Unseasonably warm weather is bringing out shorts and terrace tables.
28 February 2019
Faux spring
Labels:
cafes of paris
,
coffee
,
photography
,
springtime in paris
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
27 February 2019
26 February 2019
Love is on the wall
Labels:
art
,
love wall
,
montmartre
,
romance
,
street art
,
urban art
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
25 February 2019
Deux entrées
In France, an entrée is the starter course, the appetizer, the entry to the meal (makes sense, doesn't it?), not the main course, as in the USA, and every course is carefully thought out so that the entire meal adheres together as a whole.
Above: two entrées - a platter of lobster preceded by home-made foie gras de canard w/its confit d'oignons (caramelized onions) and still-warm toast, to be followed by a main course such as a roast and veggies
Labels:
appetizers
,
entrees
,
fooding
,
french lifestyle
,
gastronomy
,
starters
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
23 February 2019
Magic steps
Steps where Gil Pender (played by Owen Wilson) waits every night to be taken back to 1920s Paris in Woody Allen comedy, Midnight In Paris.
Labels:
architecture
,
film sets
,
filmmaking
,
movies
,
photography
,
woody allen
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
22 February 2019
Caviart
For caviar fans a wall sculpture of caviar flowing from faucets.
***
Galeries d'art contemporain
Place des Vosges
Labels:
caviar
,
food as art
,
fooding
,
gastronomy
,
marais
,
photography
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
21 February 2019
Face on a corner
Labels:
art
,
bicycles
,
graffiti
,
montmartre
,
photography
,
street art
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
20 February 2019
My tribute to Karl
An illustrator presents fashion legend Karl Lagerfeld with his portrait, October 2015, Paris.
***
The name Karl Lagerfeld was, and always will be, associated with innovative, elegant couture - and the House of CHANEL. Wherever he went, he was like a rock star: legions of fans and paparazzi crushed to be near him.
***
The name Karl Lagerfeld was, and always will be, associated with innovative, elegant couture - and the House of CHANEL. Wherever he went, he was like a rock star: legions of fans and paparazzi crushed to be near him.
The first time I saw him was completely unexpected. It was an early fall morning in 2008, and I was off to La Palette, a favorite café just doors from my first Paris apartment on rue de Seine. Men dressed completely in black had made a tight circle around someone, but who, at a terrace table. Black limos were parked halfway onto sidewalks because of the narrow streets, and when I pushed my way past, there He sat, holding court.
It was then I recalled a near-miss brush with "Karl" as he was simply referred to, well before: it was the 90s and I was on rue de Rivoli during Fashion Week. People were swirling everywhere when a well-dressed older man tapped me on the shoulder as I started to cross the street and handed me his card. He was a models' agent, and asked me to call and leave my information in case they needed "replacement models" on the runways that week. But I was leaving the next day to join family in Rome, and never did. Sometime later I was to learn that he represented Karl Lagerfeld.
It was then I recalled a near-miss brush with "Karl" as he was simply referred to, well before: it was the 90s and I was on rue de Rivoli during Fashion Week. People were swirling everywhere when a well-dressed older man tapped me on the shoulder as I started to cross the street and handed me his card. He was a models' agent, and asked me to call and leave my information in case they needed "replacement models" on the runways that week. But I was leaving the next day to join family in Rome, and never did. Sometime later I was to learn that he represented Karl Lagerfeld.
In 2010, I was to run into The Karl again, but this time in New York. It was a rainy night and I'd just finished a long lovely dinner at Soho fixture The Mercer Kitchen with actor Denis Leary and his wife Ann, whom I'd met in Paris. Denis was filming his series Rescue Me and they had an apartment nearby. It was late when we parted and I would wait upstairs in the lobby for friends to pick me up. There, much to my surprise, sat Karl Lagerfeld, at a corner table, scribbling on a notepad. Alone. Surreally, it was just the two of us, and he was All Karl: the fingerless gloves, the white hair tightly pulled into that familiar ponytail, dressed in black from head to toe. And for one moment, we smiled at each other, wanly; outside the rain had turned into a thunderstorm.
Over the years there were to be a couple more Paris sightings and in late 2015, invited to a private preview of his photography called, "Karl Lagerfeld: A Visual Journey," I was to see him for the last time (see blog post, Karl Who?). We'd gone to the exhibition with an eccentric French photographer--who turned out to be the photographer who took Melania Trump's controversial nude photos--and, like the maestro he was, Lagerfeld arrived, unfashionably on time, followed by an adoring and fawning entourage. An exceptional photographer, he had a great eye for beauty. No surprise there. Beauty, he'd say, was his obsession. But he was unforgiving when it came to the obese, the grossly overweight, of those, he said, who became like that for no other reason than "letting themselves go," blaming "fat people" for all "societal woes" [Vox 2/19/2019]. And he could talk: for much of his life he had struggled with his own weight issues.
Once, at the CHANEL boutique on rue Cambon, Coco Chanel's first Paris shop and where she had an apartment, an elderly French woman told me something I never forgot. She said that in spite of his "severe looks" Karl Lagerfeld was "a very thoughtful and kind man" and a "pleasure" to work for. She'd known the CHANEL years and had worked for both. She said that when Coco Chanel arrived to work, it was almost like a "Devil Wears Prada" scene: as Ms. Chanel approached employees would whisper, "She's coming!" to each other and assume their best posture and behavior. But Karl Lagerfeld, she said, made them feel motivated and relaxed, which led to great productivity. He'd greet every employee individually and remember personal details from their lives, such as whether someone's grandmother was in hospital.
