I Prefer Paris

Montmartre Photo Contest Winner

Photo by Rod Chapman

This was one of the hardest contests to judge. All of you sent such wonderful and captivating photos that I caved and decided to have two winners.

And the winners are (drumroll please!).........
Rod Chapman, for his portrait of a fabulous costume and makeup someone was wearing at the Fete de Vendages, the annual October wine festival event in Montmartre.

Amy Parker for her windmill photo with the dramatic gray sky behind it that she snapped on an Eye Prefer Paris tour of Montmartre with her family back in September. 

Congratulations to the winners and you will both receive a copy of the new best-selling book What French Women Know by Debra Ollivier. Please email me your addresses so I can send the book to you.

Here are some runner ups that I thought were excellent. Thanks so much to Amy, Rod, Ann, Virginia, Jeanne, Marty, Lisa, Shirley, Brian, Judy & Danny, Annie, Maurice, Alice, Catherine, Linda, Cathy, Michele, and Peter for taking the time to submitting your lovely photos.

Virginia Jones

Maurice Carrillo

Catherine Melland

Jeanne Govert

Shirley Lerman

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

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

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

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

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

World's Largest Ladies Shoe Store at Galeries Lafayette & Manolo Blahnik Spring Preview 2010

To make shoe fanatics jealous, I had the distinct pleasure of attending two major shoe events in the same day a few weeks ago.

While I was in Galeries Lafayette having lunch with Lynn,we visited the new ladies shoe department which is billed as the largest in the world. It's over 34,000 square feet with more than 150 brands of shoes.Each brand has its own shop and brands include Walter Steiger, Pierre Hardy, Prada, Miu Miu, Jimmy Choo,Biondini,Arche,Accessoire, and Repetto. Sizes range from American 3-12. There is also a foot salon to take care of your tootsies with pedicures and foot massages and an artisan cobbler that carries special brushes, shoe creams in all colors, foot-care lotions and more.

After I left Galeries Lafayette, there was a press showing of the Manolo Blahnik spring 2010 shoe collection at Maria Luisa, a ladies high fashion boutique that exclusively sells Manolo's in Paris.The collection was a knockout with high sexy feminine heels and gorgeous color combinations Manolo is famous for.

Many of you don't know this, but I worked in Delman, the fancy ladies shoe salon at Bergdorf Goodman in the early 80s.

Galeries Lafayette
40 Blvd. Haussmann, 9th arr.
Shoe Dept. is on lower level
Metro: Chausee-D'Antin or Opera

www.galerieslafayette.com

Maria Luisa
7 rue Rouget de L"Isle, 1st arr.
Metro: Concorde
Tel. 01 47 03 96 15
http://www.marialuisaparis.com

Don't forget about the Montmartre photo contest.

The contest is for the most unusual and dramatic photo of Montmartre. The contest winner will be announced next Wednesday, November 11. Please send your photos no later than November 10 and you can email them to me at [email protected]. Please send no more than 3 photos in an email. 

Now for the prize. The winner will receive a copy of the new best-selling book What French Women Know by Debra Ollivier. The intriguing book is about love, sex, and other matters of the heart and mind, a witty, insightful exploration of what makes French women tick. Questions like  “How do they make it look so easy?”  and “Why are French women always so incredibly sexy, even if they are physically ordinary?" are answered and explained by Ollivier who lived in Paris for many years and married a Frenchman. Ollivier offers us a refreshing new perspective on the stale ooh-la-la stereotypes about French women, revisiting and challenging old notions about sex, love, dating, marriage, motherhood, body politics, and seduction. A must read book for any man or woman who appreciates the mystique of French women.

If you can't wait to read the book before the contest, click here to order.

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

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

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

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

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

Metro Station of the Month: Abbesses

Abbesses metro is the station for Montmartre. It has one of the only two remaining original Hector Guimard metro entrances in Paris and was named after abbesses of the nearby Dames-de Montmartre abbey. One of the deepest stations in Paris,118 ft., I schlepped up up the numerous, windy stairs to photograph the wonderful,whimsical murals of the area painted on the walls behind the railing.

Abbesses
#12 line- Porte de la St. Chapelle to Mairie  d'Issy

The next two are at the entrance of the station

Don't forget about the Montmartre photo contest.

The contest is for the most unusual and dramatic photo of Montmartre. The contest winner will be announced next Wednesday, November 11. Please send your photos no later than November 10 and you can email them to me at [email protected]. Please send no more than 3 photos in an email. 

Now for the prize. The winner will receive a copy of the new best-selling book What French Women Know by Debra Ollivier. The intriguing book is about love, sex, and other matters of the heart and mind, a witty, insightful exploration of what makes French women tick. Questions like  “How do they make it look so easy?”  and “Why are French women always so incredibly sexy, even if they are physically ordinary?" are answered and explained by Ollivier who lived in Paris for many years and married a Frenchman. Ollivier offers us a refreshing new perspective on the stale ooh-la-la stereotypes about French women, revisiting and challenging old notions about sex, love, dating, marriage, motherhood, body politics, and seduction. A must read book for any man or woman who appreciates the mystique of French women.

If you can't wait to read the book before the contest, click here to order.

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

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

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

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

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

Best Place to Exchange U.S. Dollars

I most always tell visitors that the best way to change money is to do it with your cash card. Your bank may charge a 3-5 euro fee for the transaction but it is usually the best rate you can get. However, I did find a currency exchange bureau/bureau de change that matches the rate from a cash machine.The other day I changed $100 and received 66 euros which comes out to about 1.51 and the wholesale rate on the internet was listed close 1.48,so the rate I received was equal to my bank. The other good thing about this exchange place is they didn't ask for a passport and it's in a convenient location off the rue de Rivoli by Place de la Concorde. 

