I Prefer Paris

Richard Afoot by Michele Kurlander

I am taking a blogging vacation this week but not leaving you high and dry without any postings or with reruns. I have invited a different guest blogger for each day, so please welcome them. Today my friend the writer, Michele Kurlander, who wrote the wonderful farewell to George Whitman from Shakespeare and Company in December, has written a very special profile about me. We spent an afternoon together about a year and a half ago prowling around the Palais Royal and the rue St. Honore finishing with a glass of Champagne at the Crillon Hotel. We had so much fun that Michele promised someday she would write an article about it, so here it is . I am most touched and honored. The photos are by Michele too. (By the way, these are my fat pictures. I have lost much weight and inches since then).

I’m returning to Paris from Chicago for another visit soon, and I hope that I again will have the opportunity to walk with Richard Nahem.   Though I have never taken one of Richard’s formal “walks,” I have, indeed, walked with Richard - and it was quite the experience.

 In September of 2010, I stayed in a friend’s apartment on Ile St Louis for almost two weeks and experienced Paris the way I like to - as a resident rather than a tourist.  I woke up when my body decided it was time, slowly dressed and packed my small purse and backpack for the day, and then either took a cup of coffee and some fruit to the computer to write - or walked slowly down to the west end of the Ile to write in my journal while seated with a coffee and croissant at the little café at the end of the street, from which I could see Notre Dame and people watch for an hour or so. 

 On my way, I passed the lovely old church, school children on their way to class, and the charming little restaurants and shops that were just opening for the day.

 One day, I also passed a familiar figure in a black beret, holding forth with gesticulations to several rapt listeners about a croissant shop and - voila! - I realized I was walking by Richard Nahem during one of his tours.  We said “hi” and both continued on.

The next day, seated at my small table, journal in hand, I turned to look at the café’ just across the street - and there he was again - surrounded by obviously happy followers. We again waved.

Finally, a day or so later, Richard and I met on purpose. When he suggested lunch I couldn’t resist. We met on rue St. Honore and  had lunch at La Regalade (while he took photos and copious notes for a review he planned).

After lunch we then strolled together towards the Petit Palais where I planned to attend the new Monet exhibit. 

What I hadn’t realized, was that even a casual walk with Richard turns into an expedition where you learn that on every street there are small things to see and remember and photograph - things that you might not otherwise notice. 

Walking by a restaurant on rue  de Rivoli, not far from the Louvre, Richard realized that the surface of each  of the little café tables sitting on the trottoir was covered with a reproduction of a painting - Renoir, Degas, Monet etc.  He couldn’t resist!  For the next 30 minutes (yes -I heard the words  “just one more” over and over again) he walked around the tables for different angles, moved an occasional obstructing chair, and just descended into his intense photographic mode.  It was fun to watch such intensity of purpose.  Here is a photo of Richard taking a photo.

From there, I pointed out to Richard a beautiful doorway - not realizing the consequences.   Our forward motion was again delayed for an extensive period of time, but I did have the opportunity to once more  study the rare subgenus of homo sapiens known as Nahem photographius.  Everyone knows how this species feels about doorways! See below for my one and only shot of the door that Richard spent ten minutes shooting from every conceivable angle. I have to admit it was a wonderful specimen. Yes, that is himself searching for his first shooting angle.

From there, we walked by a lovely garden where I photographed two people centuries apart in age in an intensely romantic clench (See below for my April and December couple clenched only the way the French can do), along with some flowers; while Richard  concentrated on the intricacies of the statuary and the landscape elements.

Finally, I watched on rue des Pyramides while Richard moved slowly from angle to angle - his eye catching the best points of view for capturing images of some of the Paris street lamps he loves to find - and at the same time I found a hanging lamp set against a threatening sky where the sun emerged from its hiding place behind a cloud just for a moment as if it represented a fleeting hope in the blackness.    I have used that photo for the cover of my first book of short stories - and I am ever grateful to Richard without whose eyes I would never have stopped to look.

Michele Kurlander is a 67-year-old Chicago corporate lawyer, writer, small business and women's issues advocate (past president of the Chicago Area Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners) mother of three grown children, and grandma of six. She fell in love with France and all things French many years ago when she first traveled to Europe as the chaperone of a younger cousin in 1967. She travels back to France at least once each year ( often two and three times), whenever her addiction overwhelms her. and keeps up her far from fluent but passable French by reading detective stories by George Simenon about Inspector Maigret. Some of her fondest memories of Paris are (i) sleeping on a bench on the third floor of Shakespeare & Co. one year, and waking to the bells of Notre Dame; (ii) spending her "big" birthdays (50, 60, and 65) in France (the first two entirely in Paris, the most recent both in Paris and in an old stone cottage in a small hamlet in the Aveyron).

 

In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New York's best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!

Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. 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. www.eyepreferparistours.com
 

 

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 Charlotteís 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, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

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

Jacqueline Luckett: Why, Oh Why, Do I Write Paris . . . ?

