I Prefer Paris

Best of 2009: Be My Bon Marche Baby

I'm taking a summer blogging break for two weeks. Enjoy my selection of the Best of 2009 posts.

Babies taking over the windows of Le Bon Marche.

Le Bon Marche
22 rue de Sevres, 7th arr.
Metro:Sevres-Babylone

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, author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook. 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: Wednesday, Thursday, 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

Best of 2009: My Excellent Adventure with Mary & Phil Part II: St. Genevieve-des-Bois Cemetery

I 'm taking a summer blogging break for two weeks. Enjoy my selection of the Best of 2009 posts.

St. Genevieve-des-Bois Cemetery is a Russian Orthodox cemetery started in 1926 by a group of Russian immigrants who settled in  Chateau de la Cossonnerie. The property  was bought in 1927 by English heiress Dorothy Paget who also set up a retirement home for Russian immigrants.The cemetery is the resting place for more than 10,000 Russian expats including Nobel Prize winner Ivan Bunin, Princess Irina of Russia, authors Dmitry Merezhkovsky and Zinaida Gippius, painter Kontantin Somov, and philosopher Sergei Bulgakov. Its most famous citizen is Rudolf Nureyev, one of the greatest dancers who ever lived and the main reason for our visit.

Continuing our adventure, we took another RER train to St. Genevieve-des-Bois, a sleepy suburb of Paris. Since Mary and Phil are cemetery enthusiasts, this was the big event that they had been waiting for for months. A bus dropped us off in in what looked like the middle of nowhere and about a quarter of a mile up a quiet road we spotted the cemetery. It was a cool, overcast day with sun fighting to get through and the light was perfect for photos. The cemetery was serene and quiet, smelling of  moss. Many of the graves had Patriarchal crosses that have two cross bars going across horizontally giving the cemetery a symmetry. What was most special was the profuse amount of spring flowers both growing in front of the graves and placed on top. After many fits and starts in Paris, spring was suddenly alive and thriving in St. Genevieve-des-Bois. Of course, Mary and Phil were in seventh heaven, acting like kids in a playground and practically skipping through the aisles of the cemetery.

After a few minutes of exploring, we had no idea where Nureyev's grave was located, so Mary bought a cemetery map and we hightailed it. The grave was even more magnificent in person than the photos I saw before and the rich color of the gold, red and bright blue mosaic tiles just popped. What was most incredible was that it looked just like a tapestry and the way it was draped and the way the folds fell,  you would swear it was made of cloth. Notice the beautiful gold fringe adorning the bottom. Mary and Phil were so ecstatic about finally hitting the cemetery jackpot, they decided it was the perfect photo op. Notice how serious and somber they are in the photo below. The mosaic was designed and built by set designer Ezio Frigerio and was based on traditional Oriental kilim rugs. Rudolf Nureyev died of AIDS at the age of 55 in 1993.
Mary & Phil: such sad sacks

We strolled around the rest of the cemetery for about another 45 minutes and discovered some unique graves including one with a head stone decorated with colored porcelain flowers, another stunner with a green sculpted face bordered with a ring of gold leaves, and a quirky one crowded with plastic flowers and kitschy objets like a glass cat filled with colored sand and teddy bears with Santa hats.

We left St. Genevieve-des-Bois Cemetery feeling very happy and more than satisfied and we highly recommend visiting. I will be leading tours of St. Genevieve-des-Bois Cemetery and of the Cathedral of the Resurrection and would love to take you. 

 St. Genevieve-des-Bois Cemetery
rue Leo Lagrange
St. Genevieve-des-Bois

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, author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook. 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: Wednesday, Thursday, 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

Best of 2009:My Excellent Adventure with Mary & Phil, Part I: Cathedral of the Resurrection

I 'm taking a summer blogging break for two weeks. Enjoy my selection of the Best of 2009 posts.

So the big day arrived last Friday for my tour of the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Evry and the Genevieve-des-Bois Cemetery with my friends Mary Gilbert and Phil Nuxhall from Cincinatti. I physically never met Mary & Phil before but soon as we did, we hugged like old friends. They are so sweet, fun, and interesting. Mary is an avid Francophile and knows so much about Paris, that in certain areas of knowledge she runs circles around me. She is the one who thought of the two destinations which I never knew about.

