Category Archives: Paris

France, French customs, Loire Valley, Paris, Travelling

Chateau de Chambord – Metro Maze in Paris – The Presidential Debate

May 8, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 2 Comments

Already Wednesday again! All those public holidays in May make the time just disappear! This week, we have a description of Chambord castle (just next to me in Blois) by Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris, a great new phone App for the metro along with some lovely photos by Petite Paris of B&B fame and a very pertinent description of the French pre-election debate between the two final candidates, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande by Finding Noon still worth reading even though we now know that François Hollande is the winner.

Château de Chambord – the largest castle in the Loire Valley

By Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris

While visiting the Loire Valley, I was reminded of how justifiably proud the French are of their rich cultural heritage and how this sentiment is passed down from one generation to the next. After overhearing some parents explain to their children that Francois I built Château de Chambord as a royal hunting lodge in which he only spent a mere 72 days during his 32 year reign, I teased Stéphane about his country’s lack of opulent castles. His immediate response was that while the Swiss may not have any extravagant châteaux, they also didn’t incur staggering debts. Sensible, but not quite so romantic… Read more

Metro Maze in Paris

by Petite Paris

Bonjour or bonsoir friends; depending on where you are in the world 🙂

We have just been sent a link to a new iphone app on the Metros in Paris and just wanted to share it with you as a bit of a helpful resource for your pending, upcoming, (one day soon hopefully) trip to Paris 😀

Its from Kemtro and its the only one that gives the exact location of all the entrances and exits of all the metro stations and it works offline – no roaming needed! (and we all know how expensive roaming can be). Read more

The Debate

by Finding Noon

It is still the Presidential elections in France and last night was the great debate, which I didn’t find so great, but I did find rather fun to watch. French political debates are very different from my memories of US Presidential debates. Instead of standing officially at lecterns, each candidate is comfortably seated, with their notes. They face each other, not the voters, which helps tensions rise and makes for some great tv moments. As does the fact that the candidates do not have a set time limit for each answer. From an anglo-saxon perspective, this is not a debate, but a moderated argument, that turns into an intellectual free for all. Read more

Food, France, French customs, Paris

Best Brocantes and Flea Markets in Paris – Tea, wine or cocktails – National Garlic Day

May 1, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 2 Comments

It’s Wednesday again and I’ve found you some more great posts from other people’s blogs, starting with Vingt Paris Magazine giving us the best brocantes and flea markets in Paris, followed by Girls’ Guide to Paris with suggestions of places to have your favourite beverage, and a very interesting description of National Garlic day by Llamalady from Blog in France.

Best Brocantes and Flea Markets of Paris

by Anne at VINGT Paris Magazine, devoted to the 20 arrondissements of Paris and helping you get the most out of the city.

We were so pleased with Meg Gagnard‘s roundup of the best vintage clothing shops in Paris, we invited her back to share some insider secrets of Paris’s flea markets and brocantes -the best places to find vintage goods and antiques around the city. The list is a mix of trinket and furniture shops, as well as where to go to find out about weekly neighborhood brocantes. Thanks, Meg! Read more …

Tea, wine, or cocktails

by Girls Guide to Paris, an all-encompassing online guide to Paris

Here is an assortment of places where you can lounge and enjoy your favorite beverage, often with some excellent food as a bonus. Note: The term wine bar can be a little confusing in Paris. All wine bars feature wine, of course, but the bar part is a little more flexible. Some have a counter and tables, and you can show up anytime for a glass of wine and a snack. Others resemble restaurants more than actual bars. In many cases, reserving in advance is imperative. Some are cavistes (retail wineshops), which is good to know if you need a bottle to go. Read more …

National Garlic Day

by Llamalady from Blog in France who blogs about her life in rural France where, amongst other activities, she raises llamas and alpacas

Today, believe it or not, is National Garlic Day. And since garlic is irrevocably linked in most people’s minds with France, well, I had to blog about it.

Garlic, Allium Sativum, is originally from Asia. China is still the world’s biggest garlic grower, producing more than 12 million tonnes of it a year! Garlic is something of a wonder plant, because not only does it have the blood cleansing properties most of us know about it, it’s also anti-bacterial. Surgeons who ran out of anti-septic during the First World War would use garlic instead. Read more …

Food, Paris, Restaurants

Birthday Lunch at Carre des Feuillants

April 22, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 6 Comments

Every year on my birthday, Relationnel takes me to a surprise venue. In 2010, it was La Cascade in the Bois de Boulogne and last year it was the Ritz, no less! It was a perfect spring day and we were able to sit outside in the inner courtyard. I am embarrassed to say that I don’t remember what I ate but I know it was delicious and that the service was impeccable. The Ritz is currently closed for Renovation.