Jacqueline Luckett did one of our cooking classes about a year and a half ago and during our conversation while shopping at the market,  I discovered her unbridled passion for Paris. So profound is her love, it propelled her to write two novels about Paris. Her second novel, Passing Love, is hot off the presses and being released today. She describes it as " Two women dealing with lost love, secrets, and betrayal...and how Paris may hold their answers". Jacqueline has written todays blog about her fascination with Paris.

Like a character in my novel, PASSING LOVE, I’m not quite sure where my fascination with the City of Light comes from. I simply know that it’s always been there, and I’m blessed to be able to indulge it every now and then.

The first time I went to Paris, I hadn’t spoken a word of French since high school. I’d longed to see it for most of the twenty years it took me to get there. The memory of conjugated verbs and gender-based nouns took quite a while to dredge up. But I did—for the love of the language and the excitement of speaking French in France. I did tons of research, too, and made plans to see the sites and visit museums. I chucked the list at the end of my first afternoon and learned to walk purposefully, but without intention. It wasn’t until my second visit that I realized that, for me, Paris is like the fat dictionary my parents kept in our living room when I was a young girl. So many words waiting for me to discover them. A book that I could never read in one sitting, but one that I always wanted come back to.

For all of the times I’ve been, I haven't lost my passion for Paris. I hope that I never do. I try my best, each time the navette from Charles DeGaulle shuttles me toward the heart of Paris, to hold on to the feeling I had the first time I saw the city. My awe at the rushing Seine and its many bridges, the tightness of the buildings, the wide boulevards, and, of course, the Eiffel Tower off in the distance, tricking my eyes into believing it lies within my arm’s reach. With each visit, I’ve held on to my “first time” feeling. One I’ve wanted to share. On my first visit I documented my stay with photos. Since then, I’ve documented my trips with journal entries, and those words have turned into two published novels.

 English teachers and professors typically advise new writers to “write what you know.” I thought I knew Paris, but I don’t—certainly, not as well as I want to—and that’s why I keep returning, and my characters keep following me. Every trip brings a new discovery. A left or right can yield adventure, an unexpected shop, bakery, theater, bookstore, or café. New York is the only other city where I’ve had the same feeling. But, in Paris, language is the frosting on the cake. Yes, this is why my characters romp about the city, look for love in the faces of strangers, and try to discover themselves in Paris. It’s my selfish way of learning as much as I can about the place that I love.

 I write about Paris because I want to relive seeing the city for the first time. Because I want to hold on to the romance of a place where couples kiss often, freely, and without shame. Because I want to revisit all the streets that I’ve wandered and somehow memorialize them for myself, and others, so that I can pick up a book filled with my words, and recall exactly how I felt.

Jacqueline Luckett is the author of two novels in which Paris plays an important part of the story: Passing Love and Searching for Tina Turner. She lives in Northern California and travels to Paris as often as she can to practice French and sit in sidewalk cafés while drinking café crème and contemplating new story ideas.

Click here to order Passing Love from Amazon.

 http://www.jacquelineluckett.com/index.html

http://www.facebook.com/Author.JacquelineLuckett
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jackieluckett

Photos by Jacqueline Luckett

 New Eye Prefer Paris Photos for Sale

I am happy to announce the sale of a new set of prints of my Eye Prefer Paris Photos.  I am offering 20 of my most popular and iconic images for sale including my doors, architectural details, statues, and monuments. They will make great gifts for all your Francophile friends, relatives, and colleagues but don't forget to buy some for yourself.

Click here to see photos and for full details including sizes, prices, and shipping. Here is a sample of some of the photos.

 

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

Can You Afford Not to Speak French in France?

Photo by Moyan Brenn http://www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/5238558290/  

 This is a sponsored guest post about French classes.

In general, travelers who are used to visiting different places in relatively short periods of time, can speak the basics of main languages (English, Spanish, French, Italian, even Chinese). Sometimes it doesn’t have to do with having spent a long time at the place where that language is spoken, but with their general interest for languages and different cultures. When taking French courses Leeds travelers know that knowing French will enhance their trip to France in many ways. Could we travel to France without speaking French? Let’s analyze what we would encounter if we did.

So we are at the hotel, and we are ready to explore the city. Since we don’t know anyone around yet, we ask the hotel clerk (in English) where we can go first. He looks very polite, and takes out a brochure that says “Paris Bus Tour Rides”. He explains why the ride is perfect for us (among of the reasons is that the tour guide explains the history behind every place in English). It sounds quite good…until we ask for a little detail we had forgotten about, and he had skipped for some reason…the price is US$145 each person.

 Let’s think of a different scenario now, we decide to go out for a walk by ourselves. We think that a map is going to be enough to get around, so we try to find the subway. Maybe we can ask a local where the subway is, everyone knows English. So we stop an apparently nice lady to ask her where we should be heading for. She replies “This is France. We speak French here”. Yes, in France, expecting another person to speak English just because we didn’t bother to learn their language is considered rude.

We get a little hungry and stop at a Café to get a bite. The Menu is…in French! Well, why would that be surprising if we are in France?

 Maybe it is time for us to change and take responsibility during our trips. When taking French Courses Manchester students know that the only way for them to truly enjoy their trip to France is to know the language. Of course, there are more “scenarios” where lack of the language will put you in an awkward situation. Let’s avoid the problem beforehand by learning the language.

