Soaring Saturday

 

Love Locks shimmer at the foot of the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmarte.

 

Floral Friday

 The "Flower Bar" inside the entrance of Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche. 

Thoughtful Thursday

 

 

A perfect book nook at a café-librairie in the Marais district.

 

A door adorned

 

The Art Nouveau door on Avenue Rapp.

 ***

  The Art Nouveau movement, characterized by flowing lines, natural motifs, and innovative materials like iron, glass, and ceramics, left its mark on various buildings across Paris. This door, a prime example at 29 Avenue Rapp, designed by Jules Lavirotte in 1901, is a top contender for the most beautiful door in Paris.

When the door first appeared, it caused a stir for its intricate carvings, lavish sculptural ornamentation such as Adam and Eve and the door's rumored naughty overtones, which only added to its allure. 

Despite soaring popularity, the movement began to fade around the early 1910s, its decline often linked to the onset of World War I in 1914. By then, the style’s exuberant, ornate designs began to give way to the more geometric and streamlined forms of Art Deco which better suited the post-war desire for modernity and simplicity.

Today there are Art Nouveau touches all over the city if one but keeps their eyes open. Probably the best-known and most-spotted are Hector Guimard's whimsical metro station entrances. - BPJ

 

Table talk Tuesday

Lunchtime, Place des Vosges:

"A splash of historic architecture with our salads, please."

 

Mocha Monday

 Wrapped in the warm glow of a classic Parisian café off Avenue George V. 

 

Fête des Mères

Joyeuse Fête des Mères 2025

***

 Does Paris "do" brunch? visitors often ask. Not only has Paris wholeheartedly embraced le brunch in recent years, but it's transformed the Anglo-Saxon breakfast-lunch hybrid into a quintessentially French affair. From cozy bistros to trendy cafés, the city buzzes with options, as seen on sites like OuBruncher? or through any quick search for "best brunch spots in Paris.” Locals and visitors alike flock to homey favorites like La Bossue in Montmartre for its we-adore-you Grandma! decor and generous buffet to Carette for its breakfast spread. With endless variations of croissants, avocado toasts, luscious pains perdus, pastries and perfectly paired cafés au lait, Paris has made brunch a stylish celebration, especially fitting for La Fête des Mères. For mothers - and others. Enjoy! - BPJ

Some instagram-worthy plates can be had at: 

 

Café Ella 

Le Boissy d'Anglais

PomPom
Kafkaf

Perdue
Kozy

Le Ju'
Café Berry
Les Bariolés de Maud

La Poutinerie

Cakepart
Le Loulou Friendly Diner
Jackpot
Oni Coffee Shop
Wild and the Moon
The Wild Bakery
Immersion
Azur Café
Jozi Brunch
Holybelly
Ob-La-Di
Sunday In Soho

Brunch Crêperie Balard

La Bossue

Decadent, elegant, expensive:

 

La Cuisine at Le Royal Monceau

Grand Brunch at the Ritz

The Prince de Galles

Café 52 at Grand Powers

La Bauhinia ("orchid tree" in English) at the Shangri-La

 

🌹

 

More great places to brunch in Paris on Mothers Day weekend. And beyond.

Saturday sighting

 A blackbird is spotted at this Left Bank café, where buttermilk chicken is the plat du jour.

 

Floral Friday

 

When a gift shop on a Montmartre side street turns out to be a delightful florist.

 

Thoughtful Thursday

 

A point to ponder at a Left Bank gallery vernissage.

 

Window Wednesday

 

Visually rich, high quality editions of coffee table books:  art, architecture, design, photography, pop culture.

 

Taschen

2 rue de Buci 75006

Mocha Monday

Early coffee from a sleepy fishing village somewhere on the French Atlantic coast.

 

Savory Saturday

 

 

Stepping into Le Procope, Paris’s oldest café founded in 1686 by Sicilian visionary Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, is stepping into a living museum of revolutionary ideas and literary brilliance. And it's a pretty fine restaurant too.

***

Nestled in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, this iconic spot was the beating heart of the Enlightenment, where Voltaire sipped his legendary 40 cups of coffee a day, Diderot penned Encyclopédie entries, and Benjamin Franklin hashed out alliances that shaped nations. Its walls, adorned with 1830s “Liberty Equality” wallpaper - and even one of Napoleon’s hats - echo the French Revolution’s fervor. This is where Robespierre and Danton conspired, and where the Phrygian cap of liberty made its debut. It became a hub for intellectuals like Voltaire and Rousseau, fostering Enlightenment ideas.

Today Le Procope serves up classic French dishes like Boeuf Bourguignon and Baba au Rhum (above) alongside a storied past, crystal chandeliers and wrought-iron balconies (listed as historical monuments), casting a spell over intellectuals, artists, and curious diners alike. - BPJ

 Below: upstairs, tables and rooms can be reserved for private groups

 

 

Le Procope 

13 rue de l'Ancienne Comédie 75006

 

Floral Friday

 

A spring day in the Jardin des Tuileries.

 

Window Wednesday

 

  

This stylish coffee shop housed at the entrance of the Galerie Richer, a former passage, is a standout with its soaring black wrought-iron glass portal, elegant old-world interior and high-quality, ethically sourced Arabica beans, roasted in-house at their Saint-Ouen atelier.

 

NOIR

33 rue Richer 75009

 

Terrace Tuesday

 A sunny afternoon on the Left Bank.

Mocha Monday

A trio of mini desserts: a Mothers Day Café Gourmand

Above: an espresso takes a back seat to crème brûlée, a crumbly pastry, a scoop of salted butter caramel ice cream

***

For those with a sweet tooth the Café Gourmand, often mistakenly passed over as "gourmet coffee," is a welcome sight on any menu. It's that delightful after-meal espresso served with at least three mini desserts posing as one. A unique French coffee-plus-sweet pairing concept, it's perfect for sharing, or just sampling some of the day’s desserts without going overboard on sugar. - BPJ

 ***

Fête des Mères / Mothers Day in France 2025:

Sunday May 25

🌹

 

Stand-up Sunday

 

From her vintage hairdo to her polka-dot heels she might have stepped out of another era. Except for the phone.

 

Sit-down Saturday

 

Friends enjoy brunch on a tree-shaded Montmartre square.

Fashion Friday

 Emporio Armani's bold new collection.

 

Above: elegance meets the wild spirit of a galloping stallion

Victory Day

 

Hello kitty.

At iconic English language bookstore Shakespeare and Company.

  ***

Today is La Fête de la Victoire in France, a national holiday commemorating the end of WWII in Europe and a day off for schools and businesses. There will be solemn ceremonies, parades and wreath-laying at war memorials with a key event in Paris where the French President leads a military parade along the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe and lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The French tricolor flag will be prominently displayed alongside other European flags to symbolize post-war peace and unity. - BPJ

 

Treeful Tuesday

 Tranquility on a Montmartre square.

Medieval Monday

 

 

An after-dinner promenade through the Marais district.

 

 Above: Rue des Rosiers, gateway to the old Jewish "Pletzl," at night

 

 

Serene Saturday

 

Passersby saunter past an impromptu group of musicians on the Pont des Arts.

 

Floral Friday

 

 

Flowers peek out to watch lovers stroll by.

Fête du Travail

 

 

May Day mania sweeps Paris on La Fête du Travail every May 1st when work grinds to a halt and the sweet fragrance of tiny muguets fill street corners and florists' doorways.