39Vaugirard

This is just too silly. It’s not even comparable to “Should I have the chicken or the steak?” And throwing in Ireland as a third option doesn’t make it any better.

Of course, if you asked me, I’d probably be doing as aggressive a sales job as I could on Paris, but then I was never much of a London fan after living there in the 80′s. I also have lived/worked/studied in Paris for years, so it’s more home to me than many places in the States. Still, to each his or her own, and I can understand the UK Capitol’s charm to real Anglophiles, or even to those preferring an English-speaking holiday. There is really no objective standard to compare the two to each other, but still, on museums, food, subway, weather, and just about anything else, I’ll take Paris.

[From What’s your opinion on Paris,France compared to London,England and Ireland? - Travel | FAQ’s About: Frequently Asked Questions]

everyone has an idea of the best places to visit in Paris. Some ideas are obvious and others are creative. This one is funny because it only has five items, three of which are old standards, and other two are mostly unknown.

1) Le Fumoir a tart café with book lined walls and an eclectic mix of indie Parisians and hip cat’s hints at thirties culture indie rock goodness. Come here for a decent cup of coffee and excellent treats. But stay for the people watching and to scavenge through the book walls.
2) Centre Pomidou is the like the little sister to The Louvre without the lines of waiting. It’s got some of the best art in the city without all the hype of its older counterpart. Housing the most expensive and comprehensive collection of modern art in all of Europe, as well as the most innovative building in all of Paris. It’s not easy to find and is housed near plenty of great places to shop and eat after your done pursuing.
3) Le Café Charbon is a wonderful restaurant not to be missed and dating back to the 1900’s with a plethora of chandeliers and shiny ornate mirrors. A dish here isn’t out of this world but the beer and absinthe get high marks with flying colors. Basking in the ambience of its rooms will leave you missing another time and wanting to pen a poem or two or paint a picture.
4) The Moulin Rouge is forever known from its Nicole Kidman movie but the cliché attraction is a million times flashier. Go here expecting to pay out of pocket the experience is well worth it when your greeted by over a hundred different new acts every night and as many scantily clad girls that can fit in one room without paying them. Expect hokey loveliness and a lot of great music, fun for a night out after some drinking or even completely sober and no somber ending either.
5) Bateaux Parisians is a wonderland boat tour not to be missed. The scenery is lovely and offers a unique and pleasing way to explore the city off your feet and free of crowds of bust tourist.

[From Otel.com Blog » Must See Places in Paris France]

If you are following France and Paris, here are a few places I like to watch to get a feeling for the culture and social movements:

Ô-Chateau, a Paris wine-tasting company (with champagne cruises on the Seine!) has a funny and pointed blog called Stuff Parisians Like. It’s modeled after StuffWhitePeopleLike.com, and has some funny and wise bits. It’s very well-written and will give you some idea of the inner workings of those French minds.

We’ve always loved following Kristin Espinasses continuing travails as she inserts herself deeper and deeper into provincial French life in her French-word-a-day blog. Using examples from her life with her husband and two kids, she tells funny and often poignant stories of her life in France, including things she loves, hates and is just plain confused by. She has also collected these columns in several books, which make good presents for the Francophile in your life. Her site has grown to include other recommended books on French history, language, and culture.

InParisNow.com, or TheParisBlog.com (not to be confused with ParisBlog.com, the unbelievably well-written musings of a thirteen year-old girl) is a group blog. More than two dozen bloggers contribute to it, most of whom are Anglophones living in Paris. Most days, there are three or four new articles. This one could keep you busy for a while. As soon as we live in Paris again, I’ll ask to join on with them.

Where else do you like to look for information about Paris?

If I hadn’t read it in the New York Times, I would think it was a joke. If Velib is a success, why not an Autolib!? Why not a TrainLib and PlaneLib while they are at it. While Velib seems like such an organically (in more ways than one) good idea, AutoLib sounds like a dumb idea, and not one that would solve the major issue of traffic congestion in Paris. Though it might ease the shortage of parking and garage spaces.

While ZipCars and other short term rentals are working elsewhere, like in San Francisco, the idea is fraught with many challenges, among them cost and liability. This hardly seems an area where even a strong socialist-leaning city government would want to tread.

Meanwhile, we leave for France, with a shiny new chip-enabled credit card ready to mount our trusty Velibs and roll all over Paris.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 29, 2008
PARIS (AP) — Parisians and tourists so eagerly embraced a citywide bike-sharing plan that was begun a year ago that Mayor Bertrand Delanoë is proposing a four-wheeled version, using electric cars.

