Scenic Saturday

 

When the ATMs have better views than your hotel.

Merde! Monday

 

One of the first expressions that newcomers to France might encounter. A lot.

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Besides the obvious, ”Merde!” in theater and ballet circles (where saying "bonne chance" is basically inviting disaster) means, "break a leg." The tradition supposedly dates back to horse-and-carriage days when a pile of merde outside a venue meant tons of wealthy patrons had shown up and a packed house was guaranteed. In the sidewalk version, Paris newcomers dodging canine landmines who step in doggie doo, depending on which foot, discover it can be a lucky break: plant your left foot, and voilà, “C’est pas grave, c’est le pied gauche!” (“It’s ok, it’s the left foot!”). The right? Doom and despair, naturally. So when life hands you merde, it could be that your luck is about to change. - BPJ
 

Soup's on

 

Une petite envie (craving) for Chinese in Paris?

With three Chinatowns and a Japantown in the Opéra district with every Asian cuisine you can think of, the choices seem endless.

Above: gigantic bowls of Chinese soups take the edge off a cold afternoon

  Below: shared starters

 

 

La Taverne de ZHAO Opera

16 rue Saint-Augustin 75002

 

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Quartiers Asiatiques in Paris:

Belleville Chinatown - 20th arrondissement

 

Golden Triangle -13th arrondissement: Avenue Choisy, Avenue d'Ivry, Rue Tolbiac

Quartier Temple and Arts-et-Métiers - 3rd arrondissement 

 

Japantown - 2nd arrondissement: start at rue Saint-Anne off Avenue de l'Opéra

 

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Chinese New Year Paris

Starts Saturday February 10 - Check link for updates

Mocha Monday

 

 

That first morning comptoir coffee among familiar faces.

 

 

Fooding Friday

 

 

 

 

 

Food shopping near Place Saint-Georges.

 

Épicerie Causses

55 rue Notre-Dame de Lorette 75009

Walkway Wednesday

One of the prettiest walkways in Paris.

 

Tête-à-tête Tuesday

 A romantic rendez-vous with noisy trash pickup trucks as background.

Woman with dogs

 

In Paris, it's not unusual to see dogs inside cafés.

 

Bonnes rentrées

                                                                  

 

Today is la rentrée scolaire, first day of back-to-school. 

Above: a mom adjusts her young charges before resuming an uphill climb

 

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See Nouveautés

Dry run

 

 

Soon after the rain stopped these pompiers left the caserne to get in some exercise.

Green is for garbage

In Paris, trash pickup is impressively coordinated and just another part of life en ville. It's also color coordinated: from the trucks, poubelles and an assortment of street-cleaning vehicles to the outfits worn by the workers and even broom bristles, everything is green. Trash is collected seven days a week, usually in the evening and often, annoyingly, at rush hour. For a city that's grève-prone Paris seems to have remarkably few trash strikes, and the familiar banging of bins being emptied into the jaws of whirring trucks is taken in stride. Even when a truck is blocking a street, stopping at almost every door, otherwise quick-to-honk Parisians stuck in their cars behind will patiently wait in deference. Most apartment buildings are equipped with separate receptacles for recycling bottles and plastic provided by La Ville de Paris, and depositories for discarded clothing can be found in every neighborhood. Trash pickup is so efficient that within an hour after the last cabbage has been cleared off the last stall, closing a street market, it's difficult to tell that a market had ever been there at all. - BPJ

Above: a green trash pickup truck lumbers down a narrow street near the Eiffel Tower

Below: here comes the masked brigade

Bread and flowers

There are mornings where you wake up feeling absolutely amazing. It's a gorgeous day, you're up and out early (you leave him sleeping), and when you step inside your corner boulangerie, flowers - ok these were not real - are on the counter. Today is that kind of morning.

Have a super weekend... BPJ

Vins du jour

 

A café ardoise gets an update of the day's wines.

Café culture

No shortage of cafés in Paris to unwind over coffee. For hours.

Twizy

"Twizy" Renault's all-electric two-seater can zip around narrow Paris streets.

Pucking around

Roller hockey in full force on the Place Saint-Sulpice.

Changing a kiosk

A Paris kiosk gets its posters replaced.

Aftermath

It's a strange sensation to walk down streets and see photos of the dead; neighbors, familiar faces posted in doorways where they lived.