I Prefer Paris

Orsay Week Part 4

I love the riot of color in these fun furniture sculptures that were part of the Art Nouveau exhibit. I'm sorry but I do not remember the name of the designer who did such a brilliant job designing them.If anybody knows who did, please leave it in the comments section.  

This is the last part of the series. Did you enjoy it?

Musee Orsay

1 rue de la Légion d'Honneur, 7th arr.
Metro:Solferino
http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/home.html  

 

Coming soon: Eye Prefer New York Tours

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Orsay Week Part 3

Here are some random photos of architectural details inside and outside the museum.

Renaud Bardon, Pierre Colboc and Jean-Paul Philippon were the designers of the museum and Italian architect Gae Aulenti oversaw the design of the conversion from 1980 to 1986.

Musee Orsay

1 rue de la Légion d'Honneur, 7th arr.
Metro:Solferino
http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/home.html

Coming soon: Eye Prefer New York Tours

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Orsay Week Part 2

Europe- Alexandre Schoenewerk

These regal women are on the right side of the entrance plaza to the museum. Noting the signs next to them,the iron statues are sculpted by different artists and were commissioned for the 1878 World's Fair/L' Exposition Universelle. They represent the continents and were presented at the Trocadero. The names of the sculptors and the continent are under each photo.

Musee Orsay

1 rue de la Légion d'Honneur, 7th arr.

Metro:Solferino
http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/home.html

Australia- Mathurin Moreau

South America- Aime Millet

North America- Eugene Hiolle

Africa-Eugene Delaplanche

 
Asia- Alexandre Falguiére

Coming soon: Eye Prefer New York Tours

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Orsay Week Part 1

I went to the 'Orsay in January and hadn't been in a while. After seeing the Art Nouveau exhibit, my "eye" caught a trove of architectural details inside and outside the museum that I never noticed before. I snapped so many photos that I thought it was worthy of a week series.

Today it's the granite floors in the plaza outside the museum with bold angular inlays of marble. I consider these works of art that could be inside the museum.

The Orsay Museum, a former Beaux-Arts railroad station built from 1898-1900, was made into a museum in 1986.The museum has the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings in the world with masterpieces by Monet, Manet, Degas, Cezanne, Seurat, Gaugin, and Van Gogh.

1 rue de la Légion d'Honneur, 7th arr.
Metro:Solferino

http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/home.html

 

Coming soon: Eye Prefer New York Tours

Coming soon: Eye Prefer New York Tours

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Nomiya at Palais de Tokyo

Nomiya is a temporary restaurant installation designed by artist Laurent Grasso atop the Palais de Tokyo, only open till July 2010 . It's set in a glass box with sweeping views of the city and the food concept is almost like a private dinner party, except you share a communal table with like minded foodie strangers. They only serve 12 people at a time for lunch and dinner and chef Giles Stassart and his team whip up four & five course inventive, modern French meals. With such limited seating, it's almost impossible to get a reservation, which are only available on line and open up daily exactly for the next 30 days at 12:01AM. I didn't have the patience to wade through this complicated, unnerving reservation process, so when browsing through the site I saw that you can go on a tour for free.

I went with my new friend Helen Rogers who was visiting from New York. I had a feeling she was an adventurous soul like me, and she said an emphatic yes to my invitation. Nomiya also has cooking classes, so we came in on the tail end of a kids baking class, where they were putting the finishing touches on some yummy chocolate concoction. We climbed the stairs up to the restaurant and before we even entered, we were blown away by the views. It was dusk, so the light was magical. Once inside, the dramatic purple, blue, and pink lighting lit the view in such a romatic way.   Of course the Eiffel Tower took center stage as it always does but the amazing thing was the reflection bouncing off the other side of the window made it look like it was placed in a different spot, like an optical illusion. Try and tell which ones are actually the tower and which are reflections.

Nomiya
Palais de Tokyo
13 Ave. du President Wilson, 16th arr.
Metro:Iena
Reservations on the internet only- Good luck!
http://www.art-home-electrolux.com/en/?date=2010-6-28

Daytime view

Shot at street level day before

Coming soon: Eye Prefer New York Tours

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

Coming soon: Eye Prefer New York Tours

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

Coming soon: Eye Prefer New York Tours

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

Grand Palais

The beauty and grandeur of the Grand Palais never ceases to amaze me.I was there the other day to see the Christian Boltanksi Monumenta installation and for some inexplicable reason it underwhelmed me. My eye kept going to the stunning architectural details. Instead of snapping photos of the piles of old clothes strewn on the floor from the Boltanksi exhibit, I took some of the best photos I think I have ever taken of the the mustard colored fancy ironwork, the sweeping staircases, and the ornately embellished columns.

