I Prefer Paris

Moinet H. Confiserie

One of the things I appreciate about Paris is the relevance and abundance of confectionary shops around the city. The closest thing we used to have in the U.S. would be penny candy shops, which almost don’t exist anymore, except perhaps Dylan’s candy shop in New York.

 On a corner on Ile Saint Louis, Moinet H. Confiserie is a divine haven for all things sweet. The boutique is not only literally a candy land, but it also has lots of eye candy with its charming displays of wood shelves and tables lined with colorful tins, cellophane bags filled with goodies and tied with red ribbon, chocolate bars packaged in hot pink wrappers, burgundy and pale blue tile floors, and wood beam ceilings.

Moinet H. Confiserie was established in 1852 in Vichy, France, and produces artisan confections. Their extensive product list includes hard candies, pastilles, mints, caramels, chocolates, pralines, caramels, fruit-flavored jelly candies (pates de fruit), flavored marshmallows (guimauves), and even pastille scented candles. They also stock sugarless candies.

45 rue Saint-Louis en L’ille, 75004

https://confiserie-moinet.fr/maison-moinet/

Experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens, and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Shopping Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, Emily in Paris tours, and Chocolate and pastry tours.

Tours start at 275 euros for up to 3 people, and 85 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.

 Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com 

Doors of the Month January 2024: Barcelona

I recently made a quick trip to Barcelona for four days and discovered a plethora of great doors.

Marin Montagut Boutique

I was with a tour client last week, and she passionately shared about a home boutique she discovered. She practically ordered me to visit, as she knew I would like it. I read about Marin Montagut Boutique a few years ago but didn’t get around to checking it out.

On a quiet, side street close to the Luxembourg Gardens, Marin Montgut is a most enchanting, delightful, and whimsical boutique. The shop is filled to the brim with porcelain plates, cups, mugs, glassware, scarves, textiles, throw pillows, candles, and stationery.

What’s even more impressive about Marin Montagut is that everything in the boutique is either made in Paris or France. The porcelain is handcrafted and painted, the glassware is produced with recycled glass and hand blown, the objets and decorative items are handcrafted, the silk scarves are from a family-owned textile house in Lyon, and the fabrics, pillows, and hand towels are produced in a Parisian workshop.

My favorite thing about Marin Montagut is the circus-themed windows which include a mini, Ferris Wheel surrounded by puppets, a carousel, a harlequin, and a furry bear beating his drum.

In my opinion, Marin Montagut is the best place to buy an original and unique Paris souvenir, made in France.

48 rue Madame, 75006

Open 11am-7pm Monday to Saturday

https://en.marinmontagut.com/

I would like to thank the people below for their generous donations to support Eye Prefer Paris. It is greatly appreciated.

Martha Friedricks, Susan Borden, Corinne Nalet, Deborah Page, Maxine Gaiber, Anne Stern, Verne Henshall, Mary Dreckman, Sarah Kayle, Gary Lavalette, Barbara Elkman, Chris Dearling, Bill O’ Such, Marsha Cannon, Edward Nahamias, Sandy Springs, Arlyn Gardner, Marilyn Roofner, Renee Ozburn, Monique Van Damm, Joanie Stewart, Elizabeth Shepard, Judith Rizzo, Anne Gummerson, Bodan Ferguson, George Van Fleet, Shari Shocket, Val Carter,  and Marcia Seligson

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Experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens, and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Shopping Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, Emily in Paris tours, and Chocolate and pastry tours.

Tours start at 250 euros for up to 3 people, and 85 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.

 Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com 

 

 

Café of the Month, January 2024: Noir Coffee Shop

There’s been a big influx of high-end coffee shops in Paris in the last 14 years, starting with Cotume Café in the 7^th arrondissement in 2011. Most of them source and roast their own, high-quality beans and have baristas preparing the coffee.

Noir Coffee Shop started on the Ile Saint Louis and has rapidly expanded with over 15 shops throughout Paris with an individual design for each one.

I visited the one on rue Richer in the 9^th arrondissement, the entrance to Galerie Richer, a former, 19^th century, shuttered passage. The formidable, soaring glass portal has a handsome design of patterned black wrought iron and the original Galerie Richer sign on top.

Even with the soaring ceilings, the warm interior has a stone floor with colored diamonds, a long, curved, tufted banquette, short, wood columns to place your coffee on, panels with colored, swirled glass panels, and a fabulous, wrought iron, winding staircase.

