Coffee break

 

In Paris, many are still working from home, so when the inevitable pause-café rolls around it's time to head out to the new office water cooler: nearby café / restaurant counters temporarily set up for take-away coffee (and more).

 

Above: a coffee drinker makes his way to join others on a bench

Throwback Thursday

The Basilica through bare branches just one month ago.

Salad season

As the weather gets warmer simple salades composées with accompaniments make satisfying meals.

 Above: two salads w/planche of Saint-Nectaire cheese, Iberico saucisson; garlic croûtons on the side

Jazz on the square

A small group of musicians set up on Place des Abbesses.

French toasting

 With bars, cafés, and restaurants still closed the tendance for small gatherings to meet for apéros at private homes more than ever before continues.

Days of books and roses

 

Yesterday was the Feast of Saint Georges in France, celebrated as a Valentine's Day in (south of the border) Catalonia as La Diada de Sant Jordi, "The Day of the Book and the Rose."

Standing watch

 

A statue of Sainte Geneviève stands guard at what was once the edge of the city. To her right, windows of starred restaurant La Tour d"Argent overlook Notre Dame Cathedral and Île de la Cité beyond.

The baker's bike

 

 

A local boulanger's motorcycle parked where he can keep an eye on it as he finishes up for the day.

Mellow yellow

Graffiti wall on a Paris side street.

Still home

 

So far café/restaurant terraces and some museums are scheduled to re-open 15 May.

 

***

 

  - En avril, ne te découvre pas d'un fil, et en mai, reste enfermé? -

Old French saying, w/a personal twist

 

 

[Re-post] 

Love on the butte

 A gallery atop the butte Montmartre on Place du Tertre.

Street disco

 An impromptu disco streams dance music into a square from an upper floor balcony.

Essential

 

During this latest confinement businesses deemed essentiels included chocolate shops, cordonneries, bookstores, bakeries, hairdressers, tabacs (?) and absolutely, florists.

The way she was

 

On the face of this ancient queen of our cathedrals, beside each wrinkle one invariably finds a scar. - Victor Hugo from, Nôtre Dame de Paris a.k.a. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

 Above: photograph of the cathedral taken from Square René-Viviani before the fire of April 15, 2019, two years ago today

Night bike

 Bicycle parked on a ledge outside a gate for the night.

All in a row

A lineup of faces on rue des Abbesses.

Mona Monday

L'oeuvre d'art at a small private showing in Montmartre.

In bloom

Unremarkable one moment, a fury of blossoms the next.

Horizon

 Full moon over Paris from a private rooftop terrace.

Stravinsky lips

Close-up of lips by artist Niki de Saint Phalle, Stravinsky Fountain, Beaubourg Center.

Un bol de café

 

 

Traditional French breakfast coffee bols bide their time on shelves waiting for the day this café-boulangerie will re-open.

 

Coquelicot
24 rue des Abbesses 75018

A touch of nature

Conceived by Stéphane Cachelin chapotelets are placed on already existing posts adding a touch of nature and art to Paris streets.

 ***

"Un nouveau rôle aux potelets qui jalonnent nos rues" ("A new role for the posts that line our streets")

Easter lamb

 

This gigot d'agneau, roasted to juicy perfection and served with its traditional flageolets, elicited oohs / ahs as it was placed on the table.

Below: starter of foie gras de canard w/chutney de figues maison

 

  ***

 

 "Faire cuire pendant 1h à 1h30 selon la taille de la bête" ("Let cook for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes depending on the size of the beast")

 

Merci Christophe

Easter eggs

 

Fresh eggs are displayed in nests made of straw at the Bastille market.

 

***

 

 Joyeuses Pâques / Happy Easter 2021

 

💐

 

Working out

 

An early workout behind the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.

Your eggs await

 

Today's post is a flashback to the days when cafés were ready for customers on almost every block.

Above: extra large eggs, croissants, coffee and fresh orange juice set out at a café near the Bastille

Once upon a vine

  

With over a hundred fifty years of life left in it, a landmark wisteria vine in a hidden corner that shaded over a century of terrace diners was tragically damaged during renovations, and removed.

Below: in its former glory

 (click to enlarge)