Currently the largest existing ironwork and glass structure in the world- 162,000 square feet- the Belle Epoque Palace was built for the 1900 World's Fair by three architects.Henri-Adolphe-Auguste Deglane was assigned the front section, Albert Louvet was given the middle, Albert-Félix-Théophile Thomas the posterior and the head architect was Charles-Louis Girault. It was also referred to as Beaux-Arts style architecture. 

Grand Palais

Avenue Winston Churchill, 8th arr.

Metro: Champs Elysees-Clemenceau

Night photo

Coming soon: Eye Prefer New York Tours

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

Courtyard Week 2: rue St. Antoine

I decided for my last Courtyard Week 2 posting I would give you a glimpse into my glamorous, star-studded, jet-set life. Oops! I'm confusing myself with George Clooney, who everybody says I look exactly like. Oops! There I go again comparing myself to god-like movie stars. OK, back down to earth now.

Different from most of the other courtyards I've shown you,the one in my building is an interior courtyard that can't be entered from the street. It's a bit modest compared to some of the grand ones I've shown you, but it's mine nevertheless. My desk/kitchen table with my computer overlooks the garden, so it is where a lot of inspiration comes from. I took some photos last August when it was almost in full bloom and some about two weeks ago covered in snow.

I have not put my address on the bottom of this post for fear I will be stalked like George. Or maybe I should, since having a stalker means you have attained a certain star status. Do I have any takers?

 

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Courtyard Week 2: 9 Place des Vosges

I am in the Place des Vosges almost every other day and I have passed this courtyard at #9 many times without ever venturing in. A few months ago I was invited to an event by Adrian Leeds at that address and discovered a maze of different courtyards, statues, cobblestone alleyways,and horse stables. I felt like I had stepped back in time to a day of horse-drawn carriages, royalty, privilege, and wealth. #9 was originally the Hotel de Chaulnes and currently houses the Academy of Architecture and one of the top restaurants in Paris, l'Ambroisie.

The Places des Vosges is the oldest square in Paris, built between 1605 and 1612 by King Henry IV. It was originally called the Place Royale because it was built for royalty (with separate buildings for the king and queen), although technically no royals ever lived there it was mostly aristocrats who resided there. It was the first instance of city planning with all the buildings being uniform and made from red brick with stone vaulted arcades. Some noted former residents include Victor Hugo, Madame Sevigne, Marion Delorme, and Cardinal Richelieu.

9 Place des Vosges, 3d arr. & 4th arr.

Metro: St. Paul, Chemin Vert, or Bastille

 

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Courtyard Week 2: 62 rue Charlot

What struck my eye about this courtyard in the Northern Marais were the grand stairways with chipped painted stairs,intricate ironwork,and unfinished painted walls behind them. I also liked the interesting perspective the refection from the mirrors gave.The apartment building was probably a hotel particulier(private home or mansion) constructed in the mid-1600s and most likely the stairways are original. 

62 rue Charlot, 3d arr.

Metro: Filles-Calvaire

 

 

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Courtyard Week 2: 15 rue du Cherche Midi

Due to the overwhelming accolades from Courtyard Week 1 last August, I am happy to bring you you Courtyard Week 2. Since last August I have tirelessly trolled the Paris streets ducking, sneaking, and fast talking my way into various courtyards.

After leaving Poilane boulangerie last month for my interview with Parisian of the Month Apollonia Poilane, I crossed the street and noticed the door ajar at 15 rue du Cherche Midi. Inside was one of the most elegant and gorgeous courtyards I have seen so far.  I couldn't believe how lush the foliage was considering it was December and a very cold one at that. I love the centerpiece of the garden,a moss covered sphinx/gargoyle-like statue. Does anybody know what kind of statue that is or what it is called?

15 rue du Cherche Midi, 6th arr.

Metro: Sevres-Babylone or Saint Sulpice

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com