I Prefer Paris

Under 20 Eats/Lunch with Lynn- L'Atelier Gourmand, Dinan

Lynn had a restaurant experience in Brittany that was so good, she recommends making a special day trip from Paris just to eat there.

Sidelights (Getting Out of Dodge-y Paris Once in Awhile)

I thought I’d eaten marvelous French food in Paris, then I went to Dinan, that little walled city in Britanny about10 miles east of Dinard. I spent a couple weeks in a three-story medieval house on the original cobble stone street (rue du Jerzual) that runs from the Port de Dinan up to the center of town.

I was near the river, about a minute by foot, and there beside the stone bridge leading up hill to Lanvallay stands L’Atelier Gourmand. Oh, goddess help us all. The food can make you weep. One traveler on Trip Advisor said simply: “It was the best restaurant on our whole trip.” Trust the Advisor if you don’t trust me.

Fish is what you want to order and if the gods are with you there will be fish soup on the  menu that day You might try the fish soup elsewhere first, the thin Oliver Twist-y stuff that is meant to punish. Then have the real thing, thick and velout-y with just a soupcon (hint) of nutmeg.  The aioli, croutons and grated cheese that come with it are dazzlingly fresh (6,90e). 

Short story: The day of the fish soup, an American who spoke no French came in with a French friend. The American wanted soup; the Frenchman had not seen the ardoise (blackboard with the day’s menu) and was hesitating. I called Pauline over, the waitress, and asked her to encourage the “soupe du jour.”. I thought the American would be amazed. Oh, he was! He was! He took a spoonful, then a second, then I heard him say: “This is really delicious!”  Little did he know, I thought, how the gods were smiling on him.

 

If too much fish is too much you might  have one of the amazing starters (5,40 – 6, 90e) like the “Petite chevres au lard” a goat cheese salad with tiny chunks of fried bacon, or salad with bacon bits and a poached egg. And don’t forget to start the whole adventure with homemade sangria. You will not regret it, if you remember it.

For the “plat” try “Dos de cabillaud en Papillotte,” a filet of cod steamed in a tin foil envelope with white sauce slightly pinked and new potatoes dancing in it (13,40e). I had it with a 2008 Cotes de Provence, a vin rose from the Chateau Galoupet, the color of a baby’s bottom and unforgettable (4 e a glass). 

If you have the Escalope gratinee de volaille , the game cutlet with ham, mushrooms and cheese (12.60 e), order the lovely and willing 2007 Bourges Martineau (25.20 e a bottle)

And for dessert, I do not care what kind of diet you are on or if you have always hated the caramel gunk that sat in a kitchen cupboard and got harder and harder till no one in the family knew what it was for – do yourself a huge gourmand favor and have the caramel sundae. You will not know what hit you. This is homemade caramel, fait maison, a specialty of Brittany,  runny and buttery with just exactly the right measure of salt, a river of gold flowing down that hill of vanilla ice cream --topped with the real whipped stuff,  if you are a total dare devil, as I am --or share it two ways or three ways or four, whatever. Just do it!

The owners are the handsome glittery eyed Fabrice, the maitre d’, and his wife, Christine, who does the cooking. Fabrice told me that the restaurant, beautifully  balanced there on the Rance River,  is featured as one of the Windows 7 themes. First one to find it wins.

Tell Fabrice hello from me. What a grand place. Don’t miss it if you really love good food.

L’Atelier Gourmand
Tél : 02 96 85 14 18
4 Rue du Quai
Port de Dinan
Reserve
Dinan  (3 hours from Paris, Gare Saint Lazare, to Dol de Bretagne and then a tiny local train to Dinan)

Photos by Karin Snelson

 

In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New Yorkís best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!

Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. 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.Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris. www.eyepreferparistours.com
 

 

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 Charlotteís 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, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

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

Parisian of the Month: Janet Skeslien Charles

 
Janet Skeslien Charles is the author of the international bestselling book, Moonlight in Odessa, her debut novel in 2009. She also works with the American Library in Paris as the programs manager.

