Highest mountain of France is also the tasiest

Despite growing up with frequent trips to the mountains with their ever snowy peaks, lately, I've grown more fond of sugary heights. The only thing they have in common is the white powder covered tops!



The Mont Blanc is supposed to have originated from northern Italy centuries ago, adopted and then adapted later by french chefs in the same region across the border. Today, it's well established as a distinctively french dessert. Less known in the west than other specialities like crêpes and cheese, whose close relatives exist in local variations throughout europe, this dessert is essentially found in France. But lately, it has grown very popular in certain parts of Asia, particularly Japan, where many french chocolatiers and pâtissièrs have opened their own tea salons.

A Mont Blanc come in many shapes, but in Paris it's usually like the one pictured above. It consists of a meringue base with a layer of confit de marron topped with a generous portion of crème patissière, finally topped off with crème de marron, a puré of candied and glazed chestnuts. Absolutely delicious!


Pictures and dessert from JP Hevin tea salon in Paris.

Island treasures at l'île st Louis

Paris is the capital of fashion and has been such for more than hundred years. Many, if not most of the world's celebrated fashion houses have had their main seats here for many years. With major shows and events like Paris fashion week, there's a lot going on related to fashion, from production, distribution and most importantly, consumption. This results in whole lot of raw materials for vintage stores and a high chance for visitors to discover real gems of bygone decades.

Allthough old clothes and funny hats can be interesting, there's nothing like finding a classic piece that looks just as stylish today as it did when it was new. With the number of vintage stores in Paris, there are some that specializes in these kind of items that never go out of style and is of a quality that lasts.

One of the ones with the most professional and knowledgable staff is located on ile st Louis. Here you'll not only find fine jewelry and watches from Chopard, Rolex and Cartier, but also luggage, bags and small leather goods from the most prominent names in the industry; Chanel flaps, a wide selection of Hermès bags, even some of the most coveted ones, and Louis Vuitton and Goyard, including a lot of limited editions.

Compared to some of the other stores, the selection at "antiquites de l'ile saint-louis" is limited, however all of their items are of exceptional quality and there's no need to worry about authenticity as experts like gemologists are employed when selecting goods to put up for sale.

Even if you're nowhere near Paris at the moment, you can always take a look at their current selection at www.isl-antiquites.com.

Their address:

Antiquités de l'Ile Saint-Louis
20, rue des Deux Ponts
75004 PARIS

Freezing Delices part II

Apparantly you can never get enough ice cream! So let's make three more refreshing and cold acquaintances in Paris:

POZZETTO

Pozzetto is an italian brand running two cafés that makes italian ice cream, coffe and pastry. They always use the freshest ingredients and the flavours change depending on what's offered on the local market.

For breakfast an early morning, I had white peach sorbet with fiori di latte, the latter which is a light milky ice cream. Allthough the flavours blended well together, none of them were strong enough to make up for the lack of intensity. Refreshing as it may be to have something cold on a hot day, I'd personally prefer to have some taste going with the "cold", If not I might as well suck on an ice cube. While still more tasty than an ice cube and despite the promise of fresh ingredients, the intensity of the pozzetto flavours I tried were not as good as the brands I had before and certainly not as good as what follows below.

DALLOYOU

Dalloyou, one of the most famous traiteurs in paris also includes sorbet and ice cream as a part of their reportoire. To change a little from the outside walks with dripping cones, I invited a friend to their tea salon at at Luxembourg, though there are also vendors outside. She had chocolate intense with trois fruits rouges (three red fruits), I had vanille with framboise (raspberry).

Like the flavours at Berthillon, Dalloyou presents traditional flavours. Just as in the case of the glacier of Ile st Louis, the execution and raw materials are crucial for bringing out the best tastes. In that, Dalloyou has succeeded. Both my friend and I were very content with our choices, they were all equally delicious and refreshing. Especially the vanilla, a flavour that sometimes ends up being a bland compliment to others, was surprisingly intense.

PIERRE HERMÉ

Well known for other sweet treats, Pierre Hermé launched his own flavours back in 2003 based of some of his most popular types of patented macarons.

At Pierre Hermé there's no free selection of flavours. Every ice cream and sorbet combination comes elegantly pre packaged and ready to be enjoyed. In general, I would think that consumers prefer to make their own selection of flavours. However, at Pierre Hermé, some of the combinations are rather unusual, and, as with his macaron, atistry and innovation is more important than anything else, including the personal preferences of potential customers. It's the result of courage and audacity any progressive artist must possess, that may leave some taken aback, but whose results are more enjoyable and interesting for those who keep up with it.

