Our trips 2017, part 1

Dear Readers, Happy New Year !

This is our first post of 2018. It is a tradition of this blog to take a look back at some of the places we visited last year. Overall, we traveled less in 2017 than 2016, at least in terms of distance traveled. We did not leave Europe after our Hong Kong trip concluded in January 2017. But we entered the Arctic Circle, visited the capital of Norway, England, France and Portugal.

Click on links, where provided to read more about the places of interest. There are usually a series of related posts per location, you can discover them easily in the calendar at the bottom of the post.

In reverse chronological order:

Oslo, Norway, December-January – Astrup Fearnley Museum

Tromsø, Norway, December – 350 km inside the Arctic Circle

London, December – overnight business trip

Paris, France, December – on the Grande Roue

Lisbon, Portugal – attended a conference at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown

Rotterdam, Netherlands, in November – outside the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

Lucerne, Switzerland, August – with S&J + family

Panorama from Mount Rigi above Lake Lucene

Verbier, Switzerland in September for business

Aix-les-bains, France in July with friends

Travels in first half of 2017 to come in part 2.

 

Librairies, Rive Gauche, Paris – part 2

Continuing from part 1 … as some of you may know, we have been putting up photos of bookstores from around the world. In addition to those posts that are linked in part 1, here are a few more that you can jump to: House of Books in Moscow, Alexandra in Budapest and the MIT Press in Boston.

La Rive Gauche is the left bank or southern bank of the Seine which includes the arrondissements 5 (Latin Quarter), 6 and parts of 7 – generally known for its bohemian and anti-establishment roots. My hotel was right next to the University of Paris, La Sorbonne main building and not far from the Panthéon.

Many of the bookstores are actually publishers – Editions Ivrea evolved from Editions Champ Libre which was founded after the May 1968 student riots in this same area of Paris.

Editions Champ Libre and its founder Gerard Lebovici were famous for their associations with the socialist/communist writers and political movements. Gerard Lebovici was assassinated in the 1980’s.

Just around the corner from my hotel is the Cinema du Panthéon, and down the street is a bookstore dedicated to the arts of film making. By the time I finished my meetings, it was dark already. So do excuse the lack of interior photos and the rather reflective window shots.

It is rare to find a specialist bookstore these days.

Voila – La Librairie du Cinema du Pantheon.

I remember one in the midst of the NY Broadway theaters – 46th between Broadway and 8th Ave ?

It sells movie posters, postcards … and some specialist DVDs are available – films about films.

“Paris In Cinema”, “Ciné Quiz”  … brain food for movie buffs

Monroe and Kubrick books …

A series of monographs published by the Cahier du Cinema, titled “Anatomy of an Actor” – Clooney, Brando, Pacino, Kidman, De Niro.

There are even film books written for kids, and movie guides for age 3-8 and age 9-12 !  – “200 films for you to see before becoming tall”.

There were other specialist bookstores in the area, e.g., philosophy by J Vrin

… Science and fantasy fictions … Galactic stories

… books on Asia

and law books by Dalloz.

Among all these bookstores is a shop that provide photocopying and digital scanning services.

I am sure there are a lot more bookstores in the area but I had to leave … my French needs to get better first before I come back to browse.

 

Fin

Bookstores, Left Bank, Paris – part 1

As some of you may know, we have been putting up photos of bookstores from around the world. This is another bunch to add to the pile. If you are curious, do click on the side bar and browse the filtered selections. Or jump to Rizzoli in Milano, T-site in Daikanyama, Tokyo, Livraria Cultura in Iguatemi, Sao Paulo, and Waterstones in Central London to start.

Last year, I (Chris) had a business meeting in Paris near the university, La Sorbonne. Understandably, the area when I was staying is full of bookstores and publishers. So it was quite convenient for me to snap all these pictures.

Due to the lack of time, the time of day of my walkabout and the weekend (they all close on Sunday), I really did not have much chance to enter the bookstores and browse – hence, the lack of interior photos and the rather reflective window shots.

All these bookstores are all within 10 minutes walk max from each other.

Livres

Editions Cassini publishes science books for the general public and those who are just curious about science.

In its window were work by Richard Feynman on planetary movements, and books about The Prisoner’s Dilemma (Game theory), the beauty of mathematical formulas, and John Maynard Smith’s evolutionary biology (also based on Game theory).

Editions Jacques Gabay publishes hardcore, academic mathematics and physics books by famous scientists – e.g., Einstein – the man himself.

See their publications on the Theory of General Relativity, Tensor Calculus, Theory of Electrons, etc. – all fundamentals of modern physics. Just having these books on your shelf will increase your IQ.