Where were you born and where did you grow up?
 
I was born in Conrad, Montana, and grew up in Shelby, Montana, a farming community on the Hi-Line.
 
When and why did you move to Paris?
 
I have lived in Paris since 1999. Like many people, I came here ‘for a year.’ I never thought of it as moving here, it would have seemed too definite, too daunting. It was easier to get a nine-month teaching contract and say, ‘We’ll see what happens…’
 
Before you moved to Paris you lived in Odessa and taught school there. Tell us what that experience was like.
 
From 1994-1996, I was a Soros Teaching Fellow in Odessa, Ukraine. It was a great experience. I enjoyed working with the teachers and students. We were completely cut of from the world because there wasn’t yet Internet and phones didn’t work very well. A gorgeous city with French and Italian architecture, Odessa is situated on the Black Sea. People describe Odessa and Odessans as very friendly, unpredictable, and sensual.
 
Your debut novel Moonlight in Odessa was a bestseller and highly praised. What led you to write the book and were you surprised at the results?
 
Two of my dear Ukrainian friends married Western men they didn’t know to escape poverty. I spent time with these friends and their husbands and was shocked at how the husbands spoke to their wives. I wanted to write about this experience.
 
I was surprised that the book sold in over a dozen languages, but happy that so many people from different cultures and backgrounds could relate to Daria, the main character, and her quest for happiness.  
 
Each year over 16,500 women, who meet men through international matrimonial organizations such as loveme.com, enter the U.S. on three-month fiancé visas. In a recent article in Glamour magazine, a Ukrainian ‘email-order bride’ explained that her American husband paid $20,000 in travel and agency fees. It is a huge business. When Publishers Weekly reviewed my book they wrote, ‘The teetering dance between humor and heartbreak burns through this tale that takes place at the intersection of love and money, East and West, male and female,’ which is exactly what I wanted to show readers about the matchmaking industry.

When writing the book did you travel back to Odessa? Did living in Paris give you distance while writing it?
 
I did return to Odessa, mainly to see my neighbor, a caring pensioner with lavender hair and a twinkle in her eye. I based my character Boba on her. When she died, I didn’t want to return.
 
A large portion of the book is set in the U.S. and is from a foreigner’s point of view. Living in Paris definitely gave me the distance to look at my own country through someone else’s eyes.
 
You work with Shakespeare & Company and The American Library. Tell us what you do with both organizations.
 
I came to France to teach English as a Second Language. Although I loved my students, I spent more time running between schools and lessons than I did in the classroom. In 2004, I decided to take a year off to write and found that I was isolated. In hopes of meeting like-minded people, I started a writing workshop. Sylvia Whitman kindly allowed me to use the upstairs library at Shakespeare & Company. Each week, I met with university professors, journalists, students, nannies, writers, administrators, tumbleweeds, and bartenders who also had stories to tell. I felt lucky to meet so many fabulous people and great writers. In 2009, Anna Pook, one of my students, took over the workshop, and I am happy to say that the writing community created in the class still flourishes.
 
In October of 2010, my friend Ann Mah, who had been the Programs Manager at the American Library told me that she was resigning in order to write full-time. I decided to apply for the job. The Library is an incredible, dynamic place. I have loved every minute of being there. Part of my job is organizing the Evenings with an Author series. It is a pleasure to hear a different writer speak about their experiences and ideas each week. As a writer, I find it very inspiring. It is a treat to meet new people, from the regulars who come each Wednesday to the people just passing through town. The evening programs are free and open to the public, and I encourage anyone who loves to read or write to come the Library.
 
Are you working on a new novel and if you are, please tell us what it’s about.
 
I am working on another novel set in Ukraine. Time will tell what it is about.
 
Who are your favorite French authors and favorite French books?
 
I love The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Encyclopédie capricieuse du tout et du rien by Charles Dantzig is a book that you can open at any page and read for fun. Page 25: A list of the most beautiful roads in the world. Page 497: A list of writers that other writers don’t like.
 
