Place Saint Médard

Café tables and chairs just after a downpour.

Red is for radish

Spring means radishes, and Paris market stalls are brimming.

Below: with homemade mayo, a twist on the classical French way of eating radishes (whole with salt, butter, and baguette); thinly sliced and fanned atop crab risotto

About face

Another of street artist Mr. VOul's striking faces on the butte.

Straw baskets

Baskets for sale on a Montmartre market street.

3 hours (or less) from Paris: Honfleur

Honfleur, charming fishing village in Normandy and home to Impressionist Eugène Boudin.

Below: Honfleur's sprawling Saturday open-air market on Place Sainte-Catherine starts early; catching the full moon over the old port (click to enlarge)

By car: 2 1/2 hours via A13
By train: just under 3 hours from Gare Saint-Lazare; several trains per day - search for train (to Rouen) / drive options

[close enough to be a day trip from Paris; recommended as romantic weekend getaway]

Where to Eat: Honfleur
June newsletter

Bourbon Sours

This no-frills drink, or rather its sibling, the Whiskey Sour, became my go-to in-flight cocktail years ago thanks to a sweet older English lady sitting next to me on my way from London to Arizona. She said she always had one "for luck" whenever she flew, and I thought it a great idea. You'll feel like you're flying after a couple of these.

Bar 228 Le Meurice Hôtel
Live jazz nightly 

Chasing the blues

Live music adds to a weekend antiquing experience at the Marchés aux Puces in the north of Paris, just outside the péripherique.

Look for:

La Chope des Puces
(mostly gypsy jazz / jazz manouche, a style started by Romani guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt in Paris during the 1930s)
122 rue des Rosiers 93400 Saint-Ouen
Tel: 01 40 11 28 80

Chez Louisette
(songs of vieux Paris; blues, jazz, spontaneous dancing) 
136 avenue Michelet 93400 Saint-Ouen
- inside the Vernaison flea market -
Tel: 01 40 12 10 14     

Photo collage courtesy of Catherine M.