Les Paques a Paris

Bonjour,

First of all, Happy Easter! I've just survived several small children running around looking for and then consuming large amounts of chocolate. Small French children, I should probably add. In France they believe that "les cloches de Paques" (the bells of Easter) bring the chocolate, which is strange as both in Germany and England we have the Osterhase/Easter Bunny. Thanks to the wonders of Easter, many patisseries have been filled with delightful looking treats, in all shapes and sizes. Most popular are hens, eggs, bells and rabbits although almost anything is possible and is accordingly available. The prices are pretty steep - 40 euros per item seems to be about average. A favourite of mine was the French frog as seen in the photo. This particular patisserie at which these photos were taken can be found by the Hotel de Ville and is called Maison Georges Larnicol. I can't account for the taste but it did all look fabulous.

It's no surprise that France, especially Paris, is home to a delicious array of pastries and chocolatiers. I'm sure you could find these things in London, but it would be hard to find and overpriced, and you'd be lucky if they tasted as good as they do here. Laduree is the famous maison de la patisserie which claims to have invented the macaroon. I think if I had to choose, the macaroon would be my favourite French sweet thing, although the pain au chocolats fall closely in second place. Macaroons are crisp on the outside and beautifully soft on the inside. Their flavours range from vanilla and pistachio to rose petal (my personal favourite). I can only think that French women stay so thin thanks to the appreciation of such treats in very small, very rare doses. To give you a taste (so to speak) here's a photo of the average patisserie window display:

Bon appetit, enjoy the Easter chocolate! xxx

Napoleon's City

As most of you will know, the weather has been pretty amazing. It's felt more like summer than spring, with clear blue skies and limitless sunshine. To make the most of this, we've been spending a lot of time at some of Paris most beautiful parks recently. I think my favourite Parisian park at the moment has to be the Buttes Chaumont. In the 19th arrondissement, it's absolutely massive and was initially a lime quarry until Napoleon came along and rearranged things. There is a large lake, a suspension bridge, large and small hills, a high pillar from which you can see Paris, and waterfalls. As most of the tourists tend to stay at well-known Parisian parks such as the Jardin du Luxembourg, the Buttes Chaumont is mainly filled with local young Frenchies indulging in beer and wine whilst lounging in the sunshine, and local families on days out.

There is a rather famous popular restuarant/bar called Rosa Bonheur which is actually in the park itself, I haven't been there yet (due to the ridiculously long queues) but maybe soon. The park is a beautiful (and at times physically exerting) place to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon. We drank pimms on the grass in the sunshine, being oh so English in the midst of Paris.

Speaking of Napoleon and his alterations to Paris... we climbed the Arc de Triomphe today. It being Easter Sunday, we were worried the queues would be too long but it wasn't a problem. We also managed to dodge the 9.50 euro entry fee due to being part of the EU and under 26 (I love this about Paris). Initially I was somewhat dubious about climbing it, but the view was spectacular. I would almost say it was better than being on the Eiffel Tower. Just to give you a taste, here is a picture of the view of the Champs Elysees from the top.

I realise that this is a longer post than usual, but before I go I have to tell you about the big man's (or little man's?) final resting place. The tomb of Napoleon is situated inside the golden-topped Les Invalides in the 7th arrondissment. It's an impressive church which is attached to the Musee de l'armee. Although Napoleon is quoted to have said "Je desire que mes cenres reposent sur les bords de la seine au milieu de ce peuple francais que j'ai tant aime." (I wish my ashes to be scattered on the banks of the Seine in the midst of the French people that I love so much) his tomb is inside Les Invalides which is a bit odd to say the least. Always one for ceremony however, Napoleon's tomb is extravagant, set in its own room to which access is given down cold stone steps, surrounded by equally cold intimidating statues.

Thats all for now, bonne nuit xxx

Life is a Cabaret

Bonsoir,

So I finally did it, I finally went to see a Parisian cabaret! After much debating of where to go (based mainly on finances), the boyfriend and I opted for Le Carrousel de Paris. The small cabaret is located down the street from the Moulin Rouge, by metro Blanche, surrounded by less touristy shops such as strip clubs and a fair few prostitutes. This is after all the sex district of Paris. Le Carrousel de Paris boasts that its stage was once home to the talents of Josephine Baker and Edith Piaf, which is pretty savvy. For those of you that don't know, Josephine Baker was the first African American woman to achieve international fame and star in a motion picture in the 20th century.

