I Prefer Paris

Happy New Year 2021

Door(s) of the Month: December 2020-Rue du Pre aux Clercs, 75007

Rue du Pre aux Clercs is a quiet side street off of Blvd. Saint Germain in the 7^th arrondissement. It’s a one block street, beginning at rue Saint Guillaume and ending at rue de l’Université. 

The street was named is after a field where duels originally took place and before that it was occupied by the abbey of Saint Germain which was connected to the church. 

Christmas in Paris 2020: Vincent’s Art Gift

Our Christmas Eve celebration this year was just the two of us. Vincent cooked a grand, festive meal of Steak Diane- tournedos of beef with a reduced mustard and cream sauce, potatoes with lemon and rosemary, and a salad of pears, radiccio, and mozzarella. Dessert was three slices of buche de Noel, each with a different filling from Maison Aleph. 

The usual Christmas ritual is that we don’t exchange any gifts until Christmas morning, but this year Vincent, in a break-through moment, decided we could exchange a stocking stuffer on Christmas eve. Remember, since Vincent is Catholic, and I am Jewish, so he makes the official Christmas rules of the house. 

I had wrapped all of my presents a few days ago, and two of them were almost the same size and shape, so I couldn’t figure out which one was the stocking stuffer and which was the big gift. Vincent gave me a Snoopy T-shirt, (I have a big collection of Snoopy t-shirts from before) and when he opened his it was the big gift, a newly released CD box set of Joni Mitchell’s early recordings from the 1960s, with some never released tracks. 

Many of you know and that Vincent makes a special art gift for me every Christmas and to those of you who are new to Eye Prefer Paris, my partner Vincent, who is an artist and filmmaker, makes me a special art gift every year for Christmas. It takes a different form each year such as a collage, a drawing, a box, a sculpture, a book, and sometimes something in between. 

This year it was a 12”x13” profile portrait, taken from a previous photo of me wearing a gold crown from when I was crowned the king from the gateau de roi celebration of a few years ago. The portrait is done in graphite, and is surrounded by squares of metallic paint, and the crown is made of gold leaf. It’s titled You Are Gold 11, as Vincent has created 10 other editions of You Are Gold over the years. 

Needless to say, I was blown away and I cherish these art gifts so much, I decided that if god forbid where was ever a fire in our house, they would be the first things I would grab. 

Usually this time of the year I am out of the house a lot because of my tours, but because of Covid-19, I was home, so Vincent had a hard time creating my gift without me seeing it. He found the solution by locking himself in our tiny bathroom, and turning it into a makeshift atelier. The funny thing is that I kept on hearing him using a blow dryer, which I thought was really strange. (You are probably wondering why we even have a blow dryer in the first place, since both of us are practically bald. The reason is because for many years we had a refrigerator that wasn’t frost free, and Vincent used the blow dryer to melt the ice).  Usually I may hear some last minute banging or the sounds of wrapping paper, but the blow drying was really throwing me off. When I received the gift, I asked Vincent what the heck the blow drying was about and he said he had to dry the paint each time he painted one of the squares in the portrait, so he could continue with the next one. 

In case that wasn’t enough of a gift, Vincent bought me a really cool sweatshirt and a cashmere cap in a chartreuse color. 

Besides the Joni Mitchell CD collection, I gave Vincent some practical gifts including a mini-chopper, a new pastry brush, a kitchen scale, and the Yotam Ottolenghi cookbook, Flavour,  since he does most of the cooking at home. I also made Vincent black and blue, by giving him a facial cleanser that is black in color, and a facial mask that is blue in color. 

I hope all of you still had a wonderful Christmas even if you couldn’t spend it with your loved ones. I feel incredibly blessed and fortunate for what I have, as many people around the world have had a difficult year dealing with the effects and loss from Covid-19. 

my cool new sweatshirt and cap 

Vincent in black and blue 

Please read my latest stories on Travel Awaits 

11 Tips For Visiting Paris Without Breaking The Bank

https://www.travelawaits.com/2559687/tips-for-visiting-paris-on-a-budget/

10 Fabulous Experiences In Idyllic Nancy, France

https://www.travelawaits.com/2559911/nancy-france-best-things-to-do/?pv=search

My Stay In An 18th-Century Chateau And Why You Should Add It To Your Travel List

https://www.travelawaits.com/2559996/stay-in-an-18th-century-french-chateau/

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Holidays 2020

Christmas in Paris 2020: Hotel de Ville

After taking photos of BHV Marais the other night, I walked across the street to Hotel de Ville, where there was a Christmas market in the front plaza. The market was festively decorated with an abundance of trees, some small shops, two carousels, lanterns, stars, and wood moose. 