Celeste is a mix of Passion fruit ice cream with strawberry sorbet and rhubard coulis. The taste of passion fruit is very light and rather sweet. It makes an enjoyable contrast to the fruity and intense strawberry sorbet and the acid bitterness of the rhubard. This carefully composed combination, despite consisting of already well known flavours, is a delightful discovery for the taste buds, one that surprises as much as it pleases.

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This time around both Dalloyou and Pierre Hermé really stand out for different reasons entirely, one being a safe, but great choice, the other for daring and equally delicious flavours.

Church Eiffel style

Église-notre-dame-du-travail may not be the most impressive church in Paris on the outside, but it most certainly has some of the most particular interiors, which also tells alot about its origins and purpose.


The church was buildt between 1899 and 1901 replacing the earlier Notre Dame de Plaisance by architect Jules Astruc.



One cannot view the uncovered ironwork construction without giving a thought to the architectural movement associated withGustave Eiffel. Allthough the church is of a much later date, it was indeed intended to use for the workers at the univeral exhitbitons, hence its name.
The church's bell is a souvenir from the siege of Sebastopol that was given to the residents of Plaisance, then situated on the edge of Paris, by Napolen III.



Allthough the decorations are simple and somber suitable for the spirit of the workers, they evoke a feeling of serenity and piety, some might say even more so than some of the more grandiose pieces of the past that the city houses.




The church holds a number of works of art both of modern and classical kind. The above is one of the most touching pieces made by Michel Serraz and introduced in 1990. It displays a couple of lovers being brought forth by the divine in the shape of a hand. While the sculpture is made to suggest movement, the gesture also protects the two humans. It's a work whose simplicity, but profound message goes very well with the entire church and its history.

The best croissant in Paris

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Metropoolis' like Paris present a vast number of choices in every way. From shopping jewelry to picking the best yoghurt in the the local grocery store, there're enough alternatives to make the most experienced shopper stop contemplating.

Getting used to all of this may take a while, and the process necessarily makes a picky person as neither cost nor pomp or location guarantees for a productof quality. This is probably also the reason why many people living in cities may come off as being blase. And it's also why I decided to write about as my favourite croissants in Paris.

A croissant is a pastry you'll find on every street corner. They are usually very good, there's nothing to complain about in general. But, as it's a tasty treat more than a necessity, it's very disappointing when they're dry or tasteless . Like mentioned, this doesen't happen very often, but just as rare is the surprise of a croissant so delicious that it actually stands out among the other buttery delights.


I had my epiphany of Pastry in the Avenue Daumesnil, close to the metro station named after the same general. I was on my way back from visiting a friend when the unusually coloured shop caught my eye. It being a bakery and chocolat store of course did nothing to keep me out of there. As it was time for breakfast, I got a pain au chocolat (or was it two I cannot remember -_-).

Taking a first bite of it left a melting sentation, a semi sweet fondant in combination of the crispy exterior and dark chocolate. I've never tasted pastry similarly melting and pleasant to the palate. It left me wanting for more, however as the shop was a bit out of the way, I got myself together and decided to wait untill the next time I was in the approximity by chance.




Some weeks later, I found myself on that part of the avenue Damumesnil, again returning from a latenight dinner. I had almost forgotten the bakery when the vivid colours reminded me of the taste of delicious, melting pains au chocolat. Not feeling in the mood for chocolate, I decided to try something a little lighter; a croissant and a pastry with vanille cream and chocolate droplets. I was reassured that they were made from the same dought and later, upon taking the first bite, I could confirm that I had not been fooled.

Many times thereafter I have returned to this hidden treasure in Avenue Daumesnil, never have I been disappointed. I do however still try to limit my visits to when I have something else to do in the neighbourhood as I fear my belly would take on the shape of the puffy croisssant itself having the chance of passing by on a daily basis.

* For this boulangerie, take the metro to the stations Daumesnil or Michelt Bizot and walk to 203, avenue daumesnil*

Fleas, but no itch at Porte de Vanves

Ah, the flea markets... Either you hate them or love them. One thing's sure, there's always something interesting to see, whether that be the actual items or the people.

In Paris, there are several flea markets and the one at Vanves is one of the more famous and visited ones after les puces de paris at Clignancourt.