Under the plan, a driver could pick up a car on the Right Bank, snake up the slopes of Montmartre, then drop it off — and pay only for the minutes spent behind the wheel. But cars, even electric ones, are already proving more divisive than bikes.

[From After Bike-Sharing Success, Paris Considers Electric Cars - NYTimes.com]

It’s a slang for ‘super-cool.’ Here is what the French are watching, reading, wearing and talking about this summer. I love it that their top celebrity is “BHL” as he is referred to in France, France’s most visible public intellectual. Where in American, it’s probably one of those barely old enough girls who are just famous for being famous….

To the Hotspots, I highly, highly laud Paris Plage, a manmade beach on the Right Bank of the Seine. Our kids just absolutely loved it. And when the French create something, they really do it. Beautiful branding, logos, colors, matching decks and designed scenes, along with water sprays, a sandy beach, a nautical motif ship for the little kids, and a climbing wall for the older kids. Also, the new Hotel du Nord restaurant near the Canal St. Martin. More importantly, don’t overlook Canal St. Martin cruise during the summer.

And my favorite slang ‘C’est top!’ ‘Je kiffe grave,’ and ‘Président Bling Bling.’ Only the French can say it best.

Finding out what’s ‘super-cool’ in Paris, WSJ

In a picture taken in 1954 in front of the Café Tournon in Paris’s chic sixth arrondissement, the writers and editors of the recently founded Paris Review are arranged in a human pyramid, with a row of casually dressed women sitting in chairs at the bottom and George Plimpton, the editor and co-founder, standing at the top with a slightly bemused, self-satisfied smile and a cigarette and what looks to be a glass of wine in his hand. The photograph feels emblematic of what Parisian expatriate life must have been like in those heady postwar years: young, liberating and full of an intellectual vigor that was embodied in café life and the host of literary reviews that were springing up all across the Left Bank. Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir were holding their already famous philosophical debates at a table at the nearby Café de Flore. Richard Wright had arrived a few years earlier, as had Saul Bellow and a young, and relatively unknown and impoverished James Baldwin, who was living at the Hotel Verneuil, a cheap, slightly run-down hotel nearby.

[From Why the Expats Left Paris - WSJ.com]

France: Seeking a New Eiffel Tower Experience

New York Times – United States
By AP The Eiffel Tower, host to nearly seven million visitors per year, is about to get a makeover. Its directors unveiled a $267 million, 10-year plan to …
Why Paris: a new manifesto for an old subject (I of II)By Maitresse I am mildly embarrassed to have let my feathers ruffle so because of a puff piece in the Wall Street Journal called “Why the Expats Left Paris.” For me, it was one puff piece too many, because the more these articles are published, …
The Paris Blog: Group Blog about… – http://www.theparisblog.com

This is the time of the year when our friends call us for tips on travel, especially on eating out with kids. Basically how to continue to have some semblance of the good life they used to have B.C. (before children). Especially for the foodies. It is possible. It’s not true that children are second class in Paris compared to the poodles sharing the seat with the ladies who lunch. Though you will often see that in our neighborhood!

Few things we have learned along the way:

1. Go to the neighborhoods that are more welcoming for children, like the 6th arrondisement, or the Marais, or the 16th, neighborhoods with large parks like Jardin du Luxumbourg, Jardin des Tuileries, Place des Vosges, or Parc du Champs de Mars. That’s where families with kids tend to live and that’s where there are more eating accommodations for kids.

2. Find outdoor cafés or places with extended outdoor seating where kids can have more space and making noise is not such a bother for other patrons. We used to request this because we just love eating alfresco and it was a nice respite from the smoke. No worries there since with the green mayor Bertrand Delanoë of Paris, many restaurants have no smoking sections and smoking is practically frowned upon!

3. Get sandwichs from the numerous neighborhood bakeries, and have a picnic in the park, especially for lunch. It’s one of the absolute best pleasures of Paris, especially during the lovely spring, summer and early autumn days.

4. There are now many markets or hybrid market/takeout restaurants in Paris neighborhoods where you can order food in a line but sit down to have a nice meal. Really. The French really do have a completely different paradigm of fast food eating that is more civilized to what Americans have come to known as fast food.

5. Look for large bistros and brasseries where the larger space and noise factor allows you to relax, without worrying about perfect manners and hushing the kids. Also, the menu tends to be simpler which the kids will appreciate.

6. For the more higher end restaurants, look to have lunches there, instead of dinners, which will enable you to experience the cuisine and the atmosphere without the pressure. Look to see if they have Sunday brunches or Sunday dinners where French en famille is a more familiar scene.

7. Creperies and pizzerias are more family friendly, and find restaurants that are specifically geared for children. Yes, I first resisted when my husband recommended few of these around the neighborhood. Believe it or not, the food is very good and very authentic, and it’s where the locals go.