The place is pretty small indeed, hosting of about 100 to 150 guests, but this added to its charm as it meant that we were fairly close to the stage. Also to be noted is that it was small but not claustrophobic and there was some elbow room at the dinner table. Dinner consisted of a starter, main and dessert (including foie gras) and unlimited red wine, with a finish of a glass of champagne each. The waiting staff were all unfailingly friendly, and to our surprise the guests were almost all French, which added to the night's authenticity.

The food wasn't bad at all, for the price that we paid I was expecting something rather bad but it was fine. The show itself was amptly entertaining: there was a magician, a shadow-puppet meister (who actually, thanks to brilliant use of music and props was pretty good), beautiful female dancers, one dubious male dancer, and a somewhat ridiculous elderly man as the host which explains why they ply you with alcohol beforehand, as well as a gorgeous talented singer who opened up with the classic "Diamonds are a girl's best friend". The dancers were simply exquisite, both in appearance and moves. If this sounds like a good evening to you, I can only recommend paying the very reasonable 45 euros per person.

I've done so many other amazing things this week, but I will break them up into posts to make it easier.

A bientot xxx

Paris et moi

I want to write you a post about how I'm feeling, seven months since moving to Paris. Blogs are things which encourage the narcissistic element that exists in all of us, brought out by writing about, well me, so excuse me if I go on a bit.

When I first arrived here, on the 29th of August 2010, I was terrified. Although I had met my host family once before they were in fact total strangers, I doubted my ability to look after two identical small French children, and of course, my French was a "Horreur!".

How things have changed... I seem to have lucked out, as my host family couldn't be any nicer, I've grown pretty attached to the children and they to me, and yesterday I was told by my host mum that my spoken French is "parfait" and my only area in need of improvement is my vocabulary. As French is such a structured language and I've found the grammar so hard to learn, this is a huge compliment for me and shows how much I've learnt since arriving. I've still got a lot to learn but well isn't that the case with most people and most things?

My knowledge of Paris, although nowhere near complete, is rather impressive these days. And the best part is that there seems to be no end of things and places to discover despite this.

Living in one of the wealthiest suburbs of Paris, Le Vesinet, might be a pain a lot of the time when I don't fancy getting the last train back or waiting for the first one in the morning, but experiencing the way of life of a French town as opposed to a city is "charmant". And as I've mentioned before, the Seine is a 10 minute bike ride away from my doorstep. Oh, also, apparently Johnny Depp lives in Le Vesinet which doesn't surprise me as mansions and countryside paths are plentiful here, and all within a 15 minute train ride from the Champs Elysees. Jealous yet?

Living with a host family has also been character-building, as has working with children. After three years of university and living with friends I've learnt yet another way of life. And observing the way a family different to your own goes about raising their children whilst fulfilling successful careers and a happy marriage can be thought-provoking. It's not something I'd like to pursue as a career but my time here has been great and I don't really want it to end. I've decided to make the most of it, I've made some real friends here, people I know I will keep in touch with and visit apres Paris. Being here has also given me the inspiration and time I needed to realise that I want to begin a career in publishing, which I suppose has been obvious to all but me for some time.

I know London is waiting for me, but I'm going to miss you Paris. You are like an old-flame that will never truly die out, and I know I'm going to come back for more one day.

For now, however, I'm looking forward to spending the next 2 and a half months with you.

Bisous

La Maison de Victor Hugo, and Pikachu by the Eiffel Tower

It's that glorious time of year when not only is the sun continuing to show her face but I have holidays! With the exception of today, I have two entire weeks of freedom while the children are off gallivanting in the French countryside and abroad.

I'm trying to save my pennies for when the boyfriend arrives next week, which is pretty hard to do in Paris but I've not done too badly so far.

As I now have less than three months before I have to leave this beautiful city, I've been returning to my "must-do" list more and more. I compiled this list from various sources: city guides, word of mouth, and literary legends.

