Statue of Liberty
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net
Paris has numerous copies of the Statue of Liberty: two at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, one on Allée des Cygnes, one in the Luxembourg Garden, and one in the Musée d’Orsay. There is also a tiny one, hidden in plain sight on the chest of Le Centaure, an enormous bronze statue by César that stands at Place Michel-Debré in the 6th arrondissement.
Le Centaure by César
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net
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Cider 2011 by Cyril Zangs
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net
About two weeks ago I received an invitation to a cider tasting from Bruno Quenioux (whom I’ve written about before). I hurried over to his wine shop and met Cyril Zangs, a producer of hard cider in Normandy. I say “hard” cider, because it has an alcoholic content of 5.5%. In the United States, the beverage called cider is usually no more than apple juice. Cyril’s cider undergoes primary fermentation in vats, and then secondary fermentation in bottles.
I tasted his Cider 2011, but couldn’t immediately identify the principal flavor. Cyril called it “smoky,” and said that the flavor is due to bitter apple that he includes in the batch. (The flavors of the apples that he harvests can be classified as sweet, bitter-sweet, bitter, tart, and sour.)
I purchased a bottle and took it home for a more focused taste test. After chilling the bottle in the refrigerator, Monique and I sat down to taste the cider and to determine what that “smoky” flavor actually was. We finally decided that the flavor is more accurately described as “leathery.” (Monique used the term “horse-y.”) The cider has a strong “welcome to the farm” flavor that is far different from the flavor of the sweet, industrially-produced apple juice that most people buy at the supermarket.
I would purchase this cider again because it has unmistakable character. I think that it might go well with certain strong cheeses.
Cyril Zangs’ cider is sold in Bruno Quenioux’s wine shop:
Boutique Philovino
33, rue Claude Bernard 75005 PARIS
Open from Tuesday to Saturday
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
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Tom Photographing Cassandre Seeking the Protection of Athena
Marble Sculpture by Aimé Millet – 1877
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net
July 2013 – Fesses of the Month
Beautiful fesses abound in Paris! This month our photographer found a lovely pair in the Tuileries Garden.
In 1877, French sculptor Aimé Millet created this marble representation of Cassandre seeking the protection of the goddess Athena. Considered one of the most beautiful women in the world, Cassandra possessed the gift of prophesy, an attribute that had been bestowed on her by Apollo.
Follow the link below for a close-up view of her admirable fesses!
pinterest.com/pin/411586853415749238/
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Isabelle Bedjidian, Owner and Chef of Le Resto
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net
Isabelle Bejidian, owner and chef of Le Resto, opened her restaurant on rue Tournefort four years ago. We dined there when it opened and have dined there several times since. Read our review of this little bistrot in this month’s Le Bon Goût, a monthly feature of our newsletter Paris Insights.
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Bonne lecture!
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The Irrepressible Lily Heise
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net
I first met Lily about five years ago at a bloggers’ meet-up in Paris. At that time and at subsequent social events, she impressed me as a cheerful person with a bubbly personality. Little did I suspect that within the body of that effervescent persona beat the heart of a woman with the passion of an exploding volcano! I found that out just two weeks ago when I accepted her invitation to attend the launch of her first book, Je t’aime…me neither. There, at the Abbey Bookshop in Paris, she announced that her new book was about the saga of her search for love in the City of Light. It turns out that she found it…and then lost it…and then found it and lost it…again and again!
What makes her book more than a kiss-and-tell story is that she readily admits that her adventures have all ended in failure of some sort. (At least, that is what she told the audience at the book launch.) But she analyzes each failure in a humoristic way before she moves on to the next adventure. And she does move on! At the disappointing end of every adventure she manages to step back and find humor, even if it is dark humor, in her distress.
Lily Heise with Her New Book
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net
The night of the launch, the audience enjoyed her wit as she read several accounts of her adventures from her book.
Here is an excerpt:
Je ne t’aime plus (Stephane) “Je ne t’aime plus.”
What do you mean . . . you don’t love me anymore? I sat there, dumbfounded, staring at my boyfriend—or rather, my exboyfriend—his words slowly sinking in. Once they had, the emotional floodgate opened, unleashing hot tears streaming down my cheeks.
What did he just say? He had never said that he did love me, so how could he not love me anymore? While I was trying to grapple with this unpleasant detail, another one hit me. Hey! I was being broken up with! This made me cry even harder. Here I was, in my tiny Parisian apartment, overlooking the eternal City of Amour, which had just transformed into the City of Désamour, as I was now unloved, dumped, ditched, or, in French: larguée.
This wasn’t how things were supposed to happen.
This experience must have been a sad moment for Lily, but when she read the passage in her sing-song voice the audience roared with laughter. (Not laughing at her, mind you, but with her.)
She saved the best passage for last:
A Roll in the Hay (Julian) Where am I? Who am I with? More importantly . . . who am I kissing? These are not good questions to wake up asking yourself, especially when you don’t know the answers! Well, from what I could immediately gather, the answer to the first question seemed to be “a wheat field,” which could have been pretty much anywhere. The answers to the other two questions would remain—for the time being—something of a mystery . . .
How had I ended up in a wheat field at the crack of dawn being ferociously kissed by a young, sun-streaked blond stud?
No, I wasn’t on the set of the kind of racy TV show screened after midnight on French public channels. And no, I hadn’t gotten lost on a hike in the country and been rescued by a shepherd boy . . . or had I?
Intrigued? Lily leaves it to us to buy the book to learn the answer to this mystery.
Lily has given Je t’aime…me neither her heart and soul. Five years in the writing—and thirteen years of extensive research—have gone into its creation. Put this one at the top of your list of must-read books for the summer!
