Sebastião Salgado

On Wednesday evening, we headed to 'La Maison de la Photographie' for Sebastiao Salgado's 'Genesis' exhibition. For me, it was the second time I'd been able to delve into Salgado's magical monochrome world via his awesome depictions of nature from the four corners of our planet.

If you don't have wonderlust before this exhibition, I guarantee that after it you'll presume yourself an old-world explorer, ready to embark on his next mission to discover and learn from people groups who have existed, survived, thrived and blossomed in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. Breath-taking, too, are his animal photographs and landscapes, my favourites being the deep-south rolling prairies where you can just imagine the silhouette of a cowboy tipping his 10 gallon hat, clicking his spurs and trotting off into the sunset. 

At first the lack of colour bothered me, but I quickly learned to appreciate Salgado's brave employment of his artistic licence. It throws the faces, textures and shadows into  sharp contrast, inviting you to focus more on the content, and brings all the photographs onto an equal plane, reminding us that each nation is as rich and varied as another, whether it be depicted by a sandstorm in Utah, elephants drinking from an oasis in Africa or members of the Sami people herding reindeer.

The exhibition is on until January 2014 and I would SO recommend it. If you go between 17:00 and 20:00 on Wednesdays all exhibitions appear to be entirely free! 

After a happy two hours or so in the exhibition, we walked the short way to my favourite crepe house - Crepe Suzette in Le Marais. I got the crepe of the day which was an amazing melty goat's cheese filling, drizzled with honey and sprinkled with nuts, and my sister got an equally delicious and slightly cheaper ham, egg and cheese crepe. Gorgeous! 

     

Sadly this was my sister's last night in Paris, so it was up bright & early to take her back to the Gare du Nord, before enjoying my last few Christmassy evenings before coming back to London to see my family :)

À Bientôt ! 

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Le Loir dans la Théière

Today I got a break from my end of term work-load & caught up with a friend in my favourite area, Le Marais. Just a short walk from St. Paul's metro is 'Le Loir dans Le Theiere', a cute coffee shop/cake paradise. From the outside, it promises to be a pretty cool joint, owing to the tell-tale clue of a queue snaking its way out onto the cobbled pavement. I mentioned Le Loire dans le Theiere in this post so I'm glad I got a chance to go back & try out something sweet :)

From the chilly outside we peeped in & saw a promising cosy tearoom, with squashy leather armchairs, happy chatter and walls covered with artsy posters. Instead of choosing cake from the menu, we got to ogle over a counter cluttered with massive cakes, cakes & pies, from which the waiters cut fresh, gigantic slices.

Mine was an amazing layered cake with biscuit, dark chocolate & white chocolate - it was absolutely huge. My friend got a banana-ry, chocolatey cheesecake, & I can confirm that both were delicious. Other sweet things on offer included orange cake, a baked alaska-y meringue dream, a coffee & walnut cake & lots of chocolate creations.

(Sorry for the quality -taken on my friend's Blackberry!)

The cakes were quite expensive at €7.00, but when it's big enough to make you miss meals I guess it's ok for an occasional treat! I decided to walk the last part of the way home, & I never regret it when my local area looks like this! Photos from the Grand Palais & Petit Palais near Champs-Elysees Clemenceau. 

À Bientôt !

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Breakfast in America

On a cold & rainy day, nothing could have been more welcome than the offer of a catch-up over brunch with a friend from my university in England. Both myself & my friend had stumbled across 'Breakfast in America' on our online search for places to try, and both had been a little unsure as to whether the kitch-ness, blatant & unashamed American vibe & cheap and cheerful menu would make for an acceptable suggestion. It might not be embracing fine French culture or 'haute-cuisine' but I, for one, and am glad we went.

There are two branches, one in the Latin Quarter & one in Le Marais, just a stone's throw away from St. Paul Metro. We plumped for Le Marais, for its old-world charm & more pragmatically - the proximity to my friend's apartment! 