Eye Prefer Paris on Twitter

I just launched a fun new daily Twitter post- Paris Photo du Jour. Every day I will post a photo of Paris. Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/eyepreferparis

 New Eye Prefer Paris Photos for Sale

I am happy to announce the sale of a new set of prints of my Eye Prefer Paris Photos.  I am offering 20 of my most popular and iconic images for sale including my doors, architectural details, statues, and monuments. They will make great gifts for all your Francophile friends, relatives, and colleagues but don't forget to buy some for yourself.

Click here to see photos and for full details including sizes, prices, and shipping. Here is a sample of some of the photos.

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

A Farewell to George Whitman

As many of you know, George Whitman of Shakespeare and Company bookshop passed away earlier this week at the ripe age of 98. My friend, writer Michele Kurlander has written a warm and personal profile of the beloved Whitman.

GEORGE WHITMAN IS GONE

 George Whitman is dead at the age of 98, and my Paris friends are all planning to join a cortege to his Pere LaChaise funeral this week. I cannot join them, sadly, since I am imprisoned in Chicago by my client obligations and financial circumstances and can’t return to visit Paris until January.

There are many of us to whom George has always been an integral part of Paris - and to whom his death is a tragedy of indescribable proportions, notwithstanding his age and recent stroke and the obvious inevitability.

George arrived in Paris in 1948 and in 1951 he opened the now iconic Shakespeare and Company English language bookstore at 37 rue de la Bucherie - at first named Le Mistral, but later renamed after the famous bookstore that his friend Sylvia Beach had once run on Rue de L’Odeon.

Sylvia mentored and supported the likes of Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce and even published Ulysses when no one else would touch what the world then considered a scandalous book.  Like Sylvia, George has always given succor and literary encouragement to writers. He even offered young and impoverished authors a home in the store since he let them sleep on benches and behind bookshelves in exchange for duties such as book shelving, cash register manning and dishwashing  - and in exchange for following his rules, which included writing their biographies on a small portable typewriter for his archives, and reading one book a day.

He called them “tumbleweeds” and liked to quote Yeats, who wrote: “Be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise.”

I, too, was once a momentary “tumbleweed,” though I am a middle age lawyer, only a sometime writer, and not impoverished. Nevertheless, writing is my passion, and, I like to dream that I live in Paris and write full time.

As part of that dream, I walked into Shakespeare & Company one day and, on a whim, asked George   if even people my age could stay there. He asked if I was a writer and I demurred and admitted that I was not published. He again asked: “do you write?” Of course I said I did - and spent a night with the current contingent of young and penniless writers in residence there. George actually found a small bed for me (because of my age, I guess) and I was not put to work in the store- but I did have to tap out my biography on that little typewriter and provide a picture for his archives.

My fellow residents taught me how to pitch a small stone at a window to be let into the door after George’s midnight curfew, and I woke the next morning to the hope of a writer’s life and the view of a beautiful new day lighting the turrets of Notre Dame just across a sliver of the River Seine.

I have returned numerous times - not to sleep there, but to see George, to get to know his daughter Sylvia - who returned to him in recent years after growing up in England with her mother (and whose full name is Sylvia Beach Whitman, after guess who?), to attend the Sunday afternoon “tea parties” where locals, tourists, and even the famous gather to eat cookies, share stories, and sip tea served by “tumbleweeds.”  One Sunday, I found myself sitting next to George’s good friend, famous San Francisco beat poet Laurence Ferlinghetti.

 Sometimes, I attend the Monday night book readings, and sometimes just wander the narrow aisles, pick up a book or two, or sit upstairs in the public “library” to read or write.

Sometimes George didn’t recognize me, and sometimes he said: “OH, there’s the Chicago lawyer.” Sometimes George was cordial, and sometimes..............not so much.

I once tried to purchase a book about Gertrude Stein that George apparently thought should have remained upstairs in the “library” - where books are for customers to read, but are not for sale. It had somehow made its way onto the main floor shelves, and there I was trying to pay for it at the register. “You can’t buy that,” he shouted at me as he tossed the book across the counter.  He calmed down when I begged him to let me keep it for just a few days with a promise to return it. We made the deal.

I was standing late one night at the reception area of Hotel Marignan on rue de Sommerard when George walked in to ask if they had a cheap room available. He carried an old torn gym bag, and his hair was flying (probably from his latest “haircut” - with the flame of a candle), and for a moment (until he was recognized) the receptionist recoiled and tried to turn him away. George had that night even given up his own bed above the store to a writer who had arrived unexpectedly.

It was at Shakespeare and Company, in the second floor “library”, where I first met my now great friend, author and Paris historian Thirza Vallois - whose Paris books are not just walking tours but a wealth of historic information. 

It was at Shakespeare and Company where I met my friend Jonathon, a young man from Ireland who writes pithy and quirky prose and who worked there for years. Many an evening, I sat near the cash register on a small bench against the shelves and talked literature, Paris, and just stuff with Jonathon. He left Shakespeare a few years ago to get a college education in London, and is now a rare bookseller in Paris.

