On Sunday, May 27, Mary Campbell Gallagher gave a talk in Paris to raise public awareness about high-rise threats to the city skyline.
We met her the following day to record her appeal on camera. In this short video, she describes City Council plans to build towers inside Paris and explains how to oppose them. Will you help?
Click on the image below to view!
Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!
Photo of Carole Fredericks
Carole Fredericks was an American woman who moved to Paris in 1979 and achieved considerable success there as a singer. After her death in 2001, she was buried in the Montmartre cemetery. Yesterday, friends and acquaintances met in front of the apartment building where she lived, at 91bis, rue du Mont-Cenis in the 18th arrondissement, to celebrate her memory.
Daniel Vaillant - Mayor of 18th Arrondissement
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
The Plaque
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
The mayor of the 18th arrondissement, Carole’s sister Connie Fredericks-Malone, Carole’s brother Taj Mahal, and the master of ceremonies Timothy Ramier, Esq., gave speeches about Carole’s life and how she has been an inspiration for so many. Following the speeches, a memorial plaque affixed to the wall of the apartment building was unveiled.
Taj Mahal and Connie Fredericks-Malone
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
After the ceremony, a concert in Carole’s honor was given at the Centre Musical Fleury Goutte d’Or – Barbara. Among the performers were her brother Taj Mahal and her sister Connie. It was both a stirring and an inspiring event!
Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!
We met Jacky Ribault, chef of Qui Plume la Lune Restaurant, and produced a short video about him. Click on the image below to view!
We participate in Wanderfood Wednesdays. Head over there to explore food from around the world!
Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!
François Parisi and Cybèle Castoriadis
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
The annual Fête de la Musique was held in Paris yesterday, with musicians and singers appearing on street corners and in bars, pubs, and restaurants throughout the city to celebrate the beginning of summer.
For my part, I chose to attend a unique concert at the Bibliothèque des Litteratures Policières, where I heard Cybèle Castoriadis sing not happy, joyous songs that the official arrival of summer would occasion, but brooding, sinister songs about the darker side of life in Paris. Indeed, apart from the Paris Police Museum that stands only a few blocks away, there would be no better place to perform these songs but at the Bibliothèque des Litteratures Policières, a city library dedicated to the crime-thriller literary genre.
For over an hour, Cybèle, accompanied by accordionist François Parisi, regaled the audience with such French chansons as “Le Boucher de la Rue de Flandres,” about a butcher who turned to murder and deboned his victims; “La Vipère du Trottoir,” about a woman who willingly submitted to prostitution and betrayed her pimp, who, in turn, murdered her; “Le Chat Qui Miaule,” about a burglar whose victim is awakened by the meow of a cat and, consequently, gets strangled by the intruder. There were eighteen songs in all, and the topics seemed to get more shocking as the concert progressed. It was enough to send chills down one’s spine! Which is the point, of course, and is exactly what people seek when they pick up a crime thriller…or attend a cabaret to hear these songs performed.
I had a chance to speak briefly with the accordionist. He told me that he recorded two melodies for the soundtrack of the movie Midnight in Paris. Later, I searched his name on the Internet and found their names: “Ballad du Paris” and “Le Parc de Plaisir.” To hear a sample of his music, go to the landing page of his Web site. The melody “Annie-Zette” that plays immediately is a wonderful example of Paris musette at its best!
Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!
Xavier Chocq, Chef
Claire Bouchilloux, Proprietor
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
Last month we took the metro to the nearby town of Montreuil where we dined at a restaurant called La Grosse Mignonne. As well as enjoying a great meal, we also had the pleasure of listening to an entertainer named Vilna sing a medley of Brazilian songs. Every Saturday evening there is a music concert featuring jazz or world music.
On Friday and Saturday evenings during the month of March, La Grosse Mignonne holds jazz manouche (gypsy jazz) concerts under the sponsorship of David Reinhardt, the grandson of the famous Django Reinhardt. Some of the top performers in this musical genre come to the restaurant to play!
