In this issue:
Garden Festival
Sexy Fall Museum Exhibitions
Live Music in the Ateliers
Vide Greniers & Brocantes
SOS Helpline Recruiting Volunteers
Three Shops I Love
My New Local Bistro
Ladies’ Wine Delivery
52 Martinis MeetUp
Experimental Pedestrian Crosswalks
Pets in Paris Update
Win a French Food Dictionary
Garden Festival
Cross fingers for sun this weekend for the annual Fête des Jardins, a festival of gardens in Paris and the immediate suburbs. The festival headquarters are at the Maison du Jardinage in Bercy Park (12th), but you can also find the free printed program at any local Mairie (town hall) and the tourism office. The program is wonderfully varied, from bee keeping visits in Luxembourg Gardens and lumberjack demonstrations in the gardens of the Arènes de Lutèce to tours of neighborhood cooperative gardens and exclusive tours of the city’s many hidden gardens run by churches and monasteries. There’s a free guided hike through several gardens from Place des Vosges to the Jardin Yitzak Rabbin (Bercy Park), gardening workshops, live music, a grand picnic in the Jardins du Ruisseau (18th) and farm visits in the Ferme de Paris (Bois de Vincennes). You can also visit a newly opened section of the old train track around Paris, La Petite Ceinture (from Rue Olivier de Serres to Rue Desnouettes in the 15th). If you have the print program, you can get a special €9 ticket for the Batobus for the day. Find information and the full program online here.
Sexy Fall Museum Exhibitions
If the Paris continues with its chilly and wet “Hello Autumn” weather, the latest batch of museum exhibitions might raise the temperature a bit. Desire Sensual pleasures in Victorian paintings is the theme in the “Désir et Volupté” exhibition at the Musée Jacquemart-André through January 20th, and it’s hard to miss the posters for the “Masculin/Masculin” exhibition feature male nudes in art from 1800 through today at the Musée d’Orsay from September 24th through January 2nd. And in case you haven’t seen it yet, “La Mécanique des Dessous” at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs reveals what’s holding it all up when we’re clothed, through November 24th. You can find other naughty events (and book private tours of the shows with an expert) at the Naughty Guides website.
Live Music in the Ateliers
The former artists’ squat-turned-ateliers 59 Rivoli now hosts Le Dimanche Unplugged, with live musicians every Sunday from 4-5pm (I find it tends to go a little longer). Just climb the stairs to the 2nd floor and follow the crowd to American artist Linda McClusky’s atelier. Free entry, donations appreciated, drinks and snacks available. Get there a little early to check out all of the artists on the 6 floors (open from 1-8pm). The schedule of musicians is listed online; Henry Leitzinger is playing this Sunday the 22nd September.
Vide Greniers & Brocantes
The Parisians don’t usually have garages, so they traditionally hold neighborhood “empty the attic” sales, aka vide-grenier. Fall is a great time to catch a bunch of them around town, check the schedule here (organized by arrondissement) and look for signs posted around town. There are also the regular antique markets and brocantes by professional sellers, my favorite being the Foire Nationale aux Antiquités, à la Brocante, et aux Jambons (yep, antiques and ham) on the Ile de Chatou (an easy RER ride north of Paris) from September 27-October 6. If you’re looking for a good thrift shop to rummage through (and contribute to a good cause), there are two Emmaüs shops in Paris (93 rue de Clignancourt 18th, and 4 rue Serpollet 20th) open Tues-Fri 3-6pm and Saturdays 10am-6pm. They also accept donations of clothing, furniture, home objects, working electronics and appliances, toys, and books, and can recycle your broken electronics safely (including cables and batteries).
SOS Helpline Recruiting Volunteers
The English-speaking SOS Helpline is recruiting volunteer listeners and support staff to help with publicity and fundraising. The next information sessions are September 17 & 26, and October 2nd, 7pm at the American Church of Paris (65 Quai d’Orsay, 7th). Their next book sale fundraiser is October 13th from noon-4pm at Orrick Law Offices (31 ave Pierre 1er de Serbie, 16th, M° Alma-Marceau), so if you can’t volunteer do donate books or stop by to buy some great reads for €1 (paperbacks) and €2 (hardcover).
Three Shops I Love
Paris has gone mad about honey with the plethora of rooftop beehives from the Palais Garnier to the Assemblée Nationale, but La Maison du Miel has been selling the bee’s byproducts since 1898. Their little boutique just off the Place de la Madeleine (24 rue Vignon, 9th) has been open since 1905, with a huge selection of pure honey from all over France (sold by the region where the honey was gathered or what the bees frequented (ie lavender fields, pine forests, rosemary shrubs) and honey-based candies, cookies, teas, soaps, skin creams, and bee pollen. If you think all honey tastes the same, you’ll be suprized when they let you test a few different ones to discover the amazing variety.