Just look at the buildings! If you're ever stuck for an idea of what to do in Paris - I promise you you'll have an adventure wandering aimlessly here. They have such beautiful shops here too. I had a little walk up the street whilst I was waiting & there were about 4 shops I already wanted to visit. Especially, too, that little red bistro on the corner. There were Christmas lights strung up inside & out round the front. I love the French & their resilience when it comes to cold weather - nothing will stop them from sitting round heaters on the street to people-watch whilst they sip their espressos, even Jack Frost nipping at their toes...

 

The diner itself is as kitch as you would hope it would be, with a brash red sign & this colourful hand-drawn chalk menu advertising all-day breakfast (my kinda place). We called out the usual "Bonjour !" before the waitress assured us that she was a New-Yorker, & please, we could speak English! On the menu: eggs any way you want, bacon, maple syrup, milkshakes & French toast.  

I settled for 2x2x2 (two pancakes, 2 pieces of bacon, & 2 eggs - scrambled, yum!) My friend plumped for pain perdu. This is "Breakfast in America" so the potion sizes are really generous. Another (American) friend seemed to think that the lunch options aren't amazing, & I would agree that the food is nice for the price you pay (under €10.00) but not incredible. Once again, the photos are from my phone - sorry!

I'm a sucker for loyalty cards - & seeing as we were given one on the way out, I guess I'll be making a return visit! I hope you had a lovely day too!

À Bientôt !

x

Holy Guacamole!

Tonight, I went out to for the best Mexican food of my life! The ambiance, the open kitchen where you could watch your fresh tortillas being rolled and the friendly patter from the chef only served to make my quesadilla taste even scrummier, and it was pretty good to start with.

The Mexican adventure was a suggestion from an American friend, who knows her Southern food, being from Florida. In celebration of having finished a particularly nasty test you may have heard me whinging about, we looked up recommendations on an amazing app called "Le Fooding". Choose your cuisine, read the reviews & Bob's your uncle. Apparently there are only a handful of Mexican restaurants in Paris, and the owners at El Nopal gave a pretty fair summary of them, telling us which were amigos in the Mex food industry and which were places best avoided!

When we arrived the shutters were down, it was drizzling & I thought it was the premature end to a pretty short-lived evening. However, the owner heard us waiting & opened up half an hour early, let us inside & took our orders. I got a quesadilla filled with smoky chicken, guacamole, chorizo, salsa, melty cheese & other goodness, and saw it cooked before my eyes by Jose, head chef. Manu entertained us with friendly chat & gave us advice on where to go in Paris for a fun time. 

The other girls got beef 'burrones', which seemed to be fresh tortillas wrapped around rice with other scrummy fillings. With a can of pop, some nachos with guacamole and dipping sauce to share and my main, my meal came to below €10.00. Not half bad for Paris! The atmosphere is so friendly, they play great music & speak French, Spanish & English. The guys originate from Mexico, so you feel like they know their stuff. Regulars popped in to pick up hot food to take away, & a Texan swung by saying that their buddy over in America had told him he just had to check it out.

I left with a stomach full of good food & a big smile on my face. Please go & try it if you get the chance! It is tiny, so although you're welcome to stand, eat, and chat in front of the counter, be aware that there are no tables to mull over your food in private. It has more of the flavour of a one-in-a-million pop-up stand than a polished Parisian restaurant, but I guess that's why I love it.

Hasta Luego 

(À Bientôt !)

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Le Marais

After a hectic couple of days, nothing could have been more welcome than my Saturday night plans for a quiet wander around town and easy chatter over dinner with friends. I headed to Le Marais for the first time with two girls I had met at Interfac. I imagine this area is normally bustling with cooly dressed girls and boys wearing scarfs and skinny jeans - but we came later in the evening as dusk was settling over the high roof tops and narrow streets. 

Le Marais felt to me like a forgotten remnant of an older, quieter world - now filled with clothes stores, thrift shops, cafes and markets. I didn't manage to take many photos, apart from when I emerged at 'Hotel de Ville' metro. 

 I never get tired of coming up from under Paris network of underground lines into a different part of town, having no idea what to expect when I step up into the overground world. Hotel de Ville was a startlingly ostentatious and impressive start to our Le Marais adventure, before we dived off into the little maze of roads that make up the quartier.

