Waiting to be joined by a special friend at Café La Palette.
15 August 2025
14 August 2025
13 August 2025
Perfect weather Wednesday
Beautiful weather means dining al fresco.
Above: an Italian treasure hidden in a leafy courtyard
Pinot Grigio
Village Saint Paul
7 rue Charlemagne 75004
(open in August)
***
The period of Roman occupation of Paris (then called Lutetia) lasted about 500 years and left much behind including roads, baths, a forum, an amphitheater and some of the best Italian restaurants, markets and shops outside of Italy.
September newsletter:
Best Italian, Paris
12 August 2025
Travel Tuesday
Looking back: spending time with loved ones off the French Atlantic coast.
Above: up early to the smell of fresh coffee and croissants
***
Brittany islands
3 hours (or less) from Paris
11 August 2025
Meander Monday
The Latin Quarter, a favorite quartier to just wander.
***
I've seen it more than once. A starry-eyed tourist steps into Paris’s Quartier Latin, imagining there will be rumba in the streets. She’s packed a bright sundress and practiced a few merengue moves, hoping she'll come across a vibrant fiesta or at least a few Havana-style clubs. But instead of sambas and paso dobles she finds quiet cobblestone alleys filled with bookshops and cafés with students arguing about the latest PSG match over overpriced espresso.
In Paris, the Latin Quarter refers to that historic district on the left bank of the Seine, centered around the Sorbonne University in the 5th and 6th arrondissements. Its name, far from implying a Latino culture, originates from the Middle Ages when Latin was the lingua franca of academia.
In the 12th century Paris became a major intellectual hub with the founding of the University of Paris, later the Sorbonne. Students and scholars, drawn from across Europe, communicated in Latin, the universal language of learning. The area around the university filled with schools, monasteries, and student lodgings and became known as the "Quartier Latin”: Latin was spoken in lectures, debates, and daily life. By the 13th century, the district was hosting figures like Thomas Aquinas and over time, the Latin Quarter retained its academic and bohemian character.
By the 19th and 20th centuries, it evolved into a hub for artists, writers, and intellectuals, with cafés and bookshops like Shakespeare and Company drawing luminaries such as Hemingway and Sartre. Its narrow, medieval streets like Rue de la Huchette and landmarks like the Panthéon, Sorbonne University and great domed l'Institut de France cemented its reputation as a cultural and intellectual heart of Paris. - BPJ
In Paris, the Latin Quarter refers to that historic district on the left bank of the Seine, centered around the Sorbonne University in the 5th and 6th arrondissements. Its name, far from implying a Latino culture, originates from the Middle Ages when Latin was the lingua franca of academia.
In the 12th century Paris became a major intellectual hub with the founding of the University of Paris, later the Sorbonne. Students and scholars, drawn from across Europe, communicated in Latin, the universal language of learning. The area around the university filled with schools, monasteries, and student lodgings and became known as the "Quartier Latin”: Latin was spoken in lectures, debates, and daily life. By the 13th century, the district was hosting figures like Thomas Aquinas and over time, the Latin Quarter retained its academic and bohemian character.
By the 19th and 20th centuries, it evolved into a hub for artists, writers, and intellectuals, with cafés and bookshops like Shakespeare and Company drawing luminaries such as Hemingway and Sartre. Its narrow, medieval streets like Rue de la Huchette and landmarks like the Panthéon, Sorbonne University and great domed l'Institut de France cemented its reputation as a cultural and intellectual heart of Paris. - BPJ
10 August 2025
9 August 2025
Sandwich Saturday
With many boulangeries closed during August this Montmartre gem will remain open.
Pâtisserie Boulangerie Boris Lumé
48 rue Caulaincourt 75018
Closed Mondays / Tuesdays
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