Best Friend In Paris ™

Passy Cemetery

Donna — Fri, 18 May 2012 05:41:09 +0000

Quick visit yesterday to the Cimetière de Passy in the 16th near the Trocadero. Some lovely walkways and gravesites. Love Paris cemeteries!

Château de Malmaison

Donna — Tue, 01 May 2012 09:03:49 +0000

Malmaison, a set on Flickr.

Photos from a recent visit to the former home of Josephine, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, in Rueil Malmaison. They divorced in 1809 because she never bore him children.

However, she had two from a previous marriage (her husband was beheaded during the Revolution) who secured the longevity of the Bonaparte name via the marriage of her daughter to Bonaparte’s brother. This union gave us Napoleon III. It goes on with the marriage of the son to a Bavarian princess that leads to children of Russian and Swedish lineage. Amazing family tree!

Lovely home and gardens that is easily reachable from Paris via RER and bus.

Knights and Horses

Donna — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:35:07 +0000

I downloaded an App for my iphone – “Patrimap” created by the mayor’s office of Paris. The application has several itineraries to choose from with different themes. Not sure I’d advise the app to visitors only because if you don’t know your way around, you might spend most of your time trying to figure out the route. On the other hand, if does have a feature for “Nearby” that will pinpoint your location and point out interesting buildings and sites near where you are. At any rate, it’s free, so why not?

My friend and I chose the itinerary “The Knights and Horses Stroll”. Took about 3-4 hours walking. It was great fun and gave us an excuse to walk a familiar path with a purpose. Here’s what was along the way….

Knights and Horses, a set on Flickr.

My Gare St. Lazare

Donna — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:21:39 +0000

Anyone who knows me well knows that this past year, as I was moving from my posh neighborhood in the 17th to my new neighborhood in the 8th, I cried and whined a lot. My old neighborhood was quiet and charming with a park just at my doorstep. My new neighborhood is urban and gritty – at least the part I walk into as I leave my building. One block over and I’m back in posh again.

One of the off-putting landmarks of this neighborhood in the 8th, is Gare St. Lazare. Or at least, it used to be. The station has been under a nightmarish renovation for several years but as we approach the end of March, it’s almost done! The construction zones and temporary buildings on the outside are being dismantled and the interior is almost complete. They are installing 80 new stores – including a Carrefour City (a nice supermarket) and a Monop (Monoprix mini food store). It’s clean, open and airy!

For me, this is a very welcome event. I think the improvement on this neighborhood will be vast (doesn’t hurt that Google’s headquarters are just down the street too) and it’s certainly helping me feel more proud and invested…..

Holy Cow!

Donna — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 21:10:58 +0000

I love the agriculture show!

Church of Saint-Etienne du Mont

Donna — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 11:09:50 +0000

I walk around Paris a LOT. And as often as I have time, if I see a church, I duck in for a few minutes.

Recently I was in the 5th near the Pantheon and came upon the church of Saint-Etienne du Mont (which I wrongly thought was the church of Saint-Genevieve – the patron saint of Paris – she did have a role here but the church is not in her name). My minutes turned into an hour and my photographs can’t possibly do the place justice. It was one of the most beautiful, serene churches I’ve ever been in.

I lit a candle for my friend Erin and took a picture of the organ (dating from 1633) for Mary Rose. There’s a photo here too of the restaurant “Les Pipos” which is just an added bonus of being in the neighborhood!

Sunday Stroll

Donna — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:36:50 +0000

Why do I live in Paris? Because I get to look at this almost every day. These photos were taken as I was walking home to the 8th from a friends place in the 7th….

Drinking Wine In Paris

Donna — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:06:10 +0000

I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal by Lettie Teague that I felt didn’t do justice to the multitude of choices we have for drinking wine in Paris. These are just a few (I have many!) of my favorite places to drink wine in Paris. I am an American Wine Lover and I LIVE in Paris.

Le Garde Robe
41 rue de l’Arbre-Sec
75001

Le Grand Filles et Fils
1, rue de la Banque
Passage Vivienne
75002

Bodeguita du 4eme
58 rue Quincampoix
75004

Les Pages du Vin
44 rue Boulangers
75005

5e Cru
7 rue du Cardinal Lemoine
75005

El Galpon
12 rue Paul Bert
75011

Caves Saint Vincent
39 rue Laugier
75017

Cave du Miroir
91 rue des Martyrs
75018

Parc Montsouris

Donna — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:32:59 +0000

New Year’s Day I took a walk with Tamie in Parc Montsouris located in the 14th arrondissement. It’s been on my list forever but until I moved to the 8th near the line 13 metro, it seemed inconvenient to get to. There is also a little “village” of houses along rue Nansouty that faces the park that I’d read about in a book I carry around called Paris Secret et Insolite (which is also published in English). Cute houses! Made me have a little house envy which thankfully was brief.

The park is actually not that hard to get to no matter what part of town you’re coming from and I have to say, I was silly to have not gone before. It’s really lovely and they let you sit on the grass . Spring picnic, here I come…..

A few days in Lausanne, Switzerland

Donna — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:27:41 +0000

I was recently invited to spend a few days in the beautiful city of Lausanne. It’s an easy 3 1/2 hour train ride from Paris and Penelope (the cat) was invited too.

I had not been to Lausanne in a while and enjoyed wandering the streets of the old town center. It’s a very well-preserved city and has one of the most beautiful Gothic cathedrals in the country. The cathedral was built between 1150 and 1275. I climbed the 232 steps to the bell tower where there are spectacular views of the city and mountains. For over 600 years, every day, between the hours of 10pm and 2 am, a watchman, called a “guet” has called out to the citizens from the belfry.

I also visit the adjacent History Museum which has a marvelous small-scale model of the city that is based on a map from 1638. Surprisingly the city hasn’t changed all that much!

…and yes, I ate fondue and drank some very good Swiss wines (too bad we don’t find them here in France so much).