It was not all maths and sciences – on another street, there is Classiques Garnier. Since 1896, they have been publishing literary works of from around the world, French and foreign, ancient and modern, in reference editions.

Some French classics – e.g., poems in latin by Victor Hugo. If you are curious, download their 200-page general catalogue here. One can find classics from as early as the middle ages and Renaissance reprinted in paperback for a lot less than 100 euro.

Librairie des petits Platons –  publishes children’s books.

There is a shop that buys/sells old and perhaps rare books and second hand books … funny that there was a recycling bin in front of it.

I have been learning some French but by no means effective and definitely, my current ability does not allow me to enjoy these books.

Perhaps I was not in the right places in the US, never have I seen so many bookstores in one area and there are so many publishers who also run a brick-and-mortar store with a street front.

More to come in part 2 !

Our 2013 trips – part 2

* H A P P Y  *  N E W  *  Y E A R  *

W i s h i n g  – y o u – a l l – t h e – v e r y –  b e s t – i n – 2 0 1 4  ! !

In 2013, we did a fair bit of traveling. Here are the places we visited in the first half of the year.  Part 1 was posted yesterday. Click here to see the other places we visited in the second half of 2013. Since many of the related posts were uploaded in the same period of time, you can discover them by going forward or backward on the time line or in the calendar.

Frankfurt, Germany in June 2013

Paris with IT and MW in June 2013.

Versailles, in June 2013

London, to see the Champions League final with IT and MW in May 2013. This is taken from the London eye.

New York for R & B’s wedding in May – this is taken near the Time Warners Center.

Montreal, Canada in May 2013.

Emmental, Switzerland in April 2013.

Baden Baden, Germany during Easter.

Freiburg, Germany during Easter.

Ko Samui, Thailand in January 2013.

Bangkok, Thailand in January 2013.

I am now wondering where would our/my first trip in 2014 take us/me ?

Musee d’Orsay, Paris

We almost forgot about this post which was kept in draft form for the last 5 months.

Musee d’Orsay is probably the second most visited art museum in Paris after Le Louvre. So many of you may have seen the place already.

We were in Paris earlier this year. The lines for entrance tickets to the museum were so hopelessly long on the first day we went, that we just gave up and saw some other sights. On the second day, we went earlier and because it was drizzling, the lines were considerably shorter. We applied some patience and luckily got in only after about 30 minutes of waiting.

The museum used to be a railway station – Gare d’Orsay – which was completed in 1900 and in use until 1939.

By 1939 the station’s short platforms had become unsuitable for the longer trains that had come to be used for mainline services.

There are people walking behind the glass above the clock, their shadows fading in and out. I made a short video of it and here is a snapshot.

The station was slated to be demolished in 1970 but saved by the minister of culture. In 1974, a study of its conversion into a museum was commissioned.

A competition was held in 1978 to find the best design of the museum, which was won by ACT – a team of 3 French architects.

Aspects of the train station structure are still visible.

The museum was officially opened in 1986. It holds 2000+ paintings and 600+ sculptures.

Photography is generally not allowed in the museum. So I put my camera away while in a gallery. I made an exception with this painting.

Personally (Chris), I did not like this museum but cannot give a specific reason. Yes, the architecture is interesting. Perhaps, the exhibition space is so vast that many of the pieces, even the sculptures, lost some of its presence and potency.

But it has a restaurant with a nice period decor. Too bad it was not opened.

I did enjoy the temporary exhibition titled “The Angel of the Odd. Dark Romanticism from Goya to Max Ernst” (L’ange du bizarre. Le romantisme noir de Goya à Max Ernst) which suggests a certain influence these artists may have on the development of horror movies. Click here to see a description of the exhibition and a short introductory video.

Carlos Schwabe (1866-1926) – “The Death of the Gravedigger” 1900. If the image interests you, click here for a more detailed presentation of Dark Romanticism.

In the end, I think, unless they have a special exhibition, I do not see a need to return to M’O any time soon.

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Marché aux puces, Paris

Marché aux puces – flea market –  the concept is ancient and universal but the origin of the term is disputed. Who started the term Puces ?

We went to the biggest and probably most historical one in the North of Paris – 18th arrondissement – just outside the Porte de Clignancourt – Marché aux puces de Saint-Ouen. Find their web site here.

IT who comes to Paris regularly and knows this place was our guide. We got there by Metro – last stop on Ligne 4 (I think). It claims to be the 4th most visited tourist spot in France (?) with 5 million visitors per year.