The day after George’s death, Jonathan e-mailed me that he and 30 others had stood in the cold outside the store to watch as George was carried out, and that as he wrote his e-mail to me he was listening to My Way and tears were running down his face.

I understood the emotion.

I will miss George. We all will.

Michele Kurlander is a 67-year-old Chicago corporate lawyer, writer, small business and women's issues advocate (past president of the Chicago Area Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners) mother of three grown children, and grandma of six. She fell in love with France and all things French many years ago when she first traveled to Europe as the chaperone of a younger cousin in 1967. She travels back to France at least once each year ( often two and three times), whenever her addiction overwhelms her. and keeps up her far from fluent but passable French by reading detective stories by George Simenon about Inspector Maigret. Some of her fondest memories of Paris are (i) sleeping on a bench on the third floor of Shakespeare & Co. one year, and waking to the bells of Notre Dame; (ii) spending her "big" birthdays (50, 60, and 65) in France (the first two entirely in Paris, the most recent both in Paris and in an old stone cottage in a small hamlet in the Aveyron).

New Eye Prefer Paris Photos for Sale

I am happy to announce the sale of a new set of prints of my Eye Prefer Paris Photos.  I am offering 20 of my most popular and iconic images for sale including my doors, architectural details, statues, and monuments. They will make great gifts for all your Francophile friends, relatives, and colleagues but don't forget to buy some for yourself.

Click here to see photos and for full details including sizes, prices, and shipping. Here is a sample of some of the photos.

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

Thirza Vallois on World War I

Thirza Vallois has written a most special and informative article about WWI today. I am honored she is sharing this with us and it brings attention back to a war many people have forgotten about.

 Imagine a young boy visiting with his father one of the battlefield sites of World War I and being so impressed that he starts collecting   memorabilia from that war, the Great War as it is named in Europe.  As years go by the boy grows into a man and the collection into the world's biggest — 50,000 items collected singled-handed by Jean-Pierre Verney (that's his name), "with the dogged patience of a peasant" as he specified when he was interviewed. On last Armistice Day, 11/11/11, the seen sown but Jean-Pierre when still a child bloomed into a new, monumental museum, in Meaux east of Paris —Le Musée de la Grande Guerre— believed to be the world's biggest. To crown it all, the museum has been granted national status and was inaugurated by President Sarkozy in person, a fairy tale conclusion that almost didn't happen, for no one in France was interested in purchasing Jean-Pierre's collection which all but landed in the US.

 It took a chance encounter between Jean-Pierre and the Mayor of Meaux, Jean-François Copé, for the collection to remain in France. For the record, Copé is a prominent political figure and the leader of the UMP (Sarkozy's party). He discovered the collection during a local exhibition and realized at once both its value and potential asset for Meaux. His political position enabled him to initiate and patron the project of a museum, proof if need be the huge media coverage, and the 10,000 visitors on its opening day. All for an excellent cause.  The location of the museum in Meaux was further justified by its position at the gateway to the Battles of the Marne that preluded and concluded the war, respectively in 1914 and 1918.

I urge you to visit the museum. You will learn miles about this somewhat "forgotten” tragic war, unfairly overshadowed by the one that followed, of which it was the first act. Did you know that the largest American military cemetery in Europe is not the one situated in Normandy's Colleville-sur-Mer(9,387 graves), but World War I's Meuse-Argonne (14,246 graves)? That's where Sergeant York became a hero. In 1941 Gary Cooper was awarded an Oscar for that role. Did you know that 2 million American soldiers were stationed in Europe in 1918?

 It is inconceivable that this huge page of history should be glossed over despite its huge repercussions on world politics, still today. It is sad that a substantial territory of France, and an attractive one at that, is ignored by most visitors, except for its champagne! It is intolerable that its devastation and ruin, should go unnoticed. And it is tragically painful that its millions of victims, the dead, the missing, the maimed and the traumatized... many of them relatives of ours from not so long ago, should be deprived of our compassion and a place in our memory. Did you know that every so often the remains of a soldier or several are stumbled upon in the fields of northern France, several Australians quite recently? In 2009 an acquaintance of mine who lives in the Somme hit upon the remains of a Canadian whilst working in his garden...  Rudyard Kipling for his part never found those of his only son, whom he came to search for in the empty fields of northern France.

 I urge you to travel beyond the museum along the remembrance trails. This is where the emotional experience gathers momentum. I travelled several of them in the past couple of months, an experience I am not about to forget. Most recently, on November 12th, I attended the unveiling of the Rainbow Division Monument on the site of the one-time Ferme de la Croix Rouge. On 25th and 26th July, 1918, their 167th and 168th regiments won a major victory there that helped bring the war to an end. Men from all over the US had joined the Rainbow Division, which "stretched over the whole country like a rainbow" according to Douglas MacArthur. The poignant bronze, designed by British artist James Butler, was on display for three months in London's prestigious Royal Academy before travelling to the open countryside of Picardy. Here, under a radiant sky on that day, French and Americans, military and civilians, old war veterans and village children, officials and ordinary locals, bonded around it to pay homage to the US "doughboys".