The highlight is the beautiful electric blue light bathing the outside of the building with animated snowflakes falling. 

This is the last of my Christmas in Paris 2020 articles. Did you enjoy the series? Please let me know in the comments section. 

Please listen to a podcast I did with Krystal Kenney of La Vie Creative about Paris and creativity.

https://laviecreative.buzzsprout.com/ 

 

 

 

Christmas in Paris 2020: BHV Marais

Buon Natale! It’s an Italian Christmas at the BHV Marais store. The windows are decorated with Italian inspired figures such as Pinocchio (the original Italian figure from 1881 before it became a Disney film) along with cats and birds. Inside the store is a pop-up movie theater featuring Italian films every week including Pinocchio, Life is Beautiful, We All Loved Each Other So Much, The White Sheik, Call Me By Your Name and The Great Beauty. There’s also a branch of the Italian gourmet grocery Eataly at BHV. 

 

Christmas in Paris 2020- Rue Saint Honoré & Saint Germain-Part 2

Here are more photos of Christmas displays from rue Saint Honoré and Saint Germain des Pres. 

Just a reminder, if you still would like to order holiday gifts of either Eye Prefer Paris photos and/or postcards from my Etsy shop, order them by Friday of this week to get them in time for Christmas. Click here to go to my Etsy shop. There’s more info about my Etsy shop on the bottom of this post. 

Le Village Royal

Lanvin

Laura Piana

Cartier

Dior

Cafe de Flore 

Fendi

Ralph Lauren Food Truck- Saint Germain des Pres 

Gucci

Laudurée

Dior 

It’s holiday gift time, and what could be better than the gift of Paris. Most people were denied the joy of visiting Paris this year with the travel restrictions, so what better way to remind you or people on your gift list of the city than a great photo. 

I have updated my Etsy shop with 15 new photos in addition to my other classic photos from before. In addition, I can make a print of almost every photo you see on Eye Prefer Paris.

Below are sizes and prices.

10x13 inches $60

11x14 inches $80

16x20 inches $115

I am offering free shipping- a $14 savings- on any photo order until December 18, 2020.

Click here to go to my Etsy shop. 

Photos are printed on Fuji crystal Archive metallic paper with rich satin gloss finish and is unframed.

Prints are printed in N.J. and sent by USPS. Delivery time is 2-5 days.

If you have any questions about the photos, please email me at [email protected]

Thanks in advance for your support.

Click here to go to my Etsy shop. 

Below are some of my new photos I’ve posted in my Etsy shop.

For 2020, I am relaunching Eye Prefer Paris Postcards with a 3 month and 6 month subscription. 

A 3-month subscription costs $25 plus $10 shipping. Click here to order

A 6-month subscription costs $50 plus $15 shipping. Click here to order

Christmas in Paris 2020- Rue Saint Honoré & Saint Germain-Part 1

After photographing the Christmas windows at Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, I walked to rue Saint Honoré to view the holiday windows at the luxury boutiques. Last Friday during the day, I took photos of holiday displays in Saint Germain des Pres.

Just a reminder, if you still would like to order holiday gifts of either Eye Prefer Paris photos and/or postcards from my Etsy shop, order them by Friday of this week to get them in time for Christmas. Click here to go to my Etsy shop. There’s more info about my Etsy shop on the bottom of this post. 

Isabel Marrant 

Dior

Ralph Lauren

Le Village Royal

Le Village Royal

Hermes

Dior

Les Deux Magots

Patrick Roger

Patrick Roger

It’s holiday gift time, and what could be better than the gift of Paris. Most people were denied the joy of visiting Paris this year with the travel restrictions, so what better way to remind you or people on your gift list of the city than a great photo. 

I have updated my Etsy shop with 15 new photos in addition to my other classic photos from before. In addition, I can make a print of almost every photo you see on Eye Prefer Paris.

Below are sizes and prices.

10x13 inches $60

11x14 inches $80

16x20 inches $115

I am offering free shipping- a $14 savings- on any photo order until December 18, 2020.

Click here to go to my Etsy shop. 

Photos are printed on Fuji crystal Archive metallic paper with rich satin gloss finish and is unframed.

