Autumn in Montmartre #5

  This stairway leads to the street where Vincent Van Gogh lived with his brother Theo.

 

 

Autumn in Montmartre #4

Walkway to a hidden hotel, once a private home.

 

 

Autumn in Montmartre #3

Scattered leaves and a parked bicycle.

 

Above: it's early and below, in the distance, a boulangerie and a café open for business

 

 

Thanksgivings past

 

To past Thanksgivings and Thanksgivings yet to come, a very happy one, wherever you may be.

Above: the table is set as fireplaces and candles are lit in anticipation of dinner;

finishing touches are put on an appetizer, Russian "coulibiac" pies made with fresh salmon, dill, spinach leaves - as host and guests cook, nibble, tipple, and chat

 

*** 

 

- More photos in upcoming December newsletter -

Thanksgiving at:

- a farmhouse in Normandy

- Châteauneuf-en-Auxois in Burgundy, "one of France's most beautiful villages"
- a Paris rooftop apartment
- Bar 228 in the Hôtel Meurice (an elegant pre-Thanksgiving apéritif)

- more....

Autumn in Montmartre #2

 

Suddenly leaf-covered sidewalks and squares seem to be everywhere.

 

Above: walking their dogs where tables and chairs were just a week before 

 

 

 

 

Autumn in Montmartre

Fall colors seem to be more intense in Montmartre, the hilltop village of tree-lined streets that abruptly rises out of the city.

 

 

And the band plays on

A street corner band at a market in the Latin Quarter district performs every weekend, brightening up winter days.

Chocolate stop

Patrick Roger's chocolates are my favorite chocolates anywhere. And I don't even have a sweet tooth.

Empty and waiting

Usually this café, heat lamps on, gets so busy at lunchtime that it has to turn customers away.

Looking up

   

A woman walking her dog heads home up these stairs.

 

Deserted

In Montmartre, the usually animated Place des Abbesses with its carousel and cafés, almost deserted.

Night light

A métro sign, like a beacon, as night falls.

Cobbled streets

An entry into a world of snaking streets and secret passageways....

Floral explosion

 

A fleuriste with chandeliers inside and tantalizing arrangements set up outside. Today, a voluminous bouquet of white hydrangeas.

Of hearth and home

Animal portraits and giant golden apples are just some of the unusual decorative touches inside a small hotel near the Odéon theater.

 

 

Shoe repère

 

 An ancienne cordonnerie-now-coffeehouse is a popular point de repère.

Boot Café
19 rue du Pont aux Choux 75003

Row houses #2

Changing this image from color to black and white dramatically altered its character.

Row houses #1

A lineup of apartment buildings on the Île Saint-Louis as seen from the Seine.

L'acteur grec

"The Greek Actor" rehearses his lines in the Jardin du Luxembourg.

Vélo patrol

It's not unusual to see Paris police patrolling city streets on bicycles.

Oyster of the month

 

In France, even months without an "R" don't keep oysters at bay.

Above: ready-to-slurp Bélons at an along-the-Seine autumn food fest

 

Art nouveau marvel

Some interior shots of Saint-Jean de Montmartre, one of a handful of art nouveau churches in the world.

Napoleon's hat

 

It is said that The Little Corporal couldn't pay his tab at this restaurant so he left this hat, now preserved for posterity.