 I urge you to visit the vast expanses of north and northeast France. Their gentle light and peacefulness are conducive to redemptive meditation. You will take the measure of man's folly at the Douaumont Ossuary by Verdun — 700,000 casualties, 300,000 of them dead; at the Thiepval memorial you will stand speechless as you behold the endless lists of the missing carved on the monument's walls — 73,367 British and South Africans, among them Major Cedric Charles Dickens, the writer's grandson, and a 14-year-old kid, Private Reginald Giles: What on earth was he doing on a battlefield away from home?

 Visit the magnificent museum and cemetery at Delville, significantly nicknamed Devil's Wood: out of the 3,200 South Africans who fought here in the inferno of the woods, only 143 came out of there unscathed....

Visit the Canadian memorial of Vimy Ridge, a Canadian victory that led to Canada's independence. Walter Allward's colossal monument is of stunning beauty mingled with poignant sorrow. Rising above the one-time battlefield and the more recently planted woods, the maternal figure of "Canada Bereft" looks down to a vast coffin representing Canada's 11,285 dead. Give a thought to the 23,000 Australian casualties, sacrificed for the sake of a windmill held by the Germans in the village of Pozières.... And to the New Zealanders who dug the underground tunnels of Arras, notably the Wellington Quarry which can be visited.

A German Jew in a German cemetery in a different war...

 This goes on and on. Millions of untold stories, of soldiers and civilians, of villages blotted out of the face of the earth, of displaced populations and starvation, and already some deportations... No words can describe the suffering in this infernal War of the Trenches, which eventually led to a famous mutinee at Le Chemin des Dames and to the execution of 28 mutinees. This is the very site visited by Jean-Pierre Verney when still a boy. The Yankee Division too fought here, in 1918, and left moving artistic testimonies carved in the underground walls.. And the famous American poet Alan Seeger volunteered to fight here earlier, in 1916, and died later in the Somme. He was the uncle of Pete who accompanied our student years with the heartbreaking song, "Where Have all the Young Men Gone?"  His photo served as model for the statue surmounting Jean Boucher's commemorative monument on Place des Etats Unis, in Paris, opposite the Baccarat Museum.

 Next time you visit the Arc de Triomphe give a thought to the soldiers of the Great War, known or unknown. The one resting here was picked out of eight aligned coffins by a soldier assigned to the task. After agonized hesitations, he placed the bouquet of flowers handed him for that purpose on the 6th coffin, the sum number of his 132nd Regiment.

Thirza Vallois is the author of the internationally acclaimed Around and About Paris series, Romantic Paris and Aveyron, A Bridge to French Arcadia. A long-time Parisian, Thirza is a Sorbonne post-graduate and also holds the prestigious French Agrégation. Thirza is an expert on all things Parisian and has also written the Paris entry for the Encarta Encyclopaedia. She has appeared on PBS, BBC, the Travel Channel, the French Cultural Channel, Discovery and CNN, has worked as a consultant for the BBC, has spoken on BBC Radio 4, NPR in the US, and had her own programme "postcard from Paris" on one of London's radios. 

Thirza also lectures to art societies and educational organisations throughout the world and writes for the international press. Her award-winning Three Perfect Days in Paris story, published in United Airlines' Hemispheres, was aired on their international flights and travel channels. 

Besides Paris, Thirza has been travelling and writing about other areas of France. Many of her stories can be found on line. Her joy to help visitors travel off the beaten track has led to her devoting several years and an entire book to the Aveyron, a beautiful, little-known hidden corner of rural France.

 Around and About Paris, volume 1, covering the centre of the city, is now available as an ebook, making it the ideal companion for the reader on the move. This new and entirely revised edition is now available in print in Paris. It can also be purchased through Thirza's website.

"There are all sorts of guidebooks on Paris... and then there are Thirza Vallois's extraordinary Around and
About Paris! " 
The Sunday Times, London
 
"An astonishingly informative companion." 
The Times Literary Supplement, London
 
"I think we can safely toss all other Paris guidebooks aside." 
William Boyd, The Spectator, London

"Treat yourself to this treasure!/Booklist, The Library Journal, US

www.aroundandaboutparis.com

www.thirzavallois.com

Eye Prefer Paris on Twitter

I just launched a fun new daily Twitter post- Paris Photo du Jour. Every day I will post a photo of Paris. Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/eyepreferparis
 

Eye Prefer Paris Photos for Sale

I am happy to announce the sale of prints of my Eye Prefer Paris Photos.  I am offering 17 of my most popular and iconic images for sale including my courtyards, doors, architectural details, statues, and monuments. They will make great gifts for all your Francophile friends, relatives, and colleagues but don't forget to buy some for yourself.

Click here to see photos and for full details including sizes, prices, and shipping. Here is a sample of some of the photos.

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

Midnight in Paris on DVD

I wrote about the Woody Allen film Midnight in Paris when it first came out. Here is an interesting take on the film by Nancy Evans.The DVD will be released on December 20.

