The Paris Traveler

 Pétanque, is a game that captivates Frenchmen ( I am alluding to the male species as I have never seen women playing).  If you see a gaggle of men looking at the ground in various parks and gravelly areas throughout Paris and France, with very serious and concerned looks on their faces, you can pretty much bet an intense game is going on.  Cigarettes are usually involved which accounts for the haze surrounding the area.  It is a unifying event, bringing men of all ages, socio-economic backgrounds and cultures together to have their moment in the pétanque sun.  
The game …read more

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I’ve mentioned before, I am a bigger fan of Paris when the sun goes down and the city is bathed in a beautiful golden hue from all the creative lighting they use.  Certainly not eco-friendly and plans are in the works to dim some of that glow.  I suggest you get here sooner than later to see some of it.  If that isn’t possible right now, I am about to send you to a site that will bring Paris up close and personal, literally, while it astonishes at what can be exposed through a camera lens.  
Jean-François Rauzier, a renowned …read more

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In my quest to come up with the unusual that will entertain and bring all of us together in weird and wacky ways to Paris, I have found this very interesting connection between what has become an icon in contemporary culture, two architects and a museum in Paris.
Tinker Hatfield (I could not love that name more), a trained architect turned shoe designer, has been working for Nike since the mid-80’s. Originally hired to design arenas and showrooms for the company, he intuitively knew that for him shoe design was where it was at and switched gears.  He can be credited …read more

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Try to imagine if you can, getting all jazzed up in your “I am so going out on the town and am going to look amazing” outfit, only to find yourself donning a hard hat, goggles and white painters uniform while being handed a sledge hammer in order to smash walls, closets and bathrooms at one of the finest hotels in Paris.
 That’s exactly what several hundred VIP’s were invited to do at Le Royal Monceau, a five star grande dame of a place to stay just off the Champs Elysée. Needing to give the old gal a face lift,  the …read more

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 To all of you in the states, Happy 4th of July!  For the rest of you wonderful readers, I hope you have a fantastic day worthy of these beautiful fireworks.
 Photo credit:  Tom Freda@flickr
 

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Previously, I have mentioned Palais Royal, my most favorite spot in Paris, along with Concorde, the Tuileries, Jardin du Luxembourg…..maybe I should just go with, all of PARIS is my favorite spot!  I don’t think anyone who knows me would argue with that.
Now that I got that off my chest, back to Palais Royal…and Le Prince Jardinier, a garden shop that brings “haute” to all things green thumb-ish. Created in 1995, this shop caters to creating a world of outdoor beauty with tools, containers, furniture, comfortable clothing as well as scented candles.  Those are all good things and if you love …read more

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 I am finding that I tend to be a very sensorial person, scents and tastes are easy to identify for me and a flavor from the past can evoke memories that are as strong as the moment they actually happened.  For instance, this past week, I found a bag of Swedish crisp breads that my daughters and I ate every morning for breakfast in France.  Topped with creamy French Brie or Nutella (a chocolate and hazelnut spread) and peanut butter, we would sip our coffee and indulged in this simple pleasure.  When we opened the bag this past week and …read more

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Americans, according to a survey done by Expedia-Harris Poll of 4000 hotel managers from around the world, come in first place (don’t we always want to win?) at being the rudest tourists.  We complain the most when it comes to accommodations and are the worst dressed–no real surprise there.  We also are among the least tidy hotel guests.   Our fellow French travelers, not ones to be left far behind, came in second in the rudeness catagory and third in the complaining department, outdone by the Germans.  Italians are considered the most stylish with the French right on their heels.  
What …read more

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 This is an image from a webcam–Paris-live.com, that I came across when I turned my computer on the other night.  I go to this page at least twice a day to see what’s happening and never has it looked like this.  I did nothing to alter the image other than crop it a smidge. It looks a bit extraterrestrial-ish with “two” red eyes (there should only be one).  Hopefully it was the camera shaking that much and not the Eiffel Tower!
 
 
 This one I boosted the color just a tiny bit.  The sun was setting and the lights were just coming …read more

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As crazy as this sounds, the Bibliothèque Nationale, or National Library, is worth a visit while in Paris.  Maybe not on your first visit while you are trying to get through the basics, but certainly your second or third time over you should try and get there. Don’t think just “library” as there are temporary and permanent exhibits that are certainly museum worthy.  I found these images from their archives which are postcards credited to the artist Villemard that were done circa 1910 depicting what life in Paris would be like in the year 2000.  They are too much fun and …read more

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