Rooftops of Paris

Mine was the twilight and the morning. Mine was a world of rooftops and love songs. -Roman Payne

On my first night in Paris, I went to a Meet Up for photographers, and just having a bar full of people to talk to (mercifully, in english), made for a warm welcome to a new city.  So it was fitting that on one of my last nights in this beautiful city, I attended another Meet Up with the same group.  This time, instead of chatting over wine, we took our cameras up to the top of Printemps department store to photograph Paris from an entirely new (at least for me) angle.

At one point, just as the lights on the Eiffel Tower were starting to warm up, I smiled a huge smile as I soaked in the moment, something I find myself doing with great frequency lately.  This month in Paris has been incredible and one I will always remember.

All text and images copyright © 2013, Capital Citizenne.  All Rights Reserved.

A Visit to Monet's Garden

A short train ride from Paris, a visit to Claude Monet's home and gardens in Giverny was a lovely way to spend one of my last days of this Paris trip.

There is no photography allowed inside the house, but it was lovely and filled with amazing paintings as well as simple furnishings.  I especially loved the kitchen with its vast collection of gleaming copper pots and pans hung on the wall and the beautiful blue Rouen tiles.

The view of the Clos Normand - the flower garden adjacent to the house - from Monet's bedroom.  Monet designed both this garden and the Water Garden, which is located just beyond the trees in the background.

 

After strolling in the beautiful flower gardens, it was time to make my way to the water gardens that served as the subject of  Monet's famous Water Lilies paintings.

The water garden was like walking into a painting and I felt a million miles away from anything, which is especially impressive considering it is now adjacent to a roadway (a nice pedestrian tunnel takes visitors from the flower garden to the water garden).

All text and images copyright © 2013, Capital Citizenne.  All Rights Reserved.

Les Puces - not your average flea market

Yesterday, on the recommendation of my Epernay tour guide Gui, I hopped on the metro to Porte de Clignancourt to check out Les Puces, or the famed Parisian flea markets.  After passing the swap meet style market and saying "non, merci" dozens of times to the men hawking faux designer goods (there seemed to be a constant low whispering of "Louis Vuitton" along the entire street), I arrived at Rue des Rosiers, home of the most amazing antiques markets I could ever imagine. Some of the stalls are piled high with vintage fur coats and handbags.  Others with sets and sets and sets of beautiful china.  If I thought I could have managed to get them home, and found a place to put them, I would have gladly brought these home!

After winding through the different little streets full of stalls, I discovered the reason so many people come from all over the world: the antiques.  If you've been to the flea market at Eastern Market and seen the furniture dealers, you would be as shocked as I was to discover booths made up to look like elegant apartments, selling beautiful pieces worth thousands and thousands of euros.

I did not make it half way through the markets before they started to get overcrowded, but I truly enjoyed my morning wandering about and, admittedly gawking, at some of the goods for sale, including an entire booth of pristine, antique monogrammed Louis Vuitton steamer trunks, where I was shooed away for trying to take a picture and immediately felt like a small child about to be sent to the kitchen by some distant relative for attempting to touch the silver tea set...

        

A Day Trip to Epernay

One of the things I most wanted to do in France was spend some time learning more about french wine.  Over the years, I have familiarized myself with California & Oregon wines enough to know my way around a domestic wine list (in other words, I know what I like, what I don't like, and what I can afford!).  But when faced with a continental wine list, I'm often in over my head.  So, upon the recommendation of some friends who had recently done a rather extensive tour of France, I signed up for a wine and cheese lunch at O Chateau, a wine bar in Paris that specializes in english-speaking tastings, geared towards people who enjoy wine and want to know a bit more (like me!). Our first tasting was a champagne, and upon learning I was in Paris for the rest of the month, our sommelier insisted that I must go on their day trip to Epernay.  Well, after one sip of the blanc de blanc champagne he poured us, I was eager to sign up!