Read about the restaurant in this month’s Paris Insights. Our review is the only full-length review of La Grosse Mignonne that you will find on the Internet.
Our newsletter is published monthly as a downloadable PDF file. It is available only to paid subscribers for an annual subscription fee of $30.
If you are not a paid subscriber and would like to download the newsletter, please click here. Enter promotional code 11473309154 to receive a $5 discount off the price of an annual subscription.
Bonne Lecture…et Bon Appétit!
We participate in Wanderfood Wednesdays. Head over there to explore food from around the world!
Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!
…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 and it’s not too late to give your father my inspirational book Paris Insights – An Anthology for Father’s Day. Thanks to Amazon’s Whispernet technology, the Kindle edition can be delivered instantly.
One reviewer called Paris Insights – An Anthology “…at once witty, original, absorbing and a swift read. It offers precisely the kind of insider’s view of the French capital — and the people who live there — that first or even second time visitors pine for…” [Gary Lee, former travel writer for the Washington Post]
Better than a power drill or a necktie for Father’s Day, Paris Insights – An Anthology is a gift that offers an insider’s view of the things to love about Paris.
Our book is available in three editions: Premium (full color), Travelers’ (black and white), and Kindle (electronic). Click here to learn more or to purchase now!
Just in time for Father’s Day—the Kindle edition can be purchased and downloaded immediately!
Discover the beauty and passion of the world’s most fascinating city in Paris Insights – An Anthology.
Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!
Chantal de Lander-Gaubens
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
On Saturday, June 2, I paid a visit to the Boutique Ephémère (Ephemeral Boutique) located in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. There I purchased a bottle of oil produced from olives grown by Chantal de Lander-Gaubens on her farm (called Domaine de Vautubière) near Aix-en-Provence in southern France. Chantal had driven to Paris to sell her olive oil over a three-day period at the Ephemeral Boutique. I had read somewhere that her oil is produced by the traditional method, so I made a special effort to get to the boutique to buy a bottle.
The traditional method of olive oil production involves squeezing the juice of the olives using a hydraulic press and then painstakingly skimming the oil off the top of the juice using a large, slightly convex, metal disk (called a feuille in French).
But let me start from the beginning of the procedure!
After the harvest, the olives are placed in a vat for a short period of time to allow them to ripen. They are then ground into paste, using millstones. The paste is spread onto fiber disks and the disks are stacked under a hydraulic press which squeezes out the olive juice. (In the old days, the millstones and press were powered by farm animals. Nowadays, they are powered by electric motors.)
The olive juice flows into a vat, where the oil rises to the top and is separated from the juice by hand with the feuille. (The modern method uses a centrifuge to separate the liquids.)
The oil is then stored in stainless steel vats, bottled, and sold.
An explanation of this process (in French) with photos can be seen on Chantal’s Web site.
AOC Olive Oil and Traditional Olive Oil
Produced by Domaine de Vautubière
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
After I purchased of a bottle of her Traditional olive oil, Chantal offered me a small bottle of AOC oil. The difference between the two, I later learned, is technical. The Traditional olive oil comes from olives that have been aged a few days longer than the AOC oil. The symbol “AOC” on the bottle is a certification that the olives come from the delimited region in which her farm is located. Chantal told me that the “Traditional” olive oil also comes from her farm, but, if I understood correctly, the oil does not qualify for the “AOC” label because the “Traditional” olives have been aged slightly longer than what is permitted for obtaining an “AOC” label.
I took the olive oils home and tasted them at the first opportunity. Monique and I poured them into small spoons and tasted each one. When we knew which oil we were tasting, we thought that we could distinguish one from the other. However, when we performed a blind taste test, we were, with one exception, unable to distinguish them.
We liked the taste of the oils. Both were smooth, mild, and surprisingly sweet. Neither had the peppery aftertaste that one usually associates with olive oil. The AOC oil was the sweetest, and the Traditional oil had a fruity flavor.
