I Prefer Paris

Metro Station of the Month: Abbesses

2009-11-09T06:09:00+01:00

Abbesses metro is the station for Montmartre. It has one of the only two remaining original Hector Guimard metro entrances in Paris and was named after abbesses of the nearby Dames-de Montmartre abbey. One of the deepest stations in Paris,118 ft., I schlepped up up the numerous, windy stairs to photograph the wonderful,whimsical murals of the area painted on the walls behind the railing.

Abbesses
#12 line- Porte de la St. Chapelle to Mairie d'Issy

The next two are at the entrance of the station

Don't forget about the Montmartre photo contest.

The contest is for the most unusual and dramatic photo of Montmartre. The contest winner will be announced next Wednesday, November 11. Please send your photos no later than November 10 and you can email them to me at r.nahem@gmail.com. Please send no more than 3 photos in an email.

Now for the prize. The winner will receive a copy of the new best-selling book What French Women Know by Debra Ollivier. The intriguing book is about love, sex, and other matters of the heart and mind, a witty, insightful exploration of what makes French women tick. Questions like “How do they make it look so easy?” and “Why are French women always so incredibly sexy, even if they are physically ordinary?" are answered and explained by Ollivier who lived in Paris for many years and married a Frenchman. Ollivier offers us a refreshing new perspective on the stale ooh-la-la stereotypes about French women, revisiting and challenging old notions about sex, love, dating, marriage, motherhood, body politics, and seduction. A must read book for any man or woman who appreciates the mystique of French women.

If you can't wait to read the book before the contest, click here to order.

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Best Place to Exchange U.S. Dollars

2009-11-05T06:15:00+01:00

I most always tell visitors that the best way to change money is to do it with your cash card. Your bank may charge a 3-5 euro fee for the transaction but it is usually the best rate you can get. However, I did find a currency exchange bureau/bureau de change that matches the rate from a cash machine.The other day I changed $100 and received 66 euros which comes out to about 1.51 and the wholesale rate on the internet was listed close 1.48,so the rate I received was equal to my bank. The other good thing about this exchange place is they didn't ask for a passport and it's in a convenient location off the rue de Rivoli by Place de la Concorde.

The above photo is not of Change & Collection.

Change & Collection
1 rue de Rouget de Lisle, 1st. arr
Metro: Concorde or Tuileries
Tel. 01 42 60 00 35
Open Monday to Friday 8:30AM-6PM
Saturday 9:30AM-1PM, 2PM -5:30PM
Google map

Don't forget about the Montmartre photo contest.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Eye Prefer Paris Contest: Montmartre

2009-11-04T06:15:00+01:00

Dalida grave at Montmartre Cemetery

I have been doing tours of Montmartre lately and it inspired a new contest. From the Moulin Rouge to Sacre Coeur, to the majestic views of the city below, to the windy streets frequented by the movie character Amelie, Montmartre is one of the most photogenic places in Paris.

So the contest is for the most unusual and dramatic photo of Montmartre. The contest winner will be announced next Wednesday, November 11. Please send your photos no later than November 10 and you can email them to me at r.nahem@gmail.com. Please send no more than 3 photos in an email.

Now for the prize. The winner will receive a copy of the new best-selling book What French Women Know by Debra Ollivier. The intriguing book is about love, sex, and other matters of the heart and mind, a witty, insightful exploration of what makes French women tick. Questions like “How do they make it look so easy?” and “Why are French women always so incredibly sexy, even if they are physically ordinary?" are answered and explained by Ollivier who lived in Paris for many years and married a Frenchman. Ollivier offers us a refreshing new perspective on the stale ooh-la-la stereotypes about French women, revisiting and challenging old notions about sex, love, dating, marriage, motherhood, body politics, and seduction. A must read book for any man or woman who appreciates the mystique of French women.

If you can't wait to read the book before the contest, click here to order.