I’d love to hear your readers’ suggestions concerning books.
 
If there is one writer living or dead you could invite to dinner, who would it be, what would you prepare, and what would you serve to drink?
 
I would invite my friend Emma Jane Kirby, who was the BBC correspondent here for several years. She has a wicked sense of humor and the best take on France of anyone I know. I admire her so much. We are the same age but she has read twice as much as me and has worked all over the world. We’d have what we always do, our favorite, un Kir Royal, champagne with crème de cassis. Food optional.
 
Paris has had and still has many American writers living here. Why do you think that is?
 
That’s a good question. It is easy to rent an apartment short term or long term. Easy to get into the rhythm of this life. Easy to come and to go. And maybe because of the Lost Generation, there is an idea that it’s easier to write a novel here – more inspiration, more passion, more wine, better food. But I think that it is a myth.
 
You met your husband soon after you moved here. Please tell us how that happened.
 
My husband and I met at the airport Charles de Gaulle on my first day in France.I helped a French teaching assistant when he arrived at the University of Montana. He stayed in my apartment, and I helped him find his own place and deal with the paperwork that comes with starting a new job in a new country. When Stéphane learned that I was going to France, he asked his brother to help me get settled. His brother came to the airport to pick me up.

What do you prefer about Paris?
 
The Village Voice and the Red Wheelbarrow bookstores. People who are passionate about books. The five weeks of vacation time that workers receive whether they are CEOs or cashiers. The trains. The cheese. The metro. The lush gardens. The small cafes.

Thank you, Richard! What a treat to be able to share a little bit of life with you and your readers.

Click here to order Moonlight in Odessa from Amazon

 

In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New Yorkís best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!

Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. 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.Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris. www.eyepreferparistours.com
 

 

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 Charlotteís 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, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

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

Le Quartier de l'Europe by Thirza Vallois

Last year I stumbled upon a set of streets in the 8th and 9th arr. that were named after European capital cities. I tried to trace the history of it but I had trouble finding any relevant information. I asked my friend and esteemed Paris historian and lecturer Thirza Vallois about it, and she kindly wrote a detailed history of the area. Thirza Vallois is the author of the very popular series of guidebooks Around and About Paris, which recently been updated as an E-book.

The Jacquemart-André Museum is currently holding a delightful exhibition of works by two of the frères Caillebotte, respectively the better known painter and collector of the Impressionists, Gustave, and the photographer Martial. Their works provide an invaluable record of Haussmann's city of modernity which developed under their eyes. Among the paintings on display is Le Pont de l'Europe, the railway bridge, so named because it was situated in the Europe neighbourhood — le quartier de l'Europe (or loosely le quartier Europe), north of the Gare Saint-Lazare.     

Although this neighbourhood seems characteristically Haussmannian, it actually dates from 1826. It was developed as a speculative venture for the benefit of share holders. The developers, a Swedish banker, Jonas Hagerman, and the king's locksmith, Sylvain Mignon, were given a free hand, except for the obligation to have a fenced garden in the centre of the Place de l'Europe. Several other neighbourhoods were developed in Paris during the Restoration, to meet the housing needs of the growing capitalist society : The François I neighbourhood, by the  Champs-Elysées, for example, was  developed three years earlier. The contractor  of both developments was Jean-Léonard Violet, a local councillor in the village of Vaugirard, now the 15th arrondissement, who became a developer in his own right and to whom we owe much of the urban fabric of the arrondissement.  Rue Violet, situated in the 15th, is named after him.

