My Favorite Guides in France...Burgundy

Burgundy has been called un etat d'esprit, a state of mind.It is the indivisible bridge between northern France and the Midi (southern France), a transition from the cerebral north to the earthy south. Every Parisian is a born-again Burgundian at heart. Here is not only a golden area of vineyards and gentle slopes, but a patchwork of prosperous wine country and fertile pastures interspersed with woodland. Truth be told, it is my favorite area of France. I only have three words to say about Burgundy.." Beautiful, but fattening"..but don't get me started on the food here!
My favorite guide in Burgundy is Colette BARBIER, who is a native and an official licensed guide for over 25 years. Her day job is teaching wine and the history of gastronomy at the University of Burgundy. She loves and knows the French life style, spectacular scenery and the culture of the region and her encyclopedic wine knowledge and vintner contacts are amazing.
She was my secret for so many years, but now the world is finding out about her, so it is important, that if you want to engage her fabulous services, you'll need to book her many months in advance. You won't be sorry!
Contact me for details.

Give Me The Simple Life....Paris Style Eating!

Although I have been privileged to eat throughout France from Michelin 3 stars Haute Cuisine to simple farmhouse cooking and everything in between. Truth be told, , my main interest in traveling to France is to experience its food and cooking.

Ask me what one of my favorite type of meals is in France and my answer is simple, it is -Entrecote (beef rib steak) and fries. It’s simple, straightforward, hardy and soul satisfying.
The best place in Paris (the locals eat here on a regular basis, even thought it might seem touristy) is the Relais de l’Entrecote ( there are three locations in the city) and no reservations are taken, so sometimes the lines are long; but it’s worth waiting for. The menu is super simple - here only one dish is on the menu: steak frites with a simple green salad.
I suppose you’re wondering what’s the big deal, since one can get steak frites at any corner bistro. True, but what makes L’entrecote special is the secret sauce that tops the steak. A tangy mustardy, béarnaise-like mysterious sauce, it was scrumptious and gives the steak a whole other taste dimension.
Please, don't ask for it well done ( you'll be shown to the door!)
Served already sliced, the meat is tender and juicy, and the frites, are the perfect temperature and crispness. Yes, you get second helpings too……
Its a family run show, now into it's third generation and their care for their food and clients well being certainly shows…It's cozy and comforting...Who could ask for anything more?
Enjoy!

A Garden Wall on Jean Nouvel's Musee du Quai Branly

The Musée du quai Branly, known in English as the Quai Branly Museum, nicknamed MQB, is a museum in Paris, that features indigenous art, cultures and civilizations from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. The museum is located at 37, quai Branly -, situated close to the Eiffel Tower. If the museum does not interest you, you at least MUST see its outside vertical garden wall produced by landscape genius Patrick Blanc. It’s breathtaking!

Wine - The last Drop..two favorite wine shops on the Left Bank

The Parisian wine shop/ bar is as good a place as any to ‘refaire le monde ‘ or -"remake the world" - as the French say, over a glass of wine. Not just any corner bar/shop, mind you, but one run by the right patron - a public benefactor who scours the French countryside for wines to satisfy the usual suspects or a new face such as yours. Many of the wines on offer are hand made by small producers. They will never be found on the shelf of a foreign, or even a Paris, supermarket.

Two of the best in the Left Bank are:
Caves Miard-La Crèmerie This narrow little shop ( located in a stunning former cheese and dairy shop) has scarcely changed since the 1880s - its belle-époque ceiling is a listed monument. The wine list, however, is all about the present. Most of the 200 bottles cost between €6 and €15. There are salads and Italian antipasti to match your Anjou (Domaine de Griottes), a rich, smoky white Givry (Chez Joblot), or a smooth red from Saumur Champigny (Domaine du Collier).
Rue des Quatre-Vents 9 (4354 9930), 6th; Métro: Odéon. Closed Sun-Mon.
La Dernière Goutte (rue Bourbon le Château 6),is a candidate for best little wine shop in Paris. Vintners offer free wine tastings there most Saturdays at 11am and 4pm. American Juan Sanchez runs the establishment, just off the well chosen, Rue de Buci market. Rue de Seine 69 (4354 3469), 6th; Métro: Odeon. Closed Mon.

Relive Renoir's Luncheon Of The Boating Party

The restaurant just outside Paris, where the painting was painted is now open again ( just 10 minutes by the RER suburban Metro) in the town of Chatou.
The Restaurant La Maison Fournaise on the Ile des Impressionistes is open for lunch and dinner and so if you are a romantic like me, have lunch there and relive those days of Renoir and his fellow artists.
Yes,the area around here is somewhat industrial (not the idyllic countryside that Renoir experienced over 100 years ago) ..but, with a little imagination..as Edith Piaf once sang..."Put On Your Rose Colored Glasses"...and enjoy yourself and yes, don't forget to wear your straw hat!

Thinking of Renoir and the Impressionists

One of my good clients and I started talking this morning about our love of French Impressionists and the subject of Renoir's "Luncheon Of The Boating Party" came up. That painting is my favorite in all the world! Being a romantic, my thoughts turned to having been able to be there when it was painted.............for those who don't know me well, I have always thought I was born too late and much preferred to have been alive in another era....

The Arc - in 2009

Paris Monuments Get the Brush!

For those of you who have not been to Paris in a while, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the Governments scrubbing of dirt ( centuries old) from the major Paris monuments.
The photo above was taken in the 1960's before the 'scrubbing' began and what you might remember things looked like.
Above this is the same monument, the Arc de Triomphe as it looks today.

