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Sorry to interrupt Sweet Week today, but I'll be back tomorrow with some special cookies.
Please join me for a Magical Montmartre Tour next Wednesday, March 17 @10AM, EST/East Coast Time, 9am Midwest/Chicago Time, 7AM PST/West Coast Time. We will visit the iconic film locations including Sacre Coeur, La Maison Rose, Place du Tertre, and some surprises in between. I look forward to seeing you then.
CLICK HERE to confirm your attendance.
Every February from 2009 to 2012, I wrote a series called Sweet Week, where I would visit a different patisserie or chocolate shop every other day for a week.
I discontinued the series because I became pre-diabetic at the time, and I am now fully diabetic, taking insulin daily. Now I can’t be as freewheeling as I was then, randomly eating sweets without worrying, except for the calories. My desire for sweets has never waned. Don’t believe those reports or studies, that if you don’t have sugar or eat sweets for an extended period, you won’t crave them, and in my case, it’s total BS.
Luckily, I’ve never suffered any diabetic seizures or effects, and lately I feel better than I ever have before. I still have to watch what I eat, and I have been on a low glycemic diet in the past years. Since Vincent does most of the cooking, he prepares delicious, low glycemic meals using tons of vegetables and healthy carbs like beans and whole grains.
Every once in a while, I will indulge in something sweet but also being responsible about it, so I am happy to bring back Sweet Week.
Today I am featuring the newly opened Tapisserie Patisserie in the 11th arrondissement, about a 15-minute walk from Place de la Bastille. The second I opened the door, the aroma hit me like a ton of bricks, as one of the employees was transferring a baking sheet with a bunch of Kouign Amann pastries that were fresh out of the oven, on to a platter. Just smelling the pastries was making my blood sugar rise and I knew I had to make my choices quickly if I was going to get out of there alive.
I was now the adult version of the kid in a candy shop, who only had enough money to buy one thing. I perused the showcase in front of me stocked with annoyingly appealing choices such as a sugar pastry, apple cake, chocolate tart, pear tart, and flan. I finally narrowed it down to two choices, either a lemon tart or a pear tart filled with smoked almond paste. I asked the woman at the counter which she preferred, and of course, she was no help with this agonizing decision, saying she liked both of them. I prodded her further by saying that if she was going to be executed by the guillotine tomorrow, which one would she choose, and she said go for the pear tart, because the smoked taste was unusual. In case it wasn’t hard enough choosing my pastry, all the while, one of their staff members, a skinny, young man who couldn’t have weighed more than 130 pounds, kept on piling new pastries on the counter, about six inches from my nose. I caved when he brought out a tray of flaky pastries infused with chocolate that were still warm. I paid for my pastries quickly as I could and got out of there faster than a bat out of hell.
I found a closed storefront a few doors away, ripped off my Covid mask, and inhaled the warm, chocolate pastry at warped speed, resembling a junkie getting a fix and then looking like I was having an out of body experience.
Later that evening after a meal of tofu with sauteed eggplant and broccoli rabe plus a salad, Vincent and I split the pear tart, and agreed it was unusual but at the same time, incredibly delicious.
Tapisserie Patisserie is owned by Bertrand Grébaut and Théo Pourriat whose Michelin star restaurant Septime, is consistently named one of the best restaurants in Paris. All the baking at Tapisserie is done on the premises in a semi-open kitchen. They tape a hand-written list on the door, listing the hourly schedule of when specific pastries are available.
65 Rue de Charonne, 75011
Metro : Ledru Rollin or 76 bus, Ledru Rollin stop
https://www.tapisserie-patisserie.fr/
Stay tuned for part two of Sweet Week tomorrow.
Below are some links to past Sweet Weeks.
https://www.ipreferparis.net/2009/01/sweet-week-jacques-genin.html
https://www.ipreferparis.net/2009/01/sweet-week-finale-le-jules-verne.html
https://www.ipreferparis.net/2012/02/sweet-week-4-day-1-henri-le-roux.html
https://www.ipreferparis.net/2011/02/sweet-week-3-un-dimanche-a-paris.html%20
https://www.ipreferparis.net/2011/02/sweet-week-3-meert.html
Order Photos From My Etsy Shop
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
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]
Here’s a sampling of my most liked photos on Instagram in the past month from my three accounts Eye Prefer Paris, Literal Street Art and Parisian Doors.
