Furstemberg Friday

 

The tranquility of Place de Furstemberg on a summer day.

 

 

Café contact

 

 

Walking up to the old zinc bar in Café La Palette.

 

***

 

I hardly noticed the older gentleman who'd shuffled up next to me at the cafe’s zinc bar and now stood at my side. The morning hummed with the scent of roasted coffee beans and the faintest air of magic. So far, we were the only ones at the counter, each absorbed in our own tiny espresso cup. 

 

"Excusez-moi Madame. Pourriez-vous me passer le sucre?” he murmured, leaning in slightly closer. I slid the sugar bowl his way, and he smiled. That was the moment I realized I was peering into the eyes of Marcello Mastroianni, yes that Marcello, a man whose films I adored with a fervor reserved for truffles and rainy afternoons. Here was the dashing Italian heart-throb, the on (and off)-screen suitor to some of the world’s most famous and beautiful actresses, all charm and elegance. Curiously he'd always reminded me a little of my own dear father. And now, this man whose cheeks bore a scruffy shadow, his long coat draped like a weary traveler’s cloak, wearing a hat and neckscarf giving him the air of having just wandered off the pages of a storybook - I remember thinking he fell short of being short - was looking at me with a twinkle in his eye: he recognized that I’d recognized him. And that was enough. Nothing more was said, nothing needed to be said. Not that long after I was to learn that he lived a short distance from Café La Palette and sadly, had passed away. - BPJ

 

MARCELLO MASTROIANNI

1924 - 1996

 

***

 

Even the most miserable life is better than a sheltered existence in an organized society where everything is calculated and perfected. - Steiner to Mastroanni in "La Dolce Vita"

 

 

 

 

Window Wednesday

 

 

Natural light floods the bookshop inside Halle Saint-Pierre, a former market.

Table Tuesday

A table on a square in the Latin Quarter.

 

Monday mouthful

 

Delectable crêpes to start off the week.

 

Above: galettes (savory sarrasin buckwheat flour crêpes) accompanied by crisp Brittany pear cider

 

Breizh Café 

Paris

"La crêpe autrement"

 

 

 

 

Sit-down Saturday

A place to read and reflect.

 

Stairs and stares

 

 

Under the stares.

Above: an intimate café at the bottom of a Montmartre stairway

 ***

Stairways are a defining feature of Montmartre's hilly streets and bohemian charm. A recent post, “Sunday sipping,“ received so many views that I thought they deserve a little more attention than I've been giving them.

 

Their steep, often uneven steps - like the famous 222 leading to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica - offer breathtaking views of the city while connecting quaint cobblestone paths lined with artists’ studios, cafés, and ivy-draped buildings. Immortalized in art and film, they evoke a romantic, enduring Paris, where each climb feels like a journey into history (or a full workout!), from the days of Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec to the vibrant street performers of today. - BPJ