Archive for August, 2011

Discover Paris! Visits the Market with Chef Diane Anthonissen

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011
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Market Visit with Diane

Click here to view the video!

Chef Diane Anthonissen gives a guided tour of the open-air food market located on avenue President Wilson in Paris.

Contact us for information about her cooking classes and private dinners.

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Bed and Breakfast in Paris

Saturday, August 27th, 2011
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View of balcony

I blogged about Peggy and Jeff last June, just after the fabulous party they threw to celebrate the second anniversary of their Web site, Le Journal des Amoureux de Paris. Well, they are in the news again because they have just opened their B&B, situated in the 19th arrondissement of Paris.

The 130 ft² bedroom in their 840 ft² apartment can accommodate two persons. Check out the details (in French) at the following link. They have posted photos of the room, as well as photos of the apartment and the neighborhood. At 75€ per night, it sounds like a great deal!

For further details, contact them directly. They speak English.

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A Visit to the Hometown of Alexandre Dumas
By Monique Y. Wells, Co-founder of Discover Paris!

Thursday, August 25th, 2011
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Statue of Alexandre Dumas
at Place du Docteur Jean Mouflier
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Until recently, every time that I gave my Entrée to Black Paris tour called Black Paris after WWII and told the story about how the remains of Alexandre Dumas were transferred from his hometown of Villers-Cotterêts to the Pantheon in Paris, I would think to myself that I should someday make the short trek up to Picardie to see the original gravesite and the town where Dumas grew up. I made this trek a few days ago, and I am happy to share the details with you!

Last Thursday, Tom and I were treated to a special day trip to the region of Picardie by two friends—Elizabeth and David Berry. We visited the Royal Abbey of Chaalis in the morning, lunched at the Château d’Ermenonville, and visited the town of Villers-Cotterêts in the afternoon. The weather was perfect, the sites intriguing, and the meal sublime!

Down the street from the statue of Alexandre Dumas, which stands in the place du Docteur Jean Mouflier, lies the Alexandre Dumas Museum. For such a small museum, there is plenty to see! The museum consists of three rooms—one devoted to Dumas’ father, General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas; one to Dumas père (the writer that we know and love—the author of The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Man in the Iron Mask among myriad works); and one to Alexandre Dumas fils (son of Alexandre Dumas père). Thomas-Alexandre Dumas was born in Saint Domingue (Haiti) of a French marquis and a slave mother; hence, all three generations had African ancestry.

A beautiful portrait of the general, who served in Napoleon Bonaparte’s army, dominates the first room. Dumas was part of Napoleon’s Egyptian adventure, but fell out of favor with the Emperor and never received the pension that he was due once he left the army. On the way home from Egypt, he was forced to leave his ship in Taranto (Italy) and was imprisoned at Brindisi. While in prison, he contracted an illness from which he never fully recovered, and died a weak and impoverished man in Villers-Cotterêts in 1806.

Painting of Father of Alexandre Dumas by Olivier Pichat
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

General Dumas’ room contains numerous documents written by him, illustrations of him, and other artifacts.

In Alexandre Dumas père’s room, one finds several portraits and photos of him, his writing desk, a pair of boots, and many other artifacts.

Desk of Alexandre Dumas
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Here is a lithograph portrayal of Dumas that is unlike any other that I have seen:

Portrait of Alexandre Dumas
by Jean-Pierre Moynet
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

There is also an original version of The Three Musketeers, which is open to the title page…

Original printing of The Three Musketeers
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Alexandre Dumas père left Villers-Cotterêts in 1823 to seek his fortune in Paris. He went on to become France’s most prolific writer, a distinction that he still holds today. He gained and lost a couple of fortunes, traveled widely, and generally lived life to the fullest. He spent his last days in the care of his illegitimate daughter, Marie-Alexandrine Dumas, and died in the town of Puys in 1870.

In the room dedicated to Alexandre Dumas fils, the illegitimate and subsequently legally recognized son of Dumas père, there is a colorful portrait of him…

Portrait of Alexandre Dumas fils
by Edouard Louis Dubufe
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

and a letter that he wrote to his father, published in Le Petit Figaro in 1868,

Letter from Alexandre Duman fils
to Alexandre Dumas père
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

as well as other documents and artifacts. Dumas fils’ first play, The Lady of the Camelias, was an enormous success. It was the inspiration for Verdi’s opera La Traviata. He was inducted into the Académie Française in 1874 and awarded the Legion of Honor in 1894.

When we left the museum, we walked past the house in which Dumas père grew up…

House Where Alexandre Dumas père Was Born
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

on the way to the cemetery where the family plot lies.

Dumas Family Plot at Cimetière de Villers-Cotterêts
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Buried here are Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, his wife Marie-Louise-Elizabeth Labouret, and the daughter and son-in-law of Alexandre Dumas fils. As indicated on his cenotaph, the remains of Dumas père were transferred to the Pantheon in Paris in 2002.

