I Prefer Paris

Happy Halloween

Yes, that's me on the far right dressed as Baby Jane Hudson. I've written a letter to daddy... These are my friends high school friends Stephen,Robin, and Terry who I am still very good friends with after all these years. It was taken in my parents kitchen in Brooklyn in  1970-something. 

Subscribe to I Prefer Paris

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

Sundays with Polly and Richard: The Seventies: Le Choc de la Photographie Americaine

It’s the end of a short-lived era: Polly is moving back to the U.S. and we will no longer have our monthly Sundays together. Of course I was shattered by her news and I begged, cajoled, pleaded, and cried hysterically for her to stay. I swore to throw myself off the Eiffel Tower if she left and even went so far as to say I would vote for that other candidate for president after she said the only thing that would make her stay is if the other candidate won. But none of my desperate tactics worked: Polly is a goner by Thanksgiving.

Monday night was our Sunday this month and a bittersweet one at that, since it was probably our last. Our friend, Rosemary Flannery invited us to the opening of the opening of The Seventies: Le Choc de la Photographie Americaine, an exhibit of black and white photos from the 1970s by celebrated American photographers at the Bibliotheque Nationale.

We had to wait on line for about 15 minutes and once inside the long, narrow exhibition rooms were packed to the gills, making it difficult to see the work. One of the first rooms had a series of Diane Arbus photos, iconic images that I love but had seen too many times before. I immediately thought, here we go again, another unimaginative, unchallenging photographic exhibit with the same 100 images we’ve seen a hundred times.  But as I entered the next series of rooms I was surprised and thoroughly captivated by the arresting images, many by photographers whose work I was not familiar with and some new images I had never seen before by photographers I knew. In an ironic twist, the Diane Arbus photos turned out to be the most disappointing and predictable of the exhibition.

Les Krims

A series of Larry Clark’s best photos confirmed he is one of the great realist photographers of that period with his searing portraits of naked, raw youth. Striking meticulously lit portraits by Ralph Gibson shows you the soul of its subject. Photos of mundane landscapes like white painted lane dividers on a highway and tires against a wall become graphic works of art when taken by Burk Uzzle. My favorite photo, named Doug, Jackie, & Rollin, by Jeffrey K. Silverthorne, was a portrait of three transvestites with deadpan expressions on their faces saying don’t mess with us, taken in Providence Rhode Island in 1972. Nude tableaux by Les Krims were fascinating and amusing. Other photographers included Mary Ellen Mark, Garry Winograd, William Klein, Bill Owens, Lee Friedlander, Joel Peter Witkin, Robert Frank and Walker Evans.

The exhibition was well curated with a series of six small, intimate rooms with no more than five perfectly placed photos on each wall.

Jeffrey K. Silverthorne

Burk Uzzle

Reading room of Bibliotheque Nationale

Afterwards we had dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant, one of those fluorescent-lit places with no atmosphere but great food to make up for it. I had a steaming black kettle pot filled with beef sukiyaki, which was the perfect dish to warm my cold cockles. We chatted mostly about Polly’s move and her new life in the U.S., which will be so different than the one she had here. Polly invited me to visit anytime, so if I do, I promise we will write a new Sundays with Polly and Richard.

Like the song says, Sunday just will never be the same without Polly.
Click here to read what Polly had to say about our last adventure.

The Seventies: Le Choc de la Photographie Americaine
Bibliotheque Nationale
58 rue de Richelieu, 2nd arr.
Metro: Palais Royal
Tuesday to Saturday, 10AM to 7PM
Sunday 12PM to 7PM
Tel 01 53 79 59 59
http://www.bnf.fr/

Subscribe to I Prefer Paris

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

Salon Du Chocolat Paris

CHOCAHOLICS BEWARE:  The Salon du Chocolat is coming to Paris today and no chocoholic is safe.

The 14th annual chocolate orgy starts today at 10AM and goes through Sunday, November 2.Over 140 booths set up shop and offer free samples galore.

