Recommendations! (especially for a Vietnamese place) from my friend Judy

Here are some recommendations! Of course, it has been a few years (although Davis and Libby went the following year and the Vietnamese place was still good) so I would check and see if they are still there, and I would hope they are still good. I am sure you'll have many places to go, but if you find yourselves in these neighborhoods, it's worth a try!

Paris-Hanoi
74 rue de Charonne, 11th arrond. 01 47 00 47 59 Vietnamese...a tiny place, although I think they may have opened another one somewhere else. The best Viet. food I ever had. We went for an early dinner and when we came out there was a line down the block. I am sure we were the only Americans there, at that time.

Pâtisserie Viennoise
Best Hot Chocolate if you like it dark! Old place, been there forever, I think. Near the Sorbonne
8 rue de l'Ecole de Médicine 6th arrond.

We also found a great little crêperie in a market alley near the exit of the Catacombs (which were totally fantastic!) in the 14th. I just found the card...La Belle Ronde, 19 rue Daguerre. It think it was fairly new, so who knows?

Oh, and one more...we found this little nondescript Franco Italiennes restaurant near our apt. in Monmartre.
La Capriciosa...it was Gabe's favorite restaurant. They had great pizza and I had a fantastic salad that I can still picture!
6 rue Sainte Isaure.

Bon voyage, and bonnes vacances!!!

Recommendations! (especially for a Vietnamese place)

Here are some recommendations! Of course, it has been a few years (although Davis and Libby went the following year and the Vietnamese place was still good) so I would check and see if they are still there, and I would hope they are still good. I am sure you'll have many places to go, but if you find yourselves in these neighborhoods, it's worth a try!

Paris-Hanoi
74 rue de Charonne, 11th arrond. 01 47 00 47 59 Vietnamese...a tiny place, although I think they may have opened another one somewhere else. The best Viet. food I ever had. We went for an early dinner and when we came out there was a line down the block. I am sure we were the only Americans there, at that time.

Pâtisserie Viennoise
Best Hot Chocolate if you like it dark! Old place, been there forever, I think. Near the Sorbonne
8 rue de l'Ecole de Médicine 6th arrond.

We also found a great little crêperie in a market alley near the exit of the Catacombs (which were totally fantastic!) in the 14th. I just found the card...La Belle Ronde, 19 rue Daguerre. It think it was fairly new, so who knows?

Oh, and one more...we found this little nondescript Franco Italiennes restaurant near our apt. in Monmartre.
La Capriciosa...it was Gabe's favorite restaurant. They had great pizza and I had a fantastic salad that I can still picture!
6 rue Sainte Isaure.

Bon voyage, and bonnes vacances!!!

Ah Yes, The Parallel Bars!

Hmmm.... could be fun!

http://www.eyepreferparistours.com/cooking-class/

Mot du Jour 7: something we will not see

The second mot du jour today is actually a jeu de mot.

The word is something that we will see in neither French nor English:

Vache.

In French, une vache is a cow. There are none of them in Paris, at least as far as I know, at least not in their full and living glory.

In English, v'ash is a verb, meaning to get your flight totally screwed up by an Icelandic volcano, which is something that could not possibly happen two years in a row, at least not in a well-ordered universe like this one, notwithstanding the fact that Keflavik airport in Iceland is in fact closed at the moment just as it was exactly one year ago this moment.

Neither form of the word will have bearing on our travels.

Mot du Jour 6

It's time for another mot du jour.

Today's word: Flâner (verb; pronounced "flah-nay"); noun--flânneur (flah-nuhr), one who flânes.

To flâne is one of our favorite things to do in Paris. It involves walking shoes, a general destination, and a sense of casual indifference about ever actually reaching that destination.

The word means "stroll," but that pedestrian word with its evocation of things that live under bridges doesn't begin to capture the pleasure. It's all about the freedom of wandering, of changing course to check out something interesting or beautiful, of not needing to know what the goal is, because the goal is the pleasure of walking, looking, breathing, seeing.

Mona!

http://www.louvre.fr/llv/dossiers/visu_oal.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673229908&CURRENT_LLV_OAL%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673229908&bmLocale=en

Very important- how to order coffee!

http://paris-wise.com/journal/how-to-order-coffee-in-paris.html

a helpful website by "official" Paris tourism guys  
http://en.parisinfo.com/


Fun site I stumbled across (this one's for AKD rather than MMB)
www.journeywoman.com/girltalk/girl_talk_paris.html

Woot Woot!!!!

Ile St Louis

Our home away from home...

Mot du Jour 5

Ahh, May, month of blossoms and soft breezes, a time to gather a few thousand co workers, open some wine, and go on strike.

French strikes are different from American ones. They are generally jolly, convivial affairs, with lots of marching and horn tooting, and wine. And they last only a few hours, usually... they aim to create disruption and publicity, without actually costing the strikers too many hours of paid work.

So here are a few words to hope not to hear:

Grève, especially ~ de baggagistes (i.e., say goodbye to your suitcase), or ~ de transports (i.e., welcome to Paris--it's a twenty mile walk that-a-way).

More fun: Manifestation: closed roads, placards, lots of chanting and banging on pots and pans. The CRS (riot police) sit to the side in their mesh-windowed buses. If they get out, it's definitely time to walk in the other direction.

Tour of Ile Saint Louis

Two years ago, when we knew we'd be coming over with Brian and Abbie the following year (and then, of course, they were ashed out :( of the trip) we made this clip to introduce the island and (the outside of) the apartment to them....when you hear M talking about an "opportunity" he's talking about a place to get a Berthillon ice cream cone!

Mot du Jour 4

Ok, not every jour, but from time to time.

Today's word: Pardon.

