Street meet

 

 

Saturday at the rue Caulaincourt vide-grenier, a sort of swap meet-flea market that means, "empty attic."

Picket fence

 A Montmartre café with a leafy picket fence evokes the feel of a French village.

Heart attack

 Turning a corner I was startled by this image of an enlarged human heart.

Cheese whisperer

 

 

Lowering his voice in reverie he will suggest the perfect cheeses for a weeknight planche.

Café at a slant

 

 A café terrace from a stairway.

Sign of the times

 

 

Mural of a runny nose on the side of a building next to the Canal Saint-Martin.

Paris by the sea #5

The end of the île.

 

Above: a stone pier ends in the sea; marmites of ultra fresh moules and prawn cocktails; view from our table

Below: interconnected courtyards of hotel; last breakfast before heading home

Paris by the sea #3

 

In the evening we'd join locals at this popular meeting spot where apéros are brought out on wooden planks specially made to grip the sea wall.

 

Above: pichet of icy rosé w/panoramic view

 

Below: seafood rillettes starter with more rosé at the wall; after, steamed prawns w/frites maison on the terrace; rent-a-bikes at La Flotte

 

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Next week: more Île de Ré

Paris by the sea #2

 

 Above: seagull en contre-jour; salt marshes just before sunset

Below: local fleur de sel for sale at a village market stall; butters sans sel, demi-sel and w/salt crystals from the island

 

Paris by the sea #1

La Flotte, Saint-Martin-de-Ré, Saint-Clément-des-Baleines, Ars-en-Ré, Les Ports-en-Ré, Loix... Just some of the villages that dot this island.

 

 Above: a harbor just after daybreak; seaside coffees w/pastries on a brisk morning

 

Below: mix of photos; bicycles, best way to get around

 

Fall in the air

 

With September, the light is noticeably changing as shadows grow longer.

À table!

Mark your calendars:

 

The meal as art.

This fall Le Musée de Sèvres will feature a one-of-a-kind exhibition, À TABLE! LE REPAS, TOUT UN ART, an ode to the very French arts de table - as well as to the artists and craftsmen who've been creating the porcelain of kings for centuries.

  

November 18, 2020 til May 16, 2021

As the date gets closer I will be posting more information

Le Musée de Sèvres  - Cité de la Céramique
2 Place de la Manufacture 92310
Sèvres (Paris)

 

***

 

Update: Sunday November 8, 2020

 - All exhibitions closed due to confinement, until further notice - 

Eiffel vista

The Eiffel Tower through columns at the Palais de Tokyo.

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Monday: Le repas, tout un art...

 

A must-see exhibition on L'Art de Table à la française coming to the Musée de Sèvres

  

Pierre Hermé: Noël en Fête

 

Readers of this blog know by now that I am a great fan of star chef pâtissier-chocolatier Pierre Hermé from Alsace, sometimes called "The Picasso of Pastry." His eye-popping pastries, cakes, chocolates, ice creams, sorbets and macarons are works of art, and this year, once again, and for the holidays, he's managed to re-invent classics and create even more extraordinary surprises.

The first time I sampled his most-buzzed-about macaron, caramel au beurre salé (caramel with salted butter a.k.a. CBS), I became an instant devotee. Despite much competition it was wickedly delicious, and I walked away with a bulging coffret. Since then I've added many more flavors from his macaron repertoire, and this season's holiday collection won't disappoint. - BPJ

Above: magical tasting reception; pink champagne and macarons (exciting new flavors - see website); rich chocolate yule logs (bûches de Noël)

Pierre Hermé Paris

(press preview)

* Upcoming Collection Noël 2020 *

 

***

 

Merci M. Hermé

Unexpected garden

 

Light penetrates trees in this small enclosed garden in Montmartre, a perfect place to bring a book.

Self isolated

 

A woman at a café table in the Louvre courtyard.

Sans culottes

Montmartre's sans-culottes march to their own beat at a joyful celebration on the butte.

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  Be in-the-know for upcoming don't-miss events in Paris' hilltop village this fall

September newsletter

View from a cup

 

Paris' cafés continue to be part of daily life, and everyone has their favorites.

Above: view from my café crème

Monumental

With Notre-Dame Cathedral under repair, the Basilica of Sacré Coeur has become the most visited monument in Paris after the Eiffel Tower.

Apéro evenings

  Small private at-home gatherings have become the default setting for many a Paris apéritif.

 

Above: apéro set out on upstairs deck; on ground floor, living room of beautiful home opens onto a spacious garden

The pause

 A cigarette phone break on a warm afternoon.

Fines of 135 euros for not wearing a mask outside went into effect last week.

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