The above photo is not of Change & Collection.

Change & Collection
1 rue de Rouget de Lisle, 1st. arr
Metro: Concorde or Tuileries
Tel. 01 42 60 00 35
Open Monday to Friday 8:30AM-6PM
Saturday 9:30AM-1PM, 2PM -5:30PM
Google map

Don't forget about the Montmartre photo contest.

The contest is for the most unusual and dramatic photo of Montmartre. The contest winner will be announced next Wednesday, November 11. Please send your photos no later than November 10 and you can email them to me at [email protected]. Please send no more than 3 photos in an email. 

Now for the prize. The winner will receive a copy of the new best-selling book What French Women Know by Debra Ollivier. The intriguing book is about love, sex, and other matters of the heart and mind, a witty, insightful exploration of what makes French women tick. Questions like  “How do they make it look so easy?”  and “Why are French women always so incredibly sexy, even if they are physically ordinary?" are answered and explained by Ollivier who lived in Paris for many years and married a Frenchman. Ollivier offers us a refreshing new perspective on the stale ooh-la-la stereotypes about French women, revisiting and challenging old notions about sex, love, dating, marriage, motherhood, body politics, and seduction. A must read book for any man or woman who appreciates the mystique of French women.

If you can't wait to read the book before the contest, click here to order.

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

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

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

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

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

Eye Prefer Paris Contest: Montmartre

Dalida grave at Montmartre Cemetery

I have been doing tours of Montmartre lately and it inspired a new contest. From the Moulin Rouge to Sacre Coeur, to the majestic views of the city below, to the windy streets frequented by the movie character Amelie, Montmartre is one of the most photogenic places in Paris.

So the contest is for the most unusual and dramatic photo of Montmartre. The contest winner will be announced next Wednesday, November 11. Please send your photos no later than November 10 and you can email them to me at [email protected]. Please send no more than 3 photos in an email.

Now for the prize. The winner will receive a copy of the new best-selling book What French Women Know by Debra Ollivier. The intriguing book is about love, sex, and other matters of the heart and mind, a witty, insightful exploration of what makes French women tick. Questions like  “How do they make it look so easy?”  and “Why are French women always so incredibly sexy, even if they are physically ordinary?" are answered and explained by Ollivier who lived in Paris for many years and married a Frenchman. Ollivier offers us a refreshing new perspective on the stale ooh-la-la stereotypes about French women, revisiting and challenging old notions about sex, love, dating, marriage, motherhood, body politics, and seduction. A must read book for any man or woman who appreciates the mystique of French women.

If you can't wait to read the book before the contest, click here to order. 

Here are some of my most unusual and dramatic photos taken at the Montmartre cemetery.

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

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

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

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

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

Fall Foliage in the Marais

When I lived in New York I would have to go to either Central Park or upstate New York to see the fall foliage. Luckily in Paris I just had to walk down the street near my apartment in the Marais to see the glorious autumn colors. Riotous reds, vibrant yellows, and faded greens permeated the old stone walls on many of the 17th century hotel particuliers last week on a most perfect sunny, crisp day with temperatures hovering in the mid-50s. 

 

Checkout the insiders guide to Paris on page 76 I wrote for the prestigious online lifestyle and travel magazine The Address  http://www.theaddress.info/no4/the-address4-sp.pdf

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

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

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

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

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

November Eye Need to Do's: BNP Paribas Tennis Masters, Deadline and Joe Allen's Thanksgiving Dinner

Deadline
A exhibition about dead artists who knew they were dying may sound morbid but Deadline is actually quite moving. Inspirational works by 13 artists including Joan Mitchell, Willem de Kooning, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Felix Torres-Gonzalez  chronicle the last days of these great artists.

Deadline- till January 10, 2010
Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
11 Ave. du President Wilson, 16th. arr.
Metro: Iena
http://www.paris.fr/portail/Culture/Portal.lut?page_id=6450

Thanksgiving in Paris
If you are homesick for Thanksgiving dinner while in Paris, Joe Allen's offers a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and all the trimmings, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie for a mere 38 euros. The fun American style interior with Broadway theater posters makes you feel you are in the Big Apple.

Joe Allen
30 rue Pierre Lescot, near rue Etienne Marcel, 1st er.
01 42 36 70 13
Reservations a must 

BNP Tennis Masters
It's the last major tournament of the 2009 tennis season and eight of the top male players are vying for the big prize and to top the rankings. Watch Federer, Nadal, Murray, the new Latin hottie Juan Martin del Potro,  and Frenchie Wilfried Jo-Tsonga  duke it out for over 2,000,000 euros in prize money.

BNP Paribas Masters 2009
11/8- 11/15
Palais Ominsports de Paris
Bercy
8 Blvd. de Bercy, near Quai de Bercy, 12th arr.
Metro: Bercy
http://www.fft.fr/bnpparibasmasters/2009_en/?id=55

Art Nouveau Revival
Art Nouveau was a driving force in design and art from 1900 to 1933 and abruptly ended until a revival in the 1960s brought it to life again. An important show at the D'Orsay illustrates the significant similarities and differences in the two eras through furniture, posters, and films.

Art Nouveau Revival -Till February 10, 2010
Musee d'Orsay
1 rue de la Legion d'Honneur, 7th arr.
Metro: Assemble Nationale or Solferino
http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/home.html

Checkout the insiders guide to Paris on page 76 I wrote for the prestigious online lifestyle and travel magazine The Address  http://www.theaddress.info/no4/the-address4-sp.pdf
New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

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

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

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

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