The Europe neighbourhood replaced the lovely Tivoli Gardens. This was still a countrified area and the new development was intended to be elegant for members of the new affluent society. The main arteries therefore had to be 15m wide, which Haussmann later increased to 20.  Most were designed to radiate  from a roundabout, a design repeated by Haussmann and his followers  throughout the city.  The octogonal Place de l'Europe was the neighbourhood's main hub, to which were added la Place de Dublin and la Place de Budapest. The rue de Rome and rue d'Amsterdam framed the neighbourhood to the west and to the east, and a few narrower streets were laid out here and there as a link between the main ones. Each street was given the name of one of the major European cities, 24 in all. Note that during the Communist rule of Soviet Union, rue de St-Petersbourg was renamed rue de Léningrad. People often wonder why the Place de Stalingrad in the 19th arrondissement has not reverted to Volgograd, the current name of the city. That's because it does not commomemorate the city but the battle fought there in 1942/43.

It is customary to have thematic names for planned urban developments. It enhances the unity sought by the planners. There are other examples in Paris where enclaves are unified through the names of the streets, names of flowers for instance. Well known to all are the Boulevards des Maréchaux that girdle Paris. They are not an enclave, of course, but share a common function. The celebration of Europe, in this instance, was probably in keeping with the prevailing faith in the endless possibilities of trade and growth in those early days of capitalism, a reflection of a budding sense of European identity which will teeth through the 19th century.

In 1832, the frères Pereire, the founders of the French railway, dug a tunnel under the Place de l'Europe, along the rue de Londres, to host the Europe Pier and the first French rail line, between Paris and Saint-Germain-en-Laye. They had hoped to start the line at the more central Place de la Madeleine but met with protestations from high quarters. The opposition to the railway in conservative France was such that Louis-Philippe was dissuaded from inaugurating the line, in 1837, on the grounds that it was a perilous journey — yet not dangerous enough for his wife, who took the inaugural ride instead of the King, together with their children!  Even a serious scientist like François Arago was opposed to the building of the tunnels, claiming they would cause pneumonia and pleurisy. The Europe Pier was replaced by the Gare Saint-Lazare in 1842, which would eventually bring about the decline of the neighbourhood, as railway stations will. At the time of the Caillebotte it was still a sought after where wealth mingled with successful artists, musicians and writers.  The train was still a novelty and watching it go by from the Europe bridge was a favourite passtime among the ordinary badauds (strollers, passers-by), as recorded by the Caillebotte. The bridge was also painted by Monet, but the one we see today is not the first bridge,  the one which they had painted. It replaced the old bridge in 1931.

Note that until recent times, rue d'Amsterdam was an unmissible shrine of cheese lovers the world over. From Colette to Orson Welles or Maria Callas, they all made a journey to at Androuët, at no. 41, when in town.  As success bred success Androuët started making offspring. By now they have scattered  to all corners of the planet.

Musical nourishment is also provided in the quartier Europe. Until 1990 rue de Madrid was home to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Dance, which moved in 1990 to the Cité de la Musique at La Villette. Fortunately the premises kept their vocation and now host the Regional Conservatoire. Rue de Rome and its vicinity therefore been able to remain the city's stronghold of string dealers, most famously Vatelot-Rampal on rue Portalis, the one street that is not named after a European city! The reason why? It was not part of the original development and was opened only thirty years later.

Author's note:
If you noticed any inconsistency on my part in terms of capital letters - Place de l'Europe versus rue de Rome, for instance, this is intentional. I follow the French grammar rules which do not take capitals, except for Place, because I wanted to highlight it, a step made all the more necessary because, unlike rue or quartier the word "place" exists in English and could lead to a confusion. 

Thirza Vallois is the author of the internationally acclaimed Around and About Paris series, Romantic Paris and Aveyron, A Bridge to French Arcadia. A long-time Parisian, a Sorbonne post-graduate and "agrégée", Thirza is an expert on all things Parisian and has also written the Paris entry for the Encarta Encyclopaedia. Thirza has appeared on PBS, BBC, the Travel Channel, the French Cultural Channel, Discovery and CNN, has worked as a consultant for the BBC, has spoken on BBC Radio 4, NPR in the US, and had her own programme "postcard from Paris" on one of London's radios. Thirza also lectures to art societies and educational organisations throughout the world and writes for the international press. Her award-winning Three Perfect Days in Paris story, published in United Airlines' Hemispheres, was aired on their international flights and travel channels.