There’s a series of “shock” events including the crowning of Miss Cocoa Butter 2008 (Does anybody remember Miss Cocoa Butter 2007? I don’t) which goes to the loveliest young woman who symbolizes the values of chocolate, the musical, Saga of Chocolate, Aztec dances with sounds by Mexican shamans, and a life size wall of chocolate graffiti.

The Chocolate Awards will be devoted to the world’s best craftsmen and of course, chocolate. Wouldn’t you love to be one of the judges? If there were a world’s fastest chocolate eater category, I would win without question.

You can attend the Chocolate Fashion Show hosted by the beautiful Carole Bouquet and see the latest fashion trends in chocolate. Are bars in or out? Is milk chocolate too last season? Is the catwalk made of chocolate?
The latest Paris chocolate fashions

Don’t hesitate to call me if you faint from sugar shock and I will come and revive you with chocolate scented smelling salts.

If you miss the event in Paris, don’t melt- the show is traveling to New York, Moscow, Tokyo, and Beijing soon.

In case you didn’t know, I was a chocolatier in my former New York life and hand made my own sinful truffles with dark Belgian chocolate. I even had my own small shop on West 55th St. called Richtreats.

Salon du Chocolat
October 29th to November 2nd
10AM-7PM
Porte de Versailles- Halls 5/2 & 5/3
Metro: Porte de Versailles or Balard
Admission: 12 euros
http://www.salonduchocolat.fr/uk/

Subscribe to I Prefer Paris

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

New Fractional Ownership Apartment- 11 rue Cujas

A few months ago I wrote a post about an interesting concept called fractional ownership apartments in  Paris. In case you don’t remember, fractional ownership is where you own a share in an apartment for a few weeks a year, year after year.

 Last week  Dwell Paris sent me information on a particularly appealing new offer I thought I would share with you. They are offering shares in Residence Jardin Luxembourg- 11 rue Cujas, a newly refurbished 58-meter/630 sq. feet one bedroom/one bath apartment on the fourth floor of an elegant 19^th century Belle Epoque building with an elevator. It’s ideally located in the fifth arrondissement, near the legendary Sorbonne and the magnificent Pantheon and a stones throw away from the Jardin de Luxembourg, the most beautiful park in Paris. Rue Mouffetard one of the great food shop streets of the city and Place Monge, an excellent outdoor market are also close by.

Andrew Serkin and Timothy Gerwin combine 23 years of legal and development expertise to effortlessly guide you through the fractional buying process. 

The luxurious but cozy furnished apartment is set up to move right in and has all the amenities to make you feel right at home including a state of the art kitchen, washer/dryer, stereo with Ipod dock, Illy espresso maker, two flat screen TV’s with DVD’s, phones with unlimited free international calls, computer with printer, internet, and French cell phones at your disposal.

Four week shares are being offered, limiting the wear and tear of the apartment and can be divvied up in different combinations of either four consecutive weeks or two weeks at different times of the year. Prices start at $117,000 for a four-week share.

Now would be an advantageous time to seriously consider your dream move to Paris, especially for Americans, with the dollar being at its best rate in two years- 1.28.Also, even with the recent economic downturn, not only has Paris real estate retained its value, its value is still increasing.

If you prefer Paris like me, you won’t pass up this opportunity.

 France

5  rue de L’Evangile, 75018 Paris

01-72-81-33-57

U.S.A.

250 Montgomery Street Suite 1200

San Francisco,California       94104

415-738-0764 

www.dwellparis.com 

Halloween in Paris-Undead Invasion 2008

Halloween is not a traditional holiday in France but has gained in popularity in the last few years probably due to cultural influence and aggressive marketing, since it’s the holiday people spend the most money on after Christmas in the U.S.

If you want to do something amusing and unusual to celebrate, go on the Undead Invasion 2008 scavenger hunt. Lead by Ravenchase Adventures, it is a global event starting in Brisbane Australia, then Paris and on to New York City,Princeton, Richmond, Nashville, and Atlanta before finishing in Honolulu and Lahaina, Hawaii. Cities compete for the coveted title of “Zombie Stomper of the Year (I’m shaking in my Prada boots already!).