I should probably've known better than getting there around 11 o'clock in the morning. Vanves opens at 7am in the morning and closes at 3pm, but many of the merchants were already closing up when I got there. This means that to get the best deals and the nicest items you have to get up a little too early for my taste. I'm not sure my judgement would be half as good as usual at that hour either, and good sense and a well developped notion of what to avoid and what to get is essential at any flea market.













There weren't many nice items left when I got there, alllthough traces of what might've been good buys at the booths closing up. My favourite item was the above chandelier made in Venice. It was at a really good price and in perfect condition, but too cumbersome to take home. It goes to show that you can make a great purchase even at a rather ordinary market, despite being big, oustide puces the paris at st ouen, which rests the most interesting of all.

Fête de la Musique in Paris

Sunday was the fête de la musique, or the day celebrating music, in Paris. It's a tradition dating back to 1982 that since has spread across the globe.

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All over the city there are free concerts and people play in the streets. You're bound to see, or rather hear, something if you're in Paris that day. As for me, I went to hear some Bach.

The music overall was ok, however most of the venues, as was this, were filled up and people had to stand. Allthough there are local versions of the celebration, it seemed like Paris was a popular destination for suburban residents making a daytrip. There were people everywhere! Luckily the city had taken measure with police being visible in the streets.

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What's the biggest success of fête de la musique is also its biggest default. As anyone can participate, but most of us aren't brilliant musicians, the quality of the music will not always be within the range of easily digestible. Sometimes, noise is a more suitable word than music for what ressonates through the streets. Especially those living in the central areas this must be one of the most dreaded days and nights of the year.

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But I guess that's what makes it the success it has become and without it, there would surely not be that special ambience only a big party for everyone to enjoy has.

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Sales in Paris starting june 24th!

June 24th, official summer sales in Paris start all over the city! If you want to catch the good stuff, you'd better be early and have everything planned out!

At BonMarché sales start at 8 am, and allthough they open their doors earlier, I'm not sure it'll be as crazy as the line outside Hermès' sales at Porte Maillot that opens at 9 am. Other big departement stores also start their summer discounts the same day including Lafayette and Printemps and a number of Habitat stores.

Apart from the big stores, many of the smaller individual boutiques will also be having sales. To avoid the big and sometimes violent crowds, to take a stroll through Rue Grenelle and the rest of the area around st. Germain or the mid-parts of st. Honoré.

So, what are you waiting for? Make a list (and stick to it, not to get carried away) put on some comfortable (but stylish) shoes and fighting gloves, eh I mean patience.

Good Luck and happy shopping!

Le magicien de fer: Exhibition on Gustve Eiffel at Hôtel de Ville

To commemorate the 120 jubilée of the famous iconic structure of Paris, the city is holding an exhibition on the founding father; Gustave Eiffel.

Apart from the obious, there were many sketches and projects that have never been realised and even more of those who have been realised. Bridges, various buildings and structures from south east asia to europe shows a man of great fame and of equal skill.

I also highly appreciated that there was a section of paintings that incorporated the famous tower, notably by Delaunay and Chagall. It made you realised that the tower since the beginning had a very important impact on contemporary popular cutlture, that's still continuing today.

Delaunay & Chagall

All in all, it's was a very nice exhibition, allbeit too small to wait 30 minutes in line for, espeicially in the rain. If you by any chance are in the area and there aren't too many people in line, it's worth having a look.

The exhibition is open untill 29th august daily except sundays and public holidays from 10 am to 7 pm at 5, rue Lobeau.

Bunny time at Printemps

For spring, the departement store decorated the building inside and out with plastic bunnies in various colours that all go well with the spirit of spring and bunnies! Some of the biggest ones were left in the street and give an overwhelming and slightly fear inspiring impression (Imagine the size of their teeth!).

These bunnies wont be around for long, as spring season is soon to be over and sales start next week, so if you want to catch a plastic bunny, go to printemps now!

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Brunch at Le Pain Quotidien

There's nothing like a brunch with friends when you have the morning off. Le Pain Quotidien, french as it may be in name and concept, is a world wide chain of Belgian origin. In addition to being a traditional bakery, they sell jam, fruit syrup, oil and vingar, all of which is more or less Bio, of course.








This morning, we went to the café in rue de Varenne. It's one of their four addesses in Paris, the others being in the Marais, Montorgeuil and rue St Honoré. What makes rue de Varenne especially nice is the light and spacious interior with a big french window to the street.