The newest Woody Allen film, Midnight in Paris, could turn out to be the most subtle, yet thoughtful, time traveling movie ever made, because it's not really about time travel so much as it's about nostalgia for the past mixed with the textures of France and ruminations about the meaning of art and love. The film centers around Gil, a screenwriter from Hollywood who is hoping to be inspired enough by the city of Paris in order to write his first novel. Gil is having trouble reconciling the magic of the city with the lack of romance he shares with his fiancee Inez, who seems more interested in having mimosas at the Club Méditerranée than she is actually experiencing the breathtaking splendor of the city itself.

One night Gil unwittingly gets into a car with rowdy group of Parisian socialites that he soon realizes are none other than Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Whether or not he has entered a parallel universe, time traveled, or simply hallucinated, what's happening is not critically important to the film. Viewers are asked to suspend their disbelief and take a ride through Paris of the early 20th century. Gil finds himself enjoying the modern treasures of the French capital in their actual timeframe and dancing the night away with some of the most famous Parisian artists in history, including up close and personal encounters with Salvador Dali, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, Josephine Baker, and Man Ray, among many others.

While the plot is certainly wonderful and Owen Wilson adds his usual comic relief, one of the great values in the film is Woody Allen's depiction of France. The film opens with an over three minute long montage of the city that twinkles with atmospheric poetry. It is reminiscent of his early film Manhattan, which opens with a similar montage of New York. The Midnight in Paris opening shows the iconic city during both the night and day, in the rain and in the sunshine, in winter and in summer, showcasing The Palace of Versailles, the John XXIII Square, the Eiffel Tower and other classic landmarks of Paris, France.

Ultimately the film is about accepting the people and places in your life for what they are, and not clinging on too tightly to some fictitious concept of a Golden Age at the expense of appreciating the reality of the present. In the process, viewers get to see the city of Paris depicted as a colorful character that comes alive and speaks to you with a voice full of history and magic.

Click here to pre-order Midnight in Paris from Amazon

Eye Prefer Paris on Twitter

I just launched a fun new daily Twitter post- Paris Photo du Jour. Every day I will post a photo of Paris. Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/eyepreferparis
 

Eye Prefer Paris Photos for Sale

I am happy to announce the sale of prints of my Eye Prefer Paris Photos.  I am offering 17 of my most popular and iconic images for sale including my courtyards, doors, architectural details, statues, and monuments. They will make great gifts for all your Francophile friends, relatives, and colleagues but don't forget to buy some for yourself.

Click here to see photos and for full details including sizes, prices, and shipping. Here is a sample of some of the photos.

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

Paris Tourist Do's and Don'ts

My new favorite Paris blog is Paris Do, Paris Don't. It's hilarious, irreverent, and oh so true. Clearly the writer has a gift for irony and sarcasm. Right up my alley. Because I like it so much, I asked Paris Do, Paris Don't (he or she wishes to remain anonymous, which I can appreciate) if they would write a guest post with their top Paris tourist Do's and Don'ts. Here they are and I hope your find them as fresh and funny as I do. Photos were also provided by Paris Do, Paris Don't.

Don't Seine by Night
We all know that Paris is the City of Light; some might even argue that it is most beautiful under the shadows of the night. There is nothing more titillating in Paris than the reflection of these lovely lights upon the Seine as they create impressionistic colors and movements across the dark waters. Your first instinct is to make like the movies and take a romantic moonlit stroll along the rippling Seine, don’t. No sane Parisian would dare do it and neither should you. The only thing that takes to the Seine after hours are big fat marauding rats and maybe some teenage boys playing the bongos. The banks of the Seine are positively crawling with nightlife, but of a sickening variety. If you simply can’t resist the Seine at night, do a cheesy boat tour or better yet, stay above sea level and keep the bubonic plague in the 15th century where it belongs.

Do Parc des Buttes Chaumont
Hands down best park in all of Paris. Nestled in the southern corner of the 19th, Buttes Chaumont is the most picturesque of the many Parisian parks. From the grassy knolls to the waterfalls, lake, cupola, grottos and fantastic vistas of Montmartre, Buttes Chaumont is the full pastoral package. Undoubtedly, it is the inspiration behind the Swiss Family tree house but it’s one hundred times better because it’s real, free, and the only way to spend your weekends and lazy afternoons. Do go, it is a complete country escape without ever having to step foot on the RER, and the cherry on top is you will be the only tourist traipsing around. So expand your horizons, spread out that picnic blanket and bask in the charming Parc des Buttes Chaumont.

Don't de Flore
Every travel book will tell you to stop, drop, and roll out your euros at the famous Café de Flore. I won’t because it’s a Don’t. Frozen food is great and all, but when it comes in the form of a greasy croque monsieur that will set you back 18 euros, no thanks. Sure it has ‘history’ and is pretty inside, but so are 89% of any given corner cafes in Paris. You can gage the level of meh this cafe provokes by the ¾ eyeroll a Parisian will give you upon hearing the words de Flore escape your lips. But beware; Parisians will not directly discourage your enthusiasm because they rely on places such as de Flore to keep your touristy self out of all the good cafes--classic Parisian decoy. So if you want to pay for overpriced food and drinks and watch hordes of tourist walk by, then by all means I suggest you go and enjoy all Cafe du Flore has to offer. Otherwise, be brave, walk a block in any direction and find another terrace table to be Parisian at.