Speaking of literary legends... I visited Victor Hugo's apartment in the Marais, which he lived in between the years of 1832 and 1848. The luxurious apartment can be found nearby metro St Paul at the Place des Vosges, at the centre of which is a beautiful green garden surrounded by the most expensive apartments in Paris (so my host family tells me and I have no reason to disbelieve them, the area is exquisite). I have finally decided that of all the areas of Paris, this is the one I would most like to live in, the Marais is vibrant and has the undeniable "cool" factor that makes it genuinely Parisian. Naturally, the edge has been taken off to an extent by the filthy rich that flock to such notorious hip spots in capital cities, but only to an extent. The Jewish bakeries, vintage and just downright beautiful clothes stores such as The Kooples and my personal favourite Le Comptoir des Cotonniers, as well as libraries and bookshops, never lose their appeal.

But I digress... the house of Victor Hugo was worth a visit, but really only to say I'd been there, and to see the area. The interior has been tampered with to the point that nothing original really remains, not even in the correct rooms (there is for example no sign of a bathroom or a kitchen, did they not have bodily functions and needs!?). Yet one is led to believe that Hugo's own personal writing desk does still remain there, which is pretty nifty. I apologise for the bad quality of the photo, but the lighting should give you some indication of the stuffy darkness that the rooms were filled with. However, entrance was free so if you're a fan there's no harm in popping in.


I also took a peep at La Maison de la Culture du Japon (entrance here is also free), which is situated about a 5 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower by Metro Bir-Hakeim. We were excited to see the library and tea pavillion, but both were closed so be aware of this before you visit. The main attraction was an anime exhibition, which detailed the success of Japanese anime throughout the decades, ranging from the 1950's to the present noughties. The security guard was rather angry about us taking photos, so bear this in mind when looking at them! The exhibition emphasised the somewhat duplicitious nature of anime, (the sexual nature of girl figures and their appeal to an adult male audience for example), and the importance that anime holds in Japanese culture. The entire scene was brightly lit and embraced its own kitchiness (I'm not sure if that's a word but you get the picture).

Apart from that I've been spending a lot of time at my friend's place in Belleville. Walking past hookers at 9am this morning was a bit disconcerting but I like the area's authenticity - definitely not many tourists hanging around!

Next week I'm off to experience my first ever French cabaret which I'm really looking forward to, but I will keep you updated.

A bientot xxx

Super Mon Amour! Live Music in Paris

Bonjour,
Last night I attended an evening at the current Super Mon Amour! music festival in Paris. It was held at the Gaite Lyrique, a relatively new venue with an extremely modern design in the 3rd arrondissement, right by the Reaumur Sebastopol metro stop on line 3. The band we really wanted to see was Architecture in Helsinki, a band that we assumed to be Swedish but now think they are Australian after hearing them live!

The first thing we noticed was that French people do not dance - sure they will bop along a bit in a cool sort of way, but shaking their stuff like nobody's watching? That's not going to happen. The venue was well laid out, as the main music room could be found in a large box-shaped area, outside of which were bright lights and white walls, and after this modern space there was a deceptively old-looking large room complete with mimics of French art on the ceilings and faux-golden walls. There was a larger bar in this area, serving anything from beer to wine, mixers and cocktails, although at extremely expensive prices of course. Having missed dinner at our host families to get there on time, we opted for the dubiously named "vegetarian sandwich" that the bar offered as food, and we were right to be suspicious (if you've been to France you will know that being vegetarian is not a concept understood or even accepted most of the time), it consisted of grated celery and carrots slapped inbetween two rather dry pieces of rye bread. On the plus side, at least it was a lot more healthy than the cheesy chips we would have indulged in back in good old England.

The band were great live - I haven't been too struck by the club scene in Paris so far, (although I will be heading to a couple in the near future that I will no doubt tell you about), so it was good to hear some live music at a decent venue.

The weather is beautiful at the moment - as far as I can tell the weather here is always pretty similar to England, so you will know what I mean! Temperatures of 20 to 25 degrees celsius are becoming normal, and whilst out on the scooter with the children the other day (haha yes, I said scooter!) I managed to get a little sunburnt. I'm off to enjoy the sunshine now, I hope you are too!