I'm going to drag my sister to Le Marais when she comes to visit in December, so I'll be able to take some better photos then.

For now, here's a photo my friend took of us enjoying crepes at 'Crepe Suzette'. Check out the blog post I linked to the name - it's much better than mine! After some agonising decision making, I chose The Barbette: melty cheese, ham, basil and potato - proper comfort food. It's not cheap but it sure does taste good, so take yourself there for a treat if you're in need of some TLC, then hit the shops for a bit of retail therapy (all window-shopping, or un peu du 'leche-vitrine' -literally, window licking - in my case). I, for one, am looking ve-ery tired!

Another trip to Le Marais tout de suite I think!

À Bientôt !

x

Jewels

After Angelina, it was a short walk to 'The Musee des Arts Decoratifs' which hides nestled inside the Louvre's vast façade. Under its wing are "Arts Decoratifs", "Mode et Textile" and "Publicite". Given my love of old retro posters, my sister's interest in a career in intellectual property (ooh) and my brother's Madmen addiction - we really enjoyed the Museum, and all the more so because it was free for European students under 25 years old. Just take along your passport/proof of identity for free access!

I really liked the fans - which, as they were dipping out of fashion amongst genteel ladies of the aristocracy, became a major tool for advertising - given out free at events. Savvy huh?

 

The jewellery department was all dramatic lighting and crisp cut diamonds - rather imposing and majestic rather than beautiful. There were also some oddities like a necklace made out of beanie babies and a bracelet made out of golden articulated shrimps!

"The day will come, have no fear, when many of these works which you now consider as mere products of industry...the day will come when many of these works will take their place in museums." Victor Hugo, Actes et Paroles I (1841-1851)

Still a little full of Angelina hot chocolate, we hopped on the Metro to Hugo's, a restaurant near to the Gare du Nord. Down an unremarkable street (cutely named 'Butterfly Street', or Rue Papillon', Hugo hides a cute and cosy interior which feels just like eating supper in someone's home. 

Amazing duck salad and goat's cheese toast! 

We may have splashed out on eating out but we made up for it with free museum trips and about 5k of walking!

Our adventure continued on Sunday morning - read all about it tomorrow!

À Bientôt !

x

Visit from Home

Today I was spoilt with a lovely visit from my Dad who had been working in Paris for the day. He brought over some things I'd had to leave at home, like these posters from Clinton Cards & some kitchenware including a tray that my Mum snapped up in a charity shop to create more of a work surface in my tiny kitchen – savvy huh?

 

 
I particularly like the map poster because it's a cute way to help me to get a bearing on where things are, like Saint Sulpice (made famous by the Da Vinci code) which I stumbled across today after swimming (N.B. I discovered that swimming is not always free in Île-de-France despite my hopes – I think the till was broken before but at €1.70 I can't complain!)

The 7ième arrondissement

Another cute poster with vintage luggage labels

I also came across a rather lovely vintage Chanel boutique which I can in no way afford but would like to visit, and a Swedish shop selling the most adorable Christmas jumpers & granddad cardigans. Neville Longbottom, eat your heart out:

Dad & I went to this great restaurant called Pasco not too far from where I live. I had a steak cooked 'à point' or medium – which translated into French means still bloody. I wouldn't like to think what their 'saignant' or 'bleu' steaks look like! Here's a chart for anyone interested. It came with amazing 'riz sauvage' (wild rice) and a red wine sauce. Dad had a shepherd's pie made with duck meat.

The piece-de resistance as far as I'm concerned was the 'profiterole Pasco', crunchy choux pastry sandwiching scoops of ice-cream and a pot of chocolate sauce to drizzle. Dad was very excited about his dessert which was some kind of cheese.

So heavenly!!

The restaurant filled up nicely with locals so there was a nice laid-back atmosphere.

At €24 each, for a main and dessert, I felt this wasn't bad – pretty typical prices in my area of Paris. Considering the location of the restaurant and the service we were given, with a free bread basket and olives already on our table, we had a great meal and I would definitely return:

After a lovely time with my Dad, I can't wait until my brother & sister visit this week-end!

À Bientôt !

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