Just a couple of blocks from where I'm staying, I was excited today to stumble upon a striking boutique devoted to one of the pâtisseries du moment, the éclair. I'm not talking about your ordinary, run of the mill éclair here...Oh no. These are new-age, think-outside-the-box technicolour dreams with innovative flavours and creative designs. It was the rainbow stripes of pop-art colour that drew me in to L’Eclair de Génie, the sleek, modern store on rue de Pavée that is the creation of exceptionally talented French pâtissier Christophe Adam - who must have the wildest imagination. Formerly a pastry chef at Fauchon, this risk taker is part of ...
Paris in the Springtime
I have had the most extraordinary Sunday. The weather has been perfect, there is joy in the air and everyone is out and about celebrating Paris in the springtime - and I mean everybody! Meandering around le Marais and through the islands today I found mile-long queues at Berthillon icecream outlets and there were literally thousands of cyclists and rollerbladers.Place des Vosges was full of locals revelling in the beautiful spring sunshine;Roses perfumed the air along the footpaths,And spring bulbs made an appearance.Jazz floated through city streets and over the bridges and there were buskers everywhere,Even outside the famous English bookshop, Shakespeare & Co.Cafes ...
Explosion at L’Etoile d’Or
I was saddened this week to learn of the gas explosion at Denise Acabo's legendary A l'Etoile d'Or confectionary shop in Paris - on Valentine's Day. Denise Acabo at A L'Etoile d'OrL'Etoile d'Or is renowned for stocking only the very best from all over France, and recipes for many of the traditional French sweets and handcrafted chocolates date back to the 19th-century. A L'Etoile d'OrI'm so glad that Denise, who is as sweet as her shop, is okay. Let's hope that she has support to rebuild and that the forced closure of this adorable little spot near the Moulin Rouge is ...
The Best Time to Visit Paris
During the past week or so I have been ridiculously busy, and with not enough hours in the day I have welcomed the solitude of the wee hours to work on the final edit of my upcoming book. With my head full of France, how could I not take a bit of time out to book a flight to Paris?While I was planning dates for my trip, it occurred to me that rarely a week goes by without someone asking me, 'When is the best time to visit Paris?' The answer is not a simple one. A host of things must be ...
French Cheese Tips & Etiquette
When my mind turns to Paris, I can think of nothing more enjoyable that unwrapping an oozing slice of perfectly-ripe cheese, slathering it on a fresh baguette, baked bien cuit with a crackling crust, and pouring a glass of red wine. For cheese enthusiasts like me, it represents pure joie de vivre. Fromageriesare sprinkled in every quarter of the city and stopping to buy a cheese or two for dinner is a part of everyday life. Step inside and you'll find a mind-boggling array of seasonal delights from tiny logs of soft, creamy chèvre to giant wheels of farmhouse Saint-Nectaire. Often, you'll bump into big bowls of thick, ...
On Deleted Scenes of Paris
So very often as a writer I reluctantly pull back text that I'm attached to in order to make it fit snugly on the pages, or to comply with a tight word count for an article in a travel magazine. Mostly, these extra words are superfluous to the story and sadly, have to go, whether interesting or not. Over the past few days I have been so absorbed working on an edit that I wondered what on earth I was going to blog about this week until it suddenly occured to me that, in fact, I have a growing pile of material that has never seen the light of day.A lot of ...
On Dreaming of a pied-à-terre in Paris
June is going to be a very busy month for me. The deadline for a major edit on my upcoming Paris book is just a couple of weeks away (no, I can't tell you any more just yet), I have just started a new job and sold my rambling stone villa, and I really must get packing! Finding somewhere to live is also on the 'to do' list and I have recently spent hours scrolling through the real estate pages on the internet and going to open inspections in search of a smaller place. I have clicked on contemporary apartments ...