Eye Prefer Paris is an ex-New Yorker's insider's guide to Paris. Richard Nahem writes his blog from his fabulous 18th century apartment in the fashionable Marais district of Paris
Here is my annual edition of my window box photos. It seems the window boxes were filled earlier than usual because of the very warm temperatures during April and May. It’s been a strange June weather wise, we went from temperatures in the 80s Fahrenheit with sunny weather, whereas June has been mostly cloudy, with temperatures in the low 60s during the day. Nonetheless, it has not affected the abundance of flowers from the window boxes.
Your Favorite Paris Story from last week received lots of great feedback and comments, I am inviting you again to submit your Favorite Paris Story if you haven' t before. Please keep it under 500 words, and send it to me along with a photo, if you have one at r.nahem@gmail.com. The new deadline is June 24 and I will publish them the next day, June 25. I look forward again to reading and positing your stories.
Last week all the parks and gardens were reopened since being on lockdown since March. Once again Parisians were treating their parks like an extended urban backyard. What a difference a week makes; The week before I walked to the almost deserted Place des Vosges and the center park was literally under lockdown, an eerie sight, devoid of human life.
The following week the park was packed with kids playing in the playground, infants and toddlers shoveling sand into their plastic buckets in the sandbox, and adults idling on benches, getting a cool breeze under the awning of plane trees, while slurping ice cream cones or sipping cool drinks.
The old link was for unsweetenedchestnut puree, which is incorrect. Sorry if you already purchased it.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I do a brisk, 30-minute walk in my courtyard garden every morning, which I started at the beginning of the lockdown. I usually listen to podcasts, either Fresh Air with Terry Gross with her great interviews, or the empowering Brené Brown with her series Unlocking Us.
I’ve been noticing the changes in the flowers, plants, and leaves, with some of them dying, replaced by new ones. I’ve been photographing the changes and it’s been fun. I took a single, purple flower petal and a single red, rose petal and placed them on top of various leaves, plants, and other surfaces to experiment a little. After I took them, I thought some looked like collages.
Do you like this series, and do you have some favorites?
Tomorrow, I will post Your Favorite Paris Photo, and if you haven’t sent yours yet, please send it today to r.nahem@gmail.com
On another note, today, May 11, is the first day France will lift some of the restrictions of the lockdown. Many businesses will reopen with precautions and restaurants and cafes won’t, but may be opened in June. Residents will be required by law to wear face masks on public transportation.
Click on link below from France 24 to read more information about this.
Although, we are allowed to go outside to exercise for an hour a day, before 10am and after 7pm, I have limited myself to do a daily walk for thirty-minutes in my garden courtyard. Since I started doing this two weeks ago, it’s limited my photo taking reach.
While taking my walk in the last few days, I’ve noticed the walkway has been littered with leaves in various colors, making some interesting forms. I took my I-Phone camera and shot them up close. Here are the results. I’ve also posted some of them on my new Instagram account, @literal_streetart
Please help support Eye Prefer Paris by purchasing prints of my photos and all the photos in this blog post are available for sale.
If you would like to purchase a photo please email me at r.nahem@gmail.com to let me know which photo you like, what size, and your mailing address. Purchases will be processed by PayPal.
I am also offering a free gift with every order, a 10X12 inch photo
Sizes & Prices
• 10 X 13 inches Price $45
• 11 X 14 inches Price $65
• 16 X 20 inches Price $100
• 20x30 inches Price $135
• Shipping in the U. S. by U.S. Mail is $15 per order
• A 15% discount applies for orders of three or more photos
On my walking path the week before last, it was a brilliant, sunny day and there were strong shadows coming off the trees and benches. I shot a number of photos in color originally. When I returned home, there was something missing about the photos, and there weren’t up to par with other shadow photos I’ve taken. I did some experimenting and converted them to black and white, and then added extra contrasting. I don’t usually do black and white photos, but I am very happy with these. I would love to have your feedback. Do you have some favorites? I threw in one color photo.
If you would like to purchase a photo please email me at r.nahem@gmail.com to let me know which photo you like, who size, and your mailing address. Purchases will be processed by PayPal.