Agree with him or not, Karl Lagerfeld was a fashion genius, and his legacy will surely live on. - BPJ
Agree with him or not, Karl Lagerfeld was a fashion genius, and his legacy will surely live on. - BPJ
R.I.P. Karl
Labels:
art
,
celebrities
,
chanel
,
fashion
,
french women won't get fat
,
karl lagerfeld
,
photography
,
press
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
19 February 2019
From the top
Labels:
architecture
,
montmartre
,
photography
,
stairways
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
18 February 2019
Plugged in
Café culture and laptops: Compatible - ou pas?
Above: it's closing time and a customer who's been nursing a café crème for hours disconnects his laptop from the café's internet and prepares to leave
Below: due to high turnover most Anglo-run coffee shops and torréfacteurs don't allow laptops on weekends
- Soon in The Good Life France Magazine -
Labels:
cafe culture
,
cafes
,
french culture
,
internet
,
restaurants
,
wi-fi
,
work spaces
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
16 February 2019
A time for tajine
Rien de tel qu’un bon tajine pour se réchauffer....
Paris'
packed restaurants make it seem like *everyone* is always eating out,
but like most Parisians, I prefer my own cuisine: you will note that cuisine
in French means... kitchen. (As a child in the U.S. we had an uncle who
used to visit and, at the table, he'd roll his eyes back while blotting his
lips and tell my mother, in his French accent, "I love your kitchen!")
There is no getting around the maghrébine gastronomic influence in the capital, and on cold evenings there's nothing like a hearty tajine.
Its cone entraps the steam and inverses it, slow cooking ingredients on the lowest heat
possible. A perfect winter dish, tajines contrast sweet, salty, spices and textures, and create a combo of flavors that are both satisfying and decadent at once. - BPJ
Above: sea bream w/caramelizzed garlic, onions, spices and eggplant melt into a
sauce
Below: skinless chicken breasts (I prefer with skin) w/leeks, dried
apricots, almonds; salmon tajine w/green olives, artichoke, cilantro, preserved lemon; a serving of lamb tajine w/garlic, toasted almonds, chick peas, cinnamon, dried figs atop couscous
Labels:
couscous
,
fooding
,
gastronomy
,
maghrebine
,
tagines
,
winter in paris
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
Post Valentine
Labels:
photography
,
romance
,
saint valentin
,
valentine's day
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
15 February 2019
La vie en couleurs
Labels:
art
,
fashion
,
madeleine
,
paris passages
,
right bank
,
village royal
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
14 February 2019
Heart filled
Yves Saint Laurent's flirty heart-shaped bag.
Happy Saint Valentin 2019
[Still time to reserve at Alain Ducasse's Oré restaurant at Château de Versailles for an exclusive Valentine's Day Dinner]
[Still time to reserve at Alain Ducasse's Oré restaurant at Château de Versailles for an exclusive Valentine's Day Dinner]
Labels:
#ysl
,
fashion
,
luxury
,
romance
,
yves saint laurent left bank
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
13 February 2019
Be mine
Labels:
chocolate
,
fooding
,
french pastries
,
montmartre
,
saint valentin
,
valentine's day
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
12 February 2019
Narrowly
Labels:
architecture
,
cobblestones
,
history
,
marais
,
paris in the rain
,
photography
,
right bank
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
11 February 2019
Have a heart
Labels:
french pastries
,
montmartre
,
saint valentin
,
valentine's day
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
9 February 2019
Old-time papeterie
A rare place: everything from wax to seal envelopes and unique stationery to inkwell pens and hand-crafted place cards to enhance a dinner party table.
Mélodies Graphiques
10 rue du Pont Louis-Philippe 75004
Labels:
french lifestyle
,
papeteries
,
specialty shops paris
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
8 February 2019
Café boulangerie
Labels:
cafes of paris
,
coffee
,
croissants
,
fooding
,
meilleur ouvrier
,
pastries
,
photography
,
streets of paris
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
7 February 2019
Un vrai parisien
Labels:
baguettes
,
dogs of paris
,
french lifestyle
,
photography
,
true parisian
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
6 February 2019
Cité
Labels:
architecture
,
art nouveau
,
bicycles
,
flower markets
,
ile de la cite
,
metro
,
photography
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
5 February 2019
Le chocolat
Labels:
cacao
,
chocolat
,
chocolateries paris
,
fooding
,
french chocolate
,
gourmet
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
4 February 2019
Queen of the hill
Labels:
architecture
,
basilica
,
montmartre
,
photography
,
winter in paris
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
2 February 2019
Standing order
No stools or chairs here: find a space and squeeze in at the counter for innovative French tapas and fabulous wines by the glass or bottle.
Above: grilled croque monsieur of comté cheese and black truffles
Yves Camdeborde, chef de cuisine
L'Avant Comptoir de la Terre
3 Carrefour de l'Odéon 75006
February newsletter
L'Avant Comptoir de la Terre
3 Carrefour de l'Odéon 75006
February newsletter
Labels:
bistronomy
,
cuisine
,
fooding in paris
,
french tapas
,
gastronomy
,
gourmet
,
left bank
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
1 February 2019
Graffitiart
Labels:
architecture
,
graffiti
,
montmartre
,
photography
,
street art
Posted by
Barbara Pasquet James
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