Picnic on the Seine

My very favorite thing to do in Paris is picnic.  It's more than a hobby or a fun activity, it's a way of life.  Good picnics are better than 5 course meals and it really doesn't take much...good wine, good cheese, the perfect baguette and maybe some of those wonderful "french" strawberries (as opposed to the ones we're used to these are much thinner- quelle surprise!).

Last weekend I was lucky enough to spend two evenings in a row on the banks of the Seine.  One picnic was just wine and some fantastic Tango watching.  There were many couples practicing and my companions and I found it as entertaining as anything we would have paid to watch.  The second picnic was with a very large group of Americans and Brits.  The plan was to meet one another before we all got together to watch the big World Cup game this Saturday night.  Both were worlds apart and yet perfectly Parisian.

Picnics will be de rigueur when I return to New York.  I can see it now... Who's with me?

xx

Fembot

While strolling the left bank after shopping for a new bikini the other day, I decided to finally stop by the venerable and grand department store Le Bon Marche.  I wasn't really in the mood to shop since I had exceeded my quota with the day's earlier purchase, but I thought I would take a look around and try to pop over to La Grande Epicerie du Bon Marche (the large and luxurious gourmet grocery).  Luckily for me, while I was perusing the journals and books on one of the higher floors I stumbled across the Ellen Von Unwerth "Cinema" exhibition.  The exhibit was running in conjunction with the Cannes Film Festival which had just taken place the week before.  There were four short films (burlesque, femme fetale, lolita-esque and mythology) showing in the front rooms.  Followed by a back room filled with a veritable who's who of French and American celebrities beautifully photographed in their most sultry, come hither poses.  It was a wonderfully entertaining surprise!

I made it to the epicerie afterward, but I was a bit overwhelmed by the plethora of options in each food category and the hunger setting in as my stomach started to growl.  It would have to wait for another day, when I wouldn't buy the 12 Euro pate just because I was peckish.

xx

Joie de vivre

Apologies for the lack of posts lately, but I was away at the seashore (more on that soon)!

We now return to regularly scheduled posts...and Paris- ahhh

xx

newyorkaise

Last weekend I was lucky enough to spend some time with Colleen, her boyfriend Kevin and Heather (another friend of Colleen's from New York).  It was a blast and I am so happy that we were both in Paris at the same time.  We happily drank a couple of bottles of wine at Rosa Bonheur while trading Paris stories and commiserating about the lack of coffee to go and good bagels.  Oh New York!

 These beautiful photos are courtesy of the lovely Colleen Call

The phrase book Colleen had brought with her that contained useful french phrases was a major hit too.  She quickly showed me the section on sex and boy was it funny.  The sequence of the phrases made no sense and was a veritable yes no yes no tease of a lesson.  I wish I remembered more of what it said, but it was quite entertaining to say the least!

The four of us moved along back to Colleen and Kevin's amazing apartment rental at the edge of the Canal St Martin.  There we had more wine and lots of other goodies picked up from the supermarche on our way over.  It was so much fun to hang out with people and not have to explain yourself or your life story.  We had a blast and may have smoked one too many cigarettes in our attempts to channel the french versions of ourselves.  What a night!

Luckily for me the New Yorkers weren't leaving right away and we got to have a proper lunch the next day in a beautiful cafe down by the Seine.  Steak and potatoes for your hangover?  Oui s'il vous plaît!

xx

The "best" way to learn french

“All girls should have an affair with a French guy. It’s a great way to learn the language and it’s a great way to get banged.”

—Kelly Cutrone gives Whitney Port some seriously amazeballs advice on “The City” [NYMag.com]

 The City will always hold a little place in my heart due to its ridiculous plot lines and the proclivity I share with Whitney for dating foreigners or as NY Mag calls them MWA (Men With Accents). . . always fun, but usually trouble!

xx

Tennis anyone?

Enjoying the day at Roland Garros

Game, set, match . . . sounds a bit different in French!  On Friday I had a chance to visit the Annex courts at the French Open and see some exciting tennis matches.  My Brit friend had gotten us tickets and the two of us spent the day bopping from one court to the next.  We saw part of both a mens singles match and a womens singles match, in addition to both mens doubles and mixed doubles matches.  It was a warm and sunny day, perfect for experiencing such a quintessentially French event at an iconic place like Roland Garros (a first for both of us)!

When we sat down to watch the mens doubles game below, we decided to look at the program to find out what country each player was from.  For some reason, we couldn't decipher if AUS was Austria or Australia...My Brit friend came up with a funny way of asking the AUS player, something like, "G'Day mate are you from Austria by any chance?"  haha!

Umm... guess you had to be there.  Anyways, the players were very cute and so was the Chair Umpire!  Ahh ice cream and cute boys playing tennis.  Can I go again, please?

Oh, and least I forget, after lunch I swear I had a "French soft serve ice cream" that was the size of my HEAD!  I'm not even exaggerating, this thing was HUGE and sooo good!  My friend took a picture of me eating it, which sadly I do not have, but will post if I get it.  We were both extremely impressed that I a) finished the whole thing and b) didn't spell any of it on myself.  At the end of the afternoon I even started to feel like a champion (albeit, one with a killer stomach ache)!

On the way back towards the metro, we decided to pop by this old pool turned event space that I had just read about the day before.  Basically, the story goes a lot like that of the McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn, Nike turned an old art deco municipal pool that had been closed for years into "The Club" (an event space and tennis courts) to market to young people during the French Open.  The indoor/outdoor facilities are very close to Roland Garros and were really cool to check out.  I loved all of the graffiti and the space itself is the perfect place for events with even bigger crowds, if the city decides to go the route of McCarren (before it was scheduled to be turned back into a pool).  I definitely felt like I wasn't in Paris...

It's great to go out to the outer arrondissements of Paris and feel like you've left the city for the day.  I'm totally motivated now, so watch out for when I get back and start asking you to go to Queens with me!

xx

 

Nature Capitale on the Champs Elysees

 On a sunny weekend in May, while Mom and Jan were in town a couple of weeks ago, we got to experience a very unusual view of the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe.  For 2 days the city of Paris, in celebration of International Biodiversity Day on May 22nd,  closed the boulevard to motorized vehicles and turned the pedestrian walkway into an urban park.  There were literally blocks upon blocks of grass, flowers, trees, vegetables and animals of all sorts.

The Parisians and visitors absolutely LOVED it!  There were thousands of people and the event proved to be extremely popular for the city.  For us, it was more of a novelty, but a fun one!

 

 Imported grass, flowers, trees ... it was quite provincial!

  

Arc de Triomphe

 

petit dejeuner

 

 Croque Madame ... mmm delicious!

 

The ladies enjoying some sunshine on a lovely cafe terrace.

Ritzy Plaza Athenee on the famous Avenue Montaigne

 

 This is how they do skulls in Paris

 

You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to get that quintessential Eiffel Tower pic!?!

What a wonderful Sunday!  It was one of the sunniest and most beautiful days to take this picturesque stroll and, lucky for me, I had the best company to do it with!

xx