Meat delivery

Here is another slice of Paris, and that one is of flesh and blood! Not like these fancy exhibit openings I've attended these past days ;-) I took this photo this morning, after my gym. I was actually stuck in the traffic because of this guy delivering his meet meat at the local market at rue Dejean. Scary in a way...

Nathalie Shau's work

Yesterday, Diane from Buzzeum (an agency specializing in the promotion of cultural events) sent me an email to invite me to the opening of an art exhibit (yes, another opening, I know what you're going to say!) As I'm really very busy at the moment I was about to say "No sorry, I can't", when I saw it would take place in Le Passage Verdeau, right where I live! I had no excuse not to go ;-) And I did not regret it. It took place in a gallery called Le cabinet des Curieux, by which I pass everyday (and where I already took this photo last year) and the exhibit was about the work of  Natalie Shau, a Lithuanian artist who is an illustrator and photographer. Beautiful work (a little spooky too ;-)).

New Zealand fashion show

You may remember the day I attended the opening of Koko, a New Zealand fashion store in Le Marais? Well, now I have been invited to a New Zealand fashion show at the NZ Embassy. How cool is that?! It was a delightful evening - people from New Zealand are very welcoming I must say - even if I could not stay until the end, because it was the same day I visited the Rosenblum Collection. I stayed long enough to take tons of photos of course ;-). Check them out in this little Animoto.

Walking up...

There is definitely something wrong with Blogger today, I'm really sorry for those of you who have been waiting for their daily fix of Paris (for those of you who are reading this days after March 28, well don't worry, it's all fixed now ;-)! I finally managed to find a workaround and uploaded this photo I took in the 13th arrondissement. I patiently waited for someone to show up in the picture to add a living being in it ;-) I really like it.

Start the week "en fanfare"!

When I saw this band today I immediately thought of a French expression that goes "faire quelque chose 'en fanfare'" (to do something triumphantly, or at least with a lot of positive energy). Fanfare means marching band, like this one I photographed at Place de l'Hotel de Ville. So let me wish you to start the week "en fanfare", like the one we're going to have in Paris where the sun is going to shine all week ;-)
BTW, I just had dinner with someone the regular visitors to PDP all know: Alexa (who is currently visiting Paris ;-) Great to see her again after meeting her first in NYC in 2008.

The Rosenblum Collection

Stunning! About 2 weeks ago, an good acquaintance of mine invited me to visit the "Rosenblum collection". I had no idea what it was all about, but since I trust his judgement, I said, OK. And there I was, 2 days ago, in front of this big black door in the middle of the 13th arrondissement waiting for it to open. What I saw there was absolutely stunning. Steve and Chiara Rosenblum, who run the place, are modern art lovers and instead of keeping it for themselves, they had the idea of creating this big space and organize private - and guided - visits at a very affordable price (10 €). You HAVE to go there if you come to Paris ; first, because it's really spectacular, second because it's really off the beaten tracks. If you want to see a few shots of what you can find there, check this little Animoto.

Cocktail food

I know a lot of you think I'm a party animal, that I spend my evenings out and that I jump from one gallery opening to another... But I don't! Except yesterday evening where I attended too fabulous events. But shush!, I also have to work and tomorrow is a very early morning as I have to go to Poitiers (a city in the center west of France) for the day. So before I give you some food for thoughts, here is some real food, the one I was offered at one of the places I visited. Sorry that is all I can offer you for today ;-) And before you ask me what this is, well, I simply don't remember (but it was super good!).

French Engineers...

Let's see if good old French history beats brand new american clothing culture! Since you're obviously not really into A&F, let me introduce you to Marc Seguin, a French engineer who lived between 1786 and 1875 and who was the father of... 19! He's famous for building the first European suspension bridge (one in 186 he built in France!). The interesting part in this photo is that right behind the statue, you can see the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers building,  a school dedicated to  scientific education. A place that Marc Seguin could have attended (it was founded in 1794)...

Here they come!

Remember? In August 2008, I told you I heard from the grapevine that the clothing brand Abercrombie & Fitch would possibly move in on the Champs Elysées at number 23... Well, I passed by it today and I now have the confirmation! Not that it probably matters to you - nor to me actually, as I am way over the age limit for that kind of stores (I don't like shopping in the dark with music so loud that I can't even talk to a shop "assistant"! - check this if you want a good laugh), but I thought I would show you a bit of the blue sky we're having in Paris at the moment ;-) BTW I just checked, the grand opening is scheduled for May 19th (I doubt they'll invite me after this post ;-))

Concrete plant

My gym neighborhood is an endless resource of photo opportunities! Here is the one I took this morning in a small passage off la rue Doudeauville in the 18th arrondissement. The building is obviously about to be taken down and rebuilt and in the meantime they put bricks to block the windows and avoid squatters. Someone had the clever - and somehow poetic - idea of drawing a pair of curtains and a fake plant as if it were a real window! Isn't that cute? I love it.