To learn more about the book, click here
To purchase the Kindle edition, click here
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Henri Sauvage’s Stepped-terrace Building (1912-1913) on Rue Vavin
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net
The scaffolding of Art Nouveau – Art Deco architect Henri Sauvage’s (1873-1932) stepped-terrace building at 26, rue Vavin was being dismantled yesterday to reveal a sparkling-clean, refurbished façade.
Stepped terraces are not the only unusual feature of this building. Sauvage chose to cover the façade with white, glazed stoneware tiles, the material that is commonly used for the walls of most metro stations in Paris, because of the ease with which it can be washed. The use of these tiles fulfills Sauvage’s concern for hygiene, which was a widespread social concern at the time. The tiles can also be seen as a manifestation of his desire to make a break with the past. It was a declaration of architectural modernity!
Sauvage built another stepped-terrace building at 13, rue des Amiraux in the 18th arrondissement.
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Cheeses and Beers
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net
On Tuesday, June 18, Elisabeth Pierre, a bièrologue whom I’ve blogged about before, held a beer and cheese tasting at Chez Léna et Mimile, a restaurant that I recently reviewed.
Elisabeth presented five beers paired with five cheeses. As the tasting progressed, one pair at a time, she described the qualities of each beer. A colleague, Aki Nakazawa of Fromagerie Hisada, described the cheeses and their qualities, and another colleague, Didier Sintot, co-founder of Groupuscule d’Actions Gustatives (GAG), gave his thoughts about how the flavors of each pair would harmonize.
Cheese Plate
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net
The tasting proceeded in the following order, from the mildest beer to the strongest:
Following each pairing, we, the participants, were encouraged to express our opinions about the beer, the cheese, and how well we thought that the flavors of each pair suited one another. And at the very end of the tasting, Elisabeth called on each of us to give our opinions about which pair(s) we preferred.
Some liked the very last beer, the French stout, but to my taste it had an unpleasant flavor of bitter coffee. I preferred the first beer, which I found to be mild with only slight bitterness. I found that its flavor and that of the mild goat cheese, harmonized best and pleased me the most. This led me to wonder whether, in each paring, the flavors should be harmonious to begin with or whether they could have opposing flavors that unite into a pleasant taste sensation once they are together in the mouth. I don’t have an answer to that, but it is the sort of question that professionals in the gourmet food business love to analyze and debate.
Aki Nakazawa of Fromagerie Hisada
Elizabeth Pierre of La Fille de l’Orge
Didier Sintot of GAG
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net
After the tasting, Elisabeth and her team of taste experts posed for a picture.
Michel Cloes, Export Manager of Curtius
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net
Michel Cloes, export manager of Curtius, participated in the tasting. He posed for a picture with his product, cradling it carefully in his hands like a baby!
A good time was had by all!
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Tarte au Citron by Delmontel
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net
In this photograph, what is missing from the lemon tart?
Why, it’s the meringue that’s missing, of course. In the place of meringue there is a dome of firm lemon custard, making this tart a double lemon treat!
Monique taste-tested this confection and gives the following evaluation:
With a dense texture, the custard of this lemon tart has a mouthwateringly acidulous flavor, without bitterness. The shortbread crust retained its crunch even after spending a night in the refrigerator. A real delight to eat!
Delmontel
9, rue des Martyrs
75009 Paris
Tel: 01.48.78.29.33
Open every day from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. except Tuesdays.
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Aymeric in the Luxembourg Garden
Photograph by www.Discoverparis.net
On Friday evening I encountered Aymeric near the Luxembourg Garden where I saw him walking along the sidewalk sprinkling water on trees and shrubs that grow along the walkway. He told me that he was applying a “Maria Thun preparation” to the soil. We entered the garden and he proceeded to dip his brush into the bucket that he was carrying and, with a flipping motion of the wrist, flick a few drops of the solution onto the plants and grass. He said that a homeopathic dose was all that was necessary.
Paris-born Aymeric recently completed an 18-month course in biodynamics in London and hopes to get a job on a farm in Australia. According to information that I gleaned from the Web site address for Le Mouvement de l’Agriculture Bio-Dynamique that he gave me, biodynamics is based on the concept that plants have life forces that must be respected in order for them to grow and flourish.
I wrote about French filmmaker Guillaume Bodin’s documentary on biodynamic wine in the August 2012 edition of Paris Insights newsletter.
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View of Seine from Pont Saint-Michel
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net
…he won’t arrive in Paris in time for Father’s Day tomorrow!
The next best thing to being in Paris is reading about it. We have two publications that will stir his passion for the city! The first is our monthly newsletter Paris Insights, written to present an insider’s view of the fascinating history, culture, and contemporary life of the City of Light.
The second is our book Paris Insights – An Anthology, a compilation of a number of our most popular newsletters. Travel writer Jim Calio has called our book Paris Insights – An Anthology “…a witty, incisive and always informative compilation of sights, sounds and good advice about enjoying the City of Light…” Better than a power drill, a necktie, or even a shaving kit, it is a gift that offers an insider’s view of the things to love about Paris.
Just in time for Father’s Day, the Kindle edition of Paris Insights – An Anthology can be purchased and downloaded immediately! And remember…he doesn’t need a Kindle device to read the Kindle edition of Paris Insights – An Anthology! Amazon.com provides Kindle reader apps that work on every major tablet, smartphone, and computer so that he can read Kindle books on whatever type of device he owns. These apps are 100% free. If he needs one, click HERE to go to the Web page for the application that he needs.
Click HERE to order Paris Insights – An Anthology now. Click HERE to enter an annual subscription to our newsletter.
Give your father the gift of Paris on Father’s Day!
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 | Tom Reeves - author of Paris Insights - An Anthology and Dining Out in Paris - What You Need to Know before You Get to the City of Light. |