We took the RER D to Evry-Courconnes, about a 35 minute ride from Paris, and arrived at the modern, clean white station (which I will feature as a metro station of the month later this month) with fun bright colored graphics. As soon as we stepped out of the station, the Cathedral of the Resurrection loomed grandly in front of us. Immediately we were taken by its sheer beauty and presence. We walked around the complete perimeter to take in every view as not to miss a single opportunity to view this magnificent architectural wonder. At every turn was an angle that made it take on a different look. The main entrance was closed and it was actually difficult to locate exactly where to enter. We ended up entering through a small non-descript black service door on to the second floor. The view was breathtaking: the huge expanse and intricate patterning of the bricks, the dramatic altar bathed in natural light, the perfectly symmetrical , meticulously crafted wood seats, the massive inset with a stunning cross angled sculptural wood screen housing the organ, the gentle but powerful curved walls, and the white light flooding into the cathedral through a fanned out pattern of sheets of glass.

We walked down the curving stairway with long panes of unique abstract stained windows and arrived at the main floor. We were struck by the warmth and spiritual power the cathedral emanated, since modern Swiss architectural style can sometimes be cold( the architect is Swiss born Mario Botta). We left the cathedral feeling that our molecules had been altered, which sometimes happens after seeing things of such great beauty.

The Cathedral of the Resurrection is named after the Patron Saint Corbinian, a eighth century monk from St. Germain-les-Arpajon.The 670,000 bricks come from Colomiers near Toulouse and the cathedral was completed in 1995. There are 20 lime trees surrounding the top. It is the only 20th century cathedral built in France.

Stay tuned till tomorrow for part two of My Excellent Adventure with Mary & Phil where we visit Rudolph Nureyev's grave at St. Genevieve-des-Bois.

Cathedral of the Resurrection
Take RER D from Gare de Lyon to Evry-Courconnes- approx. 35 minutes
Open Monday to Saturday 10AM-12PM, 2PM to 6PM, Sunday 2PM-7PM
Mass times -Monday -Friday 12:15, Sunday 11:15AM & 7PM
http://cathedrale-evry.cef.fr/

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, author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook. 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: Wednesday, Thursday, 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

10th Arr. Part II: Graffiti

There is a large wall off the Quai de Valmy on the Canal St. Martin which intersects rue Jean Poulmarch that the city has designated for graffiti artists to have free reign over. Every few weeks they create a mural. This is a recent one with the most vibrant leaves and flowers sprouting from a tree with a serious face and a magical, far away city in the background.

The other two photos are store gates with graffiti.

Quai de Valmy & rue Jean Poulmarch,10th arr.
Metro: Jacques Bonsergent

 

 

 

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, author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook. 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: Wednesday, Thursday, 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

10th Arr.: Part I

The 10th arr. near the Canal St. Martin is a melange of odd buildings,quirky storefronts, and just one visual surprise after the next. Here are a few glimpses. 

Love the Art Deco

 

Alright you movie buffs, who's that on the left? I say it's Joan Crawford. For sure, Norma Desmond on the right.

 

All About Bette upside down

 

Scary Hair Do's/Dont's at the Beauty School

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, author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook. 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: Wednesday, Thursday, 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

Le Reminet-Lunch with Lynn/Paris Under 20 Eats

My friend and wonderful writer Lynn Jeffress is always boasting about the best lunch bargains in Paris and inviting me to join her for her great culinary finds. I very rarely go out for lunch, as I spend the days I'm not touring toiling away at the computer. I finally decided to take Lynn up on one of her great finds, as I was getting cabin fever early one afternoon last week and called her on the spur of the moment to see if she was free. Indeed she was and we happily scurried to Le Reminet, which I have been told has an incomparable three-course lunch menu for 13.50 euros. Our mutual friend Meredith Mullins dines there every Monday for lunch and was actually the first person to tell us about this terrific bargain.

We arrived at about 12:30 and the small, intimate dining room with crystal chandeliers, deep plum walls and velvet banquettes, and gold gilt mirrors, was crowded with almost all French diners. The very,very, very, handsome (aka very,very,very hot) and genial waiter Gabriel read off the enticing menu. We of course went for the 13.50 menu. 