The Rue du Pont Louis-Philippe in the Marais is full of excellent paper shops, but my favorite is Les Exprimeurs at #4. They always sell a small collection of the most adorable pop-up cards with Parisian scenes, very pretty and unique. They sell a few of them on their website, but it’s a great street for window shopping so do stop by and see the full collection.
I blame Bryan for introducing me to HEMA, a sort of Dutch version of Ikea (inexpensive, cute design) but sans furniture and located in the center of Paris. There’s nothing remotely French about it so if you’re a tourist you could avoid it, but my friend Amy visiting from Minnesota seemed to love the rock-bottom prices on beauty products, cute party supplies and snack foods like the highly addictive Stroopwafels (waffle cookies with caramel on the inside). There are four locations in Paris near Bastille, Les Halles, Gare St Lazare and Gare du Nord.
My New Local Bistro
My neighborhood (Gobelins/Butte aux Cailles, in the 13th) has a few decent places to eat, but my favorite new one is quickly becoming my default when I’m too tired to cook. La Butte aux Piafs opened in July at the corner of the Boulevard Auguste Blanqui and Rue des Cinq Diamants with a neo-retro bistro style and a menu that includes French classics (like Parmentier du Canard and steak tartare), huge salads (La Fameuse has pastrami, melon and dried cranberries), and some interesting international touches (Bacon Black Burger). The Jupiler beer for €3/half and Banoffee-inspired dessert made with pears and a Brittany cookie on the bottom had me sold. There’s also vegetarian lasagna, wok vegetables, and seared tuna for those worried about their waistline.The owners used to run Temps des Cerises near Bastille before it was taken over by the Chez Janou gang, and this bistro has a very similar vibe. They’re only open Monday-Friday (closed at dinner Friday), but they’re already packed with locals and art students from the nearby Ecole des Gobelins.
Ladies’ Wine Delivery
Are you reading this because you’re hoping some lovely ladies will deliver you a bottle of wine? Well, it’s a little more bizarre than that. Les Décanteuses is a company that delivers two bottles of wine (by La Poste) to your door each month. You don’t have to be a woman, but for some reason that seems to be their target audience, although I’m not sure why they think they need to convince anyone that “women like wine, too” (especially on a French website). In any case, it’s an interesting idea if you like to try new things and are generally baffled by the variety at your local wine shop (and having wine on hand will help you avoid those embarrassing trips to the convenience store for overpriced schlock when you’re late for a dinner party). The price is €19.90/month and you can cancel anytime. You can also purchase 1, 3 or 6 months as a gift for someone else (that’s not a hint my birthday is in two weeks, ahem).
52 Martinis MeetUp
Speaking of drinking, when I’m looking for a new bar to check out in Paris I always follow the advice of Forest, the brilliant mind behind the website 52 Martinis (because she tests one cocktail bar per week). She also hosts a Paris Cocktail Meetup Group (the next one is this Thursday at Demon), open to everyone who RSVP’s in time.
Experimental Pedestrian Crosswalks
The city of Paris is once again experimenting in ways to make the city more livable for both pedestrians and cars by testing out a few new ideas for pedestrian crosswalks. Normally they are just marked with a row of horizontal white stripes (called “les zèbres” by the locals). But in order to draw attention to the new 30kph zones there are a few new formats in beta mode through the end of the year at crosswalks all over the city. They are basically different types of stripes and dots, the weirdest being the “pixels” near Place de la République, pictured here. See them all by scrolling through the website here.
Pets in Paris Update
The website page on Pets in Paris has been updated with a few new addresses and info. Suggestions are always welcomed. The two doggy daycares I knew of in Paris have closed, but there are many more dog walking services than before. I’m going to visit the Domaine de Chassefaim just out past Disneyland Paris tomorrow to see if it might be a good vacation home for my little monsters while I’m away (they are dog breeders who also allow boarding). I’ve been reading “Lauren’s Story: An American Dog in Paris”, kindly sent to me by the author Kay Pfaltz, and it made me realize how lucky I am that I can take my dogs almost anywhere with me in Paris. They’re also habitués at Butte aux Piafs, and I don’t think my baker, banker, post office worker, produce seller at the market or half of the people in my building would recognize me without Lena and Pedro at my side!
Win a French Food Dictionary
Ever have trouble deciphering the items on a French menu, even if you’re fluent in French? Ever find yourself even more confused by the “English menu” offered by a helpful waiter? You might feel like a dork for pulling out a pocket dictionary (or offend your dining partner consulting your iPhone app at the table), but with a good food guide you’ll never have to wonder exactly what it is you’re eating. Gourmet Guides has a French-English pocket guide and iPhone app appropriately called Bon Appétit to help you out. Check out how you can win a free copy for yourself by sharing your own menu translation disaster stories at Secrets of Paris: “Deciphering French Menus”.
Upcoming Paris Events
Don’t miss the latest events, concerts, expos and shows taking place around town this fall on the Secrets of Paris Calendar.
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