Around and About Paris, volume 1, covering the centre of the city, is now available as an ebook, making it the ideal companion for the reader on the move.

www.aroundandaboutparis.com
www.thirzavallois.com

 

 

In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New Yorkís best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!

Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. 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.Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris. www.eyepreferparistours.com
 

 

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 Charlotteís 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, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

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

Spring Flowers in Le Marais

I can't top taking photos of the luscious flowers blooming all over Paris. While on a Marais tour the other day the oversized pink tulips and wild roses sprouting from the vines in the garden of Musée Carnavalet were too irresistible not to snap. There were some divine red wine colored tulips in the formal garden of the Hotel de Sens, a former medieval castle, now a textile museum and library. It's been unseasonably warm and sunny in Paris, more like summer in the past two weeks and the temperature has climbed into the high 70s the last few days. I hope you are not getting tired of my flower photos but they are the ones I get the most comments on.

 

 

In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New Yorkís best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!

Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. 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.Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris. www.eyepreferparistours.com
 

 

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 Charlotteís 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, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

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

Vézelay

These are the second set of photos in Vézelay I shot when I spent New Years near there earlier this year. It was a cold, misty day on this hilltop village with much of the architecture dating from the 1200s. In some ways it was more like England, a romantic scene out of Wuthering Heights in the gray mist. But for sure it was France with the Vézelay Abbey which was built in the 11th century and according to legend,  houses the bones of Mary Magdalene. IIn 1058 the Pope confirmed the genuineness of the relics, leading to an influx of pilgrims that has continued to this day. The Abbey was also a major starting point for pilgrims on the Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela, one of the most important of all medieval pilgrimage centers.

Prints of these photos are for sale. If you would like to purchase one, please email me at [email protected] for sizes, prices, etc.

I am quoted in the current issue of New York Magazine in an article about Paris. Click here to read it

 

In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New Yorkís best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!

Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. 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.Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris. www.eyepreferparistours.com
 

 

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 Charlotteís 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, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

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

Meredith Mullins: Sacred Sunday Mornings

 I am noctilien by nature. Anyone who sees me before 10 am can confirm that I am not a morning person. I cringe at the army recruitment ad—“We do more before 8 am than most people do in a day.”
 
But Sunday spring mornings in Paris are too perfect to miss. Most of the city is asleep after those wild Saturday nights. The light is soft, and the places that will soon be overrun with footsteps … are empty. Pure and quiet.
 
I love to photograph during these “magic hours.” The light feels as if it’s warming the earth, and the few people who are out all seem to be characters from some bohemian novel. Some are still living Saturday night, stopped in time wherever they were when their body or mind hit that invisible wall. (Some never even saw the wall. They drank their way through it.) Some are the “early birds,” catching those worms … or collecting those coins in the fountain. And some are just so darn perky (singing out loud as their jogging feet make a gravel rhythm in the gardens) that they make you thankful you’re noctilien.

Meredith Mullins is an internationally exhibited American photographer and writer who currently lives in Paris. She is a recent winner of the 2010 Worldwide Gala Photography Awards and Px3 competition, a 2009 winner of the Grand Concours Photo sur Paris, author of the award-winning book, In A Paris Moment, (Click here to order) and contributor to Paris Magazine and Browntrout travel calendars. Visit www.meredithmullins.artspan.com to see more of her images. Original photographs are available directly through the artist. Meredith will be teaching photography workshops this spring through WICE. She is also available for private photography instruction/exploration in Paris. Sign up for an information-filled, creative lesson! Contact: [email protected]

 

 

In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New Yorkís best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!

Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. 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.Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris. www.eyepreferparistours.com
 

 

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 Charlotteís 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, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

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

Door of the Month: 5 rue Bonaparte

Some of my most interesting doors have been ones that are being refinished. This particular door in St. Germain des Pres looks like it was starting to be stripped and all the old paint layers seemed to have surfaced. To me  it looks a little like a Jackson Pollack painting. What do you think?