This year, I had suggested we have lunch at Les Ombres, the restaurant on top of the Quai Branly ethnic museum because I’ve seen photos of the stunning views of the Eiffel Tower but with a temperature of 12°C, uncertain skies and disappointing reports about the food, we decided to change venue. What an excellent idea! Because Relationnel chose Michelin 2-star chef Alain Dutournier’s Carré des Feuillants just off Place Vendôme. Not exactly in the same league.

Discreet but warm welcome into a very modern and spacious dining room. We both chose the all-inclusive “Idées de la Saison” menu including drinks, starting with champagne to accompany the mouth-watering mises en bouche. Then the starters: fresh wild salmon on a bed of boletus mushrooms, smoked salmon with horseradish and blue lobster with tiny fried spring rolls, followed by melt-in-the-mouth suckling lamb from the Pyrenées with cress and aubergine lasagna. The cheese was a strong Roquefort with a dried fruit centre.

We had a glass of Montée de Tonnère chablis 2010 from Château de Maligny with our starters, followed by a Domaine Gauby côtes de Roussillon 2002 with the lamb and a Château de Carles 2008 fronsac with the cheese. Relationnel asked if he could try a demi-sec white instead which proved to be a much better combination. The wine did not seem to be limited.

Only the desserts , based on vacherin and raspberries, were disappointing. Either Alain Dutournier isn’t interested in sweet food or he’s chosen the wrong pâtissier! I’m not a big fan of desserts but when I have them, I like to remember them! The petits fours with the coffee were good though. In any case, the service was perfect throughout, attentive without being obsequious and all was well orchestrated. When I was reading the menu, the print was too small so the waiter went and got me some glasses!

Alain Dutournier, who comes from the southwest of France, has three other restaurants : Au Trou Gascon (his first address) in the 12th arrondissement, Pinxo in the 1st and Caves Marly in Versailles. Pinxo sounds very interesting from the blurb on the DVD that you get when you leave : “Original concept conceived and created by Alain Dutournier – contemporary french (sic) restaurant – dishes executed in an open kitchen – surprising combinations, creative and authentic cuisine that focuses on the products – instantaneity of preparation and quick sampling are key words – all the dishes presented by three parts can be easily shared. Wide choice of authentic wines by open price levels (NOT MY TRANSLATION, by the way!). Might just try it sometime.

Carré des Feuillants, 14 rue de Castiglione, 75001 Paris

01 42 86 82 82 carredesfeuillants@orange.fr – www.carredesfeuillants.fr

Lifestyle, Loire Valley, Paris

Adjusting to Living in Two Houses

April 19, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 19 Comments

Well, so far, I’m not doing so well! Relationnel came back to Paris on Sunday night by car and I followed by bus and train on Monday afternoon because I had to wait for the EDF man to increase the wattage. When I caught the metro in Paris, I suddenly realised that I had left the keys to my Paris apartment in Blois. Fortunately the train was late so Relationnel was home by the time I got there. I’ve now borrowed the keys from my cleaning lady.

When I took my shower in Paris, I had trouble getting used to the taps and the shower rose being at the wrong end! Then when I woke up during the night, it took me a while to work out where I was. That has never ever happened to me before. I am always totally aware of my environment the minute I wake up. I walked into the bookcase, then the divider before I finally realised I was going in the wrong direction.

Next morning, I was about to set up my computer (I had taken my CPU to Blois to transfer everything to my laptop but never found the time) when I discovered I had left the multi-socket thing in Blois as well. Sigh. Relationnel brought home another one at lunchtime but in the meantime, I had a rather frustrating morning trying to work with the laptop which doesn’t have all the files and programs I need.

I had no problem adapting back to my Paris kitchen though. It’s so much more practical! I don’t have to kneel down to take things out of the oven for a start. I pull out a drawer to get to the saucepans instead of bending down to find them in a low cupboard. I have plenty of bench space and a high stool to sit on when my feet are tired. The sink is made for people over 1 m 70 and there’s lots of food in the pantry (though nothing in the fridge …).

