Eve of The Dead

Years ago the French adopted Halloween, and in Paris you may spot grown-up ghosts, goblins, witches, monsters and zombies with lanterns or candles making their way to parties.

*** 

- Happy Halloween 2017 -

🎃

 

La Toussaint: All Saints' Day 

1st November

Some venues with links

Half-shell heaven

Right now raw oysters shipped in fresh daily from Brittany are at almost every brasserie in Paris.

Feuille morte

 

 

November is photography month as exhibitions take over the city including not-to-be-missed PARIS PHOTO November 9 - 12.

PARIS PHOTO 2017

Grand Palais

3 avenue du Général Eisenhower 75008

 

More windows

In the windows of LVMH giant sculptures mimic balloon animals.

Louis Vuitton
22 avenue Montaigne 75008

Color me pink

Window shopping:
Nina Ricci's Spring 2018 Collection explodes with color.

Nina Ricci

39 avenue Montaigne 75008

Wet Wednesday

All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain....
Rutger Hauer Blade Runner (1982)

- To R & F -

Sad door

An old door just before residents of the building chipped in to have it repaired.

Elegant Italian

Upscale Italian and elegant decor (with help from Philippe Starck) graces one of the oldest covered passages in Europe.

Caffè Stern

47 Passage des Panoramas

11 Boulevard Montmartre 75002 

South view

View of one of Notre Dame Cathedral's enormous stained glass rose windows through trees.

Art wall

Long painting on short street.

Man in café

A lone coffee drinker savors a read at a corner café in the Marais district.

Courtyard lunch

Waiting to be seated in courtyard at Hôtel Costes' restaurant, where Yves Saint Laurent ate lunch every day.

Hôtel Costes

239-241 rue Saint Honoré 75001

***

Exhibition: 
On the occasion of the opening of the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris
October 2017 

Forbidden fruit

  This fresco attributes Adam and Eve's fall to figs, not apples.

Amber

A church, buildings en face and paris métro sign glow amber in the early evening.

Harvest parade

Montmartre's mad annual vendanges parade celebrates the fall wine harvest, with regions from all over France represented.

Below: one of several drum bands winding through streets

And here they come... Best results w/earphones

 

Wine crawl

No shortage of cozy wine bars on the backside of the Palais-Royal.

Cheese please

To every season its cheese, and right now Paris fromageries are stocking up on Vacherin-Mont d'Or, so luscious and creamy that each is sold with its own wooden spoon for scooping.

Below: two exquisite goat's milk cheeses, one honey-coated then rolled in toasted crushed pistachios, the other teamed with avocado oil, pine nuts and whole pistachios

Basketball court

Geometric lines and bright colors evoke Mondrian on a Pigalle backstreet.

Cat on a sill

Kitty finds a comfy spot on a windowsill in the sun.

Céréal-isme

A delightful "cereal bar" complete with sofas and healthy (and not-so-healthy) choices on the tiny street where we used to live behind the Picasso Museum.

Céréal-iste

10-12 rue des Coutures Saint-Gervais 75003

Just look up

Don't miss stunning artwork decorating residential buildings.

Façade, rue Jacob

Flying pig

 

Inside chef Yves Camdeborde's exquisite French tapas and wine bar at Saint-Germain's marché couvert.

 

Below: pigs under a wine glass on front door

- Camdeborde is famously credited with launching foodie trend "bistronomy" (la bistronomie) by combining the culture of bistros with gastronomy in the early 90's -

L'Avant-Comptoir du Marché
14 rue Lobineau 75006

 

 

 

Rue Barbette

A display of off-the-radar designer bags on the corner of rue Barbette.

Jamin Puech
68 rue Vieille-du-Temple 75003 

Street scene

Book stalls, bicycles, and much activity as I exit a Left Bank librairie.

Waiting for a train

Perfect posture as she waits on a quai of the métro.

Day breaks

Invigorating fall morning from a rooftop terrace.

Distant skyline: steeples, dome of L'Académie Française, Saint-Jacques Tower, Centre Georges Pompidou

Nouveautés

Vaux-le-Vicomte fait son cinéma

A special exhibition goes behind the scenes to celebrate the many films made at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte

 

(click on photos to enlarge)

***

No sooner back from Italy it was off to Vaux-le-Vicomte -- the château about an hour's drive outside of Paris that inspired Versailles -- to an invitation-only exclusive evening where lucky guests had the run of the castle into the night.

Above: thousands of candles light our approach; chamber group welcome; costumes from some of the many movies filmed here (Man In The Iron Mask, Marie-Antoinette, James Bond Moonraker, Versailles, Three Musketeers....); a room set up and ready for filming; outstanding créatrice-costume designer Madeline Fontaine; champagne apéro-dinatoire

***

Vaux-le-Vicomte At The Movies

Ends November 5

  

3 hours (or less) from Paris: Viva Italia! #6

Today's posting is a wrap-up of our trip to this inspiring region. Many more photos as well as tips (where to stay, where to eat, getting around etc....) in upcoming October newsletter.
Ciao, Italia! - BPJ

Special thanks to Nichole, Gregorio, Jennifer, Maria-Cristina, Giordano and so many others