Just what is a Salon de l’Agriculture?

Posted on March 2, 2012 by admin

http://preferredmode.com/tag/style-blog/ Thursday, March 1, was a pretty full day and I never got around to documenting what we did. When last we dined at Hugo’s, he mentioned we should check out the agriculture show taking place at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. Hummmmm, just what exactly would an agricultural show in Paris be? By the way, it ends March 4th!
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Waaf & Miaou

Posted on February 29, 2012 by admin

Floor to ceiling dresses, coats, jackets, and accessories for your favorite dog or cat

After sharing a coffee and meeting with Kathryn Brown, an American living in Paris, we headed over to rue de l’Opera to the dog and cat store, Waaf & Miaou, we discovered on a previous visit.  This tiny, little shop is filled with all things dog and cat. Last time, the store greeter, a little white Westie, was wearing a very cute jacket with SECURITE embroidered on the back. It was styled like a satin jacket that security staff at a concert might wear.  I decided I wanted one for Morgan, but, alas! they don’t stock it any more.

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Musee de l’Eventail

Posted on February 28, 2012 by admin

Don’t get out your French-English dictionary, l’eventail is French for “fan.” Being a fan resident, I just had to go check it out.  It used be open only on Tuesdays from 2 to 5, but is now open M,T,W from 2 to 6. There is an admission fee of 6 euros.  It is hard to find, located at 2 Boulevard de Strasbourg marked only by a brass plaque by the door.  You have to ring to gain admittance to the building then go up to the 3rd French floor to a small working atelier or workshop where antique fans are restored and new ones crafted.

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Cemetiere Pere-Lachaise and not much else

Posted on February 27, 2012 by admin

The day was bright and sunny and we decided to embark on a walking tour from our book “Walking Paris” titled Pere-Lachaise to Buttes Chaumont. Starting the day in a cemetery may not seem like fun, but since William Miller, the owner and builder of our house, was a marble worker responsible for some of the stones in Hollywood Cemetery back in Richmond and since we have, over time, developed an affinity for such places, we said why not?

The cemetery was beautiful. But the walking tour is impossible without a GPS equipped device to reinforce or guide you to the correct path.
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Sunday: All Over the Map

Posted on February 26, 2012 by admin
Brocante Market at Porte de Vanves on a Sunday Morning

Brocante Market at Porte de Vanves on a Sunday Morning

The flea market at Ponte de Vanves in the south of Paris is a market that is much less structured, more unorganized, and with more frugal finds than the one we visited yesterday. Essentially, the vendors set up tables on the sidewalk — or lay their wares on the sidewalk. One even hung a painting on a nail in a tree. (don’t laugh, however, that is how I found the couple in the oval frame over the bed in the Touch of France room – hanging on a nail on a tree at a brocante market in the south of France). So we set off to scour the market to see whether Mike might find a cherub to use as a mold or model for a project he has planned.
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A Favorite Haunt: Le Marche Aux Puces

Posted on February 25, 2012 by admin

One of the passages through the few market on the northern outskirts of Paris

There is no better way to spend a Saturday than wandering the flea market located in St-Ouen, just outside the Peripherique at the Clingnancourt metro stop.  Unless, of course, you’re buying! But you do have to thread your way past the cheap goods like sneakers and knock-off’s to get there. This a packed market, crowded with tourists and therefore expensive. There are better buys out there, but they may be a little harder to come by and the inventory may be a little spottier. This time it appears that they have found a source for many reproductions, but the marked price is indicative – you would never find a real Louis piece in mint condition for 1000 euros – even in this economy.  The market is made up of multiple markets some in buildings, some in stalls like the Marche Vernaison.  Whenever I was allowed, I took photos. Here they are…..(by the way, you can click on the photos to make them larger to see the detail….)