However, when I walked into my office, I was greeted by two flowering orchids (birthday presents from Leonardo in the past) and some African violets that had bloomed in my absence but I had missed the tulips on the balcony altogether! I hope that the wisteria will still be in bloom in Blois when we go back at the end of the month. I adore wisteria and the Loire is just full of it at the moment.

We have always made the choice not to have a country house or a beach hut so that we are free to go where we want on holidays because we love discovering new places. As a result, I don’t think I have ever spent more than one week at a time in any place other than my home of the moment, except maybe two weeks in a house near Albi about 10 years ago! So I don’t usually have any trouble remembering where I am. When I spent the day alone in Blois on Monday, I really felt at home which I guess is what made the transition to Paris more difficult.

All the downstairs rooms are now furnished and decorated even if there are still a few details missing. You can see the photos on the website for the gîte under Accommodation: www.closeriefalaiseau.com.

This time, to make the transition a little easier, I dug out one of the two sweat shirts I wore most days in Blois. I immediately felt better. Maybe there is something to Linus’ security blanket after all!

France, French customs, Paris

The Romance of a Sale – Zen Things in Paris – Laines Locales Wool Festival at Prébenoît

April 17, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 4 Comments

I’m afraid I was so busy last week setting up house in Blois that I didn’t bring you my usual Wednesday’s other blogs post. But I’m back in Paris and my computer is up and working again. Thank you to the authors of this week’s posts: Petite Paris, an Australian-based independent bed & breakfast booking agent for anyone planning to travel to the romance capital of the world, on Zen things to do in Paris; Llamalady, an Irish llama and alpaca breeder living in the centre of France, who also runs a carp fishery and a holiday gite, reporting on a local wool festival; and Bread is Pain, an American living in the Rhone-Alps “slowly eating and drinking myself through the country”, talking about her love of sales.

Zen Things in Paris

from Petite Paris

When it comes to Paris, we already know the usual recommendations. We know the rule is Laduree for tea. Pierre Herme for Macaroons. Coffee at Cafe de Flore. Or at Lipp Or at Deux Magots. We know that a visit to the Louvre is a must see. Eiffel. Piere Lachaise. And we know all about the Batobus river boat tours. The Moulin Rouge. and the Opera. And these are all great, bien sûr… Read more.

Laines Locales Wool Festival at Prébenoît

by LLamalady from Blog in France

We are just back from a chilly and breezy but interesting morning at a wool festival. It was organised by Laines Locales of Limousin and was held at nearby Prébenoit Abbey. Had the weather been better we would have cycled there – it’s about 10 km away – but we’d have been blown backwards! Read more.

The Romance of a Sale

from Bread is Pain

I love sales. Love them. I will buy things that I don’t really find attractive or things that I absolutely do not need based solely on the fact that they are on sale. As a dear friend of mine puts it “really, by not buying it you are losing money because it is such a good deal!” (RIGHT?!) This statement pretty much sums up my feelings when I see something marked down. “Why look! It’s a goose leash! We don’t have a goose, I know, but one day we might and come on, honey, it’s 70% off!” Read more.

Australia, France, Loire Valley, Paris

Taking the Train to Paris Like A Real Provincial

April 12, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 10 Comments

This is my first experience of commuting to Paris from Blois. I have to go up to teach a double class at uni today. I’ve discovered I can take two types of trains – TER and TGV. The first is quite cheap – 26 euros – while the second is a lot more expensive. I’m meeting up with Relationnel in Tours on the way back so we can buy a Henri II desk we saw in leboncoin.com and since my class doesn’t finish until 5 pm, I’m travelling in peak hour, which is costing me a wacking 59 euros. I could take a later train but that would mean waiting around in Paris and it would be too late to get the desk.

You can’t reserve a seat on the TER (I have to change in Orléans anyway) but since I didn’t leave until 10.42 (I love the way the times are so precise), there were plenty of places. I do have a reservation on the TGV though – it’s compulsory. I bought both tickets over the Internet on www.sncf.fr. For the TER, I had to put my VISA card in the ticket machine at the station to have the ticket issued. I immediately put it in the puncher because I often forget and suddenly realise in the train that it isn’t « composté » as they say in French.

The TGV reservation is quite different. I have to print out an e-ticket and show it to the inspector on the train when he comes around. I have a new printer back in Blois that I haven’t set up yet. I started to look into it this morning but I couldn’t follow what the little drawings were telling me to do. I’ll have to get Relationnel onto it during the weekend. I much prefer written instructions that I can understand. So I’ll ask the nice secretary at my uni to print it out for me. I just mustn’t forget! You’d think I could have it on my iPhone the way they do for boarding passes but I couldn’t see any options indicating that on the Internet.

