over to ask which is the best night to partake at this excellent establishment. Well, Axel could not have been nicer and when he realized I live above, he thanked me for not throwing things down on him and the other patrons like some of the neighbors (this is foreshadowing by the way) who get incensed with the late night noise. I expressed my shock at the bad manners of those in my and the neighboring building, but did let him know that it is quite loud around 4:30am on some nights. He quickly assured me that they were now closing at 2am and making even more money than before ( I guess he thought I was worried), as people have a smaller window to get really hammered. Well okay— I guess it’s a win-win for everyone! He even went so far as to tell the bartender my name and assured me a free drink was waiting for me when I visit.

New friend from the Highlander!

Later, my friends and I stopped for a drink at the Cheval Blanc before heading to dinner at Kong-a trendy Asian-inspired restaurant nearby. Kong has a beautiful dining room all under glass on the top floor of a gorgeous building. However, that is where the story goes awry. Our waitress, who from the beginning, was unfriendly, told us we had a food minimum and that we each had to order a certain amount off the menu. That was quite odd and a little off-putting but we were hungry and thirsty and ordered all the food and wine we could hold. When the meal arrived, it was delivered all at the same time-appetizers and entrees together-sending the clear message that the waitress wanted to be rid of us in a hurry. Not gonna lie-I was kind of offended. Especially since the food was ok but not anything remarkable and I don’t think there was anyone waiting in the wings to grab our table the minute we were finished, so there was no need to rush us.

As we were finishing our meal, the waitress came back and announced that if we weren’t going to order another bottle of wine she would bring the check. All very strange for a restaurant in Paris, as you are usually encouraged to linger, and can almost never get a check even when you are really ready to depart.

When the bill arrived, she then informed us that there was no tip included and handed over the credit card machine with some pre-set tip amounts. Even stranger. I told her I did not understand, as “service compris” is a hallmark of French law designed to protect service workers and insure that a good and fair wage is provided to all. She just flat out denied that this was true and insisted there was no tip already built in. By this time we were completely miffed but there was no point in arguing with her so we paid the bill and vowed never to return. Restaurants that cater to an upscale, largely foreign constituency-especially during peak times like fashion week often tell guests this same thing and it is so disappointing. They are totally taking advantage of the tourists.

Kong is pretty but a disappointment.

After dinner we returned to the apartment, settled in and decided to have a little post-dinner wine to shake off the subpar dining experience. Well, we then decided to play some music, and before you know it we had a full scale pajama-dance party going on. The Highlander has nothing on us! Then, about midnight, the doorbell started ringing and ringing and wouldn’t stop. I braced myself for a confrontation since I was fairly certain that whoever was on the other side of the insistently ringing doorbell had not come to applaud my taste in music. I cautiously opened the door and was immediately assaulted by a fourth floor neighbor who I do not know, but who looked like he was about to explode! He was screaming at me that he was calling the police and that I was breaking the law, and he could not sleep, and today was a work day, and he was calling the police again and blah blah. There was no apologizing or placating him. He was on a finger-shaking rant and could not be mollifed. I really can’t remember the last time I have seen anyone so angry. His face was a mottled red and his eyes were wild! After a final threat of calling the police to report my outrageous behavior, he stomped upstairs and I thought back to when our apartment was broken into and the burglars were literally on premises and we couldn’t get the Paris police to even hurry on over let alone investigate. I suspect he would not have gotten far with his threats, but I, feeling severely chastened, immediately turned off the music, cleaned up and went to bed. All he had to do was ask. Yikes. I suspect he is one of the people throwing things at the revelers of the Highlander. Who lives above a bar on the river Seine in Paris and can’t abide any noise? He is a very angry man.

I called my husband to commiserate with me and he suggested I turn on the music as loud as possible when I leave and see how the neighbor likes that! Food for thought.

In any event, fashion week is finally winding down and Paris will soon be back to normal and we can go back to enjoying the simple pleasures that make Paris so special. Hopefully, the fashionistas will take the bedbugs and maybe my cranky neighbor, with them.