Mona Monday

Mona Lisa looks out from a gallery window with the reflection of a cobbled square behind.

Waffling

 

What better on a rainy day in Paris than an afternoon of homemade waffles, chilled apple cider and spiced coffee....

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 The batter for these French gaufres, a family recipe of a friend's grandmother in Burgundy, is made with yeast. Their background flavor reminded me of my mother's delectable small Bohemian yeast pancakes that were usually preceded by a traditional vegetable soup with potatoes and cabbage. Accompanied by cinnamon sugar and melted butter, they'd disappear the second they flipped out of the pan. - BPJ 

 

Lone star

 Most Christmas decorations have been removed, but a few stragglers will hold out until the last day of January when the holiday season is officially over.

Dead of winter

 

 

Montmartre's Saint Vincent cemetery on a cold January day.

Night walk

At the top of the butte the smaller church of Saint Pierre, lit up.

 (click to enlarge)

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 Thank you C and R

 

Café to go

 

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All over Paris coffee lovers who've been cut off from their local cafés can be spotted meandering semi-conscious in search of a decent cup. But it's not just coffee they're craving, otherwise they would stay home and brew their own. No, these are the displaced, whose cafés were abruptly shuttered, thus cruelly shutting down a lifestyle, a French lifestyle, of savoring time, with coffee as the backdrop.  

 

But thankfully, with each confinement many cafés, boulangeries, pâtisseries and small shops that weren't in the business of selling drinks-to-go have risen to the task. No one is complaining about the once annoying noisiness of espresso machines, now a welcome sound. Or pointing at tourists carrying drinks while walking around, until now a very un-French habitude.

 

Parisians are finding these stop-and-go places set up to sell coffee their sole reprieve. Sometimes there will be pastries, sandwiches and crêpes. And if they happen to live in a neighborhood where many know each other, such as Montmartre, these quick coffee stops will provide a welcome excuse to speed socialize and catch up on local gossip - which makes taking a walk something to look forward to. - BPJ

 

Above: a coffee roaster shop makes use of its burlap coffee bags to show they now have coffee to go

 

Below: freezing weather doesn't deter this man in flip flops, T-shirt, and shorts; a café-turned-hot-drinks-street-food vendor w/plenty of hand gel on hand on a side table

 

Note:

 The latest curfew begins each evening at 6 p.m. and ends at 6 a.m.

(exceptions: if you have a dog to walk, a signed attestation to justify why you are out. If nature calls toilettes will be off limits - however a need to step outside for a smoke isn't.

 

  

  

 

Take it away

 

Perfect for roaming....

With seemingly never ending lockdowns and curfews, and despite days growing colder, leaving the sofa to stretch legs and inhale fresh air has become a daily essential. 

Atop (or at the foot of) Montmartre stairways and on its winding streets, expect unexpected enclaves that harbor comfort in the form of familiar faces and hot drinks, but only à emporter - to take away. - BPJ

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  Tip: whatever small or medium drink you order - espresso, tea, café noisette, hot chocolate... - ask for a large cup to be able to balader without spilling or having to fumble with plastic lids

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 - Tomorrow: more emporter -