Here are some of my most unusual and dramatic photos taken at the Montmartre cemetery.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Fall Foliage in the Marais

2009-11-03T06:11:00+01:00

When I lived in New York I would have to go to either Central Park or upstate New York to see the fall foliage. Luckily in Paris I just had to walk down the street near my apartment in the Marais to see the glorious autumn colors. Riotous reds, vibrant yellows, and faded greens permeated the old stone walls on many of the 17th century hotel particuliers last week on a most perfect sunny, crisp day with temperatures hovering in the mid-50s.

Checkout the insiders guide to Paris on page 76 I wrote for the prestigious online lifestyle and travel magazine The Address http://www.theaddress.info/no4/the-address4-sp.pdf

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

November Eye Need to Do's: BNP Paribas Tennis Masters, Deadline and Joe Allen's Thanksgiving Dinner

2009-11-02T06:14:00+01:00

Deadline
A exhibition about dead artists who knew they were dying may sound morbid but Deadline is actually quite moving. Inspirational works by 13 artists including Joan Mitchell, Willem de Kooning, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Felix Torres-Gonzalez chronicle the last days of these great artists.

Deadline- till January 10, 2010
Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
11 Ave. du President Wilson, 16th. arr.
Metro: Iena
http://www.paris.fr/portail/Culture/Portal.lut?page_id=6450

Thanksgiving in Paris
If you are homesick for Thanksgiving dinner while in Paris, Joe Allen's offers a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and all the trimmings, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie for a mere 38 euros. The fun American style interior with Broadway theater posters makes you feel you are in the Big Apple.

Joe Allen
30 rue Pierre Lescot, near rue Etienne Marcel, 1st er.
01 42 36 70 13
Reservations a must

BNP Tennis Masters
It's the last major tournament of the 2009 tennis season and eight of the top male players are vying for the big prize and to top the rankings. Watch Federer, Nadal, Murray, the new Latin hottie Juan Martin del Potro, and Frenchie Wilfried Jo-Tsonga duke it out for over 2,000,000 euros in prize money.

BNP Paribas Masters 2009
11/8- 11/15
Palais Ominsports de Paris
Bercy
8 Blvd. de Bercy, near Quai de Bercy, 12th arr.
Metro: Bercy
http://www.fft.fr/bnpparibasmasters/2009_en/?id=55

Art Nouveau Revival
Art Nouveau was a driving force in design and art from 1900 to 1933 and abruptly ended until a revival in the 1960s brought it to life again. An important show at the D'Orsay illustrates the significant similarities and differences in the two eras through furniture, posters, and films.

Art Nouveau Revival -Till February 10, 2010
Musee d'Orsay
1 rue de la Legion d'Honneur, 7th arr.
Metro: Assemble Nationale or Solferino
http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/home.html

Checkout the insiders guide to Paris on page 76 I wrote for the prestigious online lifestyle and travel magazine The Address http://www.theaddress.info/no4/the-address4-sp.pdf
New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Halloween in Paris

2009-10-30T06:15:00+01:00

Paris celebrates Halloween in a much milder manner than the U.S. Festivities this year include a Tim Burton film festival with a showing of Beetlejuice, Halloween night at Euro Disney, and of course The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Below are some graffiti Halloween posters on the Champs Elysees next door to the Disney Store. Have a BOO- tiful Halloween!

Tim Burton Film Festival
Le Champo Theatre
51 rue des Ecoles, 5th arr.
Metro: St. Michel or Odeon
http://www.lechampo.com/

Rocky Horror Picture Show
Friday & Saturday at 10:10PM
Studio Galande
42 rue de Galande ,5th arr.
Metro: St. Michel

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Lunch with Lynn/Paris Under 20 Eats: Cafe Lafayette

2009-10-29T06:15:00+01:00

Lynn was on a strict budget this month so she said that the 6th floor restaurant at Galeries Lafayette had some good lunch deals with an added bonus of panoramic views of the city. We arrived about 12:30 and it was already packed. The thriving, bustling cafe crowded with hungry shoppers trouncing shopping bags with their latest treasures was more like an upscale cafeteria than a cafe. It had the usual stations of a modern cafeteria including a salad bar, a grill with hot plats du jour, a fruit salad bar, a section with composed salads, a petit dejeuner section with croissants & pastries, and a most yummy looking dessert bar.

