I Prefer Paris

Leaves and Flowers From My Courtyard Garden

IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT CHOCOLATE, CHESTNUT CAKE RECIPE-

1.There’s an error in the ingredient list, it’s a 17.6 oz. can of chestnut puree, not 6 oz. 

2. I put the wrong link for the chestnut puree, here's correct link. https://amzn.to/2YNaXLs  

The old link was for unsweetened chestnut 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.

https://www.france24.com/en/20200507-live-france-unveils-final-plan-on-easing-covid-19-lockdown 

Please watch my latest A Bite of Paris video, where I make and bake a Dark, Chocolate, Chestnut Cake.

Click here to watch the video.

 

 

Leaf Photos From My Garden Courtyard

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. 

You can also go to my photo site www.richardnahemphotography.com and select photos

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 
• • Photos are printed Fuji Archival paper 
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Black and White Shadow 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. 

Here are links from my other shadow photos. 

https://www.ipreferparis.net/2019/09/shadow-photos-2-.html

https://www.ipreferparis.net/2019/07/shadow-photos-tuileries-.html

Please help support Eye Prefer Paris by purchasing prints of my photos and all the photos in this blog post are available for sale. 

You can also go to my photo site www.richardnahemphotography.com and select photos

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 
• Photos are printed Fuji Archival paper 

 

 

Cherry Blossoms on Rue Saint Antoine

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. 

Views of Ile Saint Louis

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. 

If you missed the post, here's the link:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwHMPpnRLzkWtQdlfqjRdnQRpMW

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

Here's link to view it on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/After-Louie-Alan-Cumming/dp/B079YF22TZ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QUP7FWXTGL6K&dchild=1&keywords=after+louie&qid=1584273762&s=instant-video&sprefix=after+louie%2Caps%2C202&sr=1-1

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.

Magnolia Blooms in Palais Royal Gardens

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

Here's link to view it on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/After-Louie-Alan-Cumming/dp/B079YF22TZ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QUP7FWXTGL6K&dchild=1&keywords=after+louie&qid=1584273762&s=instant-video&sprefix=after+louie%2Caps%2C202&sr=1-1

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.

Shadow Photos 3

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. 

https://www.ipreferparis.net/2019/07/shadow-and-reflection-photos.html

https://www.ipreferparis.net/2019/07/shadow-photos-tuileries-.html

https://www.typepad.com/site/blogs/6a00d83451b0bd69e200e5508218638834/post/6a00d83451b0bd69e20240a4b24214200d/edit

Links Eye Like 

The New York Times selected Paris as one of its 52 Places to Go in 2020. It's #31.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/travel/places-to-visit.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Travel

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. 

Click here to watch video or link below 

https://youtu.be/Jyt4wx3K8ZQ

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.

 

 

Carlos Cruz-Diaz Sculpture on Place de la Concorde

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. 

http://www.cruz-diez.com/

https://www.fiac.com/en/hors-les-murs/place-de-la-concorde/Carlos-Cruz-Diez/ 

LINKS EYE LIKE 

Checkout this article about the Davinci Exhibition at the Louvre in the N. Y. Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/21/arts/design/louvre-leonardo-exhibition.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Arts

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. 

Click here to watch or link below 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGfIOVl7188&feature=youtu.be 

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.

FIAC 2019 Hors Les Murs in the Tuileries

FIAC/ The International Contemporary Art Fair [Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain] is one of the top international fairs for contemporary and modern art and a major fall event in Paris, taking place over a four-day period in mid-October. 

Every year FIAC does an auxiliary showcase of art pieces and sculptures for public view at the Tuileries, Place Vendome, the Delacroix Museum and Place Concorde. 

The Tuileries has the largest concentration of art pieces and this year it was quite impressive. A sampling of international artists includes Alex Katz, Jenny Holzer, Cesar, Alex Calder, and Sylvie Fleury. 

My favorite piece was Nymphéas Post déluge II, 2019/ 500 umbrellas-Variable dimensions by Noel Dolla. Hundreds of umbrellas have submerged in the pond near to Place de la Concorde. When viewing the umbrellas, they are akin to Monet’s water lilies, free floating on the surface of the avocado green water. 

Below are more photos.

FIAC ended yesterday but the Hors Les Murs are up until October 31. 

https://www.fiac.com/en/hors-les-murs/

Cesar

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. 

Click here to watch or link below 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGfIOVl7188&feature=youtu.be 

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.

 

Jeff Koons Bouquet of Tulips

In November 0f 2016, New York artist Jeff Koons donated a work titled Bouquet of Tulips to the city of Paris as a remembrance of the terrorist attacks on 2015 and 2016. 

The towering sculpture measuring 41 feet in height, is fashioned from stainless steel, aluminum, and polychromed bronze, and resembles a large hand holding a bouquet of tulips. 

During the inaugural ceremony last week, Koons stated that the flowers are “a symbol that life moves forward”, adding that they “represent loss, rebirth, and the vitality of the human spirit”. 

The gift from Koons did not arrive without controversy. He was criticized for not donating the funds to install the sculpture, which came at a cost of approximately 4.3 million dollars. The gesture of the donation from Koons and its placement in Paris also came under fire. 

In January of 2018 a group of artists, museum workers, collectors and politicians, put their name to the letter declaring Koons’s gift symbolically inappropriate, undemocratic, and architecturally, patrimonially, artistically, financially, and technically “shocking.”

The sculpture was originally supposed to be placed in the plaza of the Palais de Tokyo but critics said the location wasn’t anywhere near the sites of the attacks geographically. 

Interestingly enough, Bouquet of Tulips has ended up in an obscure place behind Petite Palais in the gardens of the Champs Elysees, almost hidden and still far away from the sites of the attacks. 

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. 

Click here to watch or link below 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGfIOVl7188&feature=youtu.be 

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.