At first, we thought it was just one market. But it turned out to be a whole area – a cluster of 15 markets located in warehouses, arcades and buildings, as well as pedestrianized streets.

There is something for every one … from seriously warm coats …

to wedding gowns …

to fun costumes for boys …

and girls …

We saw a couple of Mandarin-speaking men wandering the stalls with another French-speaking Chinese asking for oriental ceramic pieces and looking closely at them with a loup – obviously treasure-hunting for the auction houses and the nouveau riche back in China.

Furniture from every period and style imaginable …

19th century …

20th century …

and even religious art.

There were just too many shops and stalls to peruse. We have to come back and focus on things that really interest us, we might even buy something – otherwise it is just overwhelming.

Les Grands Magasins, Paris

Les Grands Magasins (“the big/grand department stores”) of Paris really deserve a post.  They are retailers who want to sell luxury but cannot ignore the mass-market, and they want to be chic and at the same time appeal to tourists.

Two of the “grand department stores”  Magasin du Printemps and Galeries Lafayette stand right next to each other on Boulevard Haussmann. They are the flagship stores of the groups that have numerous branches throughout France.

Competing for the hard-earned cash of discerning customers in the capital requires a spectacle.

Founded in 1895, Galeries Lafayette grew rapidly and now occupies several buildings. It has a 4-storey, circular belle-epoch atrium which was constructed in the 1910-20’s with a glass and steel dome.

A Galeries Lafayette branch opened in Trump Tower in New York City in September 1991. It was not quite successful, and closed after three years. If I remember correctly, it occupied what is now a part of Nike Town.

Wandering next door to Printemps, I found the main restaurant, Brasserie Printemps, under a beautiful cupola built in 1923. There, I rested my tired tourist’s feet and had an afternoon coffee and sweet snack.

The space was surprisingly tranquil despite every floor of the store was packed with shoppers.  I believe Printemps beat Galeries Lafayette with this vast beautiful space for drinks and snacks. Apparently, the cupola was dismantled during World War II for fear of damage by bombs and it was re-assembled in the 1970’s.

Founded in 1865 by an employee of Le Bon Marche, Le Printemps has recently been acquired by a Qatari company much to the dismay of the French labor unions.

MW and IT (our travel companion) were more interested in Le Bon Marché on the left bank.  Founded in 1838 as a small store, it is one of the earliest department store in the world. Now it is owned by the LVMH group.

The claim to fame of the Bon Marche building is the architect who built it – Gustave Eiffel, who also designed the Eiffel Tower. Does it look like the metal used on the Eiffel Tower which has the same old gold (or greyish yellow) color seen here on the elevators and the ceiling? It is probably not a coincidence that the color scheme (old gold + pale light green) was also used in many of the Louis Vuitton stores in the 2000’s.

Le Bon Marche, judging by its merchandise, feels like the Saks on Fifth in NYC.

Well,  I bet they all stock more or less the same brands. But it is that small percentage of exclusives and the store ambiance which make shopping fun.

The Peristyle and the Grand Canal, Versailles

Earlier this summer, while in Paris, we spent an afternoon at Versailles. Our earlier posts on the main chateau and the Grand Trianon are here and here.

There were two sights at Versailles that particularly impressed us – the peristyle at the Grand Trianon palace and the Grand Canal.

A peristyle is a columned porch or open colonnade in a building surrounding a court. The peristyle at Le Grand Trianon connects the east and west wings.

Against a blue sky (grey in the photo), the black and white tiles provide a chess-board effect.

Just beyond the peristyle is a garden with a fountain in the center (not turned on) and sculptured cubic shrubs.

The construction of the peristyle was apparently supervised by Louis XIV personally. For a time, it was covered in glass.

At dusk, staff at the palace came out with these lamps to mark out an area in the court for parking. The palace was apparently hosting a banquet that evening (we saw them setting up a grand dining room for the event).

What a place to have a party!

Here is a 1920 map of the palace (courtesy of Wikipedia) – Click on it to see it in full screen size.

The Grand Canal is a vast pond that is shaped like a cross.  This is a view of the Bras de Trianon and in the distance the Bras de la Menagerie.

The Grand Canal runs left to right across the photo.

A vantage point near Le Grand Trianon.

On a grey day, the body of water is a vast, eerily dreamy place. Surreal and somehow theatrical, for lack of better words to describe it.

I’d like to see how the gardener shave these tall trees into that boxy shape. The machine must be huge.

The Grand Canal is just visible in a distance from the Chateau in this photo.

Have to come back on a day with better weather … and may even give the boat a go.