DO Marché aux Oiseaux
It’s weird, but it’s worth a peek. Every Sunday all the strange old birdmen gather on Île de la Cité to buy, sell and trade their feathered friends. I’m no bird expert and probably any bird aficionado wouldn’t dare waste their time admiring the wide selection of common street pigeons; but it’s not about the birds, it’s really about the people who love and care for them. The bird vendors will undoubtedly give you suspicious looks as you admire their cockatoos, but that just adds to the charm of the entire experience--I mean, this wouldn’t be Paris if you didn’t get at least one disparaging glare. And if nothing else, a morning at the bird market makes your Sunday poulet rôti taste so much sweeter.

Don't Moulin Rouge
You all saw Moulin Rouge, listened to Lady Marmalade and fantasized about paying homage to that infamous red windmill haunt of bohemians and cancan girls. Today if you venture to Pigalle, I regret to inform you that your Toulouse-Lautrec green fairy dreams are about to be crushed by a neon sign wave of cheesy, sleazy, raunchy sex clubs. So don't sully your pristine Baz Luhrmann fantasies with the tacky Parisian reality. The thing is, it isn’t even very good at being sleazy (you would be more wowed by the red light districts of Amsterdam, Tijuana or even Miami), you will be overwhelmed by how underwhelming it all is. Moral of the story: if you ever do venture to the edge of the 9eme, just grab your poppers and make like the wind--not the windmill.

DO Opera Garnier
Get ye to the Opera Garnier. This ornate spectacle had been deemed the jewel box of the city and it couldn't live up to its name more with every visible surface dripping with gilt, glass, murals, gems etc. Quite frankly, it gives Versailles a run for its bijou. The best part about the Opera is if you arrive an hour before the performance you can score a 9e rush ticket and then you can enjoy the world-class Paris ballet, sit in a private box that looks like a bordello (forget Moulin Rouge) and then sip champagne in the grand foyer during intermission. Yes pliése.

Don't Les Halles
Emile Zola immortalized the great Les Halles Parisian food market in his famous The Belly of Paris. His vivid descriptions of cheese, meat, flowers and ragamuffins have all contributed to Paris’ reputation as the gastronomic center of the universe. 150 years later, the only thing that remains of this once gluttonous mecca are a few abandoned construction sights, a lot of fecal matter (of the human variety), some pan handlers, a McDonald's, a souvenir vendor or two, and that’s about it. If Zola were around now, he would probably call it The Rectum of Paris, and rightly so, as nothing but waste remains of its once rich commercial history. Go left or right of center and find the weekly neighborhood markets to fulfill your food fantasies but don’t get lost in Les Halles.

DO Tour Eiffel Light Show
Most Parisians will tell you they abhor this, they’re being sincere, they really do, but this is because they're French and hating the Eiffel Tower is a prerequisite for citizenship. You, on the other hand, are a tourist and no matter what, you cannot resist the charms of this iconic structure. Don’t fight the inevitable, do the tower, but more importantly do the tower at night every hour on the hour because that’s when it puts on a shimmery light spectacular. It probably is a ploy by Parisians to give seizures to the likes of you, but brain spasms or not, there is nothing more enchanting than that light display at 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 on the dot--you literally cannot miss it.

Please DO read Paris Do, Paris Don't . http://www.parisdoparisdont.com/

Eye Prefer Paris on Twitter

I just launched a fun new daily Twitter post- Paris Photo du Jour. Every day I will post a photo of Paris. Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/eyepreferparis
 

Eye Prefer Paris Photos for Sale

I am happy to announce the sale of prints of my Eye Prefer Paris Photos.  I am offering 17 of my most popular and iconic images for sale including my courtyards, doors, architectural details, statues, and monuments. They will make great gifts for all your Francophile friends, relatives, and colleagues but don't forget to buy some for yourself.

Click here to see photos and for full details including sizes, prices, and shipping. Here is a sample of some of the photos.

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

The Culinary Creators of Paris’ Latin Quarter

Known for its many cafe highlights, radical politics, fierce intellectual discussions and general ‘cool,’ Paris’s Latin Quarter draws tourists in their droves.

Some love the bookshops, others the small retail emporiums and just the general atmosphere. But for one group of people the Latin Quarter can be only one thing – gourmet dining. Or at least food and service in its finest forms seasoned with lots of atmosphere, history and more than a little romance.

Here we highlight some of the Latin Quarter’s true culinary gems:

 Le Petit Pontoise, 9 rue de Pontoise

Simple, authentic and always consistently wonderful. Here’s you’ll share your dining experience with the area’s Parisian neighbours, artists and debaters from the Sorbonne, the odd businessman and, now and again, a professor.

Le Petit Pontoise serves comfort food at its best. Stews of succulent pork and beef, soups packed full of fresh vegetables, delicately flaked fish, foie gras and wine-marinated chicken – this the cooking our Parisian great-grandmothers knew was the way to a man’s heart and a family’s health.