Lynn chose the salad bar and heaped as much as she can on her medium sized plate for 4.70 euros (3.80 euros for the small). Her towering plate had black olives, lots of veggies, some salad, and hard-boiled eggs and she said it was fresh and tasty. I opted for the Indian-style composed salad plate with spiced chicken, cucumber & yogurt, and a curried remoulade salad for 8.90 euros. It was a tender, sizable portion of chicken (I find they many times on plates like this they skimp on the meat portion) and the other things were nicely spiced. In the end it was decent but not a must-eat Paris restaurant to rave about to your friends back home . However the sweeping views on the hazy sunny day and most special birds-eye view of the Opera Garnier more than made up for the mediocre food. After lunch we walked two flights up to the roof that's open to the public to get a 360 degree view.

If you want a quick, simple lunch with some great views of the city without paying an arm and a leg at the Eiffel Tower or other tourist places with views, Lafayette Cafe is a good find. Make sure you take the main escalators so you can see the magnificent dome when riding them.

Lafayette Cafe
Galeries Lafayette- 6th fl.
40 Blvd. Haussmann, 9th arr.
Metro: Chaussée d’Antin or Opera

Is that my Xmas gift floating in the atrium of Galeries Lafayette?

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Parisian of the Month: Jennifer Butler

2009-10-28T06:15:00+01:00

I met Jennifer Butler earlier this year at a book signing party she graciously hosted in her lovely Paris apartment. I immediately liked her ebullience and wonderful style and we became fast friends. She is passionate about art, literature, and all things beautiful. I had the exceptional pleasure of spending time in her stunning 12th century country home/mas in Provence in September.

Where were you born and where did you grow up?
I was born in Manhattan and grew up in Upstate New York, A town known as Elmira. Bance Packard used it as an example of small town 50"s East Coast mentality. A bit of a shocker. Couldn't wait to leave.

When did you move to France and how long afterward did you move to Paris?
We moved permanently to France in 1990. We started our French life in Eygalieres, Provence. Our daughter, Georgina, wanted to grow up in Paris so we turned the MAS into a hotel and began our Parisian life ten years ago in 1999.

You are working on an unusual and very personal book project. Can you tell me the details and what the book means to you?
The book as we know it is changing in this internet information age. Alas, The Book must spread something else - maybe sheer beauty or a much slower, more thought provoking message. Between 1989 and 1999, I wrote and designed, photographed and morphed montages onto 1200 postcards. These are full of crazy encounters, diets and weight issues, tarot readings, Portuguese fish, a collapsed London ceiling, a pilgrimage to Wiltshire, political fires, defeated Prime Ministers. the struggle with my new book, Quercus, the zippergate scandal with President Bill Clinton, Dude Ranch holidays, family funerals and funerals of dignitaries, family social conscience, Christmas trees, fantasies, a new dress, the price of a hotel one year and then the price a year later, and most of all surviving a private tragedy. We won our war and when the war was over, the postcards stopped. The most interesting and successful book designer, Irma Boom, has taken on the project. The working title is, Jennifer, James and Georgina. It will be published in August, 2010

You have owned and run a magnificent mas in Provence for the last 20 years. How did you come about that and what has the experience been like?
It was interesting in the beginning because it was an overnight success, however, when we decided to sell up 2 years ago I lost interest and found it exhausting.

What do you prefer about Paris and Provence?
I am not a country person and I hate HEAT. However, the restoration took six years and when restoring an 850 year old house it becomes an intellectual exercise. When the Popes were based in Avignon, two annual masses were held yearly to pray for water; in Spring, for the wheat and then, again, in Autumn, for the vines. The film, Jean de Florette, uses the necessity of water in Provence as one of its theme.

I know that you are friends with some important contemporary artists. What is your connection to the art world and how did you get to know them?
My husband's family are The Courtaulds. His Grandfather, Sam, whom he is named after, was the greatest British collector of French Impressionists. He gifted the nation with the Courtauld Institute and my husband is an important donor to this family bequest.