Cenotaph for Alexandre Dumas père
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Alexandre Dumas fils was not buried in the family plot. His grave is located in the Montmartre Cemetery in Paris.

Tasting Estate-grown Coffee at Terres de Café

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011
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Terres de Café at 14, rue Rambuteau
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Back in January, I posted an article about a great blend that I enjoyed called Mélange Parfait Expresso, which I had purchased at Terres de Café located on rue des Blancs Manteaux.

On Tuesday before last I went to their store on rue Rambuteau to see what they were brewing. I learned that they sell an espresso of the day for only 1€, a good price if ever there was one. The coffee on that particular day was Brésil Monte Alegre, an estate-grown coffee from Minas Gerais, one of the 26 states in Brazil.

I purchase a cup at the counter and carried it to one of the two tables on the sidewalk terrace. There, I drank the espresso without adding sugar so that I could distinguish its qualities. I found it to be strong (as an espresso should be), full-bodied, smooth, and fruity with no bitterness. No sugar needed to bring out the flavor!

I returned to the counter and purchased 250 grams of the same coffee, whole-bean, for 7.40€ and took it home to brew it in my French coffee press. I was never able to recapture the full flavor of that espresso using a coffee press—after all, how could I? I was using a different brewing method! But still, I was able to produce a cup of coffee with a strong, pleasantly smooth, slightly fruity, slightly-sweet flavor.

Terres de Café now has a third store, located at
13 rue d’Aligre
75012 Paris
Tel: 01.43.41.88.57

Brézil Monte Alegre Served As Espresso at Terres de Café
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

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What Would You Do If You Could Move to Paris?

Friday, August 19th, 2011
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Paris Insights - An Anthology: The Abridged Edition

What would you do if you could move to Paris? How would you spend your time once you got there? Read about one American’s experience in the French capital—learn how he found his calling and opened his own wine shop and restaurant.

This and other fascinating articles about the City of Light are immediately available for the price of a tweet in the abridged edition of Paris Insights – An Anthology.

Want to learn more about Paris? Click here to download the abridged edition of Paris Insights – An Anthology. It costs no more than the price of a tweet!

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Tasting Single-origin Chocolate Ganaches at Debauve & Gallais

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011
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Debauve & Gallais Chocolates of Origin
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

We have long known about the existence of the Debauve & Gallais chocolate shop on rue des Saint-Pères, but not until just recently did we enter to purchase a small (100 gram) sample of their confections.

Spotting five different single-origin chocolate ganaches in the display case, I purchased two of each: Irian Jaya (Indonesia), Principe (West Africa), Caracas (Venezuela), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), and Tamatave (Madagascar). That evening, we tasted them.

The chocolates are made from cocoa, cane sugar, butter, and condensed milk, yielding the creamy filling that is called ganache.

While all of the chocolates were rich and delicious, we found it difficult to detect much difference in taste from one origin to another. For me, the Irian Jaya had the strongest chocolate flavor. My partner found the Principe to have a faint fruit flavor. I found the Caracas to be mild with a buttery consistency. My partner liked the Santo Domingo, with its slightly fruity taste and soft, smooth interior. And we both found the Tamatave, from Madagascar, to have the mildest chocolate flavor of the batch.

Founded in 1800 by a pharmacist, Debauve & Gallais has been in business for a very long time. The décor of the shop on rue des Saint-Pères is a beautiful example of Empire style. It was designed by Percier and Fontaine, architects of Napoleon Bonaparte’s country home, the Château de Malmaison.

Enter the shop to see a splendid example of the architecture of that post-Revolutionary era.

But hold on to your purse strings! The ganaches that we purchased cost 140€ a kilo, roughly $90 a pound.

Debauve & Gallais
30, rue des Saint-Pères
75007 Paris
Telephone: 01 45 48 54 67
Open Mon to Sat 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

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Are We the First Anglophones to Review the New Restaurant La Rotonde?

Monday, August 15th, 2011
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La Rotonde

La Rotonde
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Are we the first Anglophones in Paris to review the new restaurant La Rotonde? We like to think so! While other reviewers are away at summer camp or lounging on the beach, Discover Paris! is here in the city doing what it does best: discovering Paris!

La Rotonde is located in a newly-renovated rotunda that once served to house administrative offices of a tax wall that had been built around Paris.

Read our review at the following link: http://www.parisinsights.com/restaurants.php

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Exploring African-American History in Paris with Discover Paris!
By Francine Allen, Guest Blogger

Saturday, August 13th, 2011
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Monique Y. Wells (left) and
Francine Allen (right)
at Notre Dame Cathedral
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

The Eiffel Tower scales the sky.