 La Tour d'Argent, 15-17 quai de la Tournelle

Famous for what it does with its duck – and it can do much – this restaurant is beautifully situated opposite the Seine and Notre-Dame. Once regarded as the city’s top restaurant, La Tour d-Argent still has that something which allows it to rise above the majority. As an aside, Edward VII ate the very first duck in this restaurant – in 1890!

Indeed diners are fussed over like royalty by waiters resplendent in the finest livery. To dine is to experience and indeed it’s the whole piece of theatre in this restaurant that appeals to many a guest. Request far enough in advance and you may even receive a tour of the famous wine cellars.

Brasserie Balzar,  49 rue des Ecoles  

Like to dine in the very surrounds where Satre and Camus would openly argue in public? Then Brasserie Balzar is a must. Indeed, looking at the menu it still feels as if you might bump into the pair on the way to the loo.

There’s no fancy fare here. Straight pig’s feet or fried calves liver is offered alongside sauerkraut mixed with sausage and ham or onion soup. This is another restaurant that’s survived more than a century on Paris’s streets and played both host and witness to the student uprisings and police retaliation of the sixties.

 La Truffiere- 4 rue Blainville

 If it’s romance you’re seeking then you’ve come to the right place. This is the Paris foreigner’s dream of. The tables are candlelit, the backdrop is 17^th century France, the waiters text book polite and attentive.

 As you’d expect the truffle is king here. Chef Jean-Christophe Rizet’s black truffled mash with duck leg stew is to die for (not literally!); the raspberry soufflé is a dish you’d only expect to find in the culinary section of Heaven.

 Now, as if the truffles on their own weren’t a fine enough claim to fame, this restaurant has more than 2500 bottles of wine to choose from. Beat that Gordon Ramsay!

 This post is courtesy of Holiday Inn Meetings – Trouver la salle de réunion idéale à Paris avec Holiday Inn Meetings - nous avons pensé à tout.

Eye Prefer Paris on Twitter

I just launched a fun new daily Twitter post- Paris Photo du Jour. Every day I will post a photo of Paris. Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/eyepreferparis
Eye Prefer Paris Photos for Sale

I am happy to announce the sale of prints of my Eye Prefer Paris Photos.  I am offering 17 of my most popular and iconic images for sale including my courtyards, doors, architectural details, statues, and monuments. They will make great gifts for all your Francophile friends, relatives, and colleagues but don't forget to buy some for yourself.

Click here to see photos and for full details including sizes, prices, and shipping. Here is a sample of some of the photos.

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

Gambling in France

A tour client asked me if there were casinos in Paris and what were some of the gambling laws in France. I frankly told him I didn't know as I have never been asked that question before. However it piqued my interest as I sometimes go to Las Vegas or Reno to furiously play the slots and was curious myself about gambling in France. Here is the results of my research.

Gambling is legal in France but there are many restrictions in order to operate a casino. It is controlled exclusively by Le Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) and Le Pari Mutuel Hippodrome (PMH).

There are approximately eight legalized casinos in central Paris. Cercle Haussmann, near the Opera Garnier, offers table games of stud poker, Punto Banco, Poker 21, and 3 card poker and sponsors poker tournaments. Hours are 2PM to 7AM every day and there is a full service restaurant, smoking lounge, and American bar. In addition to poker, Cercle Gaillon off the Champs Elysees has Blackjack and roulette. Other casinos in Paris include Association Cercle Eldo, Aviation Club de France, Cercle Anglais, Cercle Central, Cercle Clich Montmartre, and Cercle Wagram. My research concluded that there are no legal slot machines in Paris.

There are some very glamorous casinos throughout France including the legendary Monte Carlo Casino in the Beaux-Arts style by Charles Garnier, who designed the Paris Opera Garnier. It was used as a backdrop in the gambling scenes from the James Bond films Never Say Never Again and Golden Eye. It was Lucille Ball's 100th birthday last weekend and I thought of the funny episode of I Love Lucy where she accidentally places a poker chip on a roulette table and wins a fortune but doesn't know how to tell Ricky she won since he forbade her to gamble.

Other well-known resort casinos include Casino Croisette in Cannes, Casino Barrier d'Enghien-les-Bains with a view of the lake, Casino de Biarritz, and Casino Barriere de Deauville, the seaside playground of the French elite.

Internet casinos are also legal in France.

 

In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New Yorkís best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!

Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. 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. www.eyepreferparistours.com
 

 

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 Charlotteís 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, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

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

Montparnasse Tour Photos

Here are my series of photos from the Montparnasse tour I did with Daniella which I described yesterday.

One of the most special moments of our tour was when we stopped in a charming dead end alley and captured a terrific shot of a man repairing his shiny, Royal blue vintage Mercedes. We chatted with him for a while and we told him we loved the color of his car and that we never see colors like that anymore in late model cars. He admitted that it was repainted and that he also spent as much time taking care of his car as he would a child.

I hope you liked our he-said/she said/he photographed/she-photographed series of Montparnasse and look forward to your comments.

 

 

In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New Yorkís best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!

Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. 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. www.eyepreferparistours.com
 

 

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 Charlotteís 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, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

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