Thierry Marx’s Sur Mesure, Paris

Continuing with our impromptu gastronomic tour of Paris …

Beside Passage 53 (posted here), another 2-star restaurant we went to was Thierry Marx‘s Sur Mesure in the Mandarin Oriental on Rue Saint-Honoré.  

The interior of the restaurant is rather unusual. The walls and the ceiling are all covered by white leather and occasionally, the leather formed bubbles or it was torn and then folded into abstract 3-D things on the wall. The photo below shows the entrance to the restaurant which had a large mirrored door.

The dining room reminded me (Chris) of a padded cell where crazy people in strait jacket are held so that they cannot hurt themselves. Because of the sound absorbing quality of the walls and ceiling, it is a very tranquil place even when the restaurant is full.  Some aspects of the room suggest a refined, hi-tech environment – like that air created in Ridley Scott’s recent movie Prometheus. The Michelin guide praised the decor as stunning, immaculate and ethereal.

Celebrity sighting !  – IT recognized the small lady (facing-in) as the fashion designer – Sonia Rykiel.

The chef, Thierry Marx, is known to apply molecular techniques. The ambiance of the dining room matched the food which were served in clear glass bowl resembling laboratory glassware.

Small bites. Packed with combos of flavors.

The waiter explained to us the dishes that were served, as they are not listed on the menu.

Cold fresh pea soup with a drop of flavored oil (forgot the flavor)

Egg yolk / minty green peas / tomatoes foccacia

The presentation of this dish is dramatic.

A starter.

As we went during lunch time, the menu had only 5 items but they served us several additional small delicacies.

 

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The meal ended with these little sweet things.

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We only had lunch but was happy with our food and the attentive service. Contrast this with our disappointing experience at Alain Passard’s L’Arpège (posted here).

We all agreed that it is worth revisiting Sur Mesure for dinner when we are back in town. This post concludes the sharing of our 8-star, 4 day gastronomic tour of Paris.

Le Grand Trianon, Versailles

Continuing with our tour of the Chateau de Versailles …

The Grand Trianon is another palace within the grounds of the palace of Versailles that we visited. It turned out to be a great escape from the horde of tourists. Plan du Chateau, courtesy of Wikipedia.

The palace is divided into two wings separated by a courtyard and connected by a peristyle (see next post).  The exterior of the palace is covered in red marble.

In the rain, we took a small train from the main palace to come here. Because of the limited schedule of the train and the 7 euros fare, not many people bothered to visit this smaller palace.

Le Grand Trianon is a one-storey palace that Louis XIV erected in 1680’s to escape the fussy and rigid formality of court life with his mistress.

While the main palace is ceremonial and built to impress, the Grand Trianon is designed for the king’s royal enjoyment. Because it is smaller than the main palace, it is much easier to appreciate and experience, at a personal level, the grandeur of the Grand Trianon as a residence.

During the French Revolution of 1789, the Grand Trianon was left to neglect. At the time of the First French Empire, Napoleon had the palace restored before staying here on many occasions with his second wife.

In 1963 Charles de Gaulle had it restored as a guesthouse for the presidents of France.

Richard Nixon stayed at the Grand Trianon in 1969 and Queen Elizabeth II in 1972.

The Grand Trianon became a UNESCO world heritage site in 1979.

It is now a museum and tourist magnet.

For more information, check out their web site here.

Château de Versailles

On this trip to Paris, since we had almost a week, we decided to spend a full day at Versailles and enjoy the sights leisurely.  I(Chris) went there many years ago with my mum but I cannot find any photos from that visit.

The Château de Versailles is one of those must-see tourist attraction in France. But when every one visiting Paris has the same idea, the place becomes impossibly congested – it is only 10 miles from the center of Paris. Many came as a group led by a guide who rushes them through the rooms. Thankfully, at least the grounds of the palace is so vast that one can usually find some space to breathe.

We arrived by RER C train at Versailles – Rive Gauche and had a nice lunch in a Lebanese restaurant on Rue de Satory – this is a pedestrian only street lined with many restaurants – it was not entirely touristy – as there were people from offices nearby eating with us.  We highly recommend this detour to any one visiting the palace.

On the day of our visit, the weather was not cooperating – it was wet and cold. So it was not fun to walk around in the gardens. The upside of the bad weather is that there are fewer people around and we can take some pictures without crowds.

The site began as Louis XIII’s hunting lodge before his son Louis XIV transformed and expanded it, moving the court and government of France to Versailles in 1682. It was effectively the capital of France for about 100 years until the French Revolution in 1789.  Each of the three French kings who lived there enlarged the palace and added improvements.

