Hound dog

This Basset Hound was like this for the entire duration of our meal.

Goût de brioche

These flaky brioches oozing with pink pralines are the answered prayers of fans of Guy Savoy whose three-star restaurant is around the corner from his tiny shop on rue Mazarine.

Horse meet

Another red and green café, this one on market street rue Cler, was once a chevaline: a butcher shop specializing in horsemeat.

Halfway there

To decorate this already Christmas-y red and green café all that was added was a small tree, a few penguins, and voilà.

Eiffel's tower

The Assemblée Nationale from across the river with the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

First café

 On my first move to Paris the Café La Palette was just three doors away and to this day I still consider it *my* café, especially on weekends. Today, as others we know from the quartier join us, by 11 a.m. our table for two might become two or three tables pushed together. - BPJ

Above: photograph of Francis Ford Coppola who has an apartment nearby and is an "habitué" when he's in Paris, hangs above a mirror in the front room

Holding out

These decorations in front of l'Hôtel de Ville will stay up until the last day of January, when the holidays in France are officially over. Below, lit up at night.