Archive for July, 2010

Le Bon Goût – Our Monthly Restaurant Review

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
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Chef Rougui Dia
© Discover Paris!

On the first of each month, we publish a restaurant review, which we call “Le Bon Goût,” for the readers of our Paris Insights newsletter. In it, we not only describe our dining experience, but also write about the chef or the proprietor, and illustrate the review with a photograph of him or her.

We have been reviewing restaurants for many years, and have met many chefs and proprietors who are passionate about the art of preparing great cuisine. By writing about them, we hope that we can communicate their passion to you, their customer.

In the August edition of Le Bon Goût we will review Le 144, a fine-dining restaurant located in the 7th arrondissement. Chef Rougui Dia, born in Paris to Senegalese parents, learned the flavors and savors of Senegalese cuisine in her mother’s kitchen. She has been head chef of the restaurant since 2005.

Access to the review is available to paid subscribers of our newsletter. To enter a subscription, click here.

Visit to a Phantom Palace – Part 3

Sunday, July 25th, 2010
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Tea Pavilion in Chinagora Garden
(c) Discover Paris!

In its hour of glory, the garden must have been a fabulous place where one could take tea in a pavilion that overlooks the sublime landscape. Yet it became evident why the garden was supposed to be off limits when one of the wooden guardrails of a footbridge yielded to the slightest pressure.

I later found information on the Internet that part of the Chinagora project is being used as a warehouse. This would seem to be confirmed by the presence of a guard whom I spotted, standing in front of an office marked “Sécurité” on a side street. I also read that flight crews from China Airlines stay in the hotel. Anything to bring in some revenue!

It is pretty clear why the Chinagora project failed. Although lying only five miles from the heart of Paris, it is not serviced by convenient transportation. The closest metro stop is about 15 minutes away by foot. Two buses stop nearby, but Bus 125 only goes to the edge of Paris; and Bus 325 only goes as far as the National Library. In effect, anyone who wants to travel between Chinagora and Paris has to make an extraordinary effort.

It is regrettable that this monumental tribute to Chinese architecture and culture failed. May the magnificent phantom palace continue to sleep peacefully for a thousand years!

This is the last post in the series entitled “Visit to a Phantom Palace.”

Visit to a Phantom Palace – Part 2

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
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Chinagora Viewed from Place du Confluent France-Chine
(c) Discover Paris!

Today, Chinagora stands on the banks of the Seine and Marne rivers like a magnificent phantom Manchurian palace. We entered the grounds, where I noted that there was a tourist bus parked in the parking lot of the hotel. As we made our way into the hotel lobby I noted that a number of hallways were blocked off with the same type of metal grills that are used for crowd control in Paris. Decidedly, this was a building that one was not permitted to explore!

The lobby was a peaceful place, with a number of the hotel staff going about their business. I was surprised to see a few tourists sitting in the lobby. Why did they come here? I wondered. And what is the point of staying in this isolated place? The hotel staff paid no attention to us, a group of about twenty persons, as we purchased soft drinks from a vending machine and wandered about. Patrick Urbain must have asked the concierge if we could explore the garden that sits in the center of the hotel, because someone opened a sliding glass door and we were allowed to step outside.

Chinagora Garden
(c) Discover Paris!

The garden showed signs of dilapidation, but was still a beautiful place. A couple of footbridges crossed over empty ponds, and vegetation grew abundantly. I overheard someone comment about an unusual plant that he spotted. He said that it was only found in China, and he took a picture to document his discovery.

To be continued…

Chocolates from Denise Acabo

Saturday, July 17th, 2010
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Denise Acabo has been selling chocolates in the Pigalle district of Paris for almost forty years. Her shop, called l’Etoile d’Or, is located at 30, rue Fontaine in the 9th arrondissement. Mme Acabo only sells chocolates from the best chocolate makers in France, and only proposes her favorites to her clients!

Chocolates from Denise Acabo
(c) Discover Paris!