America in Paris!

Funny. last evening as I was coming home I saw this big American flag in a window of an art gallery. I could not help but getting closer and seeing what was inside... An exhibition called USA: New York and Route 66, by Arnaud d'Aunay, a former banker who became an artist somewhere along the road.  I did not get to see the rest because the gallery was closed, but I certainly will. It's funny  to see the images that represent a country for foreigners; I know that Americans think the French wear a beret and carry a baguette wherever they go ;-) and the French think the average American drives an old Oldsmobiles Chevy, eat hamburgers and say the F word every 5 seconds (the latter comes from what we hear in American movies!).

Chez Paul

I'm just out of Chez Paul, a very good - and very French - restaurant near Bastille, where I had dinner with friends. A very nice moment indeed. A place I do recommend if you come to Paris, although you probably already know it since it seems to be one of Paris restaurant milestones (which I did not know!). I had Cote de boeuf and profitéroles; it was yummy ;-)

A terrace with a view

You knew I was fishing for your begging yesterday, when I said the Shangri-La hotel had a stunning view on the Eiffel Tower right!? Of course I was going to post it! So here it is. I took through the door that leads to a little concealed terrace facing the tower. A unique location where I'll try to return this summer. Have a perfect weekend everyone.

Cocktail at Shangri-La Hotel Paris

Last night I attended a party for the opening of the French office of Linkedin, the business networking site, that you probably all know. I went there because I like the Linkedin people, but also because I wanted to see the famous Shangri-La hotel in Paris, where the event took place. The hotel opened last December and it is located in the former house of Prince Roland Bonaparte (Napoleon Bonaparte's grandnephew). Needless to say, the place is absolutely stunning! Did I mention it also has a breathtaking view on the Eiffel Tower?!

Getting a tan in Paris

I think you can count on your fingers the number of times I appeared in this blog... But today it was almost like summer in Paris, I had lunch outside and I felt the urge to share. I thought of you all and asked the person I was having lunch with to take this photo. Not a nice view of Paris of course, but just a little snapshot of my life as a Parisian (and desperate for a little ray of sun LOL!). Tomorrow, I promise,  this blog will be back to "normal" ;-)

Bassin Soufflot

There is nothing I can do, but with all the terrible images that we get from Japan at the moment, I must say I find it hard to continue posting casual photos as if nothing was happening. Anyway, the show must go on as they say... This is Le Bassin Soufflot, right by the Luxembourg gardens - at  place Edmond Rostand more precisely - and I passed by it many many times. Only yesterday did I notice how beautiful it is... FYI, the statue in the middle was added in 1864 and it's by Adolphe Crauk.

The oldest quarry in Paris

This is probably not the nicest view of Paris I posted on PDP, but it's a very unusual one. This, ladies and gentlemen, is nothing less than the oldest quarry in Paris... (not, it's not the catacombs!). It's located in the 13th arrondissement, at Rue Gustave Geffroy near an old river called La Bièvre, that used to run through Paris. It was used to extract stones to build Roman houses when Paris was still called "Lutèce" (around 50 BC). There is not much to see, nor to discover, so now they are going to build a child day care facility on it... More - in French in this video.

French cars

Don't go thinking this is one of the latest French car models (!) it's a very old one from the 50's - in excellent condition I must say - that I photographed Saturday at rue de Richelieu. Those of you who remember the TV series Columbo (starring Peter Falk) may even have recognized his car (well, his was a cabrio, but same brand and same model: a Peugeot 403). It seems that French cars don't have a super reputation outside of France unfortunately, that's what a survey carried out by several automobile magazines throughout  Europe (and Brazil and China) showed recently. I think it's unfair! (But I don't have a car, so who am I to judge!)

Thinking of Japan

Like you, probably, I have been very touched by the images of the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami. That is why I felt like I should post a related to Japan photo today, even though, of course, it won't help them much ;-) I did not know what to photograph, so I simply went to rue Sainte Anne, in the 2nd arrondissement, which is known to be the Paris Japanese quarter, with restaurants, bookshops, and even a unique bakery (Aki) and a "K-mart" with Japanese and Korean products. This way, you know where to go if you come to Paris and miss Tokyo!! PS: thank you all for your nice anniversary messages, yesterday., I still can't believe I missed the date!

PDP belated anniversary

Shame on me! I forgot to wish PDP a happy 6th anniversary, can you believe it?! I don't know why I had March 19 in mind, so I was not too worried about finding the perfect photo.And if it weren't for some of my very observant visitors (hey Monica!) I would have totally forgotten it. That's what happens after 6 years of daily posting, it's become like brushing my teeth or getting dressed in the morning, a habit! A nice habit though ;-) Big kiss to everyone from Paris and let me offer you this sunset view of the Metro taken from the rue Saint Saëns in the 15th arrondissement.

