The Boggs family, Laura & Marcus and their daughter’s Julie,20 & Lydia,7 did a Marais and Bastille tour the week in between Christmas & New Years. We smelled and tasted our way through the food market on Ave. Richard Lenoir and walked through the off the beaten part of the Marais looking at historic buildings, parks & gardens, and going into patisseries, chocolate, and gelato shops.
At the end of the tour when I left them at St. Paul square, a swarm of pigeons surrounded adorable Lydia, and she swooped at them trying to catch one. She finally did, as you can see in the top picture.
The Boggs are warm & friendly and have a very interesting life. Marcus is an engineer and travels all over and when he is not working, Laura and he run their 40 acre organic farm in Northern California near Sacramento., where they live.
I booked them a table at Bofinger restaurant in the Bastille for dinner that night and they were so kind to invite me. They wouldn’t take no for an answer, so we wined, dined and had stimulating conversation for over two hours. Such a tough job I have walking the streets of Paris and being wined & dined by kind and fun people, but someone’s got to do it.
Note about Quirky Street Art post from Jan. 14
The photo by the Niki Saint Phalle sculpture pond across from the Pompidou Center is not of an “average French Joe”. The photos are a series of oversized portraits of Palestinians & Israeli’s called Face to Face, a project to promote a better understanding between the two countries.
January Special:All tours are 160 euros instead of 175 euros
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
Richard, Good to know that you're taking good care of my Sacramento neighbors! Best to you in 2008.
Posted by: Kevin | January 17, 2008 at 04:18 PM