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We had the breakfast formula, consisting of standard selection of bread, a choice of pastry, a fruit juice and hot beverages, in our case coffe. Nora also went for a boiled egg that turned out to be hardly cooked at all as it started running when it was decapped. At between 8 -10 euros depending on whether you have the egg to come with or not, it's a good price for a parisian breakfast.

All of the tables are fully equipped with the chain's own flavours of jam, nut, and chocolate spreads. For some reason, the white chocolate one is always half empty when we leave (I swear it's my friend that's all over it! ~_^) . I wont deny that a croissant with the stuff on top is more like a dessert than a healthy, filling breakfast, but at least we didn't buy a jar to bring back home with us. You could pick a more healthy, darker type of bread, but with the amount of spread that goes on top, you might as well take it all the way, and, as it's supposed to be breakfast and lunch at the same time, you have to max out on energy, no?


In addition to the darker type of breads, there are less sugary options on the menu. Soup, tea, eggs, fresh fruit and yoghurt are tasty and healthier alternatives to the above. However, these things are very easily forgotten when you order with the spreads and jams right under your nose.

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Pianist Alexandre Tharaud at Champs Élysées

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The beginning of the 20th century concert hall of Avenue Montaigne, le theâtre des champs élysées, hosts the pianist Alexandre Tharaud performing the piano works of Ravel. Obiously a very popular event as the concert was sold out.






For this concert, there had been added two short breaks, making it four parts in total. Many of the works played before the entracte were from Ravel's youth, some which are not often performed. The most known pieces were saved for after the break, like miroirs and gaspard de la nuit.

Alxandre Tharaud played all pieces with impeccable technique and precision. That's highly appreciated when playing impressionist pieces. As there are many notes played very quickly, it can easily turn into a soup of harmonies and sounds. Also, he managed to bring out and convey very well the feeling and imaginary of each song. Upon exiting the theatre I even heard a couple of people praising him for this particular feat, it's not just Ravel perfctly played, but Ravel with passion and feeling.

The highlights were without doubt all of the pieces of the second part, espcially Pavane pour une infante defunte and Miroirs. From the first part I specially enjoyed the menuet sur le nom de Haydn and the waltz'.

Allthough it's interesting to hear the whole works of an artist all at once, the only negative about this evening would be the length of the first part which lasted for about one and a half hour. The second half was much more concentrated and intense, also because of the nature of the pieces played. It also got very hot and I must've seemed like I had quite a workout when I left. Despite this, no one could get enough of this pianist and he returned the overwhelming applause with a highly ornamented baroque encore (whose exact name I've yet to find), rounding off the evening perfectly.

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Pre-soldes at Gaspard Yurkievich 19th - 20th June

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The brand born after the success of Avant-Garde fashion designer Gaspard Yurkieviech starts off the sales with 60% discount on prêt-à-porter summer colletion and 50% for shoes.

19th - 20th june

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11am to 7pm

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243, rue St Martin 75003

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Freezing Delices of Paris

These days, it's getting very hot and humid in Paris! The perfect solution to chill down the summer heat? Get some ice cream and sorbet!
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Paris has a large number of glaciers that makes frozen delights of very good quality. As I couldn't decide on a single one, I decided to try a select few that you'll be able to find easily throughout the city.

AMORINO

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Amorino in 47, rue St Louis en Île

Amorino is the biggest player on the Parisian scene of sweets that specialises in italian ice cream and bonbons. I visited their address on île st. Louis, where there's a smaller selection of flavours and no bonbons. A bigger selection can be found at their other locations among others on place de la Bastille or in Beaubourg.

. At amorino you have the opportunity to have your ice cream prepared in the shape of a cornetto; layered like petals of a flower. Mine consisted of lampone (raspberry), mango and coco. Especially the mango was very rich and you cannot go wrong with coconut. A smooth and delicious delight, allthough the lampone was lacking a little in intensity, or maybe it was simply overpowered by the mango!

JEFF DE BRUGES
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Jeff de Bruges in 79, rue de Sèvres

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Jeff de Bruges is a chocolatier that branched out into the world of cold sweets with his own flavours, often involving new and interesting combinations. Also, each Jeff de Bruges franchise now offers a fidelity card which gives you the 10th single cone for free. Not much of a deal you say? Well, you're right, but it's a great excuse to come back more often.

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This time, I went for Chocolat au meringue and Sorbet Passion de Janeiro. Basically these were chocolate with pieces of meringue and dark chocolat sauce and the latter a very, very intense taste of passion fruit. Allthough I'm sure I could've gone with a better combination, as the sorbet was too acid for the creamy and light chocolate, by themselves, the tastes were amazing. I don't think I've ever had a passion fruit sorbet with such an intense flavour. Absolutely Delicious!