For the starter, I chose the smoked mackerel, endive salad with little bits of Granny Smith apple. It was a most refreshing summer dish and the tart apple was a nice offset to the bit heavy smoky fish. Lynn had a mozzarella tart with the cheese melted on top of puff pastry and wisp of salad greens underneath more for color. I took a bite and the pastry was light and the mozzarella gooey.

I like the fact that the chef was attentive to the season in his selection of dishes, as many French restaurants ignore it and serve heavy dishes like beef Bourguignon, lamb, and andouillette sausage in the summer. A simple sliced chicken breast was accompanied by two interesting sauces, a thin liquid curry with coconut milk, and a mango chutney.The hot and sweet flavors worked great together to give the tender but barely spiced chicken a kick.

Although I enjoyed my bananas topped with caramel sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, I think Lynn's cheese plate would have been a more satisfying end to the so far excellent meal. It consisted of just the right size slices of Pont l' Eveque, Camembert, and chevre over roquette, radicchio, and walnut salad dressed in a light vinaigrette.

Mozzarella tart

Chicken with curry sauce and mango chutney

Cheese plate

Lynn and I both agreed that the portions of the food were just right for lunch and we felt satisfied but not stuffed.We spoke to the owner Michel Pascal and his son the very, very, very handsome Gabriel at length about the restaurant and told us they had taken it over from the original owner three years ago. We could see the restaurant was their pride and joy and the warm, personal and efficient service was the cherry on the gateau of this perfect lunch.

After this wonderful experience, I decided that Lynn and I would make a regular date every month for lunch and discover the best lunch bargains for under 20 euros.  Our quest to find another restaurant that's comparable or will surpass Le Reminet will be difficult and I think we have a long, lunch-filled road ahead of us.

Le Reminet
3 rue des Grands Degres, 5th arr.
Metro: Cluny Sorbonne, Saint Michel, or Maubert Mutualite
Open everyday 12PM-3pm, 7:30PM-11PM Reservations recommended 01 44 07 04 24
http://www.lereminet.com/

Michel Pascal and his very,very,very handsome son Gabriel

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, author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook. 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: Wednesday, Thursday, 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

August Eye Need to Do's: Paris Plage, Born in the Streets- Graffiti, and Rosa Bonheur

Before I get to Eye Need to Do's, I want to let you know I am fully recovered from my kidney stones. Thanks so much for all of your thoughtful and caring comments and emails regarding my condition.

More Good News: Stirling Kelso from Travel & Leisure magazine has written the nicest review of my Eye Prefer Paris cooking classes. Check it out.

http://www.travelandleisure.com/blogs/carry-on/2009/7/29/cooking-classes-in-paris--with-an-ethnic-twist 

Paris Plage

It's the seventh year of this popular concept of having a full fledged beach on the Seine including sand, beach chairs,palm trees, swimming pool, cafes, and even boule courts where you can rent the balls. For the 2009 season they are including free concerts in front of the Hotel de Ville including performers Cirkus (with Neneh Cherry), Peter von Poehl, Piers Faccini, Joseph Arthur, and Fujiya & Miyagi.

Don't be tempted to take a dive in the Seine.

Paris Plage
Until August 20
http://www.paris.fr/portail/ete2009/Portal.lut?page_id=9273

‘Né dans la Rue’  (Born in the Streets – Graffiti)

The American art form graffiti finally gets it due respect with a show at the Cartier Foundation. Né dans la Rue is a comprehensive show filling the entire museum including the outside spaces tracing the roots of graffiti from the early 70s. Great for kids.

Fondation Cartier
261 Blvd. Raspail, 14th. arr
Metro: Raspail
Open Tuesday to Sunday 11AM-8PM, Tuesday till 10PM
Till November 29
http://fondation.cartier.com

 

Rosa Bonheur

Based on the old fashioned guingettes, Rosa Bonheur is a most pleasant terrace cafe overlooking the green Park Buttes Chamont. Good eats with dancing and drinks till 2AM every night. What could be better summer fun?

Rosa Bonheur
avenue de la Cascade, 19th arr.
Metro: Botzaris
  01 42 00 00 45

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, author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook. 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: Wednesday, Thursday, 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