Faux spring

Unseasonably warm weather is bringing out shorts and terrace tables.

Crêpe craze

A crêpe in the afternoon.

Above: dessert crêpe filled w/roasted apples and topped w/salted butter caramel, vanilla ice cream maison, Chantilly whipped cream and on the side, a Calvados shooter

Horse sense

A life-sized sculpture of a horse as a lamp base.

Love is on the wall

Section of Montmartre's Love Wall showing "I love you" in English.

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. 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 homemade 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 (in this case a succulent lamb roast).

Magic steps

Steps where Owen Wilson's character waits every night to be taken back to 1920s Paris in Woody Allen comedy film, "Midnight In Paris."

Caviart

For caviar fans a wall sculpture of caviar flowing from faucets.

 

***

 

Galeries d'art contemporain

 

Place des Vosges

Face on a corner

More Montmartre graffiti.

From the top

View from a Montmartre stairway.

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 -

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

La vie en couleurs

Playful sculptures line a passage under a canopy of bright umbrellas.

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]  

 

💘

 

Be mine

Some desserts are irresistible.

Arnaud Larher

Pâtissier et Chocolatier

53 rue Caulaincourt 75018

Narrowly

A Paris street after a light rain.

Have a heart

For Valentine's Day extra large meringue hearts are set out in a pâtisserie.

 

💘

 

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

Café boulangerie

Fresh pastries and prize-winning breads on a Marais side street.

Un vrai parisien

Clutching a baguette he stops at his front door.

Cité

Métro station entrance on Île de la Cité.

Le chocolat

Chocolate in Paris: a sweet obsession.

February newsletter
Nouveautés

Queen of the hill

The Basilica of Sacré Coeur crowns the highest hilltop in Paris.

 

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

Nouveautés

Graffitiart

There is graffiti and then there is graffiti.