Beaubourg Revisited

 I first visited Beaubourg on a trip to Paris with my brother, in the late 70s when it was just newly opened. 

Back then it was the architecture of the place that was the big talking point. The team who designed it - including Italian Renzo Piano and Brits Richard and Su Rogers (he later married Ruth of River Café fame) - had 'turned the architecture world upside down', according to the NY Times in 1977, by creating a public arts building in which all the innards - plumbing, heating ducts, electrical wiring - were visible on the outside, painted in bold primary colours.

What I remember being most struck by on that early trip, though, apart from the startling exterior, was the people-friendliness of the interior. In the massive public libraries, galleries and research centres it housed there was not a trace of the stuffiness, deathly quiet and lingering boredom that you expected of places like that. Instead it was filled with students my age, kids and older people comfortably lounging on the floor or wherever, chatting about new discoveries. A space for the people. I loved it instantly.

Going back there last week it wasn't much different, though we had a more specific mission - the musée d'art moderne - 

(ok, I have to admit this guy was kind of stuffy)


to satisfy the curiosity of a thirteen-year-old with a love for Kandinsky

 and Picabia

Rothko

Picasso

and help - whose car smash is this again?

Zooming up the escalators (also on the exterior - naturellement, to give one the best view) ...

we watch the street artists outside become ant-like and are greeted with higher altitude sights ...

At the very top we are headed - since an excess of art is exhausting, bien sûr, and one is gagging by now for a drink and some nibbles - for the rooftop café with the best views in Paris

and this, um, plant pot

But sadly it is possible to die before your order is taken here, so off we go on the vélibs stacked up outside, headed for cafés greener ...

(How will London's very own Boris Bikes match up to these beauties I wonder?)

Paris Address Book

While it's hard to be disappointed by the sights of Paris - beauty is everywhere you look - it is certainly possible to have mediocre eating, shopping or accommodation experiences. Though we've made wonderful finds by chance, personal recommendations usually work best, and I make a habit of squirrelling these away.

So, in the spirit of generosity - (well no, actually because I'm pretty sure only about three people in the world actually read my blog) - I offer you just a few of my personal favourites for the Paris address book ...

First of all, since nothing cheers me up quite like a spot of shopping ... my favourite interior shop, possibly in the entire world, is located in what may be the prettiest little square in Paris - 

Place de Furstenberg, right behind St Germain des Près – painted by Hockney, location for films (in Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence Michele Pfeiffer’s character’s apartment was one of those windows top left) and home of the Musee Delacroix (he lived and worked here). Here is Flamant, outside and in.

For more traditional, classic French interiors, I love the gorgeous Mis en Demeure (27 rue du Cherche-Midi, 75006). I could move in there too and die happily. (See also Windlost blog for a great, photo-filled post on this shop: http://windlost.blogspot.com/2008/10/paris-post-mis-en-demeure.html)

And then, because eating makes me every bit as happy as shopping, je vous propose ces restaurants ...

Hotel du Nord on the bank of the Canal St Martin (10th arrondissement), right here ...

No, it's not a hotel, though it was once. It's named for the 1938 film of doomed love by Marcel Carné and retro glamour is what it's all about.

(photo credit: Lisa Weatherbee, hipparis.com) 

102 Quai de Jemmapes 75010
The atmosphere and décor is divine and we had great food served by dishy, friendly, efficient waiters.

Perhaps the best restaurant find of last week's trip though was the Laiterie Sainte Clotilde in St Germain (64 rue de Bellechasse 75007).

 Don't be put off by the 70s formica tables - this tiny place is run by the warmest, friendliest people (older woman who masterminds the menu plus sweet young thing just visible on the right above with mobile and fag, who serves and bartends) and serves a changing menu of seasonal food (three entrées, three plats, three desserts). We were lucky to get a table; by 9.00 pm it was humming, filled with a mix of elderly locals, beautiful young bobos, and suits from the neighbourhood Ministeries. We had our best meal in Paris here will so definitely go back.

Thank you HiPparis blog for this recommendation. And HiP (Haven in Paris) is a fantastic source, by the way, for beautiful apartments to rent in Paris for short-term stays. We have used them twice and not been disappointed.

We also discovered Les Nuits des Thés , not far from Musee d'Orsay, 22 rue de Beaune 75007...

 

... a salon de thé and also divine place for lunch – all pink toile and home made salads and wonderful patisseries. This is another family run treasure, with friendly Jacqueline (the patronne), her little son, grand-mère et grand-père all helping out. 

And finally, we returned to some old favourites. Yes, I know Les Deux Magots is hopelessly touristy but I do love that polished brass and wood, old-style 1920s glamour ... 

(the waiters are easy on the eye too) ...

 Breakfast here is my favourite way to start a day in Paris ...

Le Grizzli in the Marais - a stone’s throw from Beaubourg - (7 rue St-Martin 75004) is a bistro where we’ve always had a good experience over many years, with friendly staff and outside seating where you can happily sit with a bottle of wine and a view of the world passing you by, while you tuck into this ...

or this ...

maybe ending off with this ...

This is the apartment building right opposite Le Grizzli where I want to live when I’m grown up (the lighted window will be mine)...

 

Paris en Famille

Paris makes my family happy, whatever the season. But Paris in summer has its own special charms.

Can you spot us in this sidewalk cafe?

Here, in Place des Vosges, Parisians and tourists take it easy on the grass ...

 ... and we meet up with Cape Town cuzzies!

Here comes Jill ...!

At Le Loir dans la Theiere, nearby in the Marais ...

(the Dormouse in the Teapot, rue des Rosiers)


we reconnect while comfortably managing to put away a few of these ...

and Pierre and Nich get cosy with a Kindle.

I think I'll move in to this apartment next door

You can send me a postcard just like this ...

I heart Eurostar

Can there be any better way of getting to Paris? We leave home at 8.30 am to be in the heart of St Germain in perfect time for lunch.

A 35 minute drive from home gets us to the wonderfully refurbished St Pancras - a thing of beauty with Victorian façade, vaulted glass ceilings, polished hardwood floors and colonnades with fab shops and cafes. 

Oh and how’s this for capturing the old-fashioned romance of train travel ...

(Paul Day’s bronze statue, The Meeting Place, under the station clock)

 A coffee stop at Le Pain Quotidien gets us in the mood for France ...

And then we’re on board and set to go

Curl up for a read and a very decent brunch and, before you know it, two hours 15 minutes has disappeared in a silent high speed flash across countryside and the tunnel, and you are tipped out with a bienvenue and a bientot … and oh dear, if only they would give the seedy Gare du Nord a badly needed makeover the picture would be perfect ... 
but never mind, because at the end of a quick taxi ride you see this picture instead ...

(the tiny but perfectly and exotically furnished hotel Bellechasse)

... and across the road a large place filled with many more beautiful pictures

 (Musee d'Orsay)



and your weekend in Paris has just begun.

Andalucia

Andalucia is red

yellow

blue

white-wash

and some stone, to calm the senses.

This is what it sounds like ...

(with apologies for my frightful camera-work there)