About a week later, I was up at dawn boarding a minivan to spend the day learning about, and of course tasting, the bubbly from the only place in the world that makes Champagne.  The tour is intentionally kept to a small size - eight people - and is lead by a sommelier.  Our guide - Guillaume, a self-professed wine geek - was terrific, giving us just enough information but also allowing us to just enjoy the day.  I was the only non-Australian on the tour, but by the end of the first visit was declared an honorary Aussie for the day.

After making great time getting out of Paris, we stopped for croissants and cafe at a picturesque spot overlooking the countryside.

Our first stop was Moet Chandon, one of the largest champagne producers (and one of the few to fully embrace wine tourism).  The tour was very informative, taking us down into the caves where they store the champagne, turning the bottles and preparing them for distribution.

Their caves are massive, and their team zips around in little motorized carts, tending to different sections, all marked with road signs.  The different batches of bottles were all marked with a "secret" code, known only to the head wine maker.

Next up, we went to the home of a small, independent grand crux champagne producer: Penet-Chardonnet.  And when I say home, I mean literally, we were treated to lunch in their family home.

 It was an incredible experience, not to mention delicious (and one of the many reasons they keep the tours so small!).  We visited their vines, and then went down into their caves where we were treated to a tasting of unlabeled champagne with absolutely no sugar added.  It was wonderful.  The champagnes we enjoyed with our tasty meal were also fabulous and I wound up buying a bottle.

Our final stop of the day was another small, though not quite as small, producer: Monmarthe.  Here we got to again see the caves, and hang out amongst their reserve bottles that are purposefully sitting gathering dust (light is bad for champagne), as well as see part of their bottling process (it was labeling and packaging day when we visited).

We were treated to the last bottle of one of their 2004 reserves, as well as a wonderful blanc de blanc, out in their vineyards.

Was it a fabulous day?  Yes!  Did I learn anything?  Yes!  I may not know my way around a full french wine list, but I can certainly pick out a little bubbly when there is an occasion that calls for it (you know, like lunch...)  Cheers!

A Rainy Autumn Morning at Pere Lachaise

The hot temperatures and non-stop sun that greeted me in Paris have given way for a more traditional Parisian Autumn: cool, often grey and rainy, days.  Not one to let a little rain stand in the way of my exploring, I took off with my umbrella and camera for Pere Lachaise, a very old and very beautiful cemetery that is the final resting place to a number of Paris' most famous residents. It might seem a bit odd, but it was a truly lovely morning spent strolling around appreciating the beautiful stone work, landscaping and general peace of the place.

  

All text and images copyright © 2013, Capital Citizenne.  All Rights Reserved.

Sunrise in Paris

There's a saying that there's nothing more cliche in photography than a sunrise or sunset.  While that may be true, a sunrise photo session earlier this week made for an efficient use of an increasingly rare (hooray) bout of insomnia. The first half of this year, insomnia and I were well acquainted.  Far too well acquainted for my taste (one of the may reasons for this grand adventure).    Earlier this week though, I found myself wide awake at about half past four.  After a brief period of studying the inside of my eyelids and begging for sleep to return, I decided that I actually felt fairly refreshed and should make the most of the morning.

I quickly scanned the internet to learn I had an hour before sunrise, threw on some running clothes,  grabbed my camera and headed for the Seine.  

While it is usually an activity I reserve for when I travel west (due to the time difference), I absolutely love getting up early in a new place and watching the city wake up and come to life.

Maybe it is because I'm really a morning person at heart, but I think there is something kind of magical about seeing a city's street lights turn off, having done their work for another day.

On the walk back, the once-empty sidewalks were full of people making their way to work, shops were opening, and cafes were serving their first customers.  I made my way back to my neighborhood and grabbed a croissant and a coffee and sat on a bench by the Canal St. Martin, enjoying a  bit more of early morning Paris...before retreating to my apartment for a quick nap!

All text and images copyright © 2013, Capital Citizenne.  All Rights Reserved.

