Taking it to the Streets

If you want a little bit of Paris to take home with you, there's always the option of a refrigerator magnet or even your own little plaque, a miniaturized version of the blue metal signs that identify street names. Back in January, Figaroscope, my favorite source of information on all things Parisian, ran a short article detailing the process by which street names are assigned. Suggestions from local officials are evaluated by a special commission created in 1985 and then passed along for an opinion by the arrondissement and then by the Conseil de Paris (something akin to a city council).

The blue signs first appeared in 1728 and now grace some 6,289 public streets in the city. Some street names have disappeared over time (notably many changes were made after the French revolution) so the total number of Parisian street names historically is around 8,600.

Figaroscope's unscientific poll asked about individuals meriting streets of their own. Top votes went to recently deceased anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss followed by Serge Gainsbourg, Yves Saint Laurent, and Françoise Sagan. If it were up to you, who'd you pick? (And no need to stick with these four.)

Dining at Altitude

A meal at Jules Verne, Alain Ducasse's fancy restaurant high atop the Eiffel Tower, has been on my list of Paris must-dos for some time and yesterday, it finally happened. When I made the reservations months ago, I had fully planned to do so for dinner, but when I saw the price differential between lunch and dinner, I got cold feet. Instead, my husband and I opted for a leisurely lunch together in honor of an otherwise insignificant wedding anniversary, the actual date of which is later this month. Details, details. There's no particular reason to celebrate those round numbered anniversaries and who knows how many more opportunities we will have to mark our years together in such style. As the French say, la vie est courte, profitez-en.

I don't know where our lunch rates among the great culinary adventures we've had in Paris. That is to say, I didn't go into rapture with each bite, but it was certainly a meal I'll never forget. Between the watercress soup, the poulet de Bresse, the citrus tart, the wine pairings, the exceptional views of Paris (in the sunshine no less), and my most favorite person in the world for company, I was pretty much in heaven.

Not so the Italian couple next to us who ordered strangely colored cocktails, refused to order any food, and were asked to leave. "This is not a cocktail lounge," the man in charge told them. They picked up their things, drinks untouched, and vacated the premises. Fair warning. If you want to have a drink and enjoy the view, head to the Panoramic Bar at Hotel Concorde-Lafayette. For the Eiffel Tower, come ready to eat.

Older Than the Hills?

A visit to the Panthéon is a bit of a mini-course in French history. There are incredible mural style paintings of great moments like the crowning of Clovis, the first Christian king of France, and the saving of Paris from starvation by St. Genevieve in the 5th century; lots of monuments to French military heros; and a crypt full of great men (and yes they're mostly men) like Rousseau, Voltaire, Dumas, Zola, and Louis Braille.

There's even a re-creation of Foucault's pendulum which proves that the earth actually turns. You may have seen such a pendulum elsewhere (as I did in the Smithsonian in Washington) but you should know that this is the site where M. Foucault actually did the experiment in the first place.

All very interesting but the only thing that motivated me to pull out my camera was this:

Fossilized remains of sea creatures from a long ago France, immortalized on the front steps.

Vision in Spring Colors

I saw this chick riding the subway recently and of course I wanted more than anything to take her photo. But the car was jammed and there was no way I could get an unobstructed snapshot. Instead I just took mental notes and clucked like the old biddy that I am. Opening one of the throwaway newspapers last week, I found this picture and her name: Nafrayou. She is a model or maybe a model wannabe; I'm not sure who would pay her to hawk what but then again, it takes all kinds. So I guess it's a good thing I couldn't get that shot; she probably would have demanded payment.

For the record, her outfit and hair extensions were more in the turquoise neighborhood; otherwise, same get up, same vibe. More photos on her Web site: http://www.nafrayou.com/info.html

Of Bells and Bunnies

Forgive me for two YouTube repostings in a row. I had this one ready for this weekend and then I found the perfume one and one thing led to another. But trust me. This one's pretty good.




Many of you have probably read David Sedaris's hilarious book Me Talk Pretty One Day which, among other things, recounts his adventures trying to learn French. This clip's just in time for Easter. Take 10 minutes and listen.

Thanks to Sherry for sharing this clip.

Photo Shoot Followup

Remember the photo shoot on my block back in January? If not, catch up here.

Well, the wait is over. The ad is done, mystery solved. The product is a new perfume, Trésor in Love. And you can watch the ad here. I'm just so proud that those three seconds at the beginning were shot right outside my front door. My Paris. Preserved for eternity. Or at least until the next ad campaign.



And here's the full scoop as described at Ozmoz.com, "the fragrance community Web site":

20 years after Trésor, Lancôme proposes a fresh and fruity flanker for its successful fragrance. The heroine of Trésor in Love is a luminous and cheerful young woman, free to fall in love uncompromisingly. She is both elegant and mischievous. Her perfume celebrates love spontaneously and with a modern style. The ad campaign’s visuals feature Elettra Wiedemann (daughter of Isabella Rossellini, the face of Trésor in 1990) in the arms of her lover in a Parisian apartment, after the two of them have ‘escaped from a chic party’.

Trésor’s composition has been reinterpreted, rid of its oriental facets, for a fresher and fruitier outcome. The rose is softened, ‘as fresh as morning dew’. Bergamot, peach, pear and nectarine contribute their fruity waves of scent to a to a bouquet resonant with the floral notes of jasmine and violet. Cedar and musks close the fragrance.

Flanker? That's not a typo. Perhaps it's just a weird translation? The perfume is not yet available in the U.S. and all of the company's promotional material is in French.

But anyway, it's kind of funny because while I only own two bottles of scent, one of them is the original Trésor. Maybe I'm due for a new installment, at least as a souvenir? I even have a wedding anniversary coming up. Hint hint honey.

Schizophrenic

The weather has been completely unpredictable of late: cool, warm, sunny, gray, rainy, and dry, sometimes all in the space of an hour. Yesterday, I emerged from the subway at Place de la Concorde and confronted this insane sky. It was clear blue and absolutely sunny to the west, dark and ominous to the east. Completely wack. Perhaps even biblical.