The problem is that I don’t really like trains. I don’t know why. I’m always afraid I’m going to miss it or get out at the wrong place or something. The first time I took a train, I was about 20. A friend and I took the Sunlander from Townsville to Brisbane, then from Brisbane to Sydney on our way to Noumea. I think it took about 48 hours in all. The first train was a steam engine if I remember correctly. Maureen’s mother had made boiled fruit cake and all sorts of goodies so we did a lot of eating on that trip.

The train from Brisbane to Sydney was far more chic and we had a compartment of our own with a toilet and shower. Not like the Sunlander with its open toilets that you couldn’t use in the station! Trains are far more popular in France and, on the whole, are efficient and on time (except when there are strikes of course, but that’s almost a national hobby). Having said that, we left Orléans 10 minutes late but I had plenty of time to take a photo of the rape fields. At least today I don’t have any luggage, just my trusty laptop, even though it’s a bit heavy to lug around.

I’m now in the TGV and it seems I could have clicked on “Download” on the email on my iPhone instead of printing out the ticket. I’ll know for next time!

Accommodation, Australia, Cooking, Food, France, French customs, Lifestyle, Paris, Sightseeing, Travelling, Wine

Favourite Paris Wine Shops – Phone App: Google Translate – Creating a Healthy French Pantry

April 3, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 2 Comments

Where to buy wine in Paris, a helpful traveller’s phone app and healthy eating the French way are the subjects featured in my Wednesday’s Other Blogs this week. Thank you to Like Home in Paris (vacation apartment rentals in Paris), Femmes Francophiles (fellow Australian blogger with an ongoing passion for France and the French language) and Mademoiselle Slimalicious (a young Sydney-based French blog writer who promotes healthy eating, fitness and exercise based on the principles of the French Paradox).

Sipping on Saturday – Favourite Paris Wine Shops

from Like Home in Paris

I know who I go to ask when I have a wine question or can’t decide which glass to take – Preston Mohr, that’s who. Our favorite drinking partner tells us about his favorite wine shops in Paris and believe me you’ll want to take note. Read more

Phone Application: Google Translate

from Femmes Francophiles

Translation apps are a growing market. No longer do we need to fossick in back packs or handbags for our bilingual dictionary or phrasebook. No doubt there are now young international travellers who have never had to worry about the weight associated with carrying these books with their dog-eared pages. Read more

Creating a Healthy French Pantry

from Mademoiselle Slimalicious

Cooking at home (rather than ordering take-away) enables you to be fully in control of what you eat by being aware of the nutritive value of your meals. In order to manage your weight efficiently (the way French women do), it is important to make cooking everyday one of your priority. Read more.

France, Italy, Lifestyle, Paris, Sightseeing, Travelling

Pickpockets on the Metro in Paris – Siena – an Italian escape – Burgundy at a Glance

March 27, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 3 Comments

The posts from other blogs that I’m featuring this Wednesday are by American blogger Mary Kay, from Out and About in Paris, who is a fund of useful and interesting information and will help you have a pickpocket-free holiday, fellow Australian and photographer Karina from Carams who takes us to Siena in Tuscany and Doni Belau from Girls’ Guide to Paris who recommends a visit to Burgundy as a day trip or weekend out of Paris. Thanks to them all!

Monday Morning Musings on Pickpockets on the Metro in Paris

by Mary Kay, from Out and About in Paris

After dodging holiday shoppers and having my foot run over by a renegade baby stroller while visiting the Christmas Market on the Champs-Elysées yesterday, Stéphane, Sara and I decided to take metro line 1 from George V to Tuileries to have some hot chocolate. As we always seem to arrive at Angelina’s just after it has closed for the night, I stood on the metro platform with my back to the wall to check their opening hours on my iPhone. Stéphane and Sara were facing me, we were speaking English and for all anyone knew we were tourists in Paris. Read more.

