Boulangeries and Patisseries

Boulangeries and Patisseries are where you can find fresh baked bread and assorted pastries daily. Most boulangeries rarely sell only baguettes and other types of bread; they supplement their offerings with at least a dozen types of pastries. That being said, their are many patisseries that sell only sweet goods, occasionally drifting into the realm of the chocolatier.

In the city of Paris, they are everywhere! Much like in the hoods of urban America where at least one liquor store or storefront church can be found on every block, the same can be said for the boulangerie.

They make an excellent baguette and pear tart, too

The best croissants in the city here 

An inside look

Everyone is always on the go here so to make extra income, many shops sell sandwiches for the busy lunch crowd. This boulangerie had some of the best to be found and we would walk a mile out of the way for them. There was one little catch though, you had to know what you wanted, how to pronounce it, and fast! No time for browsing with 7 or 8 people in line behind you. The woman in the photo is who I referred to as the 'sandwich nazi'. I was always nervous trying order with my rudimentary french, and she had no patience for me.

yummy

bite-size treats

mouth-watering

this was a 'bio' aka organic boulangerie

i thought these were coconut based macaroons, but they are 'macrons', which have no coconut and taste vaguely like marzipan

this shop sells pastries but are more well-known for there chocolates

French Wine

It saddens me to say that Americans, as wine drinkers, have been bamboozled. Lied to. Led astray. One would be pressed to think of a bottle of wine that can be bought in the U.S. for under $10 that not only A. taste good, but B. leaves you without a trace of a headache or other nagging symptoms that denote a poor quality wine. In the realm of imported French wine, trying to find one under $20 is very difficult. So consequently, as Americans we are trained to believe that you have to not only pay dearly to drink well, but that you must have some sort of training to do so. We did a test while in Paris. We purposely tried to purchase a bottle of undrinkable wine. Most were under 3 euros and none were over 5, all chosen at random. I am happy to report that we did not succeed. All of them were very pleasant tasting, with varying degrees of greatness of course. What is imported and sold to wine drinkers in the U.S. is nothing close to what the French drink themselves, at a fraction of the cost.

Thoughts about Paris

After a few weeks in Paris I think it is probably one of the most unique places I have ever visited.  It kind of reminds me of Cairo, but Paris is a bit different.  It is cosmopolitain, like Cairo, it is based on neighborhoods as well, but there is something connecting the neighborhoods and connecting the people, perhaps a love of the city, a certain uniqueness that no other city has.

My landlord, after trying to squeeze me for a few more dollars towards the utilities made an interesting comment.  He is no typical landlord.  He is renting us his artist loft space for a little extra spending money I expect.  I asked him how they can live here, how they can afford it.

He said, we, young fools, learn to love Paris - like a sometimes difficult, but deserving woman.  I could dig that.  I mean, what woman do you know who isn't difficult sometimes?  And yeah, I could live here.  I mean, if I had a visa, beyond three months out of every six.  Perhaps I will find someone to split the time and rent an apartment here with.  We would never see this other person, but we would get six months in Paris.  Prices on places fall if you rent for a whole year instead of month by month.  Just a thought.

The weather is mild right now, it is better weather wise than Chicago, not much more so, but enough so that it is almost worth living here, in that regard.  The people are very interesting.  There is this thing they do, when walking.  If you look at anyone in their eyes they immediately look away, even if it is towards a brick wall.  That wouldn't matter so much except when you juxtapose it to all the people watching that goes on in cafes and parks and restaurants and public spaces.

This was supposed to have been published about a week into Paris, but now I am revising it after the trip in Paris is done. Is Paris my favorite place in the world?  Well, so far it is up there.  I mean I loved all of Egypt and Valencia is pretty cool too.  But lets just say Paris is special, especially in April.  Next time,  Barcelona!

The Louvre, Pt II

While the additions of the glass pyramids are quite stunning on their own accord; I still don't think that they have grown to 'fit in' with the rest of the Louvre architecture. One interesting fact of note, Abu Dhabi will be opening a satellite Louvre in 2013. The photos of the planned finish project look amazing. It will definitely be worth a trip there just to bask in its opulence. 

Theatre de Guignol

I was looking for something that might interest the kids a little bit more than museums or window shopping, and came upon a series of puppet theaters that are scattered across Paris. They are all patterned after the tradition of Laurent Mourguet, who created the original Guignol character, which the theatres are now named after. Mourguet began his adult life as a silk weaver and trader, but that profession dried up and he explored the field of dentistry - which during the late 1700's consisted mainly of pulling teeth and selling drugs to kill the pain afterward.  To attract customers to his booth, he decided to create a hand puppet and put on mini-performances. Hand puppets were a new invention as most puppet shows involved the traditional marionettes controlled by strings.

Here in Paris, the shows are advertised as 'marionette' shows, so I was a bit disappointed when we arrived and the performers used hand puppets. I guess I should have done a bit more research first. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the show, which lasted about 30 minutes. Even though the children don't understand much French at all, they still understood most of the plot and had a great time. 

Theatre de Guignol in the Champs Elysees 

CJ having fun

The performance is beginning

Asari and Jacob enjoying the show

Theatre de Guignol in the Jardin du Luxembourg