5 rue Bonaparte, 6th arr.
Metro: St. Germain des Pres

Pollack-like?

 

In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New York's best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!

Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. 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.Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris. www.eyepreferparistours.com
 

 

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 Charlotteís 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, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

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

Mme. Grès Exhibit at Musée Bourdelle

Mme. Grès was one of the great couturiers of the 20th century with a career spanning over 50 years. Born in 1903, Grès trained as a sculptor and later said that working with fabric was the same as working in stone. She was most famous for her exquisite and intricate draped creations, many of them influenced by Greek sculptures. She opened her couture house in 1942 and worked with the dedication of a monk till 1988, always refining and perfecting her craft. Even though she was a legendary draper, interestingly enough she didn't know how to sew. Although she was Jewish, the Nazis allowed her to keep her atelier open during WWII, but she refused to dress the the wives of the Nazi officers. She worked mostly with silk jersey, which was the ideal fabric for her wearable masterpieces. Jackie Onassis, Greta Garbo, Grace Kelly, Marlene Dietrich, and the Duchess of Windsor were loyal clients and many of today's designers are highly influenced by Grès including Azzedine Alaia, Issey Miyake, and Yves St. Laurent (Pierre Bergé stated "Madame Grès is one of the reasons why we went into fashion").

A long overdue celebration of her work at the Musée Bourdelle, the former home and studio of sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, it's a fitting backdrop for Mme. Grès's fabric sculptures. Over 80 of her designs are in glass vitrines set against the massive Bourdelle sculptures. The exhibit also features some of her daytime looks of coats and suits in addition to her sumptuous evening gowns and cocktail dresses. Fifty original photographs including ones by Guy Bourdin and Richard Avedon, and a hundred drawings from the Maison Grès Archives, have been donated to the museum for this retrospective by the Fondation Pierre Bergé–Yves Saint Laurent.

This is a must-see exhibit and put it on the top of your list of things to do in Paris.

Till July 24
Musée Bourdelle
16 rue Antoine Bourdelle,15th arr.
Metro: Falguiere
Open Tuesday to Saturday 10AM-6PM
www.bourdelle.paris.fr

 

In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New York's best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!

Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. 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.Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris. www.eyepreferparistours.com
 

 

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 Charlotteís 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, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

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

Parisian Dessert of the Month: Chocolate Wristwatch from Chapon

I chose this month's dessert mostly on looks. I was walking by the charming chocolate shop Chapon on rue du Bac a few weeks back and saw this chocolate wristwatch in the window. I was intrigued and went inside to look more closely. Upon close inspection, it was adorable and had an image of Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's stamped on it, which none of my designer watches could boast.

What time is set on the watch? Time to eat it of course!, so about 12 seconds after I photographed it the dark but not bitter chocolate watch was ticking away in my belly.

8 euros
Chapon
69 rue du Bac, 7th arr.
Metro: rue du Bac
Tel. 01 42 22 95 98
www.chocolat-chapon.com
http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&rls=en&q=69+rue+du+Bac+paris&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=69+Rue+du+Bac,+75007+Paris,+France&ei=RTKjTcnGMsLQhAeqtuX5BA&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ8gEwAA

 

In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New York's best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!

Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. 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.Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris. www.eyepreferparistours.com
 

 

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 Charlotteís 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, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