Who is the most influential person in your life?
This is difficult because It changes as I change. And I am not going to include my husband nor my daughter because this is entendu. As I am polarised in the design of my new book, Jan Tschichold, influences me. As a writer, William Faulkner is grand dad at the moment and when I need hard core advice, I turn to Elizabeth Heudebourg, a wise Paris friend.

If you could have lunch with one person living or dead, who would it be?
My mother.

You have a passion and near obsession with needlework. What are some of the pieces you are working on now?
I am almost finished with Leger's , Les Diques dans la Ville. it was painted in 1919 and hangs in The Pompidou. It is reduced but close on a metre wide. I have learned much about colour and always different uses of the silks. I have always loved the finesse of my hands even my calligraphic type handwriting. It staves off any boredom. When this is finished, I plan to do another Leger, much larger and more cubistic.

What three book would you have to have if you were stuck on a desert island?
Faulkner's As I Lay Dying.
Tschichold's The New Typography
The Bible

Here are photos I took of the magnificent mas.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Metro Posters 2

2009-10-27T06:16:00+01:00

This is part two of my ongoing series of metro posters. Most of these were taken at the Concorde metro station which has long corridors in between the different train lines with a vast array of provocative posters.

A little bit of Broadway & St. Tropez

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Restaurant Review: Angelina

2009-10-26T06:15:00+01:00

Angelina by Emily Monaco

Walking down rue de Rivoli in mid-afternoon around this time of year, you may be surprised to see a lineup outside one of the many upscale cafés that dot the street: this is most certainly Angelina, and you should most definitely join the queue... don't worry, it moves quickly, and you're standing in line to await the hot chocolate experience of your life.

As soon as you make it inside, you'll be able to press your nose against the glass case containing the various pastries made and sold by Angelina: try not to drool all over it, as the classic French waiters dressed in black tie tend to frown upon this sort of behavior. The most famous is the Mont Blanc, a confection of crème de marrons, or sweet chestnut cream, squeezed through a small pastry bag to make a pile of threadlike cream upon which is sprinkled powdered sugar “snow.” As delicious as it is, I recommend veering more towards something fruitlike, like a black cherry-pistachio Napoleon (millefeuille) or strawberry tart: trust me, with the chocolate you're about to order, you won't be able to handle anything sweeter.

Of the chocolate choices, I give you permission to choose between two: the African hot chocolate is the obvious forerunner, but if you have someone at your table who is willing to share, then order one hot white chocolate as well, which is served with chocolate whipped cream and is just as decadent. When the chocolate arrives at your table, you will understand the hype: what you will receive is essentially a pitcher of high-quality chocolate melted into cream, rich and heavy enough to be eaten like pudding with a spoon, but better when poured into a cup and topped with a ridiculous amount of unsweetened whipped cream which, inexplicably, considering the fact that you just shoveled more cream onto your dessert, cuts the richness. Chased with a few bitefuls of whatever fruity confection you chose, this is chocolate Heaven.

Many of the people in this café are American: it's made its way into most guidebooks toted around by tourists. This may deter you—it would me, always on the lookout for the “genuine” experience, but please, for once, put such thoughts out of your mind and just sit down with the rest of your countrymen: they know what they're doing.

What no tourist guidebook mentions, however, is the fact that the croque monsieurs (I'm partial to a croque madame, with an egg on top) are also incredible, especially when eaten with bites of green salad tossed with perfect vinaigrette. If there was a time to eat your lunch backwards, this is it: sweet and dark chocolate can only coat your mouth for so long before your stomach will be begging for gruyère cheese and a fried egg, and who are you to say no to what the stomach wants?

224 rue de Rivoli, 1st. arr.

Metro: Tuilleries

Emily Monaco is an American student/expat from New York who has (hopefully permanently) moved to Paris. She spends her time in Paris seeking out artsy movie theaters, eating in amazing restaurants and trying to figure out how to use the Vélib.

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes

I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com