The Paris Traveler

This guest post is by Mary Jo Manzanares, Travel & Culture Channel Editor and travel blogger at Flyaway Cafe.
If the thought of a fine bag, a decadent pair of heels, or the feel of the fabric of a finely crafted suit makes you swoon, then an afternoon on the Champs-Élysées in Paris may be your definition of heaven.
Avenue des Champs-Élysées is not only one of the most recognized street names in Paris, but in the entire world, and is lined with luxury and specialty shops, theaters, cafes and restaurants.  Its name translates to "Elysian Fields" a reference to the …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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Luc Grateau, peintre sur tickets de métroUploaded by SadurRORD
Awhile back I wrote about Luc Grateau, an artist who creates portraits of fellow commuters on his metro ticket as he makes his way to work.  I was fascinated by his work and just by accident found this video of him in action.  It’s in French but you’ll get the idea.  

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Here is someone a bit more passionate about the City of Lights than me!      
Gerard Brion, creator of this “mini-me” model of Paris, has spent the last 15 years putting together this masterpiece with discarded items–soup cans, baby food jars and old cinder blocks. Amongst the rubbish are well tended flower beds and perfectly shaped boxwoods.  His garden has become a tourist site in the village of Vaissac in southern France.  If you have been here or are going to be in that area, I would love any additional information.  It is all so curious! I’m not gonna lie–the nighttime photo …read more

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This would be a Paris métro ticket–it has been serving the purpose of a bookmark for me these last couple of weeks which accounts for the bit of coffee stain. So not only will it get you anywhere you might want to go in Paris for about $1.50, it serves other utilitarian purposes once the ride is over. As you can see, they are pretty tiny–if I don’t have my glasses on, I can miss them altogether as they inevitably go to the deepest, darkest recesses of my over-sized bag that I lug around.  Tiny is the key word here …read more

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This is my big lumbering black Lab, Libby, who has been with our family for 12 years and life would be incomplete without her.  She is pretty simple in her needs and wants–give her love, a dog biscuit and the opportunity to sniff yellow snow and life is good.  Pets in Paris don’t usually come as big as her.  They are tiny, hyper, well-coiffed things that fit in women’s very large Chloé “it-bags” or huddle inside men’s jackets for warmth.  As much as I love our dog, I think I really would have to consider myself a cat lover first. That …read more

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I can easily go overboard on Valentine’s Day;  in our house it is second only to Christmas as our favorite holiday.  When my girls were little, I would take a pan of brownies and cut them into heart shapes or bake heart muffins and gingerbread or sugar cookies.   Since the month of  February is usually freezing in our part of the world, I would have these treats, hot chocolate and Valentine goodie bags all lined up in the kitchen for an early morning celebration before I sent them off to school.  
 Sharing ways to say “I love you” to …read more

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A few people have written to me asking about the Cour Saint-Pierre since I’ve mentioned it in a few of my posts. Well to be honest with you, I could have written about this little passageway a lot more than I actually have. As I wrote in Fête de la Musique, I was living in the 17e for a number of years. It was the only time I had lived outside of the 6th arrondissement in Paris.
The Cour Saint-Pierre was like living in a tiny village in France. Everyone moved into this little street around the same time that I did (early 80’s) and …read more

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When you think about the recent divorce between French President Sarkozy and the former First Lady, things were definitely far from cosy, to say the least! What’s interesting, however, is the way the French perceive this marital seperation and the way the American public would react if an American president were to divorce his wife after only several months in office.
                                                                                                  First of all, I don’t think it would ever happen! What First Lady would decide to throw in the towel even if she was in the midst of some sort of Presidential scandal?! (Hmm, does Hillary ring a bell? As …read more

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What’s nice about having your own blog is being able to write what you want and I want to say that I am so proud of Geraldine! She has an amazing voice and her take on the hit song The Show Must Go On by the English rock band Queen is fantastic! Who would have thought that when she was a kid playing outside my apartment window in the Cour Saint-Pierre that she would one day be performing on stage and screen and giving rock concerts?! I did!
Why not! Afterall, her father was a world famous magician from Argentina, and considered one of the best; …read more

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