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

Eye Prefer Paris Tours: Tracey Jackson and Daughter Lucy

One of my most delightful tour clients and friend Lizanne from New York highly recommended my tours to her friend Tracey Jackson, who was coming to Paris a few weeks ago. Tracey emailed me and said she was coming for a reading of her new book Between a Rock and a Hot Place-Why Fifty is Not the New Thirty at Shakespeare & Company. She booked a tour for Tuesday and invited me to her reading on Monday night. I was free that night and when I arrived at Shakespeare & Company it was packed and I managed to get the last seat which was in the front row. I am always weary of sitting in the front row for any performance or reading for two reasons: One is if I happen to doze off, which I tend to do at many performances, it's quite embarrassing and you have nowhere to hide, and two, if the performer decides they want a volunteer or someone for audience participation, they always pick someone from the front row. A woman introduced Tracey and out came this very attractive, well-dressed blonde woman wearing a fab necklace and chic pointy black suede pumps. She was vivacious, chatty, and funny. I liked her instantly.  The chapter she read from the book was about her mother and her obsession with aging and it was quite entertaining and amusing. After the reading there was a Q& A and I was impressed with her intelligence and candor plus the ease in which she answered the questions. I liked her even more. I introduced myself briefly after the reading and she thanked me so much for coming.

We met at the St. Paul metro for a Marais tour and Tracey's daughter, 11 year old Lucy with long red locks and big brown eyes, was already a serious fashionista with her little Vuitton bag and grown up ballet flats. I could already tell shopping was going to be high on the tour agenda. We toured some of the hotel particuliers in the area to learn some history and then the shopping part of the tour kicked into high gear with the first stop at a paper boutique with unusual, non-tourist looking cards of Paris monuments. Lucy stocked up on them as gifts for her school friends. I had to stop home for a moment to get my camera to photograph Tracey and Lucy during the tour and Tracey asked if there was a bathroom nearby she can use. I told her she might as well come up to my apartment. Tracey has a successful blog and one of the features, Fifty@Fifty, is a series of fifty short video interviews with people over fifty doing interesting and inventive things with their lives. Tracey asked me on the spot if she could tape an interview with me for this series and when I said yes, she whipped out her Flip video camera. I was very flattered but a little unprepared (no time to do my hair and makeup) but I was game and we did the interview, which I thought went well. (Although you never know what you sound or look like on camera. God please let me come off not looking nervous or weird or having three chins).

We stood outside the Boucherie Becquerel next door to me inhaling the roast chickens and Tracey and Lucy were practically licking the glass doors of the rotisserie. They vowed that they would come back to Paris and rent an apartment just for the sake of being able to take the roast chicken home to devour it. It was Lucy's favorite part of the tour. Now Lucy won my heart because she was a fashionista and a true New York foodie. Next up was my mandatory stop on every Marais tour, a pastry and coffee and Gerard Mulot, one of the best patisseries in Paris. We totally pigged out on numerous pastries and I almost couldn't pry them away from them until I adamantly said it's time for more shopping girls. They packed it up toute de suite, and off we went to a charming shop with handmade headbands and hair accessories mostly decorated with Swarovski crystals. Lucy went gaga, and tried almost every headband in the store. After thirty minutes of "This is the one, don't you love this one, do you like this one or that one better, I swear I this is the one", and 78 headbands later, the final choice was made.

Tracey ogling white asparagus

Lucy with her tiara/headband-Not the final choice

Lucy looking sweet and innocent before she goes for the kill of the desserts

We hit other numerous clothing boutiques, more purchases were made, and at about 6:15, the girls were laden with shopping bags. We parted hugging each other as if we were old friends and we were going to miss each other. Tracey was so kind and autographed a copy of her book with a touching inscription in French. We are for sure BFF's now.

I am almost finished with Tracey's book and have enjoyed it immensely so far. Not only is it laugh out loud funny ( I had to control myself reading it on the metro the other day), entertaining, informative, and candid but there is so much information about how women age that I never knew. You must order Between a Rock and a Hot Place-Why Fifty is Not the New Thirty straight away. Great book club choice too. Click here to order.

Also checkout Tracey's website and blog http://www.traceyjacksononline.com and read her touching and fabulous blog post about my tours. http://www.traceyjacksononline.com/2011/04/eyepreferparis/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+traceyjacksononline%2FQtnO+%28Tracey+Jackson%29

I will let you know when her video interview with me is posted. Maybe Hollywood will finally knock on my door, but if they do I will say Eye Prefer Paris!

 

In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New York's best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!

Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. 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.Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris. www.eyepreferparistours.com
 

 

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 Charlotteís 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, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

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