Eye Prefer Paris is an ex-New Yorker's insider's guide to Paris. Richard Nahem writes his blog from his fabulous 18th century apartment in the fashionable Marais district of Paris
While Parisians are in their summer country homes or on the Riviera and Normandy/Brittany coasts living impressionism in real life or in Paris enjoying the relatively empty August streets, I find myself on the Monterey Peninsula in California (of Big Little Lies fame). It was my home before Paris and a place where I breathe in the fresh cool air during the summer months to get away from the Paris heat and tourist crowds.
I am, of course, drawn to the sea . . . particularly the strange creatures of this “other” world. I spend hours with these creatures at the Monterey aquarium, where the jellies, especially, are mesmerizing. Their bodies can be umbrellas, pulsating gooseberries, Japanese lanterns, UFOs, exploding fireworks, gyrating plants, or lacy eruptions. They dangle graceful ribbons or threads of tentacles that look like minimalist paintings or Christian Lacroix dance costumes.
Everyone sees them differently, and, if you listen to the comments of the multi-national onlookers, it is clear that these free floaters inspire the imagination in wonderful ways.
Meredith Mullins is a fine art photographer, photography instructor, and writer forOIC Momentsand Bonjour Paris. Her work can be seen at www.meredithmullins.artspan.com, in her award-winning book, In A Paris Moment, or in this month’s issue of DESTIGmagazine. She is available for private photography instruction/exploration in Paris and also teaches WICE photography classes. A new Exploring Paris Through the Lens course begins September 17. For more information, contact her at meredithmullins@earthlink.net
If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Parisvideo about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.
Please remember to hit the LIKE button if you like it and SUBSCRIBE button to subscribe to my channel.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Last week I wrote about and featured photos of the gorgeous Art Nouveau architecture on the Ave. Felix Faure. Along with the architecture was a bevy of fantastic doors which I am sharing with you today.
Do you have some favorites here?
Most of these doors are on Ave. Felix Faure in between the Boucicaut, and Felix Faure metro stations in the 15th arrondissement.
If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Parisvideo about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.
Please remember to hit the LIKE button if you like it and SUBSCRIBE button to subscribe to my channel.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
On August 15, 2005, I moved to Paris after living in New York City almost all my life.
It was probably the most important decision I made in my adult life. It was a big gamble, as I had no plan of action as for what I would do for work once I moved here. I had a dreamer’s notion that things would workout, although that wasn’t particularly realistic or practical thinking, which I had adhered to as long as I could remember.
The realistic and practical thinking returned within the first 18 months I lived here, as I was getting bored and also needed to start earning money. I started writing Eye Prefer Paris as a way of sharing insider tips and discoveries about Paris and later on my tours as a way of doing something that I liked and could hopefully make a living from.
Fast forward to today, Eye Prefer Paris is still going strong after 14 years, with over 2,000 posts since June 2006 and I have done thousands of tours since starting Eye Prefer Paris Tours in 2007, meeting and making friends all over the world.
Living in Paris has been the most joyous, prolific, satisfying and fulfilling time of my life and probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made next to choosing Vincent as my partner.
I want to celebrate my good fortune with you, as you have been an integral part of my success and inspiration.
Since the magic number today is 15, I am offering a 15% discount on any of the Eye Prefer Paris Tours I personally lead between November 1 and December 15, 2019.
Please email me at r.nahem@gmail.com if you would like to book a tour during that period and I will give you a 15% discount.
Here’s to another 15 years of Eye Prefer Paris.
If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Parisvideo about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.
Please remember to hit the LIKE button if you like it and SUBSCRIBE button to subscribe to my channel.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Last week I was invited to have lunch at Grand Cafe Fauchon and later take a tour of the connecting Fauchon Hotel.
I have fond memories of the original Fauchon shop from the early 1980s. They had a pastry and coffee counter made of industrial steel and one would stand and have to balance their coffee cup and dessert on a sliver of a shelf without them toppling on the floor. During these trips to Paris from New York in that period, Vincent and I had a standing date to go to Fauchon at 4PM everyday, no matter where in Paris we were. We would sometimes be on the other side of the city and take two or three metros to get there to meet our goal of having pastry at Fauchon.