Among the confections that we sampled from her shop were Bernachon’s Palet d’or, made with fresh cream and dark chocolate. I found its earthy flavor reminiscent of coffee. Bernachon’s gianduja confection, a mixture of chocolate and hazelnut paste in a tiny, pleated aluminum cup, was topped with a whole hazelnut. The confection had an intriguing, smokey flavor. Bernachon is a family-run enterprise in Lyon, crafting chocolates from cocoa beans that they select, roast, and grind themselves – a true chocolate maker!

We also sampled the famous caramel au beurre salé made by Le Roux of Quiberon (Bretagne), which was delightfully chewy, sticky, and salty; and two delicacies from a chocolate maker in Clémencey (Bourgogne). One of these was a delicately-flavored chocolate and blackcurrant ganache. The other, a truffle-shaped confection consisting of a white chocolate shell enveloping a blackcurrant gel, was a delicious surprise.

The Royal Garden of Medicinal Plants

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
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Granny's Nightcap (Aquilegia vulgaris)
A Medicinal Plant Found in the Jardin des Plantes
(c) Discover Paris!

The Royal Garden of Medicinal Plants was founded in Paris 384 years ago. Since then, it has evolved into a great scientific institution. But has it forgotten its original vocation? We investigate this possibility in this month’s Paris, Past and Present, a special feature of our newsletter Paris Insights.

To view the newsletter abstract, click here.

To enter a subscription to Paris Insights, click here.

Bonne lecture!

The Beach in the City
By A. D. McKenzie

Saturday, July 10th, 2010
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Summer Fun at Paris Plages
Photography by Djavan De Clercq

Colorful kayaks and sailboats skimming over the water… Women basking in the sun on wooden deckchairs… Children building elaborate sandcastles… Teenagers whooping as they play beach volleyball…

This may sound like a coastal resort scene, but we’re talking about Paris in the summer, when the beach comes to the city.

Paris Plages (Paris Beaches), as the project is called, will take place for the ninth time this year, from July 20 to Aug. 20. The organizers promise plenty of activities to keep both locals and tourists happy.

Launched in 2002 by the city’s popular mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, Paris Plages began in the historic heart of Paris, running along the river Seine from Pont Neuf to Pont Sully.

Three years ago it was expanded to the 19th arrondissement, a district that is renowned for its multi-ethnic population and vibrant atmosphere. There the area around the Bassin de la Villette was transformed into a beach playground.

Both the Seine—along the Georges Pompidou riverfront highway, which will be closed from July 15 to August 23—and the Bassin will be attracting thousands of visitors in their swimsuits again this year. Other sites will also be hosting various animations.

According to the mayor’s office, free concerts and sporting activities will take place on the square in front of the Hôtel de Ville on rue de Rivoli. Featured performers include Curry and Coco, Camille Bazbaz, and Beat Assailant.

Meanwhile, on the eastern edge of town at Porte de Reuilly near Lac Daumenil, there will be cycling, skating, beach volleyball, and games for children.

Admission to Paris Plages is free to the public. The beaches will be open from 8 a.m. to midnight each day.

People who have participated previously say that one of the nicest things about the project is the way it brings people together. “Everybody has been enjoying the beach with incredible respect for one another’s culture and religion,” a beach-goer named Yolande said last year at the Bassin de la Villette. “There was a grand ball [at the beach] and you could see mothers dancing with their children, and even strangers dancing together. It was wonderful!”

We wish to thank A. D. McKenzie for her contribution to the Paris Insights blog.

Visit to a Phantom Palace – Part 1

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
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Chinagora Viewed from the River Marne
(c) Discover Paris!

On Saturday, June 5, I joined a group of people led by Patrick Urbain, Director of the Conseil d’Architecture, d’Urbanisme et de l’Environnement du Val-de-Marne, for a visit of unusual buildings that lie to the east of Paris along the Seine river. The highpoint of the visit was the Chinagora project, located at the confluence of the Seine and Marne rivers, just upstream from Paris. We took a boat, a Veugéo, from the dock in front of the National Library upriver to the dock at Alfortville, and then walked downstream along the riverbank of the Marne to get to the site.

