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)

Summer eating in Spain

Spain is no place for a vegetarian.

Or a teetotaller.

The day starts agreeably late, with chocolate con churros: freshly made, lightly fried doughnutty strips, to be dunked in dense, dark drinking chocolate the consistency of swamp mud - the latter in espresso-sized coffee cups, presumably to reduce the chances of keeling over and dying of a combined caffeine, sugar and fat overdose ... the perfect breakfast. (Note: un hombre churro = a hottie!)

Summer lunches are leisurely, at outdoor cafes under the shade of umbrellas

or under trees in a leafy square with a fountain.

Shall we go sophisticated ...

or simple and rustic?

Solo is fine ...

or even while reading books companionably.

Sometimes we stayed home where Nich worked on perfecting the ultimate gazpacho (recipe to follow), in the shaded inner courtyard (absolutely my top favourite design feature of the Spanish house), with chilled sangria and white wine.

Siesta time is a serious business. Shops close from 2.00 to 6 or 7.00 pm; the streets empty. By 8.00pm-ish, with the edge off the heat, the bars and restaurants are just starting to prepare for dinner...

... crisp white cloths and menus ready...

... maybe a spectacular view thrown in for free ...

What's on the menu?

We could tapear (yes, that is an actual verb, to eat tapas) with garlic and tomato soup

gambas a la plancha ( grilled prawns)

crisp-fried aubergines in sweet balsamic glaze

pimientos asados (roasted sweet peppers).

Specialities of the region in Andalucia would be: rabo de toro (ox-tail)

sea bass

or a hearty seafood paella.

And walking home around 11 or 12.00 pm on any night of the week, the restaurants and bars are crowded still with families and their small children - drinking, eating, talking or doing the paseo, the evening stroll.

At Restaurante Pedro Romero in Ronda, Plaza de Toros, with our friend Amanda from London.