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Bastille and Faubourg St-Antoine and the Champs de Mars

Posted on February 24, 2012 by admin

The circular walk we programmed for today started at the Bastille and toured through Faubourg St-Antoine. We took a little detour on the Promenade des Plantes. The Bastille Opera was built on the site of an old railway station, Gare Vincennes. The city of Paris converted an old elevated viaduct that was a railway to a an elevated park, similar to the one in NYC. It extends 4 miles through a neighborhood, quaint and Parisian on one side and contemporary on the other. The plantings range from wild and carefree to trimmed rose arbors (we could only imagine their beauty….)

This column in the Place de la Bastille, memorializes the 180 Revolution: 504 dead were placed in an ossuary under the column. The gilded Spirit of Liberty is atop the bronze column. Visitors used to be able to climb its 230 steps, but now it is closed.

We left the promenade and headed back to Bastille to rejoin our walk – the area below the viaduct within the arches has been converted to workshops, studios, galleries and shops. What a great reuse of space!
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Gentle Rain and Misty Day

Posted on February 23, 2012 by admin

The gentle rain and mist encouraged us, well me, to take the time to clean our apartment all the way down to fresh, clean sheets on the bed. I dragged the suitcases and all the clothes we had stored in the closet out, washed down the shelves and wiped the floors. The baseboards looked like they hadn’t been wiped down in a year or two – so I did that too. All in all, the place is cleaner than we found it!

After chores were done, early afternoon, we walked up to the oriental traiteur and purchased two brochettes of chicken on a skewer as take-away. Just to tide us over until dinner back at the apartment later.

Bus #69 sightseeing tour begins here, overlooking the Eiffel Tower

Since it was misty, we embarked on an adventure we had never tried before. The tour guide books all reference a bus route that runs through Paris and hits a lot of the sites. Because we have our Navigo passes we can hop on and off all along the route. Rick Steves’ books give details about the Bus #69 sightseeing tour – all for the cost of a Metro ticket. And, actually with a Metro ticket you can hop on and off as long as the entire trip in one direction does not exceed 90 minutes.  Let’s see pay a sightseeing company for a narrated commentary or ride for Metro fare? I know which I would choose.  Going forward we will recommend it to those who want an overview of the major sites in Paris. Starting at Champs de Mars (actually on avenue Joseph Bouvard), we took Rick Steves’ advice and grabbed a window seat near the back where the seats are higher for a better view!
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A day for Mike with a little Pat thrown in!

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Mike

We awoke to a beautiful day, at 9:15 when I left the apartment the temperature was still in the upper thirties.  I was headed for la cuisine paris for a cooking class entitled http://iowacomicbookclub.com/wp-content/31cx4.php Le Croissants and Traditional Breakfast Pastry.  I walked down rue Saint Denis past our old 3-bedroom apartment from  two years ago while traveling with Shoe, Carol, Lou, Sandy and of course Pat.  Its a pretty straight shot along the pedestrian street to the Seine and a left when reaching the river.  The street changes names several time, but just past the Hotel de Ville it become Quai de Hotel de Ville, I walked on to #80 where I was to meet up with other students for the class.  A couple from California, a couple from Slovenia, a young girl from Russia, a girl from Atlanta and the final student from Texas named Stephanie who was to become my partner for the class.

The Pastry Chef instructor, originally from Ohio, now lives in Paris with her French husband and aside from teaching several classes at la cuisine paris works as a pastry chef in two boulangeries, her name is Jenn.

la cusine paris

The Class

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rue Mouffetard, along the Seine, Tuileries

Posted on February 21, 2012 by admin

We set out this morning for the market street of rue Mouffetard, one of Paris’ oldest streets, actually dating to the Romans. The street markets of Place Maubert and Place Monge and the pedestrian area are like street markets all over Paris – full of fresh ingredients from fruits and vegetables and cheeses and fish and meats and breads.

Shellfish and fish along rue Mouffetard

Fruits and vegetables, I was took slow with camera to catch the pigeon perched on the grapes

Hyacinths, is spring just around the corner?

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