I Prefer Paris

Courtyard Week 2: 62 rue Charlot

What struck my eye about this courtyard in the Northern Marais were the grand stairways with chipped painted stairs,intricate ironwork,and unfinished painted walls behind them. I also liked the interesting perspective the refection from the mirrors gave.The apartment building was probably a hotel particulier(private home or mansion) constructed in the mid-1600s and most likely the stairways are original. 

62 rue Charlot, 3d arr.

Metro: Filles-Calvaire

 

 

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

Courtyard Week 2: 15 rue du Cherche Midi

Due to the overwhelming accolades from Courtyard Week 1 last August, I am happy to bring you you Courtyard Week 2. Since last August I have tirelessly trolled the Paris streets ducking, sneaking, and fast talking my way into various courtyards.

After leaving Poilane boulangerie last month for my interview with Parisian of the Month Apollonia Poilane, I crossed the street and noticed the door ajar at 15 rue du Cherche Midi. Inside was one of the most elegant and gorgeous courtyards I have seen so far.  I couldn't believe how lush the foliage was considering it was December and a very cold one at that. I love the centerpiece of the garden,a moss covered sphinx/gargoyle-like statue. Does anybody know what kind of statue that is or what it is called?

15 rue du Cherche Midi, 6th arr.

Metro: Sevres-Babylone or Saint Sulpice

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

RTL Radio Station Building

I love the black and white op-art facade of the RTl building in the 8th arr. RTl is one of the big pop stations in Paris and it looks like they are having a Madonna celebration.

So Get Into the Groove, so you can Justify My Love in case you are Frozen and can't let in a Ray of Light when you listen to the Music while you Vogue.

RTL
22 rue Bayard, 8th arr.
Metro: Alma Marceau or Franklin Roosevelt

 

  

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

Paris Winter Sales/Soldes 2010

Today, Wednesday, January 6th is the official start date of the winter 2010 Paris sales. Thousands of anxious and patient shoppers will wait on line in their favorite shops to take advantage of 20% to sometimes 80% off.This year will be especially good because of the the recession. In case you didn’t know, the government regulates sales and technically stores are not allowed to put something on sale if it’s not during the set time that is either in January or July. In fact, shops can be fined thousands of euros if they don’t comply.

There's an official sale site http://www.shoppingbyparis.com/ that has great information about how to navigate the sales and includes a shopping book with shopping itineraries in five categories: La Classique,La Trendy, La Bobochic, La Creative, and Le Fusion Fashion World.

Happy sale-ing!

Is this you today?

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

La Galette de Rois

Every year starting on January 6th, la galette de Rois (the cake of the three kings), a cake made of frangipane (almond cream paste) and a buttery crust, is sold in patisseries all over France. These delicious cakes celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, where the three wise men came to see the baby Jesus. In certain parts of France the cake is made with brioche and filled with glazed fruit.

A feve- a little china figure is hidden inside of the cake, and whoever gets it, (without breaking a cap when biting into it) is crowned king and gets to choose his queen. The cake is usually sold with a gold paper crown (I suspect if Hermes or Vuitton sells the cake, a real crown is provided).

This year the version from Poilane boulangerie has a crown made of oak leaves and the feve is a white ceramic handmade acorn by Le Petit Atelier de Paris. 

Poilane

8 rue du Cherche-Midi,6th arr.

Metro: Saint-Sulpice

Open Monday to Saturday 7:15AM -8:15PM

Tel. 0 1 45 48 42 59

www.poilane.fr

Recipe for la Galette des Rois

(Serves 8)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 lb frozen puff pastry
2 eggs
7 oz almond paste

Preparation: Leave the puff pastry at room temperature for about 2 hours until defrosted but still cold.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Line a baking sheet or pizza pan with baking parchment or grease the pan and lightly sift flour on it. Shake off any excess flour. Roll each sheet of pastry into a circle about 12 inches across. Place one circle on the prepared pan.

Mix the egg with the almond paste until smooth and spread the mixture evenly on the prepared circle of pastry, leaving a border 1 1/2 inches wide all around. If you have a small piece of china, insert it into the almond mixture (you may also use a bean as the fève.) The person who gets the fève is the King or Queen.
Place the second circle of pastry on top and press it down tightly around the rim.

Beat lightly the remaining egg and brush it on the top of the cake. With a long-bladed knife, press lightly but firmly through the egg glaze marking a crisscross pattern.

Bake for 20–25 minutes until golden and puffed. Do not check for doneness for at least 15 minutes, as the pastry may collapse. Serve slightly warm or cold.

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

January Eye Need to Do's: Christian Boltanski & Moumenta 2010, Tony Kushner, and Robert Doisneau

Monumenta 2010- Christian Boltanski Personne
World renowned artist Christian Boltanski has been chosen for the third and final installation of the Monumenta project at the Grand Palais. In the two years prior, Anselm Kiefer and Richard Serra were invited and challenged to fill the massive 140,000 sq. ft space with a vision of their art. Christian Boltanski's Personne is conceived as a work in sound and vision.

January 13 to February 21, 2010
Nave of the Grand Palais – Main entrance
Avenue Winston Churchill, 8th arr.
Metro: Champs Elysees-Clemenceau
10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday and Wednesday
10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Thursday to Sunday
Closed Tuesday
http://www.monumenta.com

A Bright Room Called Day
Hillary Keegin & Pauline LeDiset have translated  the 1984 Tony Kushner play A Bright Room Called Day into French. The play takes place in 1932 in Berlin and is about five friends whose lives are changed by the rise of Nazism.

Tuesday, January 12 to Sunday January 17-8PM
Theater Corsage
25 rue Popincourt, 11arr.
Metro: St. Ambroise or Voltaire
Reservations 01 48 05 97 23
http://www.brightroom.fr

Robert Doisneau's Paris Passages
Legendary Paris photographer Robert Doisneau was a big fan of the covered shopping passages.He took a series of photos from 1976 to 1980 including passage Verdeau, passage du Caire, passage Choiseul, passage Jouffroy, passage des Panoramas, galerie Vivienne,  and galerie Véro-Dodat. Enjoy 30 prints of these most interesting Paris locales.

Till January 15
Monnaie de Paris
11 Quai de Conti, 6th. arr.
Metro: Pont Neuf
Open 11AM-5:30PM Tuesday to Friday
12PM-5:30PM Saturday & Sunday
Closed Monday 

http://www.monnaiedeparis.fr

Happy New Year and thank you so much for your generous and kind wishes you sent for 2010.

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