The extensive coffee menu has cappuccinos, Flat whites, Cortados, espressos, macchiatos, lattes, and filtered coffee, served with either regular milk or oat or almond milk. I had an excellent espresso macchiato, served in a ceramic cup on an oblong, wood tray.  

Noir Coffee also has a selection of teas and pastries, including financiers, brownies, scones, and cookies.

33 Rue Richer, 75009

https://noircoffeeshop.com/

Experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens, and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Shopping Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, Emily in Paris tours, and Chocolate and pastry tours.

Tours start at 250 euros for up to 3 people, and 85 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.

 Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com 

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Lido 2 Paris

Something appealing, Something appalling, Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!

These are the brilliant lyrics by Stephen Sondheim from the opening song, A Comedy Tonight, from the musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which is having its premiere in Paris.

In the early 2000s, Jean-Luc Choplin, the director of the Chatelet Theater, launched a series of classic American musicals to Paris for the first time. The series included many Broadway-style productions of Sondheim musicals such as A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Passion, Into the Woods, and Sunday in the Park with George.

The iconic Lido nightclub retired its dated, topless girlie shows and converted the venue into a theater. Last year they had a successful production of Cabaret and last month they presented A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, another Sondheim favorite.

I was invited to the show last week and went with a friend. The Lido 2 is on the Champs Elysees (of course!) and we walked down a long, glamorous red-carpeted hallway to get to the theater. Inside, the venue was more like an elegant, Vegas lounge with tufted velvet banquettes with tables for light food and drinks.

The show started at 8 pm, and for the next 2.5 hours, we were thoroughly entertained with laugh-out-loud pranks, puns, broad physical comedy, and slapstick, clever lyrics and memorable songs, and a fantastic cast of first-rate British actors and singers. A standout is the satirical but touching ballad Lovely.

The show was a welcome, lighthearted relief from the strife of bad politics and wars going on in the world today.

Note: The show is performed in English.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Until February 4, 2024

Lido 2

116 bis Avenue de Champs Elysees, 75008

https://billetterie.lido2paris.com/en/manifestation/7/a_funny_thing_happened_on_the_way_to_the_forum

Eye Prefer Paris 18th Anniversary
In 2024, I will celebrate 18 years of bringing you Eye Prefer Paris. I want to thank and acknowledge everyone who has read Eye Prefer Paris, and especially want to thank my loyal subscribers who have received my posts by email over the years. 

Many blogs these days, are using platforms such as Patron or Substack, where you have partial access to their content, and to view the full content, you must pay a monthly or yearly fee.

I would like to continue posting on Eye Prefer Paris free of charge but there are costs involved in maintaining the blog, including a monthly fee to send my posts to my subscribers, and the platform I use to distribute the blog, Typepad.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could support me with a donation so I can cover my costs and continue to bring you Eye Prefer Paris free of charge.

CLICK HERE  to make a PayPal donation (You don’t need a PayPal account to donate; you can just enter your credit card info **and be sure to opt for paying friends or family so a fee is not deducted.) I can also receive donations by Zelle and you can use my email address [email protected]

Or if you prefer to send a check, please email me at [email protected] and I will advise on mailing instructions.

SPECIAL INCENTIVE:

Anyone who donates $75 or more will receive a gift of a packet of 9 Eye Prefer Paris Door Photos.

Iris Van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses

The first great exhibition for 2024 has already started.

Iris Van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses is an incredible visual voyage into the world of designer and couturier Iris Van Herpen. Her creations are mostly 3-D extravaganzas using new technologies and fabrics, bringing fashion design into the future today. Over 100 of her designs are stunningly curated in the exhibit, which brings forth Van Herpen’s vision of a mix of fashion, art, design, and technology. The show Is presented in 11 intriguing themes on two floors: Sensory Sea Life, Water and Dreams, Forces Behind the Forms, Skeletal Embodiment, Growth Systems, Synesthesia, Alchemic Atelier, Cabinet of Curiosities, The Mythology of Fear. New Nature, and Cosmic Bloom. Hepern has collaborated with contemporary artists such as Philip Beesley, the Collectif Mé, Wim Delvoye, Kate MccGwire, and Damien Jalet.

Her designs have been worn by the crème de la crème including Cate Blanchett, Beyoncé, Scarlett Johansson, Lady Gaga, Fan Bingbing, and Naomi Campbell.