Before the French Revolution, it was progressively built up to display the country’s wealth and power to impress royal visitors. The city of Versailles is historically known for numerous treaties such as the Treaty of Paris (1783), which ended the American Revolutionary War and the Treaty of Versailles, after World War I.

The most famous room is the Hall of Mirrors (La galerie des Glaces). The principal feature of this famous hall is the seventeen mirror-clad arches that reflect the seventeen arcaded windows which overlook the gardens.

This ceiling painting in the Hall of Mirrors had figures climbing come out of the gilded frame.

While the interiors of Versailles practically defined the meaning of opulence, the formal gardens are breathtaking. To me, the garden is far more interesting than the rooms. The Gardens of Versailles were created by André Le Nôtre between 1662 and 1700.

 The views and perspectives, to and from the palace is remarkable. Makes one think of infinity.

The geometric designs and perfect shapes of the shrubs are fantastic.  The jardin à la française is a style of garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order over nature.

More pictures of Versailles to come!

ze kitchen galerie, Paris

ze kitchen galerie was the restaurant which kicked off our little unintended 8-star, 4-day gastronomic tour in Paris.

IT’s friends booked this restaurant for us because it was the first night when all of us arrived in Paris and the restaurant is within walking distance of where we were staying in the Latin Quarter. We did not know it received one Michelin star until I started writing the posts about our Paris trip.

The chef – William Leudeuil – said on the restaurant’s web site that he wants the place to function as a studio/restaurant/gallery – so the food is prepared in an open kitchen the dining room has a rotating art exhibition. I(Chris) did not think it worked because of the physical space – too small and crowded.   While the concept is laudable, its execution was not effective – at least we did not feel the atmosphere. For the idea to work, I think it requires a warehouse or at least a loft – there are plenty of  successful examples in New York’s meatpacking district.

The restaurant was packed and most of the patrons as far as we could tell were Parisians, which was reassuring. Eat where the locals eat.

We ordered à la carte and found quite a few Thai-inspired dishes. In fact, the chef stated that he wants to reinterpret Asian flavors to create new fusions.

Same dish before and after a sauce/soup was poured atop.

Overall, we liked ze kitchen galerie. It deserves its one Michelin star. But we will only go there when we are in the mood of Thai-French fusion dishes which were inventive and well prepared.

ze kitchen galerie is at 4 rue des Grands Augustins – the nearest metro is St Michel.

Alain Passard’s L’Arpège, Paris

Our 1-week stay in Paris was not meant to be a gastronomic tour. But IT asked her Parisian friends, D and C, who work in the food industry, to make reservations for us at several restaurants. In four days, we ate in four restaurants with a combined total of eight Michelin stars. We did not know in advance about the star-ratings of other restaurants except L’Arpège.

Alain Passard’s Arpège received three stars in 1996 and maintained it ever since. It is No. 16 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurant website. The restaurant is located in an area with many government offices (Ministry of Agriculture, … etc).

However, our overall experience is underwhelming – while the food is inventive and expertly cooked, it somehow did not wow us. More disappointing is the ambiance and service. As you can see the dining room is not exactly spacious –  it reminded us of some casual restaurants in New York –  it’s too cramped to be deemed a luxury, fine-dining establishment.

The maître d’ was a bit arrogant. We could have managed the menu in French but when she heard us speak English, she spoke English to us.   A nice gesture, but she clearly had  no interest in explaining the menu – it was like a practiced speech she can recite in her sleep, which she did, with a “whatever” tone.  We all ordered the degustation menu <<Cuisine Choisie>>.

Aiguillette de Homard <Bleu nuil> au miel du Gros-Chesnay  – this is the best dish of the evening.

The star chef Alain Passard came out to chat with diners at each table. He came to our table, we took pictures with him and had a little chat.  When he found out that IT and MW were visiting from HK, he told us how he enjoyed cooking there in an all-star cooking event – a charming host.

Fines ravioles palageres multicolores consomme ambre

The restaurant is well known for its ability to cook vegetables which were grown in the chef’s garden.

Collection legumiere – image du potager ce matin  (“image of the garden this morning”)

We all received a foldable knife with Arpège engraved on it as a souvenir. Marketing gimmick.

The dining room had on one side nice wood paneling which curves around a corner and acted as a perfect sound reflector. Everything the two diners who sat next to it said to each other was clearly and loudly audible to us – a European business man was sweet-talking an Asian-American woman from LA.

Turbot de la pointe de Bretagne grille entier au <<Cotes du Jura>>

Robe des champs <<Arlequin>> merguez legumiere

IT bought a book of cartoons (bande dessinée or BD) about the chef.

The dessert did not impress us as we had been having macarons from Pierre Hermé.