Taking place in the St. Michel area, actors in the role of zombies have returned from the grave to scout prospects for a full-scale invasion, having the players defend their city from these evil zombies (Are you scared yet?). When they solve the mysterious clues of the Book of the Living Dead, using surprise gadgets and a hand –made map, they will locate and neutralize the big bad zombie threat.  Participants play in teams of 2 to six against each other and race against the clock to determine who is the fiercest, fastest and cleverest group of zombie fighters on the two banks of Paris. There will be a big celebration to honor the winners at after party announced during the event.

It’s only 20 euros for all this scary fun and games, so hurry and register by October 29th at www.undeadinvasion.com

Scream a blood-curdling scream for me along the way!

Undead Invasion
Friday, October 31-7PM

Subscribe to I Prefer Paris

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

Vincent Gagliostro & Susan Shup at Slick Art Fair 08

This is a big art weekend with four major fairs all over the city including FIAC, Show Off, Slick, and Diva. My partner Vincent Gagliostro and artist Susan Shup (Susan was my Parisian of the Month in March) have collaborated on a very special video installation for the slick fair. It’s called “In a Blonde Haze/My Love for Boys” and it is based on a line from Cocteau's LE LIVRE BLANC, “as far back as I can remember and even at the age when the mind still has no power over the senses, I find traces of my love for boys”. Below is a link for a clip from this fun and hypnotic video.

Download excerpt_my_love_for_boys.mov

“In a Blonde Haze/My Love for Boys”
Miss China Beauty Gallery at Slick 2008
October 24-27
104/Centquatre 5 rue Curial, 19th arr.
Metro: Stalingrad
Friday 24 &Sunday 26, 11AM to 8PM Saturday 25, 11AM to10PM Monday 27, 11am to 5pm Admission 7 euros
http://www.slick-paris.com/slick08/index-a.html
 
Info for other art fairs
Fiac 10/23 –10/26 http://www.fiac.com/news.html?lg=en
Show Off 10/21-10/26 http://www.showoffparis.fr/
Diva 10/25 to 10/27 http://www.divafair.com/

Subscribe to I Prefer Paris

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

Door of the Month: 8 & 10 rue Aumale

I was with my delightful and adventurous tour clients Gail Sullivan and John Hess from Oakland, California when I photographed these two fabulous doors. It was my tour of the 9^th arr. that includes Pigalle, Notre Dame de Lorette and St. George Square. I had seen these doors a number of times, but never had my camera to photograph them. Gail was gracious enough to let me use her brand new Nikon cool Pix 80 camera and I was so impressed with the great photos it took, I went out and bought one.

 I especially like the beautifully carved, menacing looking chimeres and brass handles.

 8 & 10 rue Aumale, 9^th arr.

Metro:St. Georges

Subscribe to I Prefer Paris

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

Meredith Mullins: Fête des Vendages

My name is Meredith ... and I'm a parade addict. From the Techno parade to Gay Pride, from Fête Nationale to Chinese New Year—I'm swept into whatever the cause or celebration. 

It's easy to love Fête des Vendages because it's a fête that celebrates the harvest. The harvest of the tiny vineyard in Montmartre, the harvest of grapes throughout France, the harvest of leaves and fruit and flowers. You might even call it a "harvest of friendship," since everyone has a great time (especially if you're smart enough take a parade position behind the "Les Amis des Brouilly" wine barrel, glass in hand). 

Everyone's a star in the parade. There are big chested, head wrapped, wooden shoed growers of the north, who jingle when they walk because of the large bells on their costumes. There are caped and furred sommeliers who stride with dignity, their silver tasting cups peeking out coyly from the velvet robes, glinting every now and then as they reflect a random sunbeam. There are jovial alpine fellows whose graceful horns make music so haunting and deep it seems to vibrate all the way back to the mountains of another time. And then, there is wine ... and more wine.

After the great parade (and subsequent tastings), I had to follow my shoes home, hoping they would keep walking in the right direction (without the benefit of a sober mind). Merci Les Amis des Brouilly.