A bientot xxx

Disneyland Paris

So this weekend I had an amazing time at this little fella's place. Thanks to a deal at French store FNAC (a little bit like HMV back home), my ticket was valid for both parks for a reasonable price. We ventured into Walt Disney Studios first, it being the smaller of the two, and saved the wonder of Disneyland for last. The rides Tower of Terror and the recently built Aerosmith rollercoaster were unbelievably awesome. I'm sorry for the cheesy vocabularly but it's just true. My navigo pass gives me free access to places around Paris at weekends, so the train fare was completely free, saving me an extra 12 euros or so. Disneyland is located at Marne la Vallee, about an hours ride from Charles de Gaulle. Naturally, we arrived soon after opening time and left just before the park closed.

The usual notorious rides such as Space Mountain, Indiana Jones and the new and fantastic Buzz Lightyear proved amptly entertaining, and we stopped only for much-needed refreshments in the 25 degrees celsius heat and cloudless sunshine. We couldn't have chosen a better day, which is a bit of luck really, as it's been raining most of the week.

Dinner was had at Disney Village, situated directly outside both parks for which entrance is free and unmonitored, and consisted of a baked potato and a beer which was simple enough but did the job. It really was like an American bubble in the middle of France, which struck us more I think as we are so used to the Parisian life as opposed to having just popped off the eurostar from London. The comfortable familiarity of being surrounded by anglosaxons added to our "day of fun!" and all the usual attempts of French were discarded. An unmissable day out if you're in Paris for any sufficient amount of time, no matter how old you are!

A bientot xxx

History in the Marais and a Rendez-Vous in Montmartre

Hello all,

Two things I want to give you a heads up on: The Musee Carnavalet in the Marais and a gorgeous little Parisian bar by the name of Le Rendez-Vous des Amis in Montmartre.

The Musee de Carnavalet is situated by metro St Paul in the centre of the Marais, and is reportedly the second most visited museum in Paris following Le Louvre. It hosts a variety of rooms in two old town houses (the first dating from 1548), to which a beautiful array of gardens in pristine condition are attached. The museum focuses on the history of Paris. It's free, so I wasn't too disappointed when I learned that the rooms of the Revolution were closed on the day I went as I will go again, although I have to admit that glimpses of Parisian life directly before and after the Revolution of the 18th century was its main appeal. The variety of artwork on display was refreshing, ranging from archeological finds to the death masks of Napoleon and Voltaire (see photo).

The famous Chat Noir cabaret sign from the 19th century can be found there (the photo in this case isn't mine but googled), and there are many grand rooms with grand paintings and impressive stair cases which lead you between them. If you're only in Paris for a short while but want to get a brief overview of Parisian style and history then this is the place to go - the Louvre may be the largest museum in Europe but its size can sometimes become infuriating (when trying to find the Sortie, for example).

St Martin's Canal in the "Paris vu par les peintres" section

Yesterday was the leaving do of one of my friends in Paris, she's moving back to good old Angleterre after living here for almost two years. She chose the aptly named Le Rendez-Vous des Amis on 23 rue Gabrielle by metro Abbesses. It was a charming little place with live jazz as background music and where a lot of red wine and cheese was being consumed. I couldn't stay long due to having to work the next morning and the long ride of the RER, but it was a good evening and also a good find, I will be going there again. The 18th arrondissement is one of those rare places in Paris which remains genuinely Parisian, although the lack of overcrowding tourists does result in the odd drunken weirdo (or two) but who am I kidding: this is Paris and there are plenty of strange people, it just so happens that this is the area where it's not so funny when travelling on your own, but you get used to it and after all, c'est la vie! Montmartre is one of favourite places here, so what does that say about me...?

Today was the first of April, and therefore the "Poisson d'Avril", the national day of the year that small children stick pictures of fish (yes, fish) to your back seemingly without your knowledge and giggle uncontrollably throughout the process. After asking my host dad why a fish of all things was chosen for this honour, he explained that as it is the time of Le Careme (Lent),it is fish that Christians eat whilst avoiding the luxuries of meat. A little French fact for you!

Tomorrow I'm going somewhere incredibly exciting, but I'll leave that for my next post....

Bonne Nuit xxx