Bump someone in a crowd? Pardon. Need someone's attention? Pardon. Going out the door at the same moment someone is trying to come in? Pardon.

You hear it all the time, pronounced PAH-donh.

Begging pardon in English sounds archaic or cringing; we're more likely say "excuse me" (and "excusez-moi" works in French as well). But "pardon" is the verbal oil that keeps things moving smoothly in everyday French life.

Tomorrow: Obstacles to things moving smoothly in everyday French life, including grève and manifestation.

Preview of apartment

Scroll to the bottom for photos (ignore the terrifying one of the pastries...)

http://www.vrbo.com/23906

Gathering reading material for the journey

http://french.about.com/od/cultureandtravel/tp/fiction.htm

A waiter at Salambo describes a Moroccan salad

He was a good sport to talk to the camera for us, but what he was really interested in was our Flip - we looked all over Paris to see if we could find a place to buy one but at that point you couldn't get them outside the US.

Trying again with Flea Markets!

I don't know where my first flea market post went, but, C'est La Vi!
I will try again. As I said before, I am going to love visiting the flea markets- so much sensory information to consume!

Paris Fleas!

Honestly- I think I am going to go into sensory overload at the Parisian Flea Markets!

Mot du Jour 3: where is...?

So you're swinging happy and free through the streets of Paris, and suddenly you need... les toilettes. Or an emergency coffee. Or the Metro. Or... well, Paris can supply almost any need or desire.

The magic phrase? "Où se trouve..." la WC (pronounced dooblevay say)... le café le plus proche... le métro. Once again the world is your huître.

Biking around Paris

The bikes are called Vel'ib, which is short for Velo libre or "free bike"....they are a blast!

Mot du jour 2

THREE WEEKS!

Plus, le mot du jour:

Bonjour, M'sieur/Madame/Mad'moiselle

Au revoir " " "

One reason Americans sometimes think French people are rude is because, well, we are rude by not offering the normal gestures of courtesy that they take for granted. When we walk into a shop in the U.S., we don't typically greet the shopkeeper (unless it's a little boutique sort of place). In France, you always offer a greeting--even if you're calling it out to someone you barely see in the back of the shop. Same thing on leaving. The only exception is in truly impersonal supermarkets or department stores.

Au revoir, les amis--à la prochaine fois!

little French Girl telling a story

Le mot du jour

Alors, les élèves: today we begin our Word of the day study. Today's word is a phrase, perhaps antiquated, which I learned half way through translating George Perec's Un homme qui dort for my college thesis. Perhaps the dullest book ever written, but this phrase made it almost worth the slog:

Le bonheur d'Orly

Orly is the older of Paris' two major airports. Le bonheur d'Orly is that feeling of hope mingled with escape and excitement that you feel when the bags are packed, the house locked, the office told you're out of reach, and finally you hear, "Now boarding..."!

More Shopping, Anyone?

Since we are shopping today (in our minds, at least) I had to put a good word in for La Boutique (that's actually the name), a household goods store a short walk from the apartment.  It is a little like Pottery Barn (very simple uncluttered stuff) but with much more style.  It is the kind of store that makes you think:  "how much would it be if I shipped a bunch of this stuff?  Maybe by boat, that's cheaper, right?  I could get that chair home.  Really.  It wouldn't be that expensive, I mean, over the life of the chair." And then your husband drags you out.

Love, love, love

http://www.lepetitatelierdeparis.com/welcome.html

A shop I think my inspire me to follow through on my mobile obsession and feed my mind for all things lovely.

I found this in Darreby's little Paris book!  Enchanting!- Kimberly

Catacombs

http://www.myparisiantour.com/skip_the_line_catacombs_underground_paris_walking_tour.aspx?gclid=COjDqZLQ1qgCFUF95Qod5RhuiQ

A Taste of Berthillon (by a Berthillon Fanatic and her Friend)

Let's eat ice cream and bargain shop like mad and THEN....

I tried to post this yesterday but I don't think I did it correctly....so, again!

I read about this place in a Henri Nouwen book: The Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem, an order committed to finding contemplative peace in the midst of the city. They have an order at St. Gervais in Paris. I only understand 10% if their website, but I'd love to visit during one of their Offices:

http://jerusalem.cef.fr/index.php/monastiques/ou-nous-trouver/paris-eglise-saint-gervais/horaires-des-offices

I should be grading presentations right now.

Salut les amis!

Il ne sera que quelques petites semaines avant nôtre depart... je ne peux pas attendre!

Maintenant it faut faire quelque chose très français:  éôèàç!  L'accent est tout! --Michael

Flea Market tips...

This link is fun- many tips on how to navigate the fabulous french flea markets!  I especially like that the first image of a flea market includes a fabulous folky painting!  -Kimberly

\http://www.eurocheapo.com/blog/paris-shopping-tips-for-flea-market-success.html

Learning to at Least Sound French

I am excited for our trip. I have a French language lesson set of CD's in the car that I got from the Brunswick library. All they do is say French words, names, and phrases. There are books that go along with it, but our only CD player (except for the old stereo packed tightly away in the attic closet) is in the car. So Oliver and I drive around repeating French things without knowing what we are saying. But boy do we sound French.      - Brian

25 DAYS AND COUNTING!

Just thought I would check to see how this works- looking forward to our journey- more than anyone can imagine!  The image I am including is the ice cream shop that I understand we will be frequenting near our flat on the Isle San Louis!  -Kimberly

Bonjour!

We, the motley crew of six, are going to Paris in a few weeks. This blog is just for us and our friends, to post ideas, inspirations, and want-to-do-once-we-get-there's.

Now that the big exam is over (Yay Matt! Slam Dunk!!!!) let the excitement begin!