Do you have some favorites here?
If you still haven’t followed me on Instagram yet, here are my handles.
Marais rooftop
Louvre
Place des Vosges
Green streets
Oldest house in the Marais 1327
Eiffel Tower
Love door París
Le Marais
Sacre Coeur
Hôtel de Ville
Chocolate Arc de Triomphe
Angelina
I am happy to announce Loving Modigliani: The Afterlife of Jeanne Hébuterne by Linda Lappin as my book selection this month.
Amedeo Modigliani, embittered and unrecognized genius, dies of meningitis on a cold January day in Montparnasse in 1920. Jeanne Hébuterne, his young wife and muse, follows 48 hours later, falling backwards through a window. Now a ghost, Jeanne drifts about the studio she shared with Modigliani—for she was not only his favorite model, but also an artist whose works were later shut away from public view after her demise. Enraged, she watches as her belongings are removed from the studio and her identity as an artist seemingly effaced for posterity, carried off in a suitcase. Thus begins Loving Modigliani, retelling the story of Jeanne Hébuterne’s fate as a woman and an artist through three timelines and three precious objects stolen from the studio: a diary, a bangle, and a self-portrait of Jeanne depicted together with Modi and their daughter. A century later, Jeanne Hébuterne’s artwork will be rescued from oblivion.
Linda has been generous enough to offer two free E-book copies of Loving Modigliani and the first and third person that makes a comment, will receive their free copy.
Email subscribers, if you go to the bottom of this email, in small print it says “You are subscribed to email updates from I Prefer Paris”. Click on I Prefer Paris, and on the bottom of the post you will see COMMENT in small letters. Click on that to make a comment.
CLICK HERE to order your copy of Loving Modigliani : The Afterlife of Jeanne Hébuterne
CLICK HERE to listen to an interview with the author Linda Lappin on about the book on World Radio Paris.
Order Photos From My Etsy Shop
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
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]
In February 2018 I launched a series of videos on YouTube, A Bite of Paris. Every few weeks or every month, I would go to a food or gourmet shop, restaurant, or cafe and speak about their specialty and also do a tasting. Over the course of almost three years, I made 18 videos, which my brilliant partner Vincent filmed and edited. Along the way I tasted chocolates, foie gras, hot chocolate, baguettes, and salted butter caramels plus many other wonderful delicacies. There were a few videos where I would meet friends at their favorite café or restaurant.
Today I am reposting the links to a number of the videos, plus descriptions, and I will also list the link to the page with the entire collection of 18 videos, if you want to binge on them Netflix style.
If you have already seen them, thanks again for watching, if you haven’t viewed all of them, here’s an opportunity to watch the ones you missed, and if you haven’t seen them at all, you can catch up now.
I will continue doing more videos in the next few months , but in a different format and platform, and I will keep you posted.
Enjoy!
P.S. DON’T watch the videos on an empty stomach!
A Bite of Paris Episode 2: Foie Gras- In this episode I got to an award-winning foie gras shop in the Marais.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbwSL4Yzxjk&t=11s
A Bite of Paris Episode 6: Hot Chocolate at La Petit Maison dans La Cour
Hot chocolate never tasted so good at this hidden café in a courtyard,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRWijmRlqtQ&t=62s
A Bite of Paris Episode 7: Dinner with Adrian Leeds at Chez Omar
My friend Adrian Leeds joins me in this episode at her favorite neighborhood restaurant for dinner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtr406Kkm78&t=7s
A Bite of Paris Episode 11: Chocolate Tasting at Les Trois Chocolates
Here I taste sinfully delicious chocolates at a Japanese inspired chocolate shop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdJaECIf09E&t=157s
A Bite of Paris Episode 12: Le Mistral Bistro with Ann Mah
I met with my friend Ann Mah, who took me to a bistro that makes a great and authentic aligote, a rich, creamy mix of whipped potatoes and cheese from the Aveyron region.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiRHIW7Oitw
To watch the entire series
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1m9NCJJCKdBsN2FJ4vDthQ/videos?view_as=subscriber