A secret place for reflection and sweet treats! on the Left Bank

“My friend, let’s not think of tomorrow, but let’s enjoy this fleeting moment of life” – Omar Khayyam

The traditional architecture and romantic courtyard of the famous Paris Mosque make this the perfect spot to relax with a hot drink after an afternoon promenade in the nearby Natural History Museum or Jardin des Plantes. Enjoy sweet mint tea and flaky pastries laced with honey in an authentic Moorish-style cafe on the grounds of this famous Paris mosque.
You may just want to spend the whole evening here, enjoying couscous (vegetarian, chicken, or merguez sausage) while the sun goes down.

La Grande Mosquée de Paris
2, bis place du puits de l'Ermite
5th arrondissement
Metro: Place Monge, Jussieu, or Censier
No credit cards

Paris - Louis Jordan - Gigi and Observatory Fountain

Other Paris film location shown in the video:
Place Furstenberg - 6th Arrondissement
Pont Alexandre III bridge - 7th Arrondissement
Parc Monceau (garden and swans)- 8th Arrondissement

Romance - Paris Style

Being a unabashed romantic, one of my favorite spots to get romantic in Paris is the Observatory Fountain. Its at its most romantic at night!
The Observatory fountain (featured in the movie "Gigi"), created by Davioud in 1875, is one of the most photogenic in Paris. The sculptures representing the four parts of the world are by Carpeaux (some of his works can be seen at the Orsay Museum), while the horses and dolphins are by Frémiet.

Vaux le Vicomte - Video

PALACES AND PLEASURES; Vaux-le-Vicomte: A Perfect Chateau, Envied by a King

To be honest with you, the Vaux Le Vicomte castle is my favorite place to visit over Versailles. It indeed inspired the King of France after seeing it, to duplicate it ( albeit on a grander scale) with Versailles. I find the Vaux (Privately owned and thus better kept)to be less crowded with visitors and more magnificent in scale.
For children its a treat, as on weekends you can rent ( at the castle for 4 Euros) costumes so that they can dress up as Princes, princesses and Musketeers when touring the castle.

A New ecological style of chauffeur - driven in Paris

Cyclobulle is a new electrically powered means to discover a different Paris. Enjoy a ride into the typical streets of Paris, as well as the chat with your driver. You want to know the best places to be in? Ask him !

Pick up the tour of your choice, seat back, and enjoy !"

Rates : €19 for a 30 minute ride
From Monday to Saturday 2AM to 7PM
Reservations : +33 (0) 1 42 36 58 43

Petit Train Jaune or Little Yellow Train - French Pyrenees

For a breathtaking yet enjoyable ride through the Langedoc-Roussillon area (just southwest of Provence) , try taking the "Petit Train Jaune" or "Little Yellow Train" through the Pyrenees mountains from Villefrance de Conflent to Mont Louis. The 63km route is open all year. Its a fantastic ride ( unless you are afraid of heights!) through 15 tunnels or so and over 2 major bridges. The scenery is absolutely breaktaking at almost every turn. If you have a France Rail Pass, it does cover this ride. Picnic at the top before your return ride.

French Cheese Lesson For June

Saint Nectaire, (Sahn Neck-tare) this historic cheese of the France, is crafted in the Auvergne region. Made exclusively from the Salers cows’ milk, (a breed that produces very rich milk due to the volcanic pastures and aromatic flora of the region). Saint Nectaire has a creamy, dense texture with a delicate taste of hazelnuts and mushrooms. It goes well with fruits, vegetables, soups and many dishes. Enjoy it with a glass of Beaujolais or a light Pinot Noir.

Hidden Paris - In Plain Sight!

Paris boasts numerous waterways: the majestic Seine needs no introduction, of course, but most tourists are unlikely to have ever seen Canal Saint-Martin. This is an incredible romantic area of Paris. From rustic walks to serious shopping, wonderful cafes and restaurants and cruises lasting over two hours. Once a working class area, it has become the hip side of Paris.
One of the best ways to get a 'taste' of the canal is by a small cruise boat, a 4.5 km cruise.. The price is about 15 euros per person.

Who says there is no more sweetness in the movies anymore?

Être et avoir (To be and to have) is a French documentary that tracks the life of a school teacher, Georges Lopez, and his class of 12 children between 4 and 12 or 13 years of age, studying in a one-classroom school. The film is a portrait in ordinariness of life in an unnamed French village, but it is a portrait in the extraordinariness of the all-encompassing process of education and individual growth and change.
The film is not given to emotion. It is not really a traditional film, with a story line, a well-defined beginning. The sweetness, I speak of is best represented at the end of the film as the students bid good-bye to their teacher and in a world, where a teacher can no longer touch a student without inviting awful aspersions, it was nice to see so many kisses being exchanged.
Above all, Être et avoir offers one the luxury of a journey down memory lane, at least for those, who attended idyllic, old fashioned, prep schools with small class sizes, where the teacher truly made a significant contribution to how we turned out. I don’t know about you but slice-of-life appeals to me. And Être et avoir did very well on that count. A well-spent afternoon! The movie can be found on Netflex.

Where In France?

The Chateau de Pierrefonds is one of Frances most handsome and imposing medieval castles and yet to most visitors it is unknown.
Originally built as a fortress 600 years ago, it fell into disrepair for many years and then in the mid-19th century, Napoleon III commissioned it to be rebuilt.The castle is located on the eastern edge of the wonderous Forest of Compiegne, 80 km north of Paris.
There is no rail station, so you'll need to drive there yourself or hire a private driver to take you.

The drive up to the castle is worth the price of admission!!