Chinagora was built in the early 1990s on the site of an abandoned paper factory. At the height of its glory, the 44,000 m2 project consisted of five buildings that comprised a commercial gallery, an exposition palace, three panoramic restaurants, and a three-star hotel. It was financed by the Guangdong Entreprises Limited, a Chinese group, at a cost of 100 million euros.

The Cantonese architect for the project, Liang Kunhao, is said to have been inspired by the architecture of the Forbidden City for the design of Chinagora. The beautiful dark-green tiles that embellish its roofs were imported by boat from Canton. The project opened in 1992 with the completion of the Chinagora Hôtel, the Chinagora Restaurant, and the Palace of Expositions. In 1994 a magnificent three-story, 3000 m2 shopping center opened, housing a score of boutiques selling merchandise and food from China.

The entire project was destined to become a showcase of Chinese culture. Indeed, from 1992 to 1996, a number of cultural expositions were held, including “The Treasures of the Museums of Canton” and “The Splendor of the Costumes of China.”

But the development fell on hard times. The exposition palace was not profitable and was transformed into a Chinese supermarket. This, too, closed. In fact, all of the enterprises eventually closed except for the three-star hotel. A new Chinese group, called Nouveau Monde, took over the project in 2003 but was unable to turn it into a profitable enterprise.

To be continued…

Remembering Thomas Jefferson on the 4th of July

Sunday, July 4th, 2010
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Thomas Jefferson
(c) Discover Paris!

A statue of Thomas Jefferson stands at the entrance to passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor (formerly named pont de Solférino). The statue was erected on July 4, 2006, the 230th anniversary of American independence and the 180th anniversary of Jefferson’s death. According to the inscription on the base, it is a gift to the city of Paris from the Florence Gould Foundation, which supports French/American exchange and friendship, and Alec and Guy Wildenstein in memory of their father Daniel. The statue, sculpted by French artist Jean Cardot, depicts Jefferson holding a quill pen in his right hand and the original design of Monticello in his left. He is facing the Hôtel de Salm, the building whose construction he was able to observe from the south terrace of the Tuileries Garden across the river. Professing to be “violently smitten with the hotel de Salm,” Jefferson incorporated the design of its dome into the redesign of his house in Monticello when he returned to America.

We published a self-guided walking tour of the American Revolution in Paris in the July 2009 edition of Paris Insights. The walk traces a route connecting a number of sites in Paris that are associated with two of the USA’s founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Access to the article that contains this walk, entitled The American Revolution in Paris—An Itinerary for American Patriots, is available to paid subscribers of our newsletter. To enter a subscription, click here.

Le Bon Goût – Our Monthly Restaurant Review

Saturday, July 3rd, 2010
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Nicolas Michel
Proprietor and Chef of Le Cotte-Rôti
(c) Discover Paris!

On the first of each month, we publish a restaurant review, which we call “Le Bon Goût,” for the readers of our Paris Insights newsletter. In it, we not only describe our dining experience, but also write about the chef or the proprietor, and illustrate the review with a photograph of him or her.

We have been reviewing restaurants for many years, and have met many chefs and proprietors who are passionate about the art of preparing great cuisine. By writing about them, we hope that we can communicate their passion to you, their customer.

In this month’s Le Bon Goût we review Le Cotte-Rôti, an unusually decorated restaurant located in the 12th arrondissement. Owner and chef Nicolas Michel told us that he plans to remodel his bistrot this August, but, happily, he will continue to serve the same great cuisine when he reopens in September!

Access to the review is available to paid subscribers of our newsletter. To enter a subscription, click here.

A Visit to an Herb Shop

Thursday, July 1st, 2010
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Herboristerie de la place Clichy
(c) Discover Paris!

We recently took a tour of the oldest herb shop in Europe, located near place de Clichy. Owned and operated by Jean-Pierre Raveneau, he spoke with us about medicinal herbs and their place in modern medicine. Read our report in the July issue of Paris Insights. Click here to read the newsletter abstract, and here to enter a subscription.

Bonne lecture!