We enjoyed the opportunity to taste these olive oils, particularly because they are produced by traditional methods that are rarely used in this increasingly mechanized world of mass-produced food products. Chantal told me that she will bring a limited-production oil, called “La Fleur d’Huile,” from her farm the next time that she comes to Paris. We look forward to trying that one!
Domaine de Vautubière
13111 Coudoux
France
Tel.: 04.42.52.12.23
Web site: www.huiledecoudoux.com
We participate in Wanderfood Wednesdays. Head over there to explore food from around the world!
Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!
Gentle Gourmet Café
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
The Gentle Gourmet Café opened in mid-May along the Port de Plaisance, a marina for small craft and pleasure boats that lies to the south of place de la Bastille. We dined there on Friday, June 1, and enjoyed a fine vegan meal. Read our review in this week’s Paris Insights—The Restaurant Review.
To gain access to our reviews, all you need to do is to sign up at the following link: http://www.parisinsights.com/restaurants.php.
Bon appétit!
Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!
Whiskybaba
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
On Friday, May 4, I attended a concert in metro station Miromesnil where six bands competed for the opportunity to appear at the annual Solidays three-day mega-concert to be held in late June. One of the bands was Whiskybaba, whose on-stage antics made me smile!
I wrote about the concert in this month’s Paris Insights, a monthly newsletter that brings you insider information about culture, history, and contemporary life in the City of Light.
To view a preview of the newsletter, click here.
Paris Insights is published monthly as a downloadable PDF file. It is available only to paid subscribers for an annual subscription fee of $30.
If you are not a paid subscriber and would like to download the newsletter, please click here. Enter promotional code 11473309154 to receive a $5 discount off the price of an annual subscription.
Bonne lecture!
Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!
On Saturday May 12, I took the metro to the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, where I joined a group of about fifteen persons for a walking tour of some of the archeological sites of the town. The tour was led by Nicole Rodrigues, director of the architectural unit of the city. We were fortunate to have such a knowledgeable person lead the group! Nicole pointed out that Saint-Denis is rich in archeological sites that date as far back as Late Antiquity, when Frankish kings ruled this land.
So important is Saint-Denis’ archeological heritage that the city goes to extraordinary lengths to inform and educate its citizens about this precious legacy. The walking tour in which I participated is one of the many ways that the city engages its citizens in this effort.
Fabrique de la Ville
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
For me, the high point of the visit was a tour of the “Fabrique de la Ville,” a restoration project of what is believed to be (apart from the Basilica of Saint Denis) the oldest building in the city. The building’s roof has been stripped, exposing its rafters so that archeologists can examine them carefully. By extracting small cores of wood from the beams, these scientists have been able to determine that the tree from which the wood was cut was harvested in the year 1482.
After the roof was stripped, the city built a tent to cover the building to protect it from the elements so that archeological exploration could continue. At the same time, the city erected scaffolding to permit members of the archeological team to give guided tours of the project.
Following the Leader
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
Nicole Rodrigues Talks about the History of the Old Building
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
When we arrived at the project, we were instructed to don safety helmets and to follow Nicole up the stairs of the scaffolding, where she talked about the history of the building. In the photo above, she shows a sketch that illustrates what the building and its adjoining structures once looked like.
Rafters of Old Building
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
We climbed higher, and there we were at roof-top height! We could clearly see for ourselves that the rafters were still sturdy after all these years (530 to be exact). But that wasn’t all. The surprise came when we learned that we could climb to the top of a belvedere for a spectacular view of the Saint-Denis skyline.
So, up we went, five persons at a time.
View of Paris to the South
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
In the photograph above, the Sacré-Cœur Basilica can be seen on the horizon.
View of Saint-Denis to the East
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
In the photograph above, the Stade de France can be seen on the horizon.
View of Saint-Denis to the North
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net
In the photograph above, the Basilica of Saint Denis can be seen.
It was a spectacular end to an enlightening tour of the city!
Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!
 | 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. |