While the food was pretty good, it was very expensive. Given the less-than fining-dining ambiance and service, it was poor value for the money.  We all agreed that unless one is determined to eat vegetables from Alain Passard’s garden, there is no reason to come here as some 1- or 2-star restaurants could produce a comparable experience at half the price.

See our earlier post on Passage 53 which was very good. Two more posts on Paris restaurants to come.

The above is my take on this restaurant.  The following is Sue’s.

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We’ve all been there; someone raves about something (most often a movie), you go see it for yourself and you are disappointed.  Well, this was one of those.

The whole restaurant experience went downhill from the moment we walked in.  Let’s just count the ways of how sad this episode turned out to be:

1.         The reception is about one (max 2) step away from the door.  Unfortunately, it’s a busy thoroughfare.  There are 4 of us but there wasn’t enough room to accommodate us and the number of wait staff moving back and forth to serve the tables.  I was about to walk outside to wait (there wasn’t any room for us to move to get out of the servers’ way) but we were shown to our table.

2.         The table was a bit small for four people.   When the food arrived, the logistics of where to put the plates, cutlery, table decoration, etc. were very distracting.   None of us were in a relaxed state to enjoy the food.

3.         There was a couple dining at a table right next to us.  I say “right next to us” because they might as well have joined us for dinner.  I heard every single word they said.  I wish they spoke a language I didn’t understand, but they spoke English.  Heck, the woman was from Southern California (I’m from there).  I was listening to gossip about people I don’t know and will never know.  I was NOT eaves dropping (not that that would have been hard).  They were having normal conversation but the table was so close together that I couldn’t help but hear their talk.

4.         Oh yes, the food…  I’m sure the food was good, but I can’t tell you how good it was: too many distractions and generally uncomfortable.   I couldn’t wait to finish and just get out.

5.         I noticed that all the tables around us were occupied by non-French speaking patrons.  Most were tourists or visitors, like us.  This place is a Michelin-“3-star”-themed restaurant.

A VERY expensive meal and it was also the most disappointing (but the restaurant did give us knives that we’ll never use).  I had better food, service and ambiance at diners in New York City and they were not even mentioned in the Michelin restaurant guide.

Moral of the story?  Michelin restaurant guide is not to be believed.  They seem to be giving out stars like candy.  Until this time, I thought a restaurant with a Michelin star meant something.  I shouldn’t have given much credence to their star system.  Well, caveat emptor.  Hey, Michelin, since you seem to be giving them away, I’m thinking about starting a food truck down by the lake, give me a star or three, will ya?

Astier de Villatte (remix) – Paris

Astier de Villatte is a Parisian store that makes and sells ceramics, candles and other carefully crafted everyday objects.

The photos may look familiar. That is because all these pictures had appeared in an earlier post (click here).

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In that post, they were only slightly processed to appear as natural as possible. Here, I am trying to make the photos moody.

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I(Chris) took these pictures around the store while IT and MW were shopping.

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I tried not to overdo it – otherwise they will look like Instagrams – which is not intended.

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That whitish-grey glaze of the ceramics really lent itself to black & white photos – all very ghostly.

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More experimentation with filters.

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Hopefully, I made them more interesting to look at again.

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Passage des Panoramas, Paris

We came  to the Passage des Panoramas for the restaurant, Passage 53, which we posted earlier here.

The Passage des Panoramas is a roofed commercial passageway located in the IIe arrondissement, of Paris between the Montmartre boulevard to the North and Saint-Marc street to the south.

According to Wikipedia:

It is one of the earliest venues of the Parisian philatelic trade, and it was one of the very first covered, airy commercial passageways in the world. Bazaars and souks in the Orient had roofed commercial passageways centuries earlier but the passage of Panoramas innovated in having glazed roofing and, later on, gas lights for illumination. It is thus the precursor to all the city gallerias of the 19th century and the covered suburban and city shopping malls of the 20th century.

It is hard to imagine this humble-looking passage evolved into the shopping malls of the world.  Think Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (see our post here) or the themed shopping malls of Macau- see our post here. There is a themed restaurant – named Victoria Station – in the Passage.

Not only is the history  of the Passage interesting – the shops are interesting too – where would one find such a high concentration of shops catered to the collectors of stamps and postcards ?  They buy and sell, and do valuations.

These philatelist’s stores are getting rarer these days as letters and stamps are slowly being replaced by electronic messages.

Stamps that are on sale ranges from the very old and rare to the fancifully-themed collections. For example this set of four stamps costs 3200 euros!

This sheet of commemorative stamps depicting the Tintin series of cartoons/comics (aka BD) is only 30 euros..