BERTHILLON

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Salon de thé at 29, rue St Louis en Île

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The actual tea room of Berthillon is closed for summer holidays, believe it or not, but their products are still easily available throughout the city, especially on île st Louis.

Maybe the most famous glacier in Paris, it's still a family run company that swears to natural flavours and good old fashioned products. They also sell home made cakes and pastries in their tea salon.

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A friend came along to aid me with this one. To the left, there's pêche de vigne with chocolat, to the right you'v got pamplemousse rose with caramel beurre salé. All simple, no nonsene traditional flavours. The pêche de vigne is a certain type of peach grown in the vineyards of Lyon that has a deep red colour. Pamplemousse rose translates to pink grapfruit and last one is caramal made with salty butter.

After tasting each one, we came to the unison conclusion that all of the above were delicious! Even though the sorbets of berthillon sometimes are less smooth than others with some crystallized parts, the flavours are so intense and concentrated it makes it more than worth it. It's my absolute favourite ice cream here in Paris (allthough the jeff de Bruges passion fruit is a nice second) and can best be decribed as concentrated bombs of flavour. There's a reason why the coupes you get at Berthillion are smaller, as there's twice as much taste in them. Yummy!

Dreaful dead or simply sleeping?

One of the necessary evils in Paris is using the subway system. With its odors, labyrinthic organisation, heat and overcrowdedness, it's impossible getting used to, one simply have to withstand it. Going by car is not any better because of the frequent traffic jams, which also affects the buses, leaving the subway as the most efficient mean of getting around in the city.

However, some things are more scary than others. For example the mice and drunks. Drunks usual do no harm except for their smell, the rodents usually flee right away whitout doing anything but cause a creepy surprise. In fact, one of the scariest things in the metro is when someone looking sane and normal is stretched out seemingly sleeping. I stress "seemingly", because that's the part that can turn out to be very unpleasant. Unless the person is snoring or otherwise making noises, it's very hard to tell if he or she is dead or alive.

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Because, let's face it, no one in their right mind would lie down in a place like a parisian subway station. Most people try to avoid touching anyone or anything passing through. So, I've come to the conclusion that in many cases these people must be either extremely exhausted, drunk ot very ill, at least two of which would be a good enough reason to call for help.

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Still, most people pass by without taking notice, me included. Some may sincerely not notice these people when in a hurry, while others are too used to seeing anything and everything to react, again others, like me, are just really afriad one day they'll fall upon someone unfortunate enough to have met their creator in the parisian subway system.

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But, then again, if more people bothered to give them a little push now and then just to see if they react, surely there would be less reason to fear the above scenario.

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(NB, the one pictured above was snoring jollily, so no worries in this particular case ;) )

Pulcino: The Elephant at St. Germain

Say hello to Pulcino, a cute circus elephant that found his way to St Germain.





This is a work of emerging french artist Nicolas Buffé whose goal was to combine classic, "Important" elements with contemporary and transient ones.

By using only black and white, the artist places all focus on the elements which among other things are the cartoonish elephant, the roman style ornaments, the naive and simple with the sage and complex.

The Three Bs

My lunch break today included three distinctively parisian things...

Evidentlly, they are the bag, the baguette and... well...





the Buttes Chaumont (le Parc des Buttes chaumont). Who'd imagine that the most beautiful english garden would be on the other side of the channel?

Lake with temple of the sybille

A pearl from the second french empire, this fantasy playground of Napoleon III includes grottos, cascades, hidden paths, a lake and a tempietto set on a dramatic, but carefully sculpted landscape.

All the parks of Paris are popular among joggers and baby strollers, but none are as popular among lovers as le Parc des buttes Chaumont. Much of its popularity is tributed to its more or less hidden corners where couples are easily concealed from the world, but also the spectacular view of Paris from the heights of the artificial peak where the temple of the sybille is situated.

Temple of the Sybille

This day, the wather started out, and ended, with light rain, but I was lucky enough to enjoy my baguette under the sun inbetween the showers.

And allthough I must say this parc must be one of my favourites, it gets monotonous in the end. No matter how naturally random it was made to be, the artificial rocks, the never ending, but meticulously measured accordingly to one another, beautifully rustic landmarks, it's really not much closer to a real forest than the baroque gardens of the Tuileries. Luckily, Paris has greenry, parks and forests to accomodate every whim and taste...