Much has changed at Fauchon since then, now becoming a luxury gourmet shop with mostly pre-packaged French foods and delicacies with many locations around the world besides the flagship store on Place Madeleine.
Last year Fauchon launched their first foray into the luxury hospitality market with the opening of their first hotel on Place Madeleine across the square from the store.
I took Vincent to lunch with me, for just a bit of nostalgia. We were seated on the outdoor terrace facing the Madeleine Church and the upscale boulevard Malesherbes. Fauchon signature colors are hot pink, black, and white. The terrace was covered with a hot pink awning and since it was a clear, sunny day there was an intense pink hue cast on the tables and on the food when it was served.
The progressive menu was divided into 4 sections, Vegetables, The Sea, The Land, and Sweets, giving diners some leeway in case they have dietary restrictions, which was once unheard of in France.
Our appetizer was a chilled tomato soup topped with chunks of summer produce and a touch of honey gave it a sweet unexpected highlight. For a plat, an unusual salad of morsels of foie gras mixed with frisee lettuce, and fresh figs worked well, a nice mélange of hearty and sweet plus healthy, fresh greens, to remove the guilt of having foie gras straight up. A few minutes later a more than tempting tray was set at our table, beckoning for us to choose a heavenly dessert. It was a hard choice, but a tart with super-size me raspberries on top and a thin layer of sable underneath won out. Vincent had a most intriguing dessert, a green object the shape of a perhaps a flying saucer or space ship, served on a plate with rows of ceramic rims. Inside was a light gateau intensely flavored with green apple. I took a bite and knew I’d have to come back for my own at another visit.
After lunch we were given a tour of the contemporarilydecorated tea salon, which also doubles as a private dining. The other lobby lounge retreats have sumptuous velvet couches, club chairs, and ottomans in the same signature colors.
We were brought up to the fourth floor to look at a deluxe room. The king size bed with white Porthault linens took up most of the room but the centerpiece was a special cabinet named the Gourmet Bar. Designed by Sacha Lakic and manufactured by Roche-Bobois, the sleek, copper color outside resembles an Art Deco armoire. Once the doors opened, that’s when it became a foodies dream mini-bar. The shelves were stocked with the best selling food products from the shop handpicked by the food and beverage manager, including biscuits, foie gras, Madeleines, salted butter caramels, butter cookies, fruit paste candies, and chocolate truffles and on a side table there was a selection of Fauchon teas, and macarons. The best part is that they are all free of charge. It was a good thing I wasn’t staying in the hotel, or they would have lost money on me, as I would have stocked up as much as possible.
The room had a lovely view of the tree lined Blvd. Malesherbes and its grand Haussmmanian buildings.
Fauchon L’Hotel Paris and Grand Cafe Fauchon
11 Place de la Madeleine, 75008/ 4 Boulevard Malesherbes, 75008
Yummy Treats from the Gourmet Bar More Yummy Treats from the Gourmet Bar
If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Parisvideo about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.
Please remember to hit the LIKE button if you like it and SUBSCRIBE button to subscribe to my channel.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Last week I had to run an errand close to Felix Faure Metro in the 15th arr. The 15th arr. is an area I know very little about and can count how many times I’ve been there since I moved here in 2005.
After my errand, I was headed to the metro and came upon a stunning Art Nouveau apartment building with the most gorgeous and ornate architectural details. I decided to walk further to look for other similar buildings and I found some real beauties walking on Ave. Felix Faure and the surrounding streets.
Most of these buildings were built on the later side of the Haussmann period, from about 1890 to 1915. One of the features of them is that they usually have the architect’s name carved on the outside along with either the building company or sometimes a sculptor’s name, if there are sculptures on it.
A frequent name I noticed was Jean Boucher and when I researched his name it turns out he was a formidable sculptor who sculpted many war memorial statues and one of Victor Hugo in exile in Guernsey.
Another name that popped up a number of times was Clement Feugueur, an architect who designed a number of buildings mostly in the 15th and 16th arrondissement.
Felix Faure was the president of France from 1895 to 1899. Ave Felix Faure is served by three metro stations on line 8: Lourmel, Boucicaut, and Felix Faure.
If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Parisvideo about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.
Please remember to hit the LIKE button if you like it and SUBSCRIBE button to subscribe to my channel.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