Prints are printed in N.J. and sent by USPS. Delivery time is 2-5 days.

If you have any questions about the photos, please email me at [email protected]

Thanks in advance for your support.

Click here to go to my Etsy shop. 

Below are some of my new photos I’ve posted in my Etsy shop.

For 2020, I am relaunching Eye Prefer Paris Postcards with a 3 month and 6 month subscription. 

A 3-month subscription costs $25 plus $10 shipping. Click here to order

A 6-month subscription costs $50 plus $15 shipping. Click here to order

 

 

 

 

Christmas in Paris 2020-Printemps

Today I am featuring photos of the holiday windows at Printemps for the Christmas in Paris 2020 series. 

The theme of the windows this season is “Let’s share Christmas”. Illustrator Beax has created fun and imaginative windows of nine families celebrating Christmas, in their own individual way. Scenes in the four windows with animations include Christmas at a chalet, on ski slopes, and on the Paris rooftops.

Just a reminder, if you still would like to order holiday gifts of either Eye Prefer Paris photos and/or postcards from my Etsy shop, order them by Friday of this week to get them in time for Christmas. Click here to go to my Etsy shop. There’s more info about my Etsy shop on the bottom of this post. 

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It’s holiday gift time, and what could be better than the gift of Paris. Most people were denied the joy of visiting Paris this year with the travel restrictions, so what better way to remind you or people on your gift list of the city than a great photo. 

I have updated my Etsy shop with 15 new photos in addition to my other classic photos from before. In addition, I can make a print of almost every photo you see on Eye Prefer Paris.

Below are sizes and prices.

10x13 inches $60

11x14 inches $80

16x20 inches $115

I am offering free shipping- a $14 savings- on any photo order until December 18, 2020.

Click here to go to my Etsy shop. 

Photos are printed on Fuji crystal Archive metallic paper with rich satin gloss finish and is unframed.

Prints are printed in N.J. and sent by USPS. Delivery time is 2-5 days.

If you have any questions about the photos, please email me at [email protected]

Thanks in advance for your support.

Click here to go to my Etsy shop. 

Below are some of my new photos I’ve posted in my Etsy shop.

For 2020, I am relaunching Eye Prefer Paris Postcards with a 3 month and 6 month subscription. 

A 3-month subscription costs $25 plus $10 shipping. Click here to order

A 6-month subscription costs $50 plus $15 shipping. Click here to order

 

Christmas in Paris 2020- Galeries Lafayette

Here’s the first of  my annual blog posts about the Christmas decorations and shop windows in Paris. 

Instead of saving the best for last, I’m giving you the best, first. Hands down Galeries Lafayette has the best Christmas windows this year . They are colorful, delightful, fun, enchanting, and whimsical. 

The theme for 2020 is the Christmas Voyage led by Céleste, a young intrepid explorer who finds a vintage airplane on the roof of Galeries Lafayette that belongs to the daring pilot Jules Védrines. Céleste travels the world meeting all kinds of fantastic creatures and animals from a polar bear village to the desert to a snow-covered jungle. Her extraordinary voyage ends in Paris where she brings a treasure trove of fantastic gifts in her trunk and leaves them under the giant Galeries Lafayette Christmas tree. 

I loved the decorative frame around each window along with the globe on top. 

Speaking of holiday gifts, there’s still time order Eye Prefer Paris Postcards and/or photo prints on my Eye Prefer Paris Etsy shop and receive your order before Christmas. Click here to view my Etsy shop. 

Stay tuned next week for more Christmas in Paris postings. 

It’s holiday gift time, and what could be better than the gift of Paris. Most people were denied the joy of visiting Paris this year with the travel restrictions, so what better way to remind you or people on your gift list of the city than a great photo. 

I have updated my Etsy shop with 15 new photos in addition to my other classic photos from before. In addition, I can make a print of almost every photo you see on Eye Prefer Paris.

Below are sizes and prices.

10x13 inches $60

11x14 inches $80

16x20 inches $115

I am offering free shipping- a $14 savings- on any photo order until December 18, 2020.

Click here to go to my Etsy shop. 

Photos are printed on Fuji crystal Archive metallic paper with rich satin gloss finish and is unframed.

Prints are printed in N.J. and sent by USPS. Delivery time is 2-5 days.

If you have any questions about the photos, please email me at [email protected]

Thanks in advance for your support.

Click here to go to my Etsy shop. 

Below are some of my new photos I’ve posted in my Etsy shop.