Sizes & Price
10 X 13 inches Price $65
11 X 14 inches Price $95
16 X 20 inches Price $125
20x30 inches Price $175
Shipping in the U. S. by U.S. Mail is $15 per order
A 15% discount applies for orders of three or more photos
As of last week, there was another set of restrictions put in place in Paris to protect against the virus. Now, we are not allowed to travel more than one kilometer from our homes, so now instead of taking my morning walk on the quai on the Seine, I walk up and down the walkway in my courtyard garden. Last Saturday I went out for groceries, and on my corner was a moment of happiness that I captured for you. The cherry blossom trees are in full flower and the pink flowers against the azure sky and the Haussmann buildings is spectacular. I wish you were here to experience it.
Since my gym is closed because of the virus, I take a brisk walk every morning along the quai near my house, to get my cardio in. (The government lockdown states you are allowed to go outside to exercise),
Last Thursday was a beautiful day just on the cusp of spring. and on my walk, I can see the Ile Saint Louis across the way, so I took some photos for you.
I want to thank everyone so much for your kind and generous comment and congratulations on my 44th anniversary blog post and I was totally blown away. I also learned about may of your long marriages and relationships, so hats off to you too. I apologize if I didn't reply to every individual message, but please know I read all of them, and thank you again.
I have one footnote about that night I met Vincent and forgot to write about it the other day. The party we attended turned out to be a Think Pink party and everyone was supposed to wear pink. Vincent was wearing a pink LaCoste polo shirt and on our 25th anniversary, I framed a new pink LaCoste shirt and gave it to Vincent.
If you are homebound during the virus crisis and looking for films to watch, please watch my partner Vincent's film After Louie with Alan Cumming
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour 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, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Since we are all feeling the affects of the Coronavirus, no matter where we live, I am writing this special post. Almost all of us are in lockdowns in the U.S. A. and in France and most of Europe, forced to nesting at home. It’s a delicate and difficult time, so please hang in there. Also many of you had travel plans to come to Paris and had to either postpone or cancel your trip, which was also disappointing to me, as I won't get to see some of my friends and meet my newest clients. Until the travel ban is over, I will deliver the best of Paris I have to offer to your mailbox. Hopefully travel will open up again soon, so I can personally show you my favorite Paris in person.
Today is a re-post of the glorious magnolia flowers in bloom in the gardens of the Palais Royal from last March. You can almost smell their perfume through the photos.
Late last Saturday morning after relaxing with a café noisette at my favorite Paris café, Les Nemours , I strolled into Palais Royal to see if I could find something new to photograph.
It’s funny how things in nature happen so quickly; Just a few days earlier I passed through the Palais Royal and all the trees were bare, nary a bloom. But suddenly out of nowhere, Mother Nature waved her magic wand and had the magnolia trees burst into bloom. Most were in that perfect shade of pink that only nature could produce, but I did spot a few white ones. The wind had strewn many of the leaves onto benches, the tops of shrubs, and on the ground.
The sky was gray with a blue hue, kind of like that weird blue rinse grandmothers use to apply to their hair, which made the pink magnolias pop.
Do you have a favorite from this series?
If you are homebound during the virus crisis and looking for films to watch, please watch my partner Vincent's film After Louie with Alan Cumming
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour 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, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Here’s another series of shadow photos. I experimented once again with black and white, so let me know whether you like them. Many photos were shadows of trees, which I think give off an interesting effect.
Click on links below to view my other series of shadow photos.
I am pleased as punch to have my friend Lisa Anselmo as my guest on A Bite of Paris. Lisa is the founder of Save the Paris Cafe/www.savethepariscafe.com, a website which celebrates the Paris café and the preservation of them, which in recent years has been threatened by rising rents and cultural changes.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour 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, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Another striking art installation from the FIAC/ Hors Les Murs 2019 is Environnement de Transchromie Circulaire by artist Carlos Cruz-Diaz. Located on the Tuileries side of Place de la Concorde, the circular structure from 2017 features overlapping, vertical multi-color panels made of transparent plexiglass. There’s an opening on one side of the sculpture and once I stepped in, it was a great opportunity to photograph the iconic Parisian sites through the myriad of the colored panels.
Carlos Cruz-Diaz was born in Venezuela in1923 and died in Paris earlier this year. He was based in Paris since 1960 and his work is featured in the most prominent museums and galleries in the world including Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, Tate Modern, London, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Centre Pompidou, Paris, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne.
Environnement de Transchromie Circulaire is standing until October 31.
In my latest A Bite of Paris video, I've taken a break from food tasting to visit my friend Jessica at La Vaissellerie, my favorite tabletop, dish ware, and kitchen shop, located in the Marais.
Please remember to hit the LIKE button if you like it and SUBSCRIBE button to subscribe to my channel.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour 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, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with 