Bonne Nuit, Paris

After another lovely, sun filled day in Paris, I took myself to dinner at Fish la Boissonnerie, a well recommended spot near St Germain that is open on Sunday evenings.  I enjoyed a wonderful meal starting with green bean, fig and feta salad, followed by line caught sea bass with black rice, and a little something sweet and salty for dessert, as well as lovely conversation with the bartender and fellow patrons (who happened to be from Naples, Fl and Alexandria, Va of all places).  Fish did not disappoint, and neither did the after dinner stroll along the Pont Neuf.

Bonjour, Paris!

I'm strictly tourist, but I couldn't care less, when they parlez-vous me then I gotta confess, that's for me: Bonjour, Paris! 

Instead of practicing my francais in the weeks leading up to my departure, I prepared for my month in Paris by watching movies set in Paris, like Midnight in Paris and Funny Face.  While it might not have been helpful in the practical sense, it did help calm some nerves I had about moving to a new city (again) for a month.  Though I must admit, my attempt to channel my inner Audrey Hepburn failed miserably on my first evening, when I tried to ride a bike.  Thankfully, my ego was the only thing bruised.

Lack of french language (and cycling) skills aside, I am in Paris!  And it is shaping up to be everything I imagined a month in Paris would be: full of delicious food, lovely wine, and lots and lots of trial and error.

I have been here for five days, and not one has passed in which I have not gotten turned around on the streets or the metro, or completely butchered what little french I can remember.  I have tried to see exhibits that are not yet open, go to a museum that has been and will continue to be closed for renovations for a year, and - perhaps the most serious error as of yet - visited a major tourist attraction on a Saturday (Sacre Coeur - the pick pockets/scam artists were in full force).  **If you are planning a visit to Paris in the very near future, a word of warning, from what I can tell, the gypsies / vandals are much more prevalent -- or at least more aggressive -- than my last visit, even Parisians have told me to be extra vigilant.

But it certainly has not been all errors!  I have strolled through the Marais, crisscrossed the Seine on its lovely bridges, tucked in to more macaroons than I care to admit, and taken a cooking class (more on that in another post).

The last (and first time) I was in Paris, we had about 5 days total and we filled them with tours and shopping and eating, making a fairly detailed and full itinerary for each day.  Having a month in Paris is a bit overwhelming. I don't want to cram each day full of museums and shopping and burn out too quickly, but I also don't want to wast too much time (after all, when am I going to get another month in Paris?).

So, I have made a list of exhibitions I want to see, things I want to do, and day/weekend trips I want to take, and every day I try to tick at least one experience off the list.

So far I have seen the delightful Little Black Dress exhibit at the Mona Bismarck center (the exhibition is sponsored by the Savannah College of Art and Design and curated by Andre Leon Talley),and the wonderful Roy Lichtenstein expo at the Centre Pompidou.

 I have enjoyed macaroons from Pierre Herme, scarfed down crepes avec fromage et jambon for lunch,lingered over un cafe and un glace Berthillon on the isle-de-cite, and tracked down a recommended fromagerie in Montmarte, where I successfully ordered and enjoyed some delicious cheeses.

On my last visit to Paris, we stayed in the 7th Arr, on the Blvd. St Germain.  It was incredibly convenient to everything we wanted to do and see in Paris and we did not stray too far off the beaten path.  This time, I am living in a lovely little apartment (courtesy of my new friend Nathalie) in the 10th Arrondissement, very near the Canal St. Martin.

While it is not as central, this is a very fashionable and "hip" neighborhood, filled with cute cafes, bistros and one of the best boulangerie's in all of Paris (it is literally around the corner, I have not decided whether this is a good thing or a very, very bad thing...).  The four flights of stairs up to my apartment should help mitigate the proximity to world class croissants...right?

It is also a very typical Parisian neighborhood, without the touristy trappings you might find elsewhere, meaning I am getting a very nice view of life in Paris. I am also getting very familiar with their very convenient metro system!

All in all, it has been a great start to my time in Paris, and I look forward to what the rest of le vie parisienne has in store!