Meredith Mullins is an internationally exhibited American photographer, currently living in Paris. Visit www.meredithmullins.artspan.com to see more of the Paris images. Her award-winning book, In A Paris Moment (click here to order), and her 2009 Paris Calendar can be ordered online or in bookstores throughout the U.S. Original photographs are available directly through the artist. Meredith will be teaching photography workshops in December 2008 and in 2009. Please contact her for information at [email protected]. 

Subscribe to I Prefer Paris

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

Paris Under 20 Eats

I am brimming with new regular blog post features and my latest addition is Paris Under 20 Eats, where every other month someone seeks out a great meal for under 20 euros. Enjoy and don’t let your tummy rumble too much before you get to the restaurant.

Living in Paris now for six weeks, I had my first real meal here last weekend.

Oh yes, I eat. I have become an expert on the art of the cheap meal. But until last weekend, I had not yet ventured into a real restaurant. The reality of living in Paris as a broke American twenty-something is that your weekly food budget often equals your age. So while those “bargain” €15 menus scrawled on chalkboards across the city are enticing, I hadn’t yet mustered up the will to forgo my 55 cent demi-baguette for a sit-down meal.

I recruited a similarly frugal friend and proposed a challenge – to eat the most authentic and fulfilling meal possible for under €20. We decided that lunch would be our best bet and started scouring the web for restaurants. We settled on Le Petit Vatel, a tiny family-owned bistro in the Quartier Latin that came highly recommended by the young wine connoisseurs at O Chateau.

The restaurant seats around 25 people and does not take reservations, so we arrived promptly at noon to avoid the crowds. We selected a two-person table by the window and got to work deciphering the menu, which was hand-written in French on the wall. For €13, we could get an appetizer and a main course or a main course and a dessert. We went with the appetizer-main combo and decided to split a €9 demi-carafe of white wine.

The food was hearty and simple, a mélange of French staples and foreign specialties. My sobreasada appetizer, a soft chorizo-style sausage spread onto toasted baguette, was flavorful and spicy, and paired perfectly with the dry white we were served. My partner’s pumpkin soup was smooth and sweet and tasted best soaked in pieces of the soft white table bread.

The restaurant was starting to fill up. The owner, a sprightly blond, deftly maneuvered her way around the crowded dining area, taking orders, making small talk with the regulars and delivering steaming plates in record time.

Our main dishes arrived separately. First came my diots de savoie, a sausage specialty from the department of Haute-Savoir, served with crozets au gratin. The sausage links were succulent and sweet, especially when smothered with the homemade mustard, but the crozets could have used a little more salt. My companion ordered the tagine au agneau, a savory Moroccan stew of lamb and spices. The meat was slow-cooked and tender, and it melted off the bone onto your tongue like butter.

Stomachs content, we capped off our meal with complimentary coffee. Our bill came to €17.50 each, and since we had decided to forgo the dessert option, we headed across the street to legendary patisserie Gérard Mulot and split a magnificent tart with pear mousse and almonds. We ate on the street, under an Indian summer sun. Sometimes, when you’re in your 20s and on a budget, nothing beats street food.

Le Petit Vatel
5 rue Lobineau 75006
01 43 54 28 49
Metro: Mabillon or Odeon
Open Tuesday to Saturday for lunch from noon to 2:30 and dinner from 7-10:30
Closed Sunday and Monday
Price range: 13 euro per person for two courses and coffee

Jessica Marati is an American freelance writer based in Paris. She loves old movies, new ideas, vintage scarves, modern art and French pastries. To read more about her adventures, culinary and otherwise, please see her blog at http://inwanderlust.wordpress.com. 

Subscribe to I Prefer Paris

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

Square Rapp

On the Ave. Rapp in the 7th arr. near the Eiffel Tower is Square Rapp. The highlight is the art Nouveau building on the left side designed by architect Jules Lavirotte, built in 1900. I love the ornate style and rich architectural details plus the lovely garden in the middle of the square.

Square Rapp
Off of Ave. Rapp, 7th arr.
Metro: Ecole Militaire

Subscribe to I Prefer Paris

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