French billionaires

The French may not be good at high-tech products or industry in general (even though we have a few blue chip companies, like Alstom, the maker of the TGV (bullet train)), there is one area in which we excel: luxury! It was not really surprising therefore to find out today in the 2010 world's billionaire list made by Forbes, that among the 5 richest Frenchmen in the list, 4 owe luxury businesses : Bernard Arnault (LVMH), Liliane Bettencourt (L'Oréal), François Pinault (Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent...) and Alain et Gérard Wertheimer (Chanel). The first one - Bernard Arnault - is even the 4th richest man on earth and the richest one in Europe...

Man on a bench

I had dinner at Place Gustave Toudouze last evening and since I was a little early I spent some time taking photos in the neighborhood. I saw this guy on a bench with the typical Parisian facades in the background and I was sure this would make an interesting photo. Of course I used the "now famous" Tenin's perspective ;-) and worked a little bit on the color, to remove the "orange spray" due to the street lamps, but in the end, yes, I kinda like it. By the way, did you know there are 8 481 benches in Paris?!

Code red!

After yesterday's lady in red here is the lady on a red background! And the background in question belongs to Uniqlo, a Japonese clothing company, similar to H&M or Zara. They opened their second store near the Galerie Lafayette in October 2009 and that is precisely from the 1st floor of one of their outlet (the Lafayette Maison one) that I took this photo. I just loved the game of shadows that was offered to my eyes - and to my camera lense!

Lady in red

What's nice when the weather improves is that people start invading terraces again. This gave me the occasion to take this snapshot, right in front of Théâtre du Châtelet... Like you know I always try to avoid showing people's faces which is an interesting constraint when you want to take a photo ;-)

Yummy Cheese

I love cheese, but I rarely buy good ones because they're very fattening and do not really help in lowering your cholesterol!! Last Sunday, however, I fell for one of these on a market and did not regret it a single minute (nor even felt guilty!). They are made of cow's milk with a little drop of Armagnac, how could I resist?! There are hundreds of different kinds of cheeses in France (some say around 365, one for every day ;-)) and 40 of them even have an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC), that is they an only be made in a specific region of France, like some wine. More on Wikipedia, of course!

Carnaval 2011

I don't know if you remember, last year I took you to the Paris Carnival... A pretty small event (read the caption I made last year if you want to know why) but still touching and interesting. This year I chose to go to the workshop where some of the participants (the ones belonging to this theater crew) make - should I say "build"! - their costumes and outfits. It was very interesting to see them put so much heart into their work. I took several photos and did not know which one to choose, so for once I made a little patchwork.

Artsy tables

Sometimes the most simple things have a very interesting visual appeal. Hence these tables that a restaurant aligned along a wall to protect them from the rain. They could be part of a piece of art in a modern art museum, but they're just tables along a wall LOL! It's a shame that I don't even remember the name of the place, I could have credited them! Have a good weekend everyone, I'll stay in Paris this time...

Sunset over Paris

It's been a while since I've shown you our dear old iron lady... I happened to cross the Seine yesterday around 6 pm and here is what I saw. Need I say more?

A Paris Institution

Ask any Parisian and he'll probably know what you're talking about if you say "Mollard". It's one of the oldest Brasseries in Paris, located right by the Gare Saint Lazare. It was founded in 1867, at a time when this area was "the suburbs" - which sounds really funny nowadays, as this neighborhood is now considered as "central Paris!" Anyway I had dinner there last evening for the first time of my life(!) and I did not regret it (I had seafood, one of their specialties). Definitely a place I would recommend (and this is free advertising!). [Sorry for the late posting, I messed up with Blogger, as usual!].

J'adore Dior!

This is a pretty rare document: an original drawing by French designer Christian Dior that I photographed during my visit of the Plaza hotel. I thought of showing it today because Dior (the haute couture brand that now belongs to LVMH) is a lot in the news these days and not for a good reason... Why? because John Galliano, who is the current and talented designer of the brand was caught on a tape at a restaurant in Le Marais, having a racist rant (read the story and watch the video here if you're interested). Christian D must be rolling over in his grave...

Where I feel good!

First of the month=theme day! (time flies, it's crazy...) Anyway today's theme is "my favorite part of town". I don't really have one except, like I already mentioned it several times, Les quais - the river banks. But I chose to show you a place where I feel good, I feel part of the city, I feel like I belong here: a typical Paris café, in front of which the passersby, well, pass by! I'm sure you know what I mean, for you certainly feel the same about some places in the city where you live. Check what the other CDP bloggers love about their city.