The moth

A large moth is the door handle to a Left Bank gallery.

Day trip: At home with Monet #2

Interior of Impressionist icon Claude Monet's Giverny home with partial view of gardens from a window.

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Un Jour avec Claude Monet à Giverny by Adrien Goetz (Flammarion)

 

Day trip: At home with Monet #1

On the occasion of the publication of Un Jour avec Claude Monet à Giverny by Adrien Goetz (Flammarion), I was invited on a press trip to what was once Claude Monet's home in Giverny, complete with a private lunch arranged for us in the Impressionist painter's former atelier.

Above: photos don't do justice to the gardens at Giverny, a pleasant hour and a half drive from Paris

Fruit cake

Gérard Mulot's pastries have set the trend around the world for cakes loaded with fruit.

76 rue de Seine 75006

A love of butter

A monstrous hunk of salt-studded butter is a staple on the counter of a popular Left Bank wine bar.

Sunday bargains

Sidewalk flea markets bring out local chineurs.

Above: reject art, gold-lined china, crystal, antique books, bits of this, that

Perfect match

This gentleman's shoes and jacket perfectly match his favorite café.

A step up

Spring foliage has made this old Montmartre stairway shiny and new.

Gallery as art

A gallery window's graphic lines make it appear to be a painting.

See Gallery gala

Market café

 

First un ti café, then shopping....

 

Blossom closeup

Blossoming trees line the side of Notre Dame Cathedral.

Cerisiers de Notre-Dame

Cherry blossoms from across the river.

More eggs

 

Above: window at Arnaud Larher, Pâtissier et Chocolatier

Below: egg-shaped "baskets" of gourmet caramels at Henri Le Roux, Chocolatier et Caramélier

 

- Happy Easter à tous -

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L'oeuf parfait

With Easter upon us Paris pastry chefs are out in force creating original designs like these fruity (extra large and small) "fried egg" topped cakes.

 La Goutte d'Or Pâtisserie
Yann Menguy

183 rue Marcadet Paris 75018

Paella Saturday

Paris / Valencia:
Order ahead and squeeze in for your share of authentic paella made fresh every Saturday.

Craft beers, embutidos....

El Tast

70 rue Duhesme 75018

Paris desk daydream

When you're excited about getting down (up!) to work every day... just because of the view.

Do what you love, love what you do.
(With thanks to.... well you know who you are)

Meet you at The Smiths

A great go-to place for deep dish quiches, buttery viennoiseries, coffee, and Berthillon ice cream.

The Smiths Bakery

12 rue de Buci 75006

Peek inside

An enclosed courtyard on the Place des Vosges, Marais district.

Terrace temptation

A few chairs and tables are thrown together on a cobbled terrace. In the distance a staircase plunges to a street far below.

French cut

 

A tiny new Montmartre restaurant serves up tartares sur mesure: choose from knife (not machine) cut fresh beef, tuna, salmon, more, then have it dressed with a sauce of your choice.

Above: salmon tartare with a truffled aioli, chorizo, capres, pickles, tobasco and parsley sauce; fries cooked in duck fat; crunchy deep-fried Saint-Marcellin to start and a panna cotta lime zest dream dessert to finish. Wine: crisp Chardonnay

Alix et Mika

37 rue Lamarck 75018

Joie de ville

Niki de Saint Phalle sculptures brighten up the day.
 

Short life span

These latest blossoms on Place Marcel Aymé will be gone in less than 48 hours.
In the distance, sculpture of "The Man Who Walked Through Walls."
 

Leafy lunch

Entrance to Le Moulin de la Galette with its garden restaurant where Renoir painted his celebrated Bal du Moulin de la Galette.
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83 Rue Lepic 75018

April roses

Inside, wooden crates of rose petals for sale for the Sunday lunch table.

Only in Paris

A designer bag used to tote groceries.

Russian dolls

A window in a Left Bank shop displays the contents of an enormous traditional Matryoshka doll.