Merci Paris

While in Paris my friend Felicity and I met up with Carol from Paris Breakfasts who lives in this city, lucky fish. Carol offered to show us some places neither of us had been to. But first she came to check out our hotel ...

Isn't this a dream city-rooftop garden?

... Bourg Tibourg, a tiny, exotic gem - so tucked away it's easily missed altogether from the outside - where Jacques Garcia's design is Gothic meets oriental meets Napoleon III, yet the atmosphere is super-friendly, homely and welcoming.

We wandered northwards through the Marais, not quite managing to avoid entering en route countless patisseries of which Carol is madame the expert and connoisseur ...

Motorcycles are the way to get around here, clearly, whether you are a chef, a chic biker girl or just passing through ...

In my fantasy Paris life I would move in right here and park my Vespa on the balcony ...

How we managed to avoid temptation at the Boulangerie Beaumarchais I don't know ...

but we were headed to lunch in the Cantine Merci - on the ground floor of Merci on the boulevard Beaumarchais, with a view to the potager ...

where the food is all fairtrade and organic. 

You don't just get to feel virtuous though ... their salads were quite possibly the most delicious I've had in my life.

Merci inhabits three light and bright floors of a former factory. It's all about creative but also responsible retailing - all its profits go to charity.

I loved the vintage red Fiat 500 at the entrance and the iconic Parisian fishtank ...

Merci Carol for Merci Paris
xx

Early morning in the Marais

Early birds having morning coffee while the quarter sleeps late 

Café crème hits the spot

after a Friday night that fizzed and popped into the wee hours

The bakers must have got to work as the last revellers were heading home 

Tables and chairs set out for the day

inviting one in

Encore fermé

here too

But shutters are beginning to open

Orthodox Jewish men are walking to shul ...

along medieval streets

and where the quarter meets the river a girl is dancing au bord de la Seine

(A collection of images mostly taken early on a summer Saturday morning that got me wanting to play with some retro editing effects)

♥ Paris in the summertime

How much do I love Eurostar ...? From London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord in an easy peasy, comfortable and pleasant 2 hours 15 minutes.

Abbaye de St Germain des Près in green leaf

You can go for the day, but when the sun's shining in Paris and you have a willing accomplice to sneak off with, why not make it a weekend?

Having had the same dodgy spring as London, Parisians were making the most of beautiful summery weather that had arrived at last ...

chilling, ever stylishly, on the grass and at café tables 

And what more romantic spot than the Jardin du Luxembourg for a summer wedding ...?

Bride, Jardin du Luxembourg. J'adore her outfit, but most especially her red shoes.

Splashes of red seemed to be la couleur de l'été over at the Jardin du Palais Royal too ...

  where things were even more relaxed ...

amongst the roses, statues and fountains and even the pigeons were taking a bit of a break from life ...

A glass of wine here took the edge off our own busy day of walking and shopping our feet off ...

though we passed on the oysters à emporter in the street and went on to dinner instead.

Best of all was sharing all this beauty with lovely friends ...

Twilight around 9.30 pm at the église St Gervais et St Protais, Marais

Battersea Park

... on the last Sunday of April was the sort of day when at long last you could sit on the grass and read the paper 

watching the more energetic jog by

Blossoms were making an appearance and it was the sort of hopeful day you might swing your child in the air

or free your tot from the confines of his pram and set him down to poke his fingers in the soil ...

Why walk when you could choose from any variety of wheels? ...

Even the dogs were getting the chance to socialise. There was a pups' play-date going on here ...

In the Old English Garden behind brick walls, it was all muted colours and unstructured, rambling, green abundance ...

These bold, orange tulips in ordered rows would definitely not have been allowed in the Old English garden ...

Was it winter still or spring? Many of the trees looked confused on this point ...

Bicycles everywhere ...

... and these houses bordering the river reminded me of Holland, but not the Tai Chi so much ...

Reassuringly, there was a very English game of cricket going on ...