8. Go to the early seatings. Yes, you don’t want to be like other tourists but really, you want to experience a nice restaurant without the stress, go early. It’s also when there will be other local families eating as well and the restaurants will be more accommodating

7. If you really want to experience the five star dining or the latest in haute cuisine, unless you’re taking your 8 yr old daughter who is precocious enough not only to tolerate the long meal but actually enjoy it, find babysitters and take yourself out for a really nice, night out. Don’t try to drag your kids AND yourself through it. No one will enjoy the experience.

Some of our favorite places for gourmets AND kids around our neighborhood:

Amorino. Hands down the best gelato in Paris, if not in the world, considering how much gelato we have consumed traveling around the world. Many always rave about Berthillon Ice Cream, and that’s fine too, but we prefer Amorino. On a warm day, the line often snakes around the block, but it’s worth it. 4, rue Vavin (6me) and 4, rue Buci (6me), and several other locations around Paris.

La Cigale Récamier. Tops down our favorite place for our family dinner, or any dinners. On a privileged location on a shady pedestrian passage with an amazing terrace, steps away from the famed Willy Ronis photo of Sévres-Babylone. Also, soufflés galore. 4, rue Récamier, 75007 Paris, 01 45 48 86 58 Métro: Sèvres – Babylone.

La Crêperie des Canettes. This is the most authentic creperie from Bretagne with galettes made with buckwheat flour. It’s tight space but children and families abound. 10, Rue des Canettes, 75006 Paris, 01 43 26 27 65.

Les Éditeurs. This is a place to be seen as you watch all of the media and publishing luminaries have lunch in the literary quartier. They have a great terrace where you can sit and watch all that is going on in the carrefour l’odéon. The salads are great and the menu really healthy and simple, perfect for lunch with the kids. My daughter especially loves this place. It is so correct. 4, carrefour de l’Odéon – 75006 Paris 01 43 26 67 76 Métro : Odéon

Le Comptoir. Yves Camdeborde, formerly of La Régalade, and his wife preside over this sophisticated bistro with Art Deco details and a terrace that spills out onto the busy Carrefour de l’Odéon. This restaurant is on everyone’s recommended list, from Gourmet to Bon Appétit, to Zagat to Gayot. The cuisine is quite sophisticated but there are plenty on the menu for kids and the terrace is perfect. Must reserve, unless  you can get there for early lunch or early dinner when it’s the only time you can get seating for four or more. Also, the breakfast here are legendary, only reserved for privileged hotel guests. Hôtel du Relais Saint-Germain, 9, Carrefour de l’Odéon, 75006 Paris, 01 44 27 07 97 Metro: Odéon.

Alcazar. Great for Sunday brunch, and this is our place for the day after we arrive in Paris.  You know, when you want to feel like you’re in Paris but still want something familiar and comfortable.  It’s great space. The food is nice and dependable, and it’s a swanky place to go with children and they do not have an attitude. Ask for a banquette near the corner. 62, rue Mazarine 75006 01.53.10.19.99.

Les Deux Magots. This legendary hangout for the sophisticated residents of St-Germain-des-Prés becomes a tourist favorite in summer. Les Deux Magots was once a gathering place of the intellectual elite, such as Sartre, de Beauvoir, and Giraudoux. Inside are the two large statues of magots (Confucian wise men) that give the cafe its name. The crystal chandeliers are too brightly lit, but the regulars are used to the glare. After all, some of them even read their daily papers here. You can order salads, pastries, ice cream, or one of the daily specials; the fresh fish is usually good. 6, place St. Germain des Prés, 75006, 01 45 48 55 25. Métro: St. Germain des Prés.

Mamie Gâteaux. A fun neighborhood salon de thé with cakes and little sandwiches, a little touch of North African flavours. We think “Mamie” is a man, but this little place, and its sprinkled antiques, has a lot of charm. , 66 rue du Cherche-Midi 75006 01 42 22 32 15 Métro: Saint Placide.

Del Papa. This place used to be called Mezza Luna, as it was for probably 20 years. The name and décor are new, but the owners and staff are the same. Del Papa is a very dependable Italian restaurant with brick-oven thin pizzas and fresh pastas. This is the place you go when you need a break from French food. Recommended are the copious arugula parmesan salad, the insalata ricola, the artichoke salad, as well as wonderful homemade pastas. Friendly service. 33 rue de Buci.

Poilane. This is the world famous bakery where the pain l’ancienne was reinvented. They have great sandwiches to take out as well as a tiny, snug place to eat. Go there early or late for lunch with the kids. 8 rue du Cherche-Midi, 75006 01 45 48 42 59.