Yet, its height is easily matched by depth—the depth of history held by the city in which it stands: Paris.

The buildings and streets of Paris tell a deep and rich history of the African-American experience, a history that Monique Wells and Tom Reeves of Discover Paris! helped me to discover. Their meticulous tour planning enabled me, as a first-time visitor, to travel with ease throughout Paris, learning of African-American history in a context and setting far beyond the U.S. border.

Touring Paris
Initially, the prospect of using the Paris metro system to tour the City was intimidating, an intimidation compounded by my very limited French-speaking ability. However, when Monique Wells walked with me to the metro station soon after my arrival in the City and showed me how to read the metro maps, her quick lesson in metro map-reading made it possible for me during the remainder of my time in Paris to ride the metro confidentially, visiting all of the tour sites outlined in the personalized schedule that she and Tom helped me design. My confidence and comfort level in Paris were further boosted by the fact that the metro system was only a very short walking distance from the quaint and comfortable hotel that Monique and Tom found and booked for me long before my arrival in the City.

After leaving Paris, I traveled to the southern part of France, to the hilltop village of St. Paul de Vence, where novelist and essayist James Baldwin lived and died. Here again, Discover Paris! made my travel to the village smooth, finding drivers who were both punctual and kind as they transported me between the train station and my hotel in Nice, and later, between the train station and the airport in Paris.

Learning of the African-American Presence in Paris
The ease with which Discover Paris! enabled me to travel throughout Paris and to other areas of France allowed me to focus on my primary purpose for visiting the City—delving into the African-American experience in the City. As Monique revealed in her tour, this experience is wide and deep, with building after building in Paris testifying to the black presence in Paris. There stands, for instance, the Casino de Paris where Josephine Baker performed. Then, among the never-ending array of Paris cafes sits the famous Café de Flore where, in one of its upper rooms, James Baldwin wrote Go Tell It on the Mountain. Along a road running by the cabaret Moulin Rouge arises the residence where Langston Hughes lived briefly. Beyond these buildings, there stand other buildings and areas that testify to the many lesser-known African Americans who also lived in the City, opening businesses in Paris at a time when doing so would have been unheard of in the United States.

This legacy, this historical fact of the black presence in Paris is not merely a matter of history. African Americans are still living and working in Paris, as is the case of novelist Jake Lamar. After Discover Paris! set up an interview for me with Lamar, I learned from this Bronx native who has chosen to make his home in Paris that, for him, one main attraction of the City is the love Paris shows the literary artist, regardless of his or her level of notoriety. This stands in contrast, Lamar says, to the U.S., which tends to give greatest attention to the most acclaimed literary artists.

Understanding the Global Nature of the African-American Experience
In creating a uniquely designed tour for me, Discover Paris! helped me to think of Paris beyond mere stereotypical images. Rather, I came to see how the City itself enriches the study of African-American history in three key ways. First, it reveals the very global nature of the African-American experience and the way in which this experience, in order to be fully understood, must be considered, studied, and explored beyond the borders of the United States. Secondly, the City highlights how the global aspect of the African-American experience includes not only Africa but Europe as well. Finally, the City’s history suggests that the pursuit of freedom continues to characterize the African-American experience, whether that pursuit is prompted as it was decades ago by a desire to escape segregation and Jim Crow or whether it is inspired today by the simple pleasure of freely enjoying life in a nation different from one’s birth.

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We wish to thank Francine Allen for contributing this article to our blog.

For information about our African-American history in Paris tours, follow this link.

Tourist or Traveler: Is There Really a Difference?

Thursday, August 11th, 2011
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Is there really a difference between a “tourist” and a “traveler,” or is the distinction a superficial, elitist notion? We think that there is a true difference, and we discuss the concept in an essay entitled “Tourist or Traveler” in the abridged edition our book Paris Insights – An Anthology.

And now, for the ridiculously low price of a Tweet, you may download the e-book and read about this and other fascinating things about the Paris that you never knew! Read what is the number one difference between French and American wines in the article entitled “Wining and Dining with Juan Sanchez;” learn about the diversity of worship in the City of Light in the article “Christian Churches in Paris;” and learn why the avenue des Champs-Elysées is an important place in the hearts and minds of Parisians.

Want to learn more about Paris? Click here! (Tourists won’t, we think.)

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In This Month’s Le Bon Goût: Sakebar Youlin

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
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Kenji Kuribayashi, Chef — Youlin Li, Owner
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Sakebar Youlin is a tiny restaurant located on rue Valette, just down the hill from the Pantheon. We recently dined there and then met the owner and chef to learn more about the inspiration behind the Franco-Japanese cuisine that is served there. Read our review in this month’s Le Bon Goût.

Click here to read a brief summary of the August issue, and here to enter a subscription.

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