There are many other neat collections of stamps displayed in the windows.

Could any one of these stamp and postcard shops be an original store when the Passage opened?

Postcards!   Well, I(Chris) have a small collection of art postcards, including some early 1900’s commercial posters, like those on the left side of the photo.

May be I can sell some of my stamps and postcards for food !?

It is good to know that such a place exist where so many shops supporting the hobby of philately.

This is definitely, a fun place to look around.

In case you are interested in see more stamps, go here where we showed some British commemorative stamps for 2012 London Olympics.

Au bon couscous, Paris

Au Bon couscous is one of many touristy restaurants in the Latin Quarter, located just around the corner from our apartment. On one of the several rainy days in that week while we were in Paris, we ducked in Au bon couscous for a quick lunch.

There are many restaurants (Greek, Italian, French, Asian, Indian, Turkish) on this pedestrianized street – Rue de la Huchette. They were all trying to steer diners into their establishment by placing menu on the street and having a waiter outside.

The restaurant below has on its front a sign saying “FRENCH FOOD”. Can we get any more touristy ?

According to Wikipedia, this street is one of the oldest street running along the Seine on the left bank – existing since the 1200’s. And it was already known for taverns and rotisseries since the 17th century. Here is a fine display of food ready to be grilled (but not from where we ate).

We entered Au Bon Couscous without being invited as we knew the type of food we wanted. The person at Au bon couscous was a big fellow whose physical presence was more threatening than welcoming. We bet he also moonlight as a bouncer at one of the bars nearby since he is very well-qualified.

Apparently, there is another Au bon couscous in Paris located in the 17th district. There is a restaurant in Lausanne called Au couscous (apparently not bon enough).

Couscous is North African in origin and third favorite dish of the French (surveyed in 2011). We are relying heavily on Wikipedia here.

I(Chris) like middle eastern food and was happy with the tagine. I had better but it was good enough.

We wondered if couscous is eaten with grilled meat traditionally. Perhaps it varies from country to country. The merguez sausage were quite good.

As we went around 11am, we were the first table of customers of the day. The restaurant served us a free round of drinks (a diluted anise-flavored liquor) when we sat down, and at the end of lunch, free hot mint tea.

The restaurant service was not refined but earnest.

On Tripadvisor, this restaurant is ranked 7,368 out of 9,798 (in July 2013), the one in the 17th district fared worse being ranked 7,670.

Anyway, following this solid lunch, we had a great day of sightseeing.

Kartell, Rue du Bac, Paris

The area around Rue du Bac/Blvd St Germain in the 7th arrondisement is where furniture stores congregate in Paris. Several manufacturer have their showrooms here. We passed Cappellini, Knoll, and Cassina but went into Kartell because we are interested in their Tati lamp.

Kartell, based in Milan, is known for their plastic furniture. Founded in 1949 by Giulio Castelli, a chemical engineer with a vision to create something good from plastics.

During the plastic-loving era of the 1960s and 70s, Kartell became a famous household name.

More recently, the company created hits such as Philippe Starck’s Ghost Chairs…

And Ron Arad’s Bookworm shelves.

Single-handedly they made plastic chic again. Here is Kartell’s web site celebrating the 10th year anniversary of the Louis Ghost chair.

I(Chris) think we can use a mirror in our hallway. How about that one with a light blue frame which looks like a tray (it could probably serve as one) ?

It was good to see the real pieces because in a catalog, one can never get a feel of the finish and the weight/strength – particularly when it comes to furniture made in plastics.

In various stores, we had seen the Tati lamp in white and beige but not in black. Now that we have seen it – I think if we are getting one we will go for the pleated beige shade (see picture below).

Plastic office furniture. Serious business ?

Although they are all mass-produced in molded plastics, the prices would make one think that they are manufactured with more precious materials and human attention.   Glad that we visited this showroom.

Passage 53, Paris

Passage 53 is one of several restaurants that our local friends (D & C) made a reservation for the four of us for our week in Paris.

The restaurant is quite difficult to find as it is hidden in the oldest arcade in Paris (Passage des Panoramas) among specialty shops that sell stamps and postcards. There will be a later post dedicated to them.

The windows near the entrance were covered with a semi-translucent white material. Tables were barely visible from the outside. There were no menu or hours on the door – just a piece of white paper laser-printed with the price of the set lunch and dinner.

The restaurant is just one long room, minimally decorated. We sat across from a very tight spiral staircase which led up to the kitchen and bathrooms. Apparently, that staircase dated back to the 1700’s and is a protected monument of the city.