Born in 1984 in a village in the Netherlands, Van Herpen quickly rose in the fashion world, first working for Alexander McQueen and Claudy Jongstra, then opening her own couture house, Maison Iris van Herpen in 2007, at the age of 23. She was admitted to the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Paris in 2011, and in 2010 she launched her first 3D-printed dress.

Put this exhibition on the top of your must-do list in Paris.

Iris Van Hepen: Sculpting the Senses

Until April 28, 2024

Musee des Arts Decoratifs

107 rue de Rivoli, 75001

Note: The front entrance is closed for renovation, so you must enter through the Tuileries

The museum is open until 9 pm on Saturday and 8 pm on Sunday.

https://madparis.fr/Iris-van-Herpen-Sculpting-the-Senses

Eye Prefer Paris 18th Anniversary
In 2024, I will celebrate 18 years of bringing you Eye Prefer Paris. I want to thank and acknowledge everyone who has read Eye Prefer Paris, and especially want to thank my loyal subscribers who have received my posts by email over the years. 

Many blogs these days, are using platforms such as Patron or Substack, where you have partial access to their content, and to view the full content, you must pay a monthly or yearly fee.

I would like to continue posting on Eye Prefer Paris free of charge but there are costs involved in maintaining the blog, including a monthly fee to send my posts to my subscribers, and the platform I use to distribute the blog, Typepad.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could support me with a donation so I can cover my costs and continue to bring you Eye Prefer Paris free of charge.

CLICK HERE  to make a PayPal donation (You don’t need a PayPal account to donate; you can just enter your credit card info **and be sure to opt for paying friends or family so a fee is not deducted.) I can also receive donations by Zelle and you can use my email address [email protected]

Or if you prefer to send a check, please email me at [email protected] and I will advise on mailing instructions.

SPECIAL INCENTIVE:

Anyone who donates $75 or more will receive a gift of a packet of 9 Eye Prefer Paris Door Photos.

 

Eye Prefer Paris 18th Anniversary

In 2024, I will celebrate 18 years of bringing you Eye Prefer Paris. I want to thank and acknowledge everyone who has read Eye Prefer Paris, and especially want to thank my loyal subscribers who have received my posts by email over the years. 

Many blogs these days, are using platforms such as Patron or Substack, where you have partial access to their content, and to view the full content, you must pay a monthly or yearly fee.

I would like to continue posting on Eye Prefer Paris free of charge but there are costs involved in maintaining the blog, including a monthly fee to send my posts to my subscribers, and the platform I use to distribute the blog, Typepad.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could support me with a donation so I can cover my costs and continue to bring you Eye Prefer Paris free of charge.

CLICK HERE  to make a PayPal donation (You don’t need a PayPal account to donate; you can just enter your credit card info **and be sure to opt for paying friends or family so a fee is not deducted.) I can also receive donations by Zelle and you can use my email address [email protected]

Or if you prefer to send a check, please email me at [email protected] and I will advise on mailing instructions.

SPECIAL INCENTIVE:

Anyone who donates $75 or more will receive a gift of a packet of 9 Eye Prefer Paris Door Photos.

Campagne de Paris- Part Two

As I mentioned in my last blog post about Campagne de Paris, I am posting more photos today.

Campagne de Paris (Countryside of Paris) is an enclave of 100, two- and three-story townhouses constructed in 1928.

CLICK HERE if you missed Part 1 of Campagne de Paris.

Experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens, and much more.  In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Shopping Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, Emily in Paris tours, and Chocolate and pastry tours.

Tours start at 250 euros for up to 3 people, and 85 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.

 Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com 

 

 

 

Campagne de Paris

I love happy accidents.

Last week I went to check out a street in the 20^th arrondissement, which is quite a long way from the Marais, where I live. I read that the street still looked like a village from 1860 when it was annexed as part of Paris. Walking on rue Saint Blaise, the street was mostly filled with modern-day apartments with little charm or history. Disappointed, I took the tram to the metro, and on the way, I discovered a row of houses that were unusual and charming.

Located next to the Porte de Bagnolet metro, Campagne de Paris (Countryside of Paris) is an enclave of 100, two- and three-story townhouses constructed in 1928.

Starting on the Boulevard Mortier, I climbed up a long flight of stairs to arrive at three connecting streets, rue Paul Strauss, rue Irénée-Blanc, and rue Jules-Siegfried, which were lined with lovely townhouses, all of them unique in design.

Most of the houses still had their festive Christmas decorations along with wreaths on the doors.

There were too many photos to post today, so I will post the rest of them on Thursday.

Happy New Year, and I hope you had great holidays.