Bonpoint. Super-chic kid’s boutique Bonpoint has opened up its headquarters in a beautiful hotel particulier in St. Germain. Over 1000 square meters chocked full of simple, oh-so-French children’s clothing and shoes, along with a garden and in-house restaurant. Each room is exquisitely decorated, from the fantasy-flower ceiling in one room to the playful log cabin inside another. The Bonpoint resto is great with simple breakfast and lunch food, in a way only the French can pull it off. 6, rue de Tournon.

We recently dined at Les Ombres, at the new showcase for the tribal arts, architect Jean Nouvel’s Musée du Quai Branly. The views of the Eiffel Tower are spectacular and the interior design soothing with wenge woods and exotic African touches. The menu sensual and spicy, with French dishes such as braised scallops with red-pepper sauce and desserts featuring exotic fruits, chocolate, vanilla, and gingerbread.
27 Quai Branly; 47-53-68-00

Bucolic bliss awards diners at Le Chalet des Îles, the reconstructed 19th-century Swiss chalet that reins over a tiny island in the Bois de Boulogne. A small boat takes visitors across the late to the family-friendly restaurant, where well-spaced tables on a flower-lined deck overlook the water. The menu offers such choices as filet mignon with béarnaise sauce and pommes dauphines for traditionalists. My husband and I went there when we were pregnant with our daughter and I’ve always loved returning there, though all the seasons.
Lac Inférieur au Bois de Boulogne; 42-88-04-69

In the lovely, leafy 17th-century Place des Vosges, André Terail, the twenty-seven-old son of the late, legendary Claude, has given a youthful touch to the family’s Guirlande de Julie, part of the Tour d’Argent empire. In the evening, tables set out under the graceful arcades regain their Parisian clientele after the daytime hurly-burly of tourists has subsided. Enjoy the venerable restaurant’s new-look classics, including shrimp with refreshing guacamole-and-cucumber sauce and lemon tart with vodka sorbet.
25 Place des Vosges, 48-87-94-07

Fantastic with children on a beautiful day, but otherwise filled with Hermés handbag, Louboutin shoes ladies crunching across the gravel, the outdoor restaurant of thearamasalata Musée des Arts Décoratifs, le tout Paris has colonized Le Saut du Loup. The place has a distant panorama of the Eiffel Tower, as well as a view across the greenery of the Tuileries garden. One side of the umbrella-studded installation is a café, the other a full-fledged restaurant, but many dishes are same. There’s a taramasalata starter, melon soup with a Technicolor mint foam, warm foie gras with aniseed sauce and celery confit, and freshly chopped steak tartare.
107 Rue de Rivoli, 42-25-49-55

Colette called the Palais-Royal gardens “ma province à Paris.” It is the most luxurious space in Paris. Right under the writer’s former apartment windows, in this traffic-free, regal quadrangle built by the Duke of Orléans in the 1780s, the Restaurant du Palais Royal offers some of the most enchanting plein-air tables in town. Such dishes as crunchy crab with Thai spices, sea bass with olive oil-potato purée and sole cooked in lightly salted butter are beguiling.
110 Galerie de Valois; 40-22-00-27

Chez Germaine
Tucked away in the chic seventh arrondisement, this busy, often crowded bistro serves French comfort food such as steak with potatoes dauphinois to locals who wouldn’ dream of defiling their Boffi kitchens by cooking in them. Have the three course lunch or the two course lunch (30 rue Pierre Leroux, 33.1.42.83.28.34)

L’As du Falafel
Because I love falafel, and the Marais. What may well be the world’s best falafel is served at an always-crowsded streetside counter in the heart of the Marais. The huge, delicious, and dripping 5 Euros sandwich is not only one of the cheapest lunches in Paris but also on of the tastiest (34 rue des Rosiers, 33.1.48.87.63.60)

Laduree
Not only is this tearoom a splurge, when you can afford it but, if you’re feeling more frugal, just go buy the counter and get the world’s best macaroons. The flavors change according to the season, but our favorite is the lavender and the lime-basil varieties available in the summer! (16 rue Royale, 8th arr.; Rue Bonaparte, 6th arr.)

Monoprix
These chain stores are all over Paris and are a terrific place to pick up the small everyday items that often make the best souvenirs. Let Petiti Marseillais lemon-verbena shower gel, for instance for mere 2 Euros. Once I picked up the most adorable taffeta party dress for a mere 10 Euros for my daughter when she was six. They also carry terrific assortment of sleepwear and lingerie for women at great prices. Really. The Monoprix on Rue de Rennes also has a great basement grocery store and the only American strength air conditioning in Paris, if you need it!

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