Parting Shots from Paris

Why not?

This hat was...

A) Knocked off the head of a giant clown by hurricane-force winds

B) The only evidence this fountain recently hosted the Cirque de Soleil underwater production

C) Originally conceived as a Bed and Breakfast for pigeons visiting Paris

D) Created for goldfish camouflaging bad hair days

E) Just another of those fun Paris moments when you just have to ask yourself "Why not?"

A Colorful Layout

Last week I asked my blogging elective students to notice the graphic design on the various websites they were looking at.

"What's graphic design?" they asked.

"The layout. The colors and sizes and shapes. The way things look next to one another." I replied.

Turns out this attention to design is something shared between the worlds of web design and dessert - maybe that's why both appeal to me so much. In Paris, I was once again amazed by the sheer array of color, texture, and shape in the window and showcase displays. Most of the time I wasn't even hungry as I wandered slowly alongside glass cases stocked in stripes of desserts. It was the beauty, as much as the taste, that drew me.

Having some fun in PARadISe

Paris Views

Pompidou Modern Art Center - the Parisians hate it, and I can't blame them, but it's certainly fun to walk by.

A Street in Le Marais - we decided to spend Sunday in this predominantly Jewish neighborhood, as everything here is closed Saturday and open Sunday. We enjoyed seeing fresh challah and bagels in the bakery windows.

On the right you can see a fine example of "Flying buttresses" - one of those architectural terms that's always getting tossed around but is hard to visualize.

We enjoyed walking along this canal and wondering how parked-in houseboats ever get out. Really, who double parks in a canal?

Crossing under a bridge on our Seine cruise, we found out the king who built the bridge modeled all the faces underneath it after his friends who said he'd never manage it.

It's the Eiffel Tower + B + b Post

I was going to pick just one. But then I decided not to.

Pastries and Chocolate and Cheese - Oh My!

When Brett and I woke up early Saturday morning in Vincennes, we didn't have to go far to find a boulangerie/patisserie (bread/pastry shop). In fact, on our 45 minute walk, we wandered into five or so. Later, as we drifted through the Latin Quarter with Lisa and Max, we dipped into perhaps five more. And then there were the cheese shops. And the chocolate shops. And the meat and cheese stands. And the gelaterias. And the creperies. All told, I believe we managed to spend about 1/3 of our day and 1/2 our money on the culinary delights of Paris that day.

No regrets.

Park Art + Performance Art + Digital Art =

Keep your Eye on Paris

Paris in the Fall

Paris in the fall means the snappy crackle of chestnuts roasting in a grocery cart on the corner. It means sunshine on your shoulders as you wander in the crowd from Modern Art Museum to Moroccan spice store to Myberry California-style frozen yoghurt shop.

Paris in the fall means the tiny dogs wear hooded sweaters. It means scarves of every shade and velvety mushrooms piled dramatically at the farmer's market. It means the French senate museum shop gets a few extra customers during downpours, but so do the gelaterias - still able to convince the sweet-toothed to break up the afternoon with a cup of combined mango, dark chocolate, and fig.

Paris in the fall means postcard shopping outdoors, red-cheeked and admiring. It means alternately hiding behind the Seine cruise ship windows and then popping into the fresh air for self-portraits with the Eiffel tower.

Paris in the fall means chocolate and cheese, just like Paris in the winter, spring, and summer, but it also means orange frosted pumpkin cakes and yellow calla lilies.

Paris in the fall makes for a simply splendid Saturday and Sunday away.

Published!

Paris Skates

By Betsy Potash

"Paris is a city of crispy-sweet macaroons, quirky metro signs, lazily flowing water, and clicking cameras. On foot, one can only hope to experience isolated pieces of the city on a weekend vacation – the Eiffel tower, a bakery or two, the buzz and flow of the streets. That’s why many visitors are joining the locals on Fridays and Sundays for a fresh phenomenon called “Paris Rollers.” For thousands of in-line skaters a week, the details of Paris blend into the loveliest of gyms as they speed through the streets of the city with police chaperones..."

Read More at UK Travel Mag Online. 

Paris Post #4: Food

Log houses of long crusty baguettes, piles of black currants, shapely slippery wedges of quiche, delicate almond macarons poofed around thin layers of almond cream, cakes dusted with sugary patterns, delicate pureed prune pastry pockets, lumpy long cured meats in various delicate coatings, hefty slices of sweet brioche coated in fat sugar crystals, chocolate creme croissants, goat cheese in every shade of powdered or paper-covered white, cream, yellow, eggshell, ivory, beige and alabaster.

When it comes to a picnic or a snack, Paris has everything that could be desired. Though some argue that its restaurant culture has long lost its edge on the world, its boulangeries (bakeries), patisseries, street stalls and markets continue to delight the Parisians and visitors who wait happily in line for their favorites. In general, the longer the line, the better the reward at the end.