Siena – an Italian escape

by Carina at Carams

Up until last year when we found ourselves in the area, Siena had never been near the top of my travel list. Yet there we were one morning, driving winding roads through Tuscan valleys, following signs to the old city, named (according to legend) after Senius, son of Remus, of the Remus & Romulus duo. Read more

Le Petit Weekend: Burgundy at a Glance

by Doni Belau from Girls Guide to Paris

As much as all Parisians love Paris, they also adore a petit weekend—a getaway, either a day trip from Paris or an entire weekend. Recently, during autumn, I hightailed it out of the city for a wine-tasting trip to Burgundy. My friend Kelly and I headed for Beaune, which is perfectly situated to explore both côtes, Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune. Read more

Australia, France, Loire Valley, Paris

Gardens I Have Known

March 25, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp Leave a comment

I spent my first 9 years in France living in a flat and biding my time until I could have a house and a garden again. It finally became a reality when I was pregnant with Black Cat and Leonardo was nearly 2 1/2. It was a funny sort of a garden, 10 metres wide by 30 metres long, but typical of the area which used to have a lot of orchards with espalier pear trees. I was into organic food then and we grew apples, hazelnuts, black currants, red currants, tomatoes, strawberries and, best of all, raspberries which the kids loved to pick for dessert. We also had the most wonderful old style rose bushes with the most divine scent.

Before I had my own roses, I didn’t particularly like them but the garden had an enormous variety and I took immense pleasure in picking them to give to my friends who didn’t have gardens. There was a lovely yellow one which started out pink and a red rose whose petals felt like velvet. I was so sad when we grew a hedge of thuya bushes for privacy and it crowded out most of the roses. We realised the damage too late.

When I divorced, I had to give up my garden but I was lucky enough to find a ground floor flat with a small garden that we gradually turned into a mass of flowers. We had trumpet creepers and clematis, hollyhocks and azaleas, columbines and delphiniums, irises and forsythias and even a lilac bush, all of which would all suddenly appear after winter. Every year in November we’d plant lots of tulips, jonquils and hyacinths, tiny pansies and cyclamens. We had lilies of the valley for May Day as well.

In the summer, we’d plant masses of busy lizzies, geraniums and nastursiums. Our hanging pots were filled with petunias and begonias. Just thinking about it makes me nostalgic! Then we moved to our apartment in Paris overlooking the Palais Royal gardens. We couldn’t even have window boxes at first because it’s a listed monument. But I finally convinced Relationnel into letting me have planters on the sills of the French windows that you can’t see from the other side.

So you can imagine how much I’m looking forward to our new house in Blois. I can’t wait to see the shrubs come into flower and discover all the different species in the garden. The little wood at the back is full of daffodils and primroses and even tiny ground orchids. I know there are hollyhocks because I’ve seen the leaves but no one has mentioned any columbines or delphiniums. There’s a climbing rose on the front stairs but it looks a little lonely so I’ll have to see what company I can find. And I can’t wait for the wisteria to bloom in April!

French customs, Paris

Keep Those Clothes On!

March 12, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 5 Comments

Au mois d’avril ne te découvre pas d’un fil,
En mai fais ce qu’il te plaît.

(In April, don’t remove a stitch,
In May, do as you please.)

It’s 19°C today with bright sun and blue sky and I just powerwalked up to Concorde and back. And there they were, the poor little kids, all rugged up in their thick coats and boots and even hats. The luckier ones were bareheaded and some had even taken off their coats – but they were probably foreigners anyway!

I’ve heard this saying many times since I arrived in France in 1975 and not just in the north. It seems that the slightest little breeze will bring on immediate coughs and colds. In the metro, the kids must be so hot in the winter. I can’t bear keeping my coat on for any length of time and I certainly wouldn’t be able to put up with wearing a balaclava or a hood with a thick scarf around my neck in a train.

Our flat is totally overheated even though we turn the radiators off but if the heating is adjusted so that we have the regulatory 19°C on the fourth floor, the people on the ground floor will only have 16°C. It’s the hot water going through the pipes that heats our place. The trouble is, you get used to having 23°C all the time. When we move to Blois, I suspect that I’ll have to invest in some warmer clothes!

But spring is well on its way, with daffodils and hyacinths and magnolias out in the Palais Royal Gardens. I swear I can see my bulbs growing in the window boxes. Yesterday, there was only one crocus out and today there’s a whole crowd of them. Not easy to take a photo though. Our balcony is actually just a gutter but it’s just wide enough to fit a small table and two chairs if one person sits down first and pulls the table forward to let the other squeeze in.

The people are milling around the fountain soaking up the sun. I must say that Parisians are real sun lovers. I guess if you’re starved for it the rest of the time it’s understandable. It’s actually surprising weather for March when you’re supposed to be getting “giboulées” which means a sudden burst of rain, sometimes accompanied by wind, hail or even snow, and often followed by bright sunshine. Not my scene!