All the diners had the same food – whatever that was available under the Degustation Menu Surprise.

The only option offered was whether we wanted to add a caviar course to the surprise menu. Yes, we added it.

The other option was the wine – we had a couple of Burgundy whites.

Because there was no menu, we cannot named the dishes as we cannot remember what we ate. Except that every thing was delicious, particularly the green pea soup.

The chef is Japanese, Shinichi Sato, apparently a Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux. He works with an all-Japanese kitchen staff and an all-French but English-friendly service.

We lost count of how many dishes we had, at the time.

It was a very satisfying dining experience.

It was unanimous in that we all thought Passage 53 outperformed a Michelin 3-star restaurant we went the night before. Less expensive, better tasting food and ambiance.

We did not know that it had received 2 Michelin stars   until just now when we looked them up online on viamichelin.

Dessert was similarly spectacular.

This is a restaurant that we would go back again.

= )

Astier de Villatte, Paris

This is our first visit of Paris after a long while. IT and MW had visited this city many times and knew it better than us. So we followed them.

Astier de Villatte is a lifestyle store on Rue Saint-Honoré not far from the Palais-Royal.

I(Chris) spent almost an hour in this shop while IT and MW were shopping. So I had plenty of time to befriend the store manager (she offered me a place to sit) and select my shots.

All the pieces are handmade, one of a kind flatware for everyday use – no mass production ceramics.

Their perfumed candles are named after places, like Quebec, Hong Kong, Aoyama, Oulan Bator … . I could not discern any aromatic connection between the scent and the locale (except Oulan Bator, I have been some of the places).

The signature ceramics, made of black terracotta clay, are extremely durable and yet surprisingly light.

The tableware collection is inspired by 18th and 19th century designs and is glazed to create a milky white finish – a bit like a pile of unfinished paint job.

Generally we like white flatware which shows off the color of the food. These pieces are all off-white. I think it would really go well with vegan or raw food.

With a ghostly and aged look, some of the pieces are quite surreal.

Metal cans ? No, they are ceramics.

These ceramic plates with wood grain could have been taken from a painting by Magritte.

The “de Chirico” ambiance of the back room matches the merchandises.

The company was founded by Benoît Astier de Villatte and Ivan Pericoli, which produces ceramics, paper goods, perfumes, candles, furniture, silverware, and glassware. They are created in a Bastille workshop that used to house Napolean’s silversmith.

More mugs and jugs.

Here is the link to their funky online catalog. Worthy of a visit.

Rue du petit pont #2, Paris

We spent a week in Paris in the beginning of June.

Since there were a total of four of us, we decided to rent an apartment again – like what we did in Vienna and Barcelona in past years. This arrangement saved us money, gave us more room to move about. Apartments in Europe are always more cozy than a hotel.

The apartment was located in the Latin Quarter, 5th arrondisement, near the Sorbonne on the left bank. 4th floor with an elevator.

This apartment has several unusual features – the elevator opens directly into the apartment’s foyer – each floor is one apartment and we use a key to select the floor on which the elevator stops. We had seen these type lock-n-key operated elevators used in lofts, converted from warehouse, in Soho, New York.

Another oddity is the tri-level layout – top = sleeping loft + shower; middle = bedroom + toilet, bath + laundry machine + elevator, and then bottom = kitchen-living room – all connected by a wide marble(?) staircase.

The surprise awaiting us at this apartment was the VIEW – Cathedrale de Notre Dame just across the little bridge (petit pont) over a narrow section of the Seine.

At the time of finding an apartment, we were not looking for any view – all we were concerned was the number of bathrooms and a central convenient location.

Living Room

Kitchen – small but fully equipped except it lacks a microwave. It had an American-size refrigerator (i.e., big, especially given the size of the kitchen) which is relatively rare on the continent.

Bathroom 1

Another bathroom with shower and jacuzzi.

The loft was used also for sleeping.

The location cannot be any more convenient for a tourist. One of Paris’s famous landmarks is just outside.

The downside of this location is that we were surrounded by tourists, day and night – the bars and restaurants do not close till 2-3am in the morning. When these establishments close for the night, the patrons spill outside, many of whom are drunk and start singing or arguing on the street.

During the week, we heard in the middle of the night two fights – groups of men and a few girls yelling at each other followed by the sound of breaking glass – no one seemed to be hurt I think. Suffice to say, we barely slept even after wearing earplugs found in airline convenience pack (Thanks to M).

While renting an apartment has many advantages, there was a ton of  details to manage – from coordinating with someone hired by the owner to pickup